95 STAT. 1070
PUBLIC LAW 97-78—NOV. 16, 1981
Public Law 97-78 97th Congress An Act Nov. 16, 1981 [H.R. 3975] Oil production. Mineral land leeising.
Definitions.
Royalties.
To facilitate and encourage the production of oil from tar sand and other hydrocarbon deposits.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. That (1) section 1 (30 U.S.C. 181), sections 21(a) and (c) (30 U.S.C. 241 (a) and (c)), and section 34 (30 U.S.C. 182) of the Mineral Lands Leasing Act of 1920, as amended, are amended by deleting "native asphalt, solid and semisolid bitumen, and bituminous rock (including oil-impregnated rock or sands from which oil is recoverable only by special treatment after the deposit is mined or quarried)" and by inserting in lieu thereof "gilsonite (including all vein-t^e solid hydrocarbons),", except that in the first sentence of section 21(a) the word "and" should be inserted before "gilsonite" and the comma after the parenthesis should be eliminated in section 21. (2) Section 27(k) of such Act (30 U.S.C. 184(k)) is amended by deleting "native asphalt, solid and semisolid bitumen, bituminous rock," and by inserting in lieu thereof "gilsonite (including all veint3rpe solid hydrocarbons),". (3) Section 39 of such Act (30 U.S.C. 209) is amended by inserting "gilsonite (including all vein-type solid hydrocarbons), after "oil shale". (4) Section 1 of such Act (30 U.S.C. 181) is further amended by adding after the first paragraph the following new paragraphs: "The term 'oil' shall embrace all nongaseous hydrocarbon substances other than those substances leasable as coal, oil shale, or gilsonite (including all vein-type solid hydrocarbons). "The term 'combined hydrocarbon lease' shall refer to a lease issued in a special tar sand area pursuant to section 17 after the date of enactment of the Combined Hydrocarbon Leasing Act of 1981. "The term 'special tar sand area' means (1) an area designated by the Secretary of the Interior's orders of November 20, 1980 (45 FR 76800-76801) and January 21, 1981 (46 FR 6077-6078) as containing substantial deposits of tar sand.". (5) Section 27(d)(1) of such Act (30 U.S.C. 184(d)(l)) is amended by inserting before the period at the end of the first sentence the following: ^'Provided, however. That acreage held in special tar sand areas shall not be chargeable against such State limitations.". (6)(a) Section 17(b) of such Act (30 U.S.C. 226(b)) is amended by inserting "(1)" after "(b)" and adding a new subsection to read as follows: "(2) If the lands to be leased are within a special tar sand area, they shall be leased to the highest responsible qualified bidder by competitive bidding under general regulations in units of not more than five thousand one hundred and twenty acres, which shall be as nearly compact as possible, upon the payment by the lessee of such bonus as may be accepted by the Secretary. Royalty shall be 12V2 per centum in amount or value of production removed or sold from the lease.
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