43 U.S.C. § 158 — Mineral resources on withdrawn lands; disposition and exploration

submitted 68 years ago by Pub. L. 85-337 to r/title-43-PUBLIC-LANDS · 150 words · no verdicts yet

in plain englishAI-generated · not legal advice

The government sets aside public lands for the Department of Defense. The Secretary of the Interior controls the minerals on that land, unless it was reserved for naval oil, gas, or coal. Mining follows normal public land laws, unless the Secretary of Defense says mining would hurt military use.

When the government sets aside public land for the Department of Defense, special rules apply to the minerals there. This does not apply to land reserved specifically as naval petroleum, naval oil shale, or naval coal reserves — those follow different rules. For land withdrawn or reserved for the Department of Defense, all minerals — including oil and gas — belong under the control of the Secretary of the Interior, not the Department of Defense. Nobody can dispose of these minerals or explore for them except under the normal public land mining and mineral leasing laws. There's one exception. The Secretary of Defense can block mineral disposition or exploration on this land. To do that, the Secretary of Defense must first consult with the Secretary of the Interior, and then determine that allowing mining or exploration would conflict with the military's use of the land.

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

All withdrawals or reservations of public lands for the use of any agency of the Department of Defense, except lands withdrawn or reserved specifically as naval petroleum, naval oil shale, or naval coal reserves, heretofore or hereafter made by the United States, shall be deemed to be subject to the condition that all minerals, including oil and gas, in the lands so withdrawn or reserved are under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior and there shall be no disposition of, or exploration for, any minerals in such lands except under the applicable public land mining and mineral leasing laws: Provided, That no disposition of, or exploration for, any minerals in such lands shall be made where the Secretary of Defense, after consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, determines that such disposition or exploration is inconsistent with the military use of the lands so withdrawn or reserved.

Source credit: (Pub. L. 85–337, § 6, Feb. 28, 1958, 72 Stat. 30.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

1958Enacted · Pub. L. 85-337 · 72 Stat. 30

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 85-337 on 1958-02-28.

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