PUBLIC LAW 94-377—AUG. 4, 1976
90 STAT. 1083
Public Law 94-377 94th Congress An Act To amend the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That (a) this Act may be cited as the " Federal Coal Leasing Amendments Act of 1975". (b) Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision of the ^lineral L and s Leasing Act, the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or other provision of the Act of February 25, 1920, entitled " A n Act to promote the mining of coal, phosphate, oil, oil shale, gas, and sodium on the public domain" (41 Stat. 437). SEC. 2. The first sentence of section 2(a) of the Mineral L and s Leasing Act (oO U.S.C. 2 0 1 (a)) is amended to read as follows: " (1) The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to divide any lands subject to this Act which have been classified for coal leasing into leasing tracts of such size as he finds a p p r o p r i a t e and in the public interest and which will permit the mining of all coal which can be economically extracted in such tract and thereafter he shall, in his discretion, upon the request of any qualified applicant or on his own motion, from time to time, offer such lands for leasing and shall award leases thereon by competitive bidding. No less than 50 per centum of the total acreage offered for lease by the Secretary in any one year shall be leased under a system of deferred bonus payment. Upon default or cancellation of any coal lease for which bonus payments are due, any unpaid remainder of the bid shall be immediately payable to the United States. A reasonable number of leasing tracts shall be reserved and offered for lease in accordance with this section to public bodies, including Federal agencies, r u r a l electric cooperatives, or nonprofit corporations controlled by any of such entities: Provided, That the coal so offered for lease shall be for use by such entity or entities in implementing a definite plan to produce energy for their own use or for sale to their members or customers (except for short-term sales to other s). No bid shall be accepted which is less than the fair market value, as determined by the Secretary, of the coal subject to the lease. P r i o r to his determination of the fair market value of the coal subject to the lease, the Secretary shall give opportunity for and consideration to public comments on the fair market value. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require the Secretary to make public his judgment as to the fair market value of the coal to be leased, or the comments he receives thereon prior to the issuance of the lease.". SEC. 3. The last sentence of section 2(a) of the Mineral L and s Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 2 0 1 (a)) is amended to read as follows: " (2)(A) The Secretary shall not issue a lease or leases under the terms of this Act to any person, association, corporation, or any subsidiary, affiliate, or persons controlled by or under common control w i t h such person, association, or corporation, where any such entity holds a lease or leases issued by the United States to coal deposits and has held such lease or leases for a period of ten years when such
Aug. 4, 1976 [S. 391] Federal Coal Leasing Amendments Act of 1975. 30 USC 181 note. 30 USC 181 note
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Fair market value.
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