* Act of August 7, 1947 (P.L. 80-382, Ch. 513, 61 Stat. 913, as amended; 30 U.S.C. 351(note), 351-360)

Short Title

Sec. 1. This Act may be cited as the "Mineral Leasing Act for Ac-quired Lands." (30 U.S.C. 351 (note))

Definitions

Sec. 2. As used in this Act "United States" includes Alaska. "Acquired lands" or "lands acquired by the United States" include all lands heretofore or hereafter acquired by the United States to which the "mineral leasing laws" have not been extended, including such lands acquired under the provi-sions of the Act of March 1, 1911 (36 Stat. 961). "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Interior. "Min-eral leasing laws" shall mean the Act of October 20, 1914 (38 Stat. 741); the Act of February 25, 1920 (41 Stat. 437); the Act of April 17, 1926 (44 Stat. 301); the Act of February 7, 1927 (44 Stat. 1057), and all Acts heretofore or hereafter enacted which are amendatory or supplementary to any of the forego-ing Acts. "Lease" includes "pros-pecting permit" unless the context otherwise requires. The term "oil" shall embrace all nongaseous hydrocarbon substances other than those leasable as coal, oil shale, or gilsonite (including all vein-type solid hydrocarbons). (30 U.S.C. 351)

Deposits Subject to Lease

Sec. 3. 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 1944, 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 incorporat-ed cities, towns, and villages, Na-tional Parks or Monuments, or (b) tide-lands or sub-merged lands) may be leased by the Secre-tary under the same conditions as contained in the leasing provisions of the mineral leasing laws subject to the provi-sions 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 govern-mental entity is located in the State in which such lands are located. The provisions of the Act of April 17, 1926 (44 Stat. 301) shall apply to depos-its of sulfur covered by this Act wherever situated. No mineral deposits cov-ered by this Section shall be leased except with the consent of the head of the executive department, inde-pendent establish-ment, or instrumen-tality having jurisdiction over the lands contain-ing such deposits, 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 Act 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. (30 U.S.C. 352)

Sale of Lands Unaffected

Sec. 4. Nothing herein contained shall be deemed or construed to (a) amend, modify, or change any exist-ing law authorizing or requiring the sale of acquired lands, or (b) em-power any commission, bureau, or agency of the Government to make a reservation of the minerals in the sale of any acquired land: Provid-ed, That any such sale or convey-ance of lands shall be made by the agency having jurisdiction thereof, subject to any lease theretofore made, covering the mineral deposits underlying such lands: Provided further, That nothing in this chapter is intended, or shall be construed to affect in any manner any provision of the Act of June 30, 1938 amend-ing the Act of June 4, 1920. (30 U.S.C. 353)

Lease of Partial or Future Inter-ests in Deposits

Sec. 5. Where the United States does not own all of the mineral deposits under any lands sought to be leased and which are affected by this Act, the Secretary is authorized to lease the interest of the United States in any such mineral deposits when, in the judgment of the Secre-tary, the public interest will be best served thereby; subject, however, to the provisions of section 3 hereof. Where the United States does not own any interest or owns less than a full interest in the minerals that may be produced from any lands sought to be leased, and which are or will be affected by this Act and where, under the provisions of its acquisition, the United States is to acquire all or any part of such min-eral deposits in the future, the Sec-retary may lease any interest of theUnited States then owned or to be acquired in the future in the same manner as provided in the preceding sentence. (30 U.S.C. 354)

Disposition of Receipts

Sec. 6. (a) All receipts derived from leases issued under the author-ity of this Act shall be paid into the same funds or accounts in the Treasury and shall be distributed in the same manner as prescribed for other re-ceipts from the lands affected by the lease, the intention of this provi-sion being that this Act shall not affect the distribution of receipts pursuant to legislation applicable to such lands: Provided, however, That receipts from leases or permits for minerals in lands set apart for Indi-an use, including lands the juris-dic-tion of which has been trans-ferred to the Department of the Interior by the Executive order for Indian use, shall be deposited in a special fund in the Treasury until final disposi-tion thereof by the Con-gress. Notwith-standing the preced-ing provisions of this section, all receipts derived from leases on lands acquired for military or naval purposes, except the naval petro-leum reserves and national oil shale reserves, shall be paid into the Trea-sury of the United States and dis-posed of in the same manner as provided under section 35 of the Act of February 25, 1920 (41 Stat. 450; 30 U.S.C. 191), in the case of re-ceipts from sales, bonuses, royal-ties, and rentals of the public lands under that Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.).

(b) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, any payment to a State under this section shall be made by the Secretary of the Interi-or and shall be made not later than the last business day of the month following the month in which such moneys or associated reports are received by the Secretary of the Interior, whichever is later. The Secretary shall pay interest to a State on any amount not paid to the State within that time at the rate prescribed under section 111 of the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 from the date payment was required to be made under this subsection until the date payment is made. (30 U.S.C. 355)

Records and Documents

Sec. 7. Upon request by the Secretary, the heads of all executive departments, independent establish-ments, or instrumentalities having jurisdiction over any of the lands referred to in section 2 of this Act shall furnish to the Secretary the legal description of all such lands, and all pertinent abstracts, title papers, and other documents in the possession of such agencies con-cerning the status of the title of the United States to the mineral deposits that may be found in such lands.

Abstracts, title papers, and other documents furnished to the Secre-tary under this section shall be recorded promptly in the Bureau of Land Management in such form as the Secretary shall deem adequate for their preservation and use in the administration of this Act, whereup-on the originals shall be returnedpromptly to the agency from which they were received. Duly authenticated copies of any such abstracts, title papers, or other documents may, however, be furnished to the Secretary in lieu of the originals, in the discretion of the agency concerned. (30 U.S.C. 356)

State or Local Government Rights

Sec. 8. Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to affect the rights of the State or other local authorities to exercise any right which they may have with respect to properties covered by leases issued under this Act, including the right to levy and collect taxes upon improvements, output of mines, or other rights, property, or assets of any lessee of the United States. (30 U.S.C. 357)

Rights Under Prior Lease; Pend-ing Applications; Exchange of Leases

Sec. 9. Nothing in this Act shall affect any rights acquired by any lessee of lands subject to this Act under the law as it existed prior to August 7, 1947, and such rights shall be governed by the law in effect at the time of their acquisition; but any person qualified tohold a lease who, on August 7, 1947, had pend-ing an application for an oil and gas lease for any lands subject to this Act which on the date the applica-tion was filed was not situated with-in the known geo-logic structure of a producing oil or gas field, shall have a preference right over others to a lease of such lands without competi-tive bidding. Any person holding a lease on lands subject hereto, which lease was issued prior to August 7, 1947, shall be entitled to exchange such lease for a new lease issued under the provisions of this Act, at any time prior to the expiration of such existing lease. (30 U.S.C. 358)

Rules and Regulations

Sec. 10. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to prescribe such rules and regulations as are necessary and appropriate to carry out the purposes of this Act, which rules and regulations shall be the same as those prescribed under the mineral leasing laws to the extent that they are applicable. (30 U.S.C. 359)

Authority to Manage Certain Mineral Leases

Sec. 11. Each department, agen-cy and instrumentality of the United States which administers lands acquired by the United States with one or more existing mineral lease shall transfer to the Secretary of the Inte-rior the authority to administer such lease and to collect all receipt due and payable to the United States under the lease. In the case of lands acquired on or before October 24, 1992, the authority to administer the leases and collect receipts shall be transferred to the Secretary of the Interior as expeditiously as practica-ble after October 24, 1992. In the case of lands acquired after October 24, 1992, such authority shall be vested with the Secretary at the time of acquisition. The provisions of section 355 of this title shall apply to all receipts derived from such leases where such receipts are due and payable to the United States under the lease in the same manner as such provisions apply to receipts derived from leases issued under the authority of this chapter. For purposes of this section, the term "existing mineral lease" means any lease in existence at the time land is acquired by the United States. Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the existing surface management authority of any Federal agency. (30 U.S.C. 360)