42 U.S.C. § 13554 — Tar sands

(a) Policy: It is U.S. policy to promote developing and producing tar sands deposits, using methods consistent with sound engineering, economic, and environmental practices. (b) "Tar sands" defined: (1) Here, "tar sands" means any solid or loose rock — other than coal, oil shale, or gilsonite — that either (A) contains hydrocarbon material with a gas-free viscosity, at the reservoir's original temperature, greater than 10,000 centipoise, or (B) contains hydrocarbon material and is produced by mining or quarrying. (2) Nothing here changes how "tar sands" is defined anywhere else in federal law. (c) Study: Within one year of October 24, 1992, the Secretary, working with the Secretary of the Interior, had to send a study to the House and to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The study had to identify and evaluate the potential to develop U.S. tar sands sources, identify and evaluate processes for extracting oil from them (including existing waste tailings), and evaluate the environmental benefits and mineral- or metal-recovery potential of those processes. (d) Authorization of appropriations: Congress authorized whatever funding was needed for fiscal years 1993 and 1994 to carry out this section.