--- kind: "range" citation: "30 U.S.C. §§ 202–207" title: "30" from: "202" to: "207" count: 7 release: "119-102" url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/30/202..207" --- # §202. Common carriers; limitations of lease or permit No company or corporation operating a common-carrier railroad shall be given or hold a permit or lease under the provisions of this chapter for any coal deposits except for its own use for railroad purposes; and such limitations of use shall be expressed in all permits and leases issued to such companies or corporations; and no such company or corporation shall receive or hold under permit or lease more than ten thousand two hundred and forty acres in the aggregate nor more than one permit or lease for each two hundred miles of its railroad lines served or to be served from such coal deposits exclusive of spurs or switches and exclusive of branch lines built to connect the leased coal with the railroad, and also exclusive of parts of the railroad operated mainly by power produced otherwise than by steam. Nothing in this section and [section 201 of this title](/usc/30/201.md) shall preclude such a railroad of less than two hundred miles in length from securing one permit or lease thereunder but no railroad shall hold a permit or lease for lands in any State in which it does not operate main or branch lines. # §202a. Consolidation of coal leases into logical mining unit - (1) **Approval by Secretary; public hearing; definition—** The Secretary, upon determining that maximum economic recovery of the coal deposit or deposits is served thereby, may approve the consolidation of coal leases into a logical mining unit. Such consolidation may only take place after a public hearing, if requested by any person whose interest is or may be adversely affected. A logical mining unit is an area of land in which the coal resources can be developed in an efficient, economical, and orderly manner as a unit with due regard to conservation of coal reserves and other resources. A logical mining unit may consist of one or more Federal leaseholds, and may include intervening or adjacent lands in which the United States does not own the coal resources, but all the lands in a logical mining unit must be under the effective control of a single operator, be able to be developed and operated as a single operation and be contiguous. - (2) **Mining plan; requirements—** - (A) After the Secretary has approved the establishment of a logical mining unit, any mining plan approved for that unit must require such diligent development, operation, and production that the reserves of the entire unit will be mined within a period established by the Secretary which shall not be more than forty years. - (B) The Secretary may establish a period of more than 40 years if the Secretary determines that the longer period— - (i) will ensure the maximum economic recovery of a coal deposit; or - (ii) the longer period is in the interest of the orderly, efficient, or economic development of a coal resource. - (3) **Conditions for approval—** In approving a logical mining unit, the Secretary may provide, among other things, that (i) diligent development, continuous operation, and production on any Federal lease or non-Federal land in the logical mining unit shall be construed as occurring on all Federal leases in that logical mining unit, and (ii) the rentals and royalties for all Federal leases in a logical mining unit may be combined, and advanced royalties paid for any lease within a logical mining unit may be credited against such combined royalties. - (4) **Amendment to lease—** The Secretary may amend the provisions of any lease included in a logical mining unit so that mining under that lease will be consistent with the requirements imposed on that logical mining unit. - (5) **Leases issued before date of enactment of this Act—** Leases issued before the date of enactment of this Act may be included with the consent of all lessees in such logical mining unit, and, if so included, shall be subject to the provisions of this section. - (6) **Lessee required to form unit—** By regulation the Secretary may require a lessee under this chapter to form a logical mining unit, and may provide for determination of participating acreage within a unit. - (7) **Required acreage—** No logical mining unit shall be approved by the Secretary if the total acreage (both Federal and non-Federal) of the unit would exceed twenty-five thousand acres. - (8) **Acreage limitations for coal leases not waived—** Nothing in this section shall be construed to waive the acreage limitations for coal leases contained in [section 184(a) of this title](/usc/30/184.md?p=a). # §203. Additional lands or deposits - (a) **In general—** - (1) Except as provided in [paragraph (3)](#a-3), on a finding by the Secretary under [paragraph (2)](#a-2), any person, association, or corporation holding a lease of coal lands or coal deposits under the provisions of this chapter may with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior,[^1] secure modifications of the original coal lease by including additional coal lands or coal deposits contiguous or cornering to those embraced in the lease. - (2) A finding referred to in [paragraph (1)](#a-1) is a finding by the Secretary that the modifications— - (A) would be in the interest of the United States; - (B) would not displace a competitive interest in the lands; and - (C) would not include lands or deposits that can be developed as part of another potential or existing operation. - (3) In no case shall the total area added by modifications to an existing coal lease under [paragraph (1)](#a-1)— - (A) exceed 960 acres; or - (B) add acreage larger than that in the original lease. - (b) **Terms and conditions—** The Secretary shall prescribe terms and conditions which shall be consistent with this chapter and applicable to all of the acreage in such modified lease except that nothing in this section shall require the Secretary to apply the production or mining plan requirements of sections [202a(2)](/usc/30/202a.md?p=2) and [207(c)](/usc/30/207.md?p=c) of this title. - (c) **Royalties—** The minimum royalty provisions of [section 207(a) of this title](/usc/30/207.md?p=a) shall not apply to any lands covered by this modified lease prior to a modification until the term of the original lease or extension thereof which became effective prior to the effective date of this Act has expired. # [§204. Repealed. Pub. L. 94–377, § 13(a), Aug. 4, 1976, 90 Stat. 1090 — repealed] # §205. Consolidation of leases If, in the judgment of the Secretary of the Interior, the public interest will be subserved thereby, lessees holding under lease areas not exceeding the maximum permitted under this chapter may consolidate their leases through the surrender of the original leases and the inclusion of such areas in a new lease of not to exceed two thousand five hundred and sixty acres of contiguous lands. # §206. Noncontiguous coal or phosphate tracts in single lease Where coal or phosphate lands aggregating two thousand five hundred and sixty acres and subject to lease hereunder do not exist as contiguous areas, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized, if, in his opinion the interests of the public and of the lessee will be thereby subserved, to embrace in a single lease noncontiguous tracts which can be operated as a single mine or unit. # §207. Conditions of lease - (a) **Term of lease; annual rentals; royalties; readjustment of conditions—** A coal lease shall be for a term of twenty years and for so long thereafter as coal is produced annually in commercial quantities from that lease. Any lease which is not producing in commercial quantities at the end of ten years shall be terminated. The Secretary shall by regulation prescribe annual rentals on leases. A lease shall require payment of a royalty in such amount as the Secretary shall determine of not less than 12½ percent, except such amount shall be not more than 7 percent during the period that begins on July 4, 2025, and ends September 30, 2034, of the value of coal as defined by regulation, except the Secretary may determine a lesser amount in the case of coal recovered by underground mining operations. The lease shall include such other terms and conditions as the Secretary shall determine. Such rentals and royalties and other terms and conditions of the lease will be subject to readjustment at the end of its primary term of twenty years and at the end of each ten-year period thereafter if the lease is extended. - (b) **Diligent development and continued operation; suspension of condition on payment of advance royalties—** - (1) Each lease shall be subject to the conditions of diligent development and continued operation of the mine or mines, except where operations under the lease are interrupted by strikes, the elements, or casualties not attributable to the lessee. - (2) The Secretary of the Interior, upon determining that the public interest will be served thereby, may suspend the condition of continued operation upon the payment of advance royalties. - (3) Advance royalties described in [paragraph (2)](#b-2) shall be no less than the production royalty which would otherwise be paid and shall be computed on a fixed reserve to production ratio (determined by the Secretary). - (4) Advance royalties described in [paragraph (2)](#b-2) shall be computed— - (A) based on— - (i) the average price in the spot market for sales of comparable coal from the same region during the last month of each applicable continued operation year; or - (ii) in the absence of a spot market for comparable coal from the same region, by using a comparable method established by the Secretary of the Interior to capture the commercial value of coal; and - (B) based on commercial quantities, as defined by regulation by the Secretary of the Interior. - (5) The aggregate number of years during the period of any lease for which advance royalties may be accepted in lieu of the condition of continued operation shall not exceed 20 years. - (6) [^1] The amount of any production royalty paid for any year shall be reduced (but not below 0) by the amount of any advance royalties paid under a lease described in [paragraph (5)](#b-5) to the extent that the advance royalties have not been used to reduce production royalties for a prior year. - (6) [^1] The Secretary may, upon six months’ notification to the lessee cease to accept advance royalties in lieu of the requirement of continued operation. - (7) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to affect the requirement contained in the second sentence of [subsection (a)](#a) relating to commencement of production at the end of ten years. - (c) **Operation and reclamation plan—** Prior to taking any action on a leasehold which might cause a significant disturbance of the environment, the lessee shall submit for the Secretary’s approval an operation and [reclamation plan](/usc/30/1291.md?p=21). The Secretary shall approve or disapprove the plan or require that it be modified. Where the land involved is under the surface jurisdiction of another Federal agency, that other agency must consent to the terms of such approval.