[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 124 (Thursday, June 29, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Page 29581]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-13630]



[[Page 29581]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLNM921200 L1320000.EL0000 17X]


Extension of the Category 5 Royalty Rate Reduction Qualification 
for Oklahoma Federal Coal Within a Designated Area of Nine Oklahoma 
Counties (OKNM 96155)

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This Notice announces that Federal coal lands located within 
the nine Oklahoma Counties of Atoka, Coal, Haskell, Latimer, LeFlore, 
McIntosh, Muskogee, Pittsburgh, and Sequoyah continue to qualify as a 
Category 5 royalty rate reduction area (Area) as set forth in the 
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Royalty Rate Reduction Guidelines and 
BLM Manual 3485, Reports, Royalties, and Records. Analysis by the BLM 
New Mexico State Office indicates that there have been no significant 
changes in the coal market for the Area during the last five years. 
Therefore, the BLM State Director for the New Mexico State Office has 
decided to extend the qualification of the area for Category 5 royalty 
rate reductions until December 17, 2019.

DATES: The qualification of the designated area for Category 5 royalty 
rate reductions is extended until December 17, 2019.

ADDRESSES: New Mexico State Office, Bureau of Land Management, P.O. Box 
27115, Santa Fe, NM 87502.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ida Viarreal, 505-954-2163, 
[email protected]. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the 
deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8229 
to contact the above individual during normal business hours. The FRS 
is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or 
question with the above individual. You will receive a reply during 
normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The New Mexico State Office first designated 
these same nine counties in Oklahoma as a Category 5 area effective 
December 17, 1990, (56 FR 27771). A Category 5 area may be established 
only if all of the following criteria are affirmed to exist:
    1. The Federal coal resources are not the dominant coal resources 
available for mining in the area;
    2. The royalty rate for Federal coal leases (43 CFR 3473.3-2(a)) is 
greater than the royalty rate for comparable non-Federal coal in the 
area;
    3. The Federal coal resources in the area would be bypassed or 
remain undeveloped in favor of development of non-Federal coal 
resources due to the difference in royalty rate;
    4. The above conditions exist throughout the area; and
    5. A royalty rate reduction under this category is not likely to 
result in undue competitive advantages over neighboring coal producing 
areas.
    The BLM has concluded that the nine-county Oklahoma Area continues 
to meet all of these criteria. The royalty rates for Federal coal in 
the Area shall continue to be: 2 Percent for Federal coal mined by 
underground mining methods and 4 percent for Federal coal mined by 
surface mining methods, rather than the full Federal rates of 8 percent 
and 12.5 percent, respectively. This extension of rate reduction helps 
to support the Area's continued economic viability and encourages the 
greatest ultimate recovery of the Federal coal resources. These royalty 
rates are only granted if the Federal coal lessee applies to the BLM in 
writing for a Category 5 royalty rate reduction and the BLM approves 
the application.

    Authority: 43 CFR 3473.3-2(e) and 43 CFR 3485.2(c).

Amy Lueders,
State Director, New Mexico.
[FR Doc. 2017-13630 Filed 6-28-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4310-FB-P