FSM-Mineral Licenses, Permits, Leases, 2822 Options

[CP]

FSM2822 - MINERAL LICENSES, PERMITS, AND LEASES ADMINISTERED BY
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR.

                FSM 2800 - MINERALS AND GEOLOGY
                    WO AMENDMENT 2800-94-2
                        EFFECTIVE 3/17/94

      CHAPTER 2820 - MINERAL LEASES, PERMITS, AND LICENSES



2822 - MINERAL LICENSES, PERMITS, AND LEASES ADMINISTERED BY
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR.  The Department of the Interior has
the major role in issuing and supervising operations on mineral
licenses, permits, and leases.  The Forest Service cooperates
with the Interior agencies to ensure that management goals and
objectives are achieved, that impacts upon surface resources are
mitigated to the maximum degree possible, and that the land
affected is rehabilitated.

2822.01 - Authority.  The principal authorities which relate to
the exploration and development of leasable minerals are:

    1.  The Act of March 4, 1917 (39 Stat. 1150, as supplemented;
16 U.S.C. 520).

    2.  The Mineral Lands Leasing Act of 1920 (41 Stat. 437;
30 U.S.C. 181-287).

    3.  Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands of 1947 (61 Stat.
913; 30 U.S.C. 351-359).

    4.  President's Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1946 (60 Stat.
1097; 5 U.S.C. Appendix).

    5.  Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1566; 30 U.S.C.
1001-1025).

    6.  Federal Coal Leasing Amendments Act of 1975 (90 Stat.
1083; 30 U.S.C. 181-287).

    7.  Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (91
Stat 445; 30 U.S.C. 1201-1328).

    8.  National Materials and Mineral Policy, Research and
Development Act of 1980 (94 Stat. 2305; 30 U.S.C. 1601-1605).

Other authorities amend or supplement those listed, and there are
many special acts which apply to specific lands or specific
minerals.  The principal acts are described in FSM 1011 and 2801,
and special acts are identified and described as required in FSM
2822.02-04d.

2822.02 - Objective.  (FSM 2802.)

2822.03 - Policy.  The Forest Service considers mineral
exploration and development to be important parts of its
management program.  It cooperates with the Department of the
Interior (USDI) in administering lawful exploration and
development of leasable minerals.  While the Forest Service is
mainly involved with surface resource management and protection,
it recognizes that mineral exploration and development are
ordinarily in the public interest and can be compatible in the
long term, if not immediately, with the purposes for which the
National Forest System lands are managed.

2822.04 - Responsibility.  Although the Forest Service is
responsible for National Forest System lands which were reserved
from public domain lands, the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920
authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to issue leases and
permits without the consent of the Secretary of Agriculture. 
Thus, the Forest Service has no statutory responsibility for
issuing or supervising prospecting permits or leases on these
lands.  Under the Organic Administration Act (16 U.S.C. 551) the
Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to make such rules and
regulations as are needed to govern the use and occupancy of the
National Forests, and to ensure their preservation.  By exchange
of letters in April and May 1945 with the Department of the
Interior, the Forest Service reviews permit and lease
applications and makes recommendations to protect surface
resources and to prevent conflict with other activities, plans
and programs of the Forest Service, and other users.  Although
not required by statute, the Secretary of the Interior generally
accepts Forest Service recommendations regarding public domain
leasable minerals.  The Federal Coal Leasing Amendments Act of
1975 amends the 1920 Act in regard to public domain coal.  Under
that act, a coal exploration license or lease may not be issued
without the consent of the surface managing agency and without
including those conditions upon which consent is given.  This
applies also to the approval of a licensee's or lessee's
operating plan.

In contrast to the 1920 Act, the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired
Lands (Act of Aug. 7, 1947) requires consent by the Secretary of
Agriculture prior to the leasing of an acquired mineral estate in
National Forest System lands.  The Forest Service further has the
right to specify terms and conditions under which a lease will be
issued to protect the surface resources and to provide for their
continued use for other program purposes.  By mutual consent, the
Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior have extended those
terms to all minerals in National Forest System lands subject to
the President's Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1946.

2822.04b - Regional Foresters.  Regional Foresters are
responsible for providing the Forest Service response to BLM
proposals to issue mineral leases, permits, and licenses for all
lands other than those reserved to the Chief (2822.04a).  The
Regional Forester shall advise the appropriate office of USDI as
to whether the Forest Service recommends, consents to, or does
not object to issuance of a lease, permit, or license, and must
enclose appropriate special stipulations.  The authority for
leases, permits, and licenses may be redelegated to Forest
Supervisors providing they have the necessary expertise to
accomplish the work.  Within the Regional staff, this authority
may not be redelegated below the Director having specific
responsibility for minerals.  The Regional Forester shall ensure
that a lease, permit, or license adequately reflects requirements
set forth in statutes, regulations, and existing agreements. 
This includes formal agreements for protection of municipal water
supplies (36 CFR 251.9).

Regional Foresters shall establish the time frames for processing
mineral lease, permit, and license actions using the following
criteria: (1) meet Forest Service commitments in national and
Regional interagency agreements; (2) meet Forest Service
requirements for evaluation and integration with surface
resources; (3) be responsive to public needs; and (4) accomplish
actions in a cost effective manner.



2822.04c - Forest Supervisors.  The Forest Supervisor shall
review for adequacy proposed operating plans received from the
USDI.  Such reviews should be made in close coordination with the
USDI responsible officers.  Upon completion of a review, the
Forest Supervisor shall advise the USDI responsible officer of
the Forest Service decision, and of terms and conditions required
for protection of surface resources, and for access,
construction, or use and protection of existing roads.  The
appropriate type of Forest Service decision and the appropriate
USDI responsible officials are as follows:

    Resource        Type of Decision    USDI Agency/Officer

    Coal            Consent            OSM/Regional
                        Director

                                        BLM/District
                                            Supervisor

    Geothermal        Consent          BLM/Area District
                                            Supervisor

    Oil and gas
    Public Domain    Concurrence      BLM/District
    Acquired          Consent              Supervisor
                                     
                                        BLM/District
                                            Supervisor

    Other
      Public Domain    Concurrence      BLM/District
                                            Supervisor

    Acquired          Consent          BLM/District
                                            Supervisor

This responsibility may be redelegated unless the operating plan
would require one of the following:

    1.  A bond of $100,000 or more.

    2.  The preparation of an environmental impact statement.

    3.  Operations in designated wildernesses, Administration-
endorsed wilderness proposals, congressionally designated
wilderness study areas, and further planning areas identified in
the Roadless Area Review and Evaluation (RARE II) decision
document.  The Regional Forester shall be promptly informed about
proposed operating plans affecting these lands.

The Forest Supervisor has general responsibilities for orderly
administration of licenses, permits, and leases.  These include
record keeping, observation to see that stipulations are being
honored, and general coordination between lease or permit
holders, other users, and Government agencies (FSM 2822.62). 
These duties may be redelegated to the District Ranger.

2822.04d - District Rangers.  The District Ranger shall:

    1.  Review and evaluate license, lease, and permit
applications and operating plans.

    2.  Recommend to the Forest Supervisor whether or not a
mineral lease, permit, or license should be issued and the terms
and conditions needed to protect and reclaim surface resources,
if issued.

    3.  Evaluate operating plans within the delegated authority.

    4.  When an operating plan is approved, coordinate Forest
Service surface management responsibilities with the USDI
District official who is responsible for administering the
license, permit, or lease.

2822.05 - Definition.  For the purposes of this Chapter, the term
area of operation (AO), used in the various Forest Service and
Department of the Interior cooperative agreements, is defined as
the immediate area within the lease, permit, or license on which
drilling, mining, and related mineral developments and activities
occur, including necessary storage or processing facilities,
access roads, pipelines and utility rights-of-way approved in the
plan of operations.

2822.1 - Lands and Minerals to Which Applicable.  National Forest
System lands are generally available for exploration and mining
unless specifically precluded by an act of Congress or other
formal withdrawal.  Which mineral leasing act applies depends on
the type of lands and minerals involved.

There are three basic categories of lands and mineral deposits
subject to the leasing acts:

    1.  Leasable minerals (as defined in the 1920 act) with
public domain status (FSM 2822.11).

    2.  Leasable minerals (as defined in the 1947 act) with
acquired status (FSM 2822.12).

    3.  Hard-rock minerals which have been acquired (as defined
in the 1946 President's Reorganization Plan 3; FSM 2822.13).



2822.45 - Rejection of Applications.  The Regional Forester
should consider a recommendation or decision against the issuance
of a permit, lease, or license if the environmental analysis
shows that the proposed mineral activities would (1) seriously
interfere with other resource values, (2) be incompatible with
the purposes for which the area is being used or administered, or
(3) permanently destroy or render useless the land for the
purpose for which used or dedicated.  Further criteria for a
negative decision is when the value of the land, and its
resources, for the purpose for which it is being used outweighs
the foreseeable benefits that would be derived from extraction of
the mineral resources, and the existing use cannot be adequately
protected by stipulation. 

A report to the appropriate USDI office containing a negative
recommendation or decision must describe the specific reasons for
objecting to the issuance of a license, permit, or lease. 
Wilderness designation shall not be sole justification for
decisions against leasing, permitting, or licensing through 1983,
or such time as the Congress may otherwise establish.  All
environmental, land use and resource values must be considered. 
The USDI usually rejects applications for which the Forest
Service recommends against issuance.  For coal, geothermal
resources, and all acquired minerals, such rejection is required
by law.  The Bureau of Land Management need not issue a permit,
lease, or license upon which the Forest Service has given a
favorable report.

2822.46 - Appeals.  An aggrieved party may seek administrative
review of a decision of a Forest Officer under 36 CFR 211.18. 
This may occur when the Secretary of Agriculture's consent for a
license, permit, or lease is required by law and the Forest
Service, in exercising the Secretary's authority, refuses to
consent to its issuance.

More frequently, an aggrieved party appeals the decision of the
Secretary of the Interior since he has the final authority to
refuse to issue a lease, permit, or license.  This is true for
leases, licenses, and permits which require the consent of the
Secretary of Agriculture as well as those which do not.



2822.63 - Cooperative Agreements.  The USDI and the Forest
Service have entered into cooperative agreements to further
consistent and orderly coordination at the field level on
operating leases involving National Forest System lands.  These
agreements, which are consistent with regulations, further
describe the specific roles of each agency and assign specific
functions to specific offices or positions.  The agreements are
contained in FSM 1500.

Basically, the agreements confirm the primary interest of the
Forest Service in all aspects of surface resource management and
the role of the Forest Supervisor as coordinator of Forest
activities.  They also confirm the role of the USDI Supervisor as
the specific manager of the mineral resource, and sole
administrator of the mineral contract terms and conditions. 
Wherever actions or policies involve both surface and mineral
resources, direct communication and assistance are specified
between the two agencies, but the USDI supervisor will ordinarily
be the Federal representative in contact with a licensee,
permittee, or lessee.