3.0.0 1340 2023-01-11T13:31:08Z 2023-01-11T13:31:08Z Senate S 2015-05-14 114 sseg00 Energy and Natural Resources Committee Senate Standing Hearings by 2015-06-09T14:08:34Z Referred to 2015-05-14T18:25:45Z 2015-06-09 sseg00 Energy and Natural Resources Committee Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Committee 2015-05-14 sseg00 Energy and Natural Resources Committee Senate Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. IntroReferral 2015-05-14 Introduced in Senate IntroReferral 10000 9 Library of Congress M000133 Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA] Edward Markey D MA J. N Energy Administrative law and regulatory procedures Civil actions and liability Coal Department of the Interior Government information and archives Licensing and registrations Mining Public contracts and procurement State and local government operations Energy 00 2015-05-14 Introduced in Senate 2015-10-07T19:26:49Z Coal Oversight and Leasing Reform Act of 2015 or the COAL Reform Act of 2015

This bill amends the Mineral Leasing Act to repeal the requirement that the Department of the Interior offer under a deferred bonus lease payment system at least 50% of total acreage offered for coal leasing in any one year.

Any independent consultants used by Interior for lease sales shall be subject to a nondisclosure agreement and any other confidentiality requirements.

Licensees must certify the accuracy of exploration data they submit.

A proposed lease sale may not be held until Interior determines, and includes in a formal appraisal report, the fair market value of the coal to be extracted.

Interior must: (1) make publicly available appraisal reports, individual and total lease sales, high bids, royalty payments, and related revenues; and (2) find that a proposed coal leasing modification would not result in revenue reduction.

The total area of coal leasing modifications is reduced from 960 to 160 acres.

Interior shall prepare, periodically revise, and maintain a coal leasing program consisting of a schedule of proposed lease sales indicating the size, timing, and location of leasing activity that will best meet national needs for the five-year period following approval or reapproval of the program.

Annual lease rentals must be for at least $100 per acre, adjustable every 5 years.

Lease terms are reduced from 20 to 10 years. A lease which is not producing in commercial quantities shall be terminated at the end of 5 years.

The minimum lease royalty is increased from 12.5% of the value of the coal to 18.75%.

BLM shall promulgate regulations for inspections and enforcement of coal operations, including oversight of state inspection and enforcement programs by its Washington, D.C. office. BLM may also assess civil penalties for noncompliance.

There shall be a moratorium on new coal lease sales until this Act has been implemented.

]]> COAL Reform Act of 2015 Display Title COAL Reform Act of 2015 Official Title as Introduced A bill to amend the Mineral Leasing Act to improve coal leasing, and for other purposes. Introduced in Senate IS Short Titles as Introduced COAL Reform Act of 2015 Short Titles as Introduced Coal Oversight and Leasing Reform Act of 2015 Introduced in Senate 2015-05-14T04:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-114s1340is/xml/BILLS-114s1340is.xml 2015-06-09 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries and statuses for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.