OCR Text |
Show Coal Production Down, But Royalties Are on Upswing Production of coal from federal coal leases dropped slightly last year but royalties increased, according to the Federal Coal Management Report for fiscal year 1984 released by the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management. According to the 70-page report, federal coal production dropped from 105,400,000 tons the previous year to 104,100,000 tons in 1984. Because of changes in federal law which require a gradual change in the royalty system from one based on weight to one based on the value of coal produced, royalties reported for FY 1984 totaled $57,800,000, a two percent increase over the $56,700,000 reported for FY 1983. The report showed that in Utah there were 33 producing coal leases, which was more than in any other state. Wyoming had 31 federal producing leases, Colorado had 28 and Montana had 11. There were 118 producing federal coal leases in the nation (in 10 states). From the Utah leases, 6,128,000 tons of coal were produced in fiscal year 1984, compared with 68,436,000 tons in Wyoming, 14,520,000 tons in Montana and 9,927,000 tons in Colorado. Federal production accounted for approximately 11.6 percent of the total U.S. production,, down from 13.6 percent of the total in FY 1983. Total U.S. production in FY 1984 was approximately 899.5 million tons, a 16 percent increase over the FY 1983 production of 776 million tons. As of October 1, 1984, there were 628 federal coal leases covering 944,550 acres and containing 17.6 billion tons of recoverable reserves. In comparison, at the end of fiscal year 1983, there were 632 leases on 948,575 acres and containing 17.7 billion tons of recoverable reserves. The 1984 report is the eighth in a series of annual coal reports required by the Federal Coal Leasing Amendments Act of 1976. In addition to the usual statistical summary of coal leasing and production activity, this yearns report highlights proposed changes in the federal coal program. It also discusses management, supervision and enforcement activities during the year, and 'reviews litigation, major issues and recommendations. The federal government owns one-third of the nation's coal and indirectly impacts the use of 20 percent of the non-federal coal in the West. Copies of the report may be botained by contacting the Bureau of Land Management, Office of Public Affairs, Room 5600, Department of the Interior, 18th and C Streets NW, Washington, D.C 20240, or the BLM Utah State Office, 324 South State Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111-2303. |