[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 133 (Monday, October 23, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H10494-H10495]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  COAL MARKET COMPETITION ACT OF 2000

  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the Senate bill (S. 2300) to amend the Mineral Leasing Act to 
increase the maximum acreage of Federal leases for coal that may be 
held by an entity in any 1 State.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                S. 2300

       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 Market Competition Act 
     of 2000''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) Federal land contains commercial deposits of coal, the 
     Nation's largest deposits of coal being located on Federal 
     land in Utah, Colorado, Montana, and the Powder River Basin 
     of Wyoming;
       (2) coal is mined on Federal land through Federal coal 
     leases under the Act of February 25, 1920 (commonly known as 
     the ``Mineral Leasing Act'') (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.);
       (3) the sub-bituminous coal from these mines is low in 
     sulfur, making it the cleanest burning coal for energy 
     production;
       (4) the Mineral Leasing Act sets for each leasable mineral 
     a limitation on the amount of acreage of Federal leases any 1 
     producer may hold in any 1 State or nationally;
       (5)(A) the present acreage limitation for Federal coal 
     leases has been in place since 1976;
       (B) currently the coal lease acreage limit of 46,080 acres 
     per State is less than the per-State Federal lease acreage 
     limit for potash (96,000 acres) and oil and gas (246,080 
     acres);
       (6) coal producers in Wyoming and Utah are operating mines 
     on Federal leaseholds that contain total acreage close to the 
     coal lease acreage ceiling;
       (7) the same reasons that Congress cited in enacting 
     increases for State lease acreage caps applicable in the case 
     of other minerals--the advent of modern mine technology, 
     changes in industry economics, greater global competition, 
     and the need to conserve Federal resources--apply to coal;
       (8) existing coal mines require additional lease acreage to 
     avoid premature closure, but those mines cannot relinquish 
     mined-out areas to lease new acreage because those areas are 
     subject to 10-year reclamation plans, and the reclaimed 
     acreage is counted against the State and national acreage 
     limits;
       (9) to enable them to make long-term business decisions 
     affecting the type and amount of additional infrastructure 
     investments, coal producers need certainty that sufficient 
     acreage of leasable coal will be available for mining in the 
     future; and
       (10) to maintain the vitality of the domestic coal industry 
     and ensure the continued flow of valuable revenues to the 
     Federal and State governments and of energy to the American 
     public from coal production on Federal land, the Mineral 
     Leasing Act should be amended to increase the acreage 
     limitation for Federal coal leases.

     SEC. 3. COAL MINING ON FEDERAL LAND.

       Section 27(a) of the Act of February 25, 1920 (30 U.S.C. 
     184(a)), is amended--
       (1) by striking ``(a)'' and all that follows through ``No 
     person'' and inserting ``(a) Coal Leases.--No person'';
       (2) by striking ``forty-six thousand and eighty acres'' and 
     inserting ``75,000 acres''; and
       (3) by striking ``one hundred thousand acres'' each place 
     it appears and inserting ``150,000 acres''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Alaska (Mr. Young) and the gentleman from California (Mr. George 
Miller) each will control 20 minutes.

[[Page H10495]]

  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young).
  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 2300, the Coal Market 
Competition Act of 2000. Today, half of our Nation's coal supply comes 
from the west side of the Mississippi River, where the vast majority of 
that coal is mined in States with significant Federal ownership of the 
mineral estate, including the ownership of the coal resource.

                              {time}  1430

  The Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended, governs the disposition 
of the right to mine such coal.
  Currently, the act limits an entity to no more than a cumulative 
total of 100,000 acres nationally under federal coal leases, and no 
more than 46,080 acres in any one State. Congress has increased coal 
acreage limitation three times since the passage of the original act, 
most recently in 1976. But the Statewide limitation has not been 
changed in 36 years, despite significant changes in the coal mining 
industry. S. 2300 would increase the acreage limit to 75,000 acres per 
State and 150,000 acres nationwide.
  These changes are necessary if our coal industry is going to remain 
competitive in the production of energy resource which is so important 
to domestic energy needs. The Coal Market Competition Act of 2000 will 
better serve America's energy needs by helping our coal industry plan 
for the future.
  Thus I ask my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, S. 2300 would amend the Mineral Leasing Act to increase 
the maximum acreage of Federal leases for coal that may be held by an 
entity in any one State.
  The administration supports this legislation. CBO estimates, however, 
that enacting this legislation will not have any significant impact on 
Federal receipts from coal leaseholders or subsequent payments to the 
States for their share of those receipts.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Stearns). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Alaska (Mr. Young) that the House suspend 
the rules and pass the Senate bill, S. 2300.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the Senate bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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