[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 203 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 203

   To reduce temporarily the royalty required to be paid for sodium 
           produced on Federal lands, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 31, 2005

  Mr. Thomas introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To reduce temporarily the royalty required to be paid for sodium 
           produced on Federal lands, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Soda Ash Royalty Reduction Act of 
2005''.

SEC. 2. REDUCTION IN ROYALTY RATE ON SODA ASH.

    Notwithstanding section 102(a)(9) of the Federal Land Policy 
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701(a)(9)), section 24 of the 
Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 262), and the terms of any lease under 
that Act, the royalty rate on the quantity or gross value of the output 
of sodium compounds and related products at the point of shipment to 
market from Federal land in the 5-year period beginning on the date of 
the enactment of this Act shall be 2 percent.

SEC. 3. STUDY.

    After the end of the 4-year period beginning on the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and before the end of the 5-year period 
beginning on that date, the Secretary of the Interior shall report to 
the Congress on the effects of the royalty reduction under this Act, 
including--
            (1) the amount of sodium compounds and related products at 
        the point of shipment to market from Federal land during that 
        4-year period;
            (2) the number of jobs that have been created or maintained 
        during the royalty reduction period;
            (3) the total amount of royalty paid to the United States 
        on the quantity or gross value of the output of sodium 
        compounds and related products at the point of shipment to 
        market produced during that 4-year period, and the portion of 
        such royalty paid to States; and
            (4) a recommendation of whether the reduced royalty rate 
        should apply after the end of the 5-year period beginning on 
        the date of the enactment of this Act.
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