PUBLIC LAW 94-377—AUG. 4, 1976 "(7) No logical mining unit shall be approved by the Secretary if the total acreage (both Federal and non-Federal) of the unit would exceed twenty-live thousand acres. " (8) Nothing in this section shall be construed to waive the acreage limitations for coal leases contained in section 27(a) of the Mineral Lands Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 184(a)).". SEC. 6. Section 7 of the Mineral Lands Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 207) is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 7. (a) A coal lease shall be for a term of twenty years and for so long thereafter as coal is produced annually in commercial quantities from that lease. Any lease which is not producing in commercial quantities at the end of ten years shall be terminated. The Secretary shall by regulation prescribe annual rentals on leases. A lease shall require payment of a royalty in such amount as the Secretary shall determine of not less than I214 per centum of the value of coal as defined by regulation, except the Secretary may determine a lesser amount in the case of coal recovered by underground mining operations. The lease shall include such other terms and conditions as the Secretary shall determine. Such rentals and royalties and other terms and conditions of the lease wall be subject to readjustment at the end of its primary term of twenty years and at the end of each ten-year period thereafter if the lease is extended. "(b) Each lease shall be subject to the conditions of diligent development and continued operation of the mine or mines, except where operations under the lease are interrupted by strikes, the elements, or casualties not attributable to the lessee. The Secretary of the Interior, upon determining that the public interest will be served thereby, may suspend the condition of continued operation upon the payment of advance royalties. Such advance royalties shall be no less than the production royalty which would otherwise be paid and shall be computed on a fixed reserve to production ratio (determined by the Secretary). The aggregate number of years during the period of any lease for which advance royalties may be accepted in lieu of the condition of continued operation shall not exceed ten. The amount of any production royalty paid for any year shall be reduced (but not below 0) by the amount of any advance royalties paid under such lease to the extent that such advance royalties have not been used to reduce production royalties for a prior j^ear. No advance royalty paid during the initial twenty-year term of a lease shall be used to reduce a production royalty after the twentieth year of a lease. The Secretary may, upon six months' notification to the lessee cease to accept advance royalties in lieu of the requirement of continued operation. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to affect the requirement contained in the second sentence of subsection (a) relating to commencement of production at the end of ten years. "(c) Prior to taking any action on a leasehold which might cause a significant disturbance of the environment, and not later than three years after a lease is issued, the lessee shall submit for the Secretary's approval an operation and reclamation plan. The Secretary shall approve or disapprove the plan or require that it be modified. "Where the land involved is under the surface jurisdiction of another Federal agency, that other agency must consent to the terms of such approval.". SEC. 7. The Mineral Lands Leasing Act is amended by inserting after section 8 the following new section 8A: "SEC. SA. (a) The Secretary is authorized and directed to conduct a comprehensive exploratory program designed to obtain sufficient data and information to evaluate the extent, location, and potential for developing the known recoverable coal resources within the coal lands
89-194 O—78—pt. 1
72
90 STAT. 1087
Terms and conditions. Regulation. Royalty.
Advance royalties.
Operation and reclamation plan, submittal to Secretary.
Exploratory program. 30 USC 208-1.
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