OCR Text |
Show Melich Opinion on Shale Land Clears Obstacles l Areas including unpatented unpatent-ed mining claims now under dispute may be leased for oil shale development by the Department De-partment ot the Interior and the proceeds held in escrow pending final decision on the claims if all parties agree to the arrangement in writing, Interior's Solicitor has heid in a significant opinion. The OPINION BY SOLICITOR SOLICI-TOR MITCHELL MELICH. INTERIOR'S TOP LEGAL AUTHORITY, M-36839 (October (Oc-tober 28, 1971), offers a formula for-mula for solving one of the complex problems that have impeded oil shale leasing in past years, Department officials of-ficials said. The prime oil shale lands, comprising 17,000 square miles in Colorado, Utah ,and Wyoming, are thought to be about 80 percent Federally owned. However, title to more than half the acreage is clouded by unpatented mining claims, some dating back to the years before pas- ' sage of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920. Leasing of lands subject to disputed claims can take place, Solicitor Melich has held, if agreements are signed sign-ed by the interested parties providing that money received receiv-ed by the Federal Government Govern-ment for rentals, royalties and bonuses will be placed in, (escrow "pending ultimata judicial determination of the rights of the parties." The interested parties would be the Federal Government, Govern-ment, the oil shale lessees, the owners or holders of interests in-terests in the unpatented mining claims, and the Stat1 governments. States would be parties because each would receive 37 !i percent of all proceeds payable to the P'ederal Government from oil shale leasing within its boundaries under the terms of the Mineral Leasing Act. If the mining claimant is later lound to be entitled lo a patent under the Mining Laws, money derived from that part of the lease covered cover-ed by the claim would go to the patentee. Otherwise, all proceeds from the lease would go into the U. S. Treasury, Treas-ury, to be shared by the State Sta-te and Federal Governments as provided by the Mineral Leasing Act. The Solicitor's opinion is particularly relevant now that the Department is in the early stages of its proposed prototype oil shale leasing program which could if environmental problems are satisfactorily resolved put a small number of tracts un-. der oil shale leases to private industry beginning . in late 1972. Copies of the opinion may be obtained at the Department Depart-ment of the Interior, Oil Shale Coordinator, Room 7000 Washington, D.C. 20240. |