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Show Western Resources New federal coal leasing regulations ByHeleneC.Monberg " ispecia' to the Vernal Express) ) ..Aington-the role of the states 'L, regional coal teams is diminished diminish-ed the new federal coal leasing and the Interior Depart- put in the Federal Register on tit. v Department of Energy followed companion new federal coal leas- Rations in the Federal Register 5 :.22. i tern states, which will be most af- !by the regulations, are unhappy i ffoe proposed new "reg," several 's within and outside of govern-;t govern-;t told Western Resources Wrap up after they were published. A t; that Interior officials held with .representatives on Dec. 17 "ended 1 '.'ashouting match," Edward Gran-is Gran-is , irector of the Citizens Mining Pro- ' or the Environmental Policy In- . told WRWon Dec. 22. ji the public information meetings the two Departments have schedul-'u schedul-'u be held in the West at four locals loca-ls in January and February are like-j like-j be dicey. at is the schedule for Interior: Silt Lata City, room 220 Salt Palace, 3jn. & 7 p m. Monday, Jan. 11; iper, Wyo., Ramada Inn, 2 p.m. & 7 Wednesday, Jan. 13; Farmington, 1, Room C Civic Center, 2 p.m. & 7 a Friday, Jan. 15. tie Department of Energy '(DOE) Ihold a public hearing on its propos-jjewregs propos-jjewregs on Tuesday, Feb. 17 in the jtorium of the Post Office Building r Stout Street in Denver. public has a 60 day comment i nod. Comments on the Interior apartment's proposed regs should be at not later than Feb. 16 to the direc-r direc-r of the Bureau of Land Management HO), Interior Department, Washington, D.C., 20240, on the BLM ' ' and to the director of the U.S. logical Survey (MS653), National m aer, Reston, VA., 22092, on the USGS t; Interior's final regulations will be R sued in April, according to present a iks, Patrick H. (Pat) Geehan, chief h lie BLM branch of program develop-t'n develop-t'n aland analysis in the Bureau's coal fe Mon,told WRWon Dec. 21. Comments on Energy's proposed j ijs should be sent not later than Feb. , ; to the Department of Energy, For-te For-te stal Building, -1000 Independence St' imueSW, 20585. k' tales F. Cook, Jr., of the American ft Mug Congress on Dec. 23 told WRW,. i' lenew regulations, as proposed, are 6 step in the right direction, particular-)" particular-)" DOE's." He expressed some disap-: disap-: Raiment with the application of un-ei un-ei ability criteria in the proposed BLM . : la l:i kesmen for the National Coal "! Nation (NCA) said this coal trade anization is "generally supportive" ie proposed new regs. Both Cook :Rod Weiher of NCA said that the 1 leasing panels for their respective V would meet in January to study 'proposed regs and take an official atn on them. "It might be a joint g. We have held joint meetings Ms type of thing in the past," Cook Grandis said his Citizens Mining Pro-j,i Pro-j,i had held meetings in Denver on ; 15-16 concerning the proposed new jlflj S ith a number of environmental (ji ionizations, several area resource , i the Rocky Mountain Farmers red 011, and the League of Women iiri and representatives of the ims of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, ii'. ' Mexico and Utah. f "dis and Jonathan Lash of the rii ;,Jral Resources Defense Council i ately told WRW that several p ;Ps are looking at the proposed new it fom the standpoint of challenging ?i court. But Lash told WRW that which successfully challenged r3 f0?1 leasing regulations of the v Partment, has no plans to P "ge interior's proposed new coal spokesman for the Council of ;V Resources Tribes (CERT) said iff 7gs were brou8ht UP at a iln i meeting on Dec. 22, but fltji ;'liuld nt comment on the regs at kfi Pending a detailed study. nf0vides technical backup work iili ! , an hdian tribes with various jti ?' . energy resources including f DIFFERENT APPROACH 1 'tUl?tions rePresent a different ,i- Z , leasing- They are generally -it, Stream line 1116 federal coal t)f' ff:ess- By doing so, Interior Wr?' 16, lt expects "ultimately W 1 W leasin8 Process." With lTen' t coal market, this re-Kf re-Kf C seen- Under the current atirgram of 1,16 Carter Ad" ., j i u11011. 29 tracts were offered for j W year- but only 9 leases i regional sale offerings, jji ktifj other federal coal lands 0 at Se were t0 maintain pro-jt pro-jt s1 trant e,?sting mines, to lease ; W tnat would otherwise be ' a"d leasing by application to cover special circumstances during 1981. Three preference right lease applications ap-plications held by Dorchester Coal Co were converted into leases on July 1 on tracts north of Fruita on'Xolorado's Western Slope, according to Interior data. Some 16 federal tracts mainly in the West offered for lease sale this year have not been sold yet, but one sale in Kentucky is expected to ripen into a lease on Jan 1, 1982, Interior said Tracts offered for lease this year were in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Montana, Alabama, Kentucky, and Texas, with two in Kentucky and Texas by application. applica-tion. KEY POINTS Leasing levels are the major sore point in dispute between Interior and the states. Efforts to do away with the regional coal teams failed, and under the proposed new regs of the Interior Department the regional coal teams would make the first cut at leasing levels, "with specific opportunity for state recommendation." Other factors would be considered by the Department in determining leasing levels, including industry interest, consideration of national na-tional energy needs, potential economic, social and environmental effects ef-fects of coal leasing on public lands, in addition to the recommendation of the teams and states. The Secretary of Interior In-terior would consult with the governors before he made his final decision on offering of-fering public lands for lease. He would also consult with Indian tribes prior to offering Indian lands for lease. Leasing levels could be within ranges and would be the basis for an environmental impact im-pact statement. But "the Secretary would not be bound by leasing levels," according to Interior. So the role of the states and the regional coal teams is sharply cut back from the close consultative con-sultative role that they exercise under the present regulations put out by the Carter Administration in 1979 under its policy of lifting the moratorium on coal leasing. Interior's new coal leasing policy and the new leasing levels are based on demand de-mand for reserves rather than for production. pro-duction. This will provide a larger market for federal coal which means largely Western coal. USGS estimates that 60 percent of the nation's coal reserves is federally owned coal in the West, including 41 percent of the surface sur-face owned coal lands. The BLM administers ad-ministers 32 percent of the surface own- ed coal lands and the U.S. surface ownership. Projections by Resources for the Future and other respected sources indicate the use of coal will increase, in-crease, from 18 percent of demand in 1978 to 35 percent in year 2000, and this accounts for Interior's accent on reserves. By and large tracts offered for lease would be responsive to industry expressions expres-sions of interest and to market conditions, condi-tions, if the proposed regs are made final. Reclamation and environmental requirements would determine particularly par-ticularly the cost of mine development, so industry would have an incentive to develop first those reserves having the highest value coal arid the lowest development cost, according to Interior sources. The 2.5 percent production by June 1, 1986 diligence requirement now in effect ef-fect would be dropped in the proposed DOE regulations. Both NCA and AMC attorneys claim the current diligence requirement is being dropped because . of the legal attacks it engendered. Under the new regs a pre 1976 lease may be renewed for 20 years, and diligence is defined to be one percent production at the end of 10 years following follow-ing the renewal of a pre 1976 lease. New DOE regulations also define a logical mining unit as one that will be determined by the feds on a case by case basis rather than in one category, as at present. Industry strongly applauds ap-plauds these proposed changes. The USGS regulations would allow the five percent royalty rate for underground coal to be retained, but royalties may be reduced after leases are issued, upon application by the lessee, according to Interior. USGS initially in-itially proposed to remove the five percent per-cent floor entirely. The BLM regs provide for a formal ' call by BLM for coal resource information informa-tion at the beginning of its land use planning process. "This would provide the public and industry a formal opportunity oppor-tunity to submit indications of leasing interest and information on coal resource development potential for leasing within the planning areas. This early information will expedite data collection and improve the quality of the land use planning inventory, Interior In-terior claimed in its Dec. 15 release. But Grandis and other sources told WRW there will be less rather than more public input into the federal coal leasing program overall, if the new . regulations go into effect. Fewer public meetings are mandated under the new regs, Grandis claimed. Twenty unsuitability criteria will be applied to coal lands included within BLM planning areas, but there are exemptions ex-emptions for those lessees who have already made "a substantial fmancia and legal commitment" to lease federal lands, according to Interior. Such lessees will not be exempted from the mandatory unsuitability criteria in present law, however, WRW was told by Interior officials. Such criteria are included in the Federal Land Policy and Managment Act of 1976 and subse-' quent federal coal leasing amendments. amend-ments. Old Interior hands told WRW the new Interior regs will not make major changes in the federal coal leasing program, pro-gram, on the whole. But there will be more acres offered for lease, and there may be fewer environmental impact statements prepared, under the new ' proposals, they said. "Interior cleared away a lot of the garbage," NCA's Weiher told WRW. |