30 U.S.C. § 352 — Deposits subject to lease; consent of department heads; lands excluded

submitted 79 years ago by ch. 513 to r/title-30-MINERAL-LANDS-AND-MINING · 430 words · no verdicts yet

in plain englishAI-generated · not legal advice

The Secretary can lease coal, oil, gas, and other minerals under land the U.S. acquired. This excludes land in cities, parks, tidelands, and submerged land, and needs the other agency's consent. It doesn't affect mineral rights in tidelands, submerged lands, or the continental shelf.

This section lets the Secretary lease certain minerals under land the United States has acquired (not land bought back through foreclosure or resale, and not land declared surplus under a 1944 law). The minerals covered are coal, phosphate, oil, oil shale, gilsonite (including all solid, vein-type hydrocarbons), gas, sodium, potassium, and sulfur -- but only if the U.S. already owns them, or gets them later, and only on acquired land that isn't (a) inside an incorporated city, town, or village, a national park, or a monument, or (b) tidelands or submerged land. These deposits can be leased the same way as under the regular mineral leasing laws, subject to this section's own rules. Coal or lignite under land set aside for military or naval use can also be leased -- with the Secretary of Defense's agreement -- to a state-connected public power entity (like a state agency or corporation) that sells electricity to the public, as long as that entity is in the same state as the land. The sulfur-leasing rules found elsewhere in this title (subchapter VIII of chapter 3A) apply to all sulfur deposits covered here, wherever located. No mineral deposit under this section can be leased without the consent of whichever federal agency has jurisdiction over that land -- or holds an unpaid mortgage on it -- and that agency can attach conditions to protect the land's main use. Finally, nothing in this chapter affects mineral rights, permits, leases, or minerals in tidelands, submerged lands, or the three-mile coastal zone -- including the specific area at issue in the (then-pending) United States v. California case -- or in that same zone or the continental shelf next to any U.S. land.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

Except where lands have been acquired by the United States for the development of the mineral deposits, by foreclosure or otherwise for resale, or reported as surplus pursuant to the provisions of the Surplus Property Act of October 3, 1944 (50 U.S.C., sec. 1611 and the following),1 all deposits of coal, phosphate, oil, oil shale, gilsonite (including all vein-type solid hydrocarbons), gas, sodium, potassium, and sulfur which are owned or may hereafter be acquired by the United States and which are within the lands acquired by the United States (exclusive of such deposits in such acquired lands as are (a) situated within incorporated cities, towns and villages, national parks or monuments, or (b) tidelands or submerged lands) may be leased by the Secretary under the same conditions as contained in the leasing provisions of the mineral leasing laws, subject to the provisions hereof. Coal or lignite under acquired lands set apart for military or naval purposes may be leased by the Secretary, with the concurrence of the Secretary of Defense, to a governmental entity (including any corporation primarily acting as an agency or instrumentality of a State) which produces electrical energy for sale to the public if such governmental entity is located in the State in which such lands are located. The provisions of subchapter VIII of chapter 3A of this title shall apply to deposits of sulfur covered by this chapter wherever situated. No mineral deposit covered by this section shall be leased except with the consent of the head of the executive department, independent establishment, or instrumentality having jurisdiction over the lands containing such deposit, or holding a mortgage or deed of trust secured by such lands which is unsatisfied of record, and subject to such conditions as that official may prescribe to insure the adequate utilization of the lands for the primary purposes for which they have been acquired or are being administered: Provided, That nothing in this chapter is intended, or shall be construed, to apply to or in any manner affect any mineral rights, exploration permits, leases or conveyances nor minerals that are or may be in any tidelands; or submerged lands; or in lands underlying the three mile zone or belt involved in the case of the United States of America against the State of California now pending on application for rehearing in the Supreme Court of the United States; or in lands underlying such three mile zone or belt, or the continental shelf, adjacent or littoral to any part of the land within the jurisdiction of the United States of America.

Source credit: (Aug. 7, 1947, ch. 513, § 3, 61 Stat. 914; Pub. L. 94–377, § 12, Aug. 4, 1976, 90 Stat. 1090; Pub. L. 97–78, § 1(9)(b), Nov. 16, 1981, 95 Stat. 1072.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

1947Enacted · Act of Aug. 7, 1947, ch. 513 · 61 Stat. 914
1976Amended · Pub. L. 94-377 · 90 Stat. 1090
1981Amended · Pub. L. 97-78 · 95 Stat. 1072

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by ch. 513 on 1947-08-07.

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