[Senate Report 106-270]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]





                                                       Calendar No. 500

106th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session                                                     106-270

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      TO INCREASE THE MAXIMUM ACREAGE OF FEDERAL LEASES FOR SODIUM

                                _______
                                

                 April 12, 2000.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 3063]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the Act (H.R. 3063) to amend the Mineral Leasing Act 
to increase the maximum acreage of Federal leases for sodium 
that may be held by an entity in any one State, and for other 
purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 
without amendment and recommends that the Act do pass.

                         Purpose of the Measure

    The purpose of H.R. 3063 is to amend the Mineral Leasing 
Act to increase the maximum acreage of Federal leases for 
sodium that may be held by an entity in any one State, and for 
other purposes.

                          Background and Need

    H.R. 3063 would increase the statutory acreage limit on 
producers of sodium minerals from the current maximum of 15,360 
acres to 30,720 acres. The current acreage limitation was 
enacted in 1948 and has not been changed since. Current 
producers are nearing the existing 15,360 acre limit and have 
had to take extraordinary and expensive measures to stay within 
current acreage limitations. Mergers among soda ash firms have 
forced firms to work around acreage limits rather than focusing 
on maximum extraction of the minerals. In addition, new trona 
mining techniques which promote maximum recovery of the 
resource require a larger mine sizes. Other minerals, such as 
coal, oil and gas, and phosphate that have statutory or 
regulatory limits have been increased in the intervening five 
decades. The acreage limitation for potash is set by regulation 
and the BLM just proposed increasing the limit from 51,200 to 
96,000 acres for reasons very similar to those for trona.
    The legislation is not intended to inhibit competition nor 
to create a barrier to new entrants. Ample amounts of federal 
trona acreage will remain available for leasing.

                          Legislative History

    H.R. 3063 was introduced on October 13, 1999, by 
Congresswoman Cubin. On November 16, 1999, the bill passed the 
House by a voice vote. The Subcommittee on Forests and Public 
Land Management held a hearing on H.R. 3063 and its companion 
Senate measure, S. 1722, on February 24, 2000. At the business 
meeting on April 5, 2000, the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources ordered H.R. 3063 reported favorably without 
amendment.

            Committee Recommendation and Tabulation of Votes

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 
open business session on April 5, 2000, by a unanimous voice 
vote of a quorum present recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 
3063 without amendment.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis

    Section 1 describes the findings of the Congress.
    Section 2 amends the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 
184(b)(2)) by increasing the acres to 30,720.

                   Cost and Budgetary Considerations

    The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate of the costs 
of this measure has been requested but was not received at the 
time the report was filed. When the CBO report is available, 
the Chairman will request it to be printed in the Congressional 
Record for the advice of the Senate.

                      Regulatory Impact Evaluation

    In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following 
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in 
carrying out H.R. 3063.
    The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of 
imposing Government-established standards or significant 
economic responsibilities on private individuals and 
businesses.
    No personal information would be collected in administering 
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal 
privacy.
    Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the 
enactment of H.R. 3063, as ordered reported.

                        Executive Communications

    On April 6, 2000 the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources requested legislative reports from the Department of 
the Interior and the Office of Management and Budget setting 
forth Executive agency recommendations on H.R. 3063. These 
reports had not been received at the time the report on H.R. 
3063 was filed. When the reports become available, the Chairman 
will request that they be printed the Congressional Record for 
the advice of the Senate. The testimony provided by the Bureau 
of Land Management at the Subcommittee hearing follows:

 Statement of John Northington, Senior Advisor to the Director, Bureau 
             of Land Management, Department of the Interior

     Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee, thank you for the 
opportunity to come before you to provide the Administration's 
views on S. 1722 and H.R. 3063 which would amend the Mineral 
Leasing Act to double the maximum acreage limits of Federal 
leases for sodium; and S. 1950, another amendment to the 
Mineral Leasing Act which seeks to ensure the orderly 
development of coal, coalbed methane, natural gas, and oil in 
the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana.
    The Administration supports enactment of S. 1722 and H.R. 
3063. They will enhance full, efficient recovery of the Federal 
mineral assets, supporting economic development of a vital 
American industry. The current statutory limit of 15,360 acres 
for sodium leases is hampering, rather than enhancing, the goal 
of full efficient recovery of the sodium resource. Legislation 
is required to raise the acreage limit because it was set by 
the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended.
    We support S. 1722 and H.R. 3063 because: (1) similar 
leasable minerals have higher acreage limits; (2) mergers among 
soda ash firms have forced firms to work around acreage limits 
rather than focusing on maximum extraction of the minerals, and 
(3) new trona mining techniques which promote maximum recovery 
of the resource should be matched with larger mine sizes.
    Trona is mined on Federal lands through Federal sodium 
leases. The primary product of trona mining is soda ash (sodium 
carbonate), a basic industrial chemical that is used for glass 
making and a variety of consumer products, including baking 
soda, detergents and pharmaceuticals. Sweetwater County in 
Southwestern Wyoming contains the world's largest body of trona 
deposits (estimated at 50-100 billion tons). Wyoming produces 
90 percent of US soda ash from trona; 17.7 million tons were 
mined in 1998.
    The sodium lease limit of 15,360 acres in any one state, 30 
U.S.C. 184(b)(2), was established by Congress in a 1948 
amendment to the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920. The trona 
industry was in its infancy at the time of the 1948 acreage 
amendment. Both the trona industry and demand have greatly 
expanded since 1948. Other leasable minerals have much higher 
acreage limits. The acreage limit for some other important 
leasable minerals, whether established by statute or 
regulation, is listed below:

Oil and gas--246,080 acres
Potash--96,000 acres
Coal--46,080 acres

    Ownership patterns within the soda ash industry are 
changing through mergers and acquisitions. Two of the Bureau of 
Land Management's (BLM) sodium lessees in southwest Wyoming, 
FMC and Tg Soda Ash, merged in August 1999. The FMC acquisition 
of the Tg operation and leases in August 1999 and the Solvay 
acquisition of the Church and Dwight sodium leases in January 
1999, have prompted questions by the public and industry as to 
whether the acreage limits for Federal sodium lease holdings 
need to be increased. Lease acreage is evaluated in accordance 
with 43 C.F.R. 3503.38, which assigns proportional ownership 
shares to the respective parties. FMC-Tg relinquished some 
leases during their merger process. BLM believes that it is in 
the public interest to allow companies to continue to hold 
mined-out acreage in support of existing operations where there 
is the possibility of future secondary recovery.
    Mining technology has improved. Underground room-and-pillar 
mining, using a combination of conventional, continuous, and 
shortwall mining equipment, is the primary method of mining 
Wyoming trona ore. This method has an average 45% mining 
recovery, which is higher than the 30% average mining recovery 
from solution mining. Improved solution mining techniques, such 
as horizontal drilling to establish communication between well 
pairs, could increase this extraction rate and enable companies 
to develop some of the deeper trona economically. Technological 
advances are linked to the need for higher acreage limits 
because mined acreage must be retained--thus counted against 
acreage limits--by the mine operator for access and 
ventilation. New in-situ mining and processing techniques may 
be developed in the future.
    The need for an increase in acreage limit is apparent when 
we note that the penalty for an acreage violation is lease 
cancellation (30 U.S.C. 184(h)(1)). The next lease renewal 
cycle for trona firms in the Green River Basin of Wyoming is 
2006.

                        Changes in Existing Law

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by 
the bill H.R. 3063, as ordered reported, as shown as follows 
(existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black 
brackets, new matter is printed in italic, existing law in 
which no change is proposed is shown in roman):

THE ACT OF FEBRUARY 25, 1920 (MINERAL LEASING ACT)

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SEC. 27 * * *

    (b)(1) No person, association, or corporation, except as 
otherwise provided in this subsection, shall take, hold, own, 
or control at one time, whether acquired directly from the 
Secretary under this Act or otherwise, sodium leases or permits 
on an aggregate of more than five thousand one hundred and 
twenty acres in any one State.
    (2) The Secretary may, in his discretion, where the same is 
necessary in order to secure the economic mining of sodium 
compounds leasable under this Act, permit a person, 
association, or corporation to take or hold sodium leases or 
permits on up to [fifteen thousand three hundred and sixty] 
30,720 acres in any one State.

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