97 STAT. 952 PUBLIC LAW 98-146—NOV. 4, 1983 Permits for prospecting, seismic surveys, and core samplings. Mineral inventories. 16 USC 1133. of Congress designating components of the National Wilderness Preservation System now in effect or hereinafter enacted, and except to carry out the obligations and responsibilities of the Secre- tary of the Interior under section 17(k)(l)(A) and (B) of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 (30 U.S.C. 226), none of the funds provided in this Act shall be obligated for any aspect of the processing or issuance of permits or leases pertaining to exploration for or devel- opment of coal, oil, gas, oil shale, phosphate, potassium, sulphur, gilsonite, or geothermal resources on Federal lands within any component of the National Wilderness Preservation System or within any Forest Service RARE II areas recommended for wilder- ness designation or allocated to further planning in Executive Communication 1504, Ninety-sixth Congress (House Document numbered 96-119); or within any lands designated by Congress as wilderness study areas or within Bureau of Land Management wilderness study areas: Provided, That nothing in this section shall prohibit the expenditure of funds for any aspect of the processing or issuance of permits pertaining to exploration for or development of the mineral resources described in this section, within any compo- nent of the National Wilderness Preservation System now in effect or hereinafter enacted, any Forest Service RARE II areas recom- mended for wilderness designation or allocated to further planning, within any lands designated by Congress as wilderness study areas, or Bureau of Land Management wilderness study areas, under valid existing rights, or leases validly issued in accordance with all appli- cable Federal, State, and local laws or valid mineral rights in existence prior to October 1, 1982: Provided further, That funds provided in this Act may be used by the Secretary of Agriculture in any area of National Forest lands or the Secretary of the Interior to issue under their existing authority in any area of National Forest or public lands withdrawn pursuant to this Act such permits as may be necessary to conduct prospecting, seismic surveys, and core sam- pling conducted by helicopter or other means not requiring con- struction of roads or improvement of existing roads or ways, for the purpose of gathering information about and inventorying energy, mineral, and other resource values of such area, if such activity is carried out in a manner compatible with the preservation of the wilderness environment: Provided further, That seismic activities involving the use of explosives shall not be permitted in designated wilderness areas: Provided further. That funds provided in this Act may be used by the Secretary of the Interior to augment recurring surveys of the mineral values of wilderness areas pursuant to section 4(d)(2) of the Wilderness Act and acquire information on other national forest and public land areas withdrawn pursuant to this Act, by conducting, in conjunction with the Secretary of Energy, the national laboratories, or other Federal agencies, as appropriate, such mineral inventories of areas withdrawn pursuant to this Act as he deems appropriate. These inventories shall be conducted in a manner compatible with the preservation of the wilderness environ- ment through the use of methods including core sampling conducted by helicopter; geophysical techniques such as induced polarization, synthetic aperture radar, magnetic and gravity surveys; geochemi- cal techniques including stream sediment reconnaissance and X-ray diffraction analysis; land satellites; or any other methods he deems appropriate. The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to conduct inventories or segments of inventories, such as data analy- sis activities, by contract with private entities deemed by him to be
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