30 U.S.C. § 262 — Leases to permittees; survey of lands; roy-

Page 88 TITLE 30—MINERAL LANDS AND MINING § 261 leases in number and not exceeding an aggregate of one thousand two hundred and eighty acres in each: Provided, That the annual lease rentals for lands in the Territory of Alaska not within any known geological structure of a producing oil or gas field and the royalty payments from produc- tion of oil or gas sold or removed from such lands shall be identical with those prescribed for such leases covering similar lands in the States of the United States, except that leases which may issue pursuant to applications or offers to lease such lands, which applications or offers were filed prior to and were pending on May 3, 1958, shall require the payment of 25 cents per acre as lease rental for the first year of such leases; but the aforesaid exception shall not apply in any way to royalties to be required under leases which may issue pursuant to offers or applications filed prior to May 3, 1958. The Secretary of the Interior shall neither prescribe nor approve any cooperative or unit plan of development or operation nor any oper- ating, drilling, or development contract estab- lishing different royalty or rental rates for Alas- ka lands than for similar lands within the States of the United States. No claimant for a lease who has been guilty of any fraud or who had knowledge or reasonable grounds to know of any fraud, or who has not acted honestly and in good faith, shall be enti- tled to any of the benefits of this section. (Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, § 22, 41 Stat. 446; Pub. L. 85–505, § 10, July 3, 1958, 72 Stat. 324.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1958—Pub. L. 85–505 struck out provisions which re- lated to prospecting permits, provided that the annual lease rentals and royalty payments shall be identical with those prescribed for leases covering similar lands in the States of the United States, permitted a pay- ment of 25 cents per acre as lease rental for the first year of the lease in those leases issued pursuant to ap- plications or offers filed prior to and pending on May 3, 1958, and prohibited the Secretary from prescribing or approving any cooperative or unit plan of development or operation or any operating, drilling, or development contract establishing different royalty or rental rates for Alaska lands than for similar lands within the States of the United States. Executive Documents ADMISSION OF ALASKA AS STATE Admission of Alaska into the Union was accom- plished Jan. 3, 1959, on issuance of Proc. No. 3269, Jan. 3, 1959, 24 F.R. 81, 73 Stat. c16, as required by sections 1 and 8(c) of Pub. L. 85–508, July 7, 1958, 72 Stat. 339, set out as notes preceding section 21 of Title 48, Territories and Insular Possessions. SUBCHAPTER VII—SODIUM § 261. Prospecting permits; lands included; acre- age The Secretary of the Interior is hereby au- thorized, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, to grant to any qualified appli- cant a prospecting permit which shall give the exclusive right to prospect for chlorides, sulphates, carbonates, borates, silicates, or ni- trates of sodium, in lands belonging to the United States for a period of not exceeding two years: Provided, That the area to be included in such a permit shall not exceed two thousand five hundred and sixty acres of land in reasonably compact form. (Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, § 23, 41 Stat. 447; Dec. 11, 1928, ch. 19, 45 Stat. 1019.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1928—Act Dec. 11, 1928, struck out ‘‘and directed’’ after ‘‘authorized’’, ‘‘dissolved in and soluble in water, and accumulated by concentration, in lands belonging to the United States for a period not exceeding two years,’’ after ‘‘nitrates of sodium’’, and last proviso which read ‘‘Provided further, That the provisions of this section shall not apply to lands in San Bernardino County, California.’’ § 262. Leases to permittees; survey of lands; roy- alties and annual rentals Upon showing to the satisfaction of the Sec- retary of the Interior that valuable deposits of one of the substances enumerated in section 261 of this title have been discovered by the per- mittee within the area covered by his permit and that such land is chiefly valuable therefor, the permittee shall be entitled to a lease for any or all of the land embraced in the prospecting permit at a royalty of not less than 2 per cen- tum of the quantity or gross value of the output of sodium compounds and other related products at the point of shipment to market; the lands in such lease to be taken in compact form by legal subdivisions of the public land surveys or, if the land be not surveyed, by survey executed at the cost of the permittee in accordance with regula- tions prescribed by the Secretary of the Inte- rior. Lands known to contain valuable deposits of one of the substances enumerated in section 261 of this title and not covered by permits or leases shall be subject to lease by the Secretary of the Interior through advertisement, competi- tive bidding, or such other methods as he may by general regulations adopt and in such areas as he shall fix, not exceeding two thousand five hundred and sixty acres. All leases under this section shall be conditioned upon the payment by the lessee of such royalty as may be fixed in the lease, not less than 2 per centum of the quantity or gross value of the output of sodium compounds and other related products at the point of shipment to market, and the payment in advance of a rental of 25 cents per acre for the first calendar year or fraction thereof, 50 cents per acre for the second, third, fourth, and fifth calendar years respectively; and $1 per acre per annum thereafter during the continuance of the lease, such rental for any one year to be credited against royalties accruing for that year. Leases under this section shall be for a period of twenty years, with preferential right in the lessee to renew for successive periods of ten years upon such reasonable terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior un- less otherwise provided by law at the expiration of such period: Provided, That nothing in this chapter shall prohibit the mining and sale of so- dium compounds under potassium leases issued pursuant to subchapter VII [§ 141 et seq.] of chap- Page 89 TITLE 30—MINERAL LANDS AND MINING § 272 ter 3 of this title and subchapter IX of this chap- ter, nor the mining and sale of potassium com- pounds as a byproduct from sodium leases taken under this section: Provided further, That on ap- plication by any lessee the Secretary of the In- terior is authorized to modify the rental and royalty provisions stipulated in any existing so- dium lease to conform to the provisions of this section. (Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, § 24, 41 Stat. 447; Dec. 11, 1928, ch. 19, 45 Stat. 1019.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Subchapter VII [§ 141 et seq.] of chapter 3 of this title, referred to in text, was repealed by act Feb. 7, 1927, ch. 66, § 6, 44 Stat. 1058. Subchapter IX of this chapter, referred to in text, was in the original ‘‘act February 7, 1927 (Forty-fourth Statutes at Large, page 1057)’’ meaning act Feb. 7, 1927, ch. 66, 44 Stat. 1057, which enacted subchapter IX (§ 281 et seq.) of this chapter, amended sections 181 and 193 of this title, and repealed subchapter VII (§ 141 et seq.) of chapter 3 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables. AMENDMENTS 1928—Act Dec. 11, 1928, amended section generally. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries SODA ASH ROYALTIES Pub. L. 113–40, § 10(e), Oct. 2, 2013, 127 Stat. 546, pro- vided that: ‘‘Notwithstanding section 24 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 262) and the terms of any lease under that Act [30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.], the royalty rate on the quantity of gross value of the output of sodium compounds and related products at the point of ship- ment to market from Federal land in the 2-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 2, 2013] shall be 4 percent.’’ SODA ASH ROYALTY REDUCTION Pub. L. 109–338, title I, Oct. 12, 2006, 120 Stat. 1786, pro- vided that: ‘‘SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. ‘‘This title may be cited as the ‘Soda Ash Royalty Reduction Act of 2006’. ‘‘SEC. 102. REDUCTION IN ROYALTY RATE ON SODA ASH. ‘‘Notwithstanding section 102(a)(9) of the Federal Land Policy [and] Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701(a)(9)), section 24 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 262), and the terms of any lease under that Act [30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.], the royalty rate on the quantity or gross value of the output of sodium compounds and related products at the point of shipment to market from Federal land in the 5-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 12, 2006] shall be 2 percent. ‘‘SEC. 103. STUDY. ‘‘After the end of the 4-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 12, 2006], and before the end of the 5-year period beginning on that date, the Secretary of the Interior shall report to Congress on the effects of the royalty reduction under this title, in- cluding— ‘‘(1) the amount of sodium compounds and related products at the point of shipment to market from Federal land during that 4-year period; ‘‘(2) the number of jobs that have been created or maintained during the royalty reduction period; ‘‘(3) the total amount of royalty paid to the United States on the quantity or gross value of the output of sodium compounds and related products at the point of shipment to market produced during that 4-year period, and the portion of such royalty paid to States; and ‘‘(4) a recommendation of whether the reduced roy- alty rate should apply after the end of the 5-year pe- riod beginning on the date of enactment of this Act.’’ § 263. Permits to use or lease of nonmineral lands for camp sites, and other purposes; annual rentals; acreage In addition to areas of such mineral land which may be included in any such prospecting permits or leases, the Secretary of the Interior, in his discretion, may grant to a permittee or lessee of lands containing sodium deposits, and subject to the payment of an annual rental of not less than 25 cents per acre, the exclusive right to use, during the life of the permit or lease, a tract of unoccupied nonmineral public land, not exceeding forty acres in area, for camp sites, refining works, and other purposes con- nected with and necessary to the proper develop- ment and use of the deposits covered by the per- mit or lease. (Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, § 25, 41 Stat. 447.) SUBCHAPTER VIII—SULPHUR § 271. Prospecting permits; lands included; acre- age The Secretary of the Interior is hereby au- thorized and directed, under such rules and regu- lations as he may prescribe, to grant to any qualified applicant a prospecting permit which shall give the exclusive right to prospect for sul- phur in lands belonging to the United States lo- cated in the States of Louisiana and New Mexico for a period of not exceeding two years: Provided, That the area to be included in such a permit shall be not exceeding six hundred and forty acres of land in reasonably compact form. (Apr. 17, 1926, ch. 158, § 1, 44 Stat. 301; July 16, 1932, ch. 498, 47 Stat. 701.) Editorial Notes CODIFICATION Section was not enacted as part of act Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, 41 Stat. 437, known as the Mineral Leasing Act, which comprises this chapter. AMENDMENTS 1932—Act July 16, 1932, substituted ‘‘States of Lou- isiana and New Mexico’’ for ‘‘State of Louisiana’’. § 272. Leases to permittees; privileges extended to oil and gas permittees Upon showing to the satisfaction of the Sec- retary of the Interior that valuable deposits of sulphur have been discovered by the permittee within the area covered by his permit, and that the land is chiefly valuable therefor, the per- mittee shall be entitled to a lease for any or all of the land embraced in the prospecting permit, at a royalty of 5 per centum of the quantity or gross value of the output of sulphur at the point of shipment to market, such lease to be taken in compact form by legal subdivisions of the pub- lic-land surveys; or if the land be not surveyed, by survey executed at the cost of the permittee