[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 814 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 814

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to promote the development of Federal 
                            coal resources.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 15, 2005

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to promote the development of Federal 
                            coal resources.

    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 ``Coal Leasing Amendments Act of 
2005''.

SEC. 2. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES WITH RESPECT TO BONUS BIDS.

    Section 2(a) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 201(a)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(4)(A) The Secretary shall not require a surety bond or any other 
financial assurance to guarantee payment of deferred bonus bid 
installments with respect to any coal lease issued on a cash bonus bid 
to a lessee or successor in interest having a history of a timely 
payment of noncontested coal royalties and advanced coal royalties in 
lieu of production (where applicable) and bonus bid installment 
payments.
    ``(B) The Secretary may waive any requirement that a lessee provide 
a surety bond or other financial assurance for a coal lease issued 
before the date of enactment of this paragraph only if the Secretary 
determines that the lessee has a history of making the timely payments 
described in subparagraph (A).
    ``(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if the lessee 
under a coal lease fails to pay any installment of a deferred cash 
bonus bid within 10 days after the Secretary provides written notice 
that payment of the installment is past due--
            ``(A) the lease shall automatically terminate; and
            ``(B) any bonus payments already made to the United States 
        with respect to the lease shall not be returned to the lessee 
        or credited in any future lease sale.''.

SEC. 3. MINING PLANS.

    Section 2(d)(2) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 202a(2)) is 
amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(A)'' after ``(2)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(B) The Secretary may establish a period of more than 40 years if 
the Secretary determines that the longer period--
            ``(i) will ensure the maximum economic recovery of a coal 
        deposit; or
            ``(ii) is in the interest of the orderly, efficient, or 
        economic development of a coal resource.''.

SEC. 4. REPEAL OF THE 160-ACRE LIMITATION FOR COAL LEASES.

    Section 3 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 203) is amended in 
the first sentence by striking ``such lease,'' and all that follows 
through the period at the end and inserting ``the lease.''.

SEC. 5. PAYMENT OF ADVANCE ROYALTIES UNDER COAL LEASES.

    (a) In General.--Section 7 of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 (30 
U.S.C. 207) is amended by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 
following:
    ``(b)(1) Each lease shall be subject to the condition of diligent 
development and continued operation of the mine, except in cases in 
which operations under the lease are interrupted by strikes, the 
elements, or casualties not attributable to the lessee.
    ``(2)(A) The Secretary of the Interior may suspend the condition of 
continued operation on the payment of advance royalties if the 
Secretary of the Interior determines that the suspension is in the 
public interest.
    ``(B) The amount of advance royalties to be paid under subparagraph 
(A) shall be determined based on--
            ``(i)(I) the average price in the spot market for sales of 
        coal from the same region during the last month of each 
        applicable continued operation year; or
            ``(II) if there is no spot market for coal from the same 
        region, a comparable method established by the Secretary of the 
        Interior to capture the commercial value of coal; and
            ``(ii) based on commercial quantities, as defined by 
        regulations issued by the Secretary of the Interior.
    ``(C) Advance royalties may be accepted in lieu of the condition of 
continued operation for not more than a total of 20 years during the 
initial term and any extended terms of a lease.
    ``(3)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), the amount of a production 
royalty paid for any year shall be reduced by the amount of any advance 
royalties paid under the lease to the extent that the advance royalties 
have not been used to reduce production royalties for a prior year.
    ``(B) The amount of a production royalty shall not be reduced below 
zero.
    ``(4) This subsection applies to any lease or logical mining unit 
that is--
            ``(A) in existence on the date of enactment of this 
        paragraph; or
            ``(B) issued or approved after the date of enactment of 
        this paragraph.
    ``(5) Nothing in this subsection affects the requirement in the 
second sentence of subsection (a) relating to commencement of 
production at the end of 10 years.''.
    (b) Authority to Waive, Suspend, or Reduce Advance Royalties.--
Section 39 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 209) is amended by 
striking the last sentence.

SEC. 6. ELIMINATION OF DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF COAL LEASE OPERATION 
              AND RECLAMATION PLAN.

    Section 7(c) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 207(c)) is 
amended in the first sentence by striking ``and not later than three 
years after a lease is issued,''.

SEC. 7. INVENTORY REQUIREMENT.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Compliant coal.--The term ``compliant coal'' means coal 
        that contains not less than 1.0 and not more than 1.2 pounds of 
        sulfur dioxide per million Btu.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
            (3) Supercompliant coal.--The term ``supercompliant coal'' 
        means coal that contains less than 1.0 pounds of sulfur dioxide 
        per million Btu.
    (b) Review of Assessments; Inventory.--The Secretary, in 
consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of 
Energy, shall review coal assessments and other available data for 
purposes of preparing an inventory that identifies--
            (1) public land with coal resources;
            (2) the extent and nature of any restrictions or 
        impediments to the development of coal resources on the public 
        land identified under paragraph (1); and
            (3) with respect to areas of the identified public land for 
        which sufficient data exists, resources of compliant coal and 
        supercompliant coal.
    (c) Completion and Updates of Inventory.--
            (1) Completion.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall complete the 
        inventory required under subsection (b).
            (2) Updates.--The Secretary shall update the inventory 
        prepared under subsection (b) as the availability of data and 
        developments in technology warrant.
    (d) Report.--The Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 
Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy 
and Natural Resources of the Senate and make publicly available--
            (1) on completion of the inventory required under 
        subsection (b), a report that includes the inventory; and
            (2) any updates of the inventory prepared under subsection 
        (c)(2).

SEC. 8. APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS.

    The amendments made by this Act apply with respect to any coal 
lease issued before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act.
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