43 CFR Part 3150 Subpart 3152

§ 3150.2

43 CFR Ch. II (10–1–08 Edition)

safety or the environment. Further,
where other applicable law contains
specific provisions for suspension, revocation, or cancellation of a permit or
other authorization to use, occupy, or
develop the public lands, the specific
provisions of such law shall prevail.
§ 3150.2

Appeals.

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(a) A party adversely affected by a
decision or approval of the authorized
officer may appeal that decision to the
Interior Board of Land Appeals as set
forth in part 4 of this title.
(b) All decisions and approvals of the
authorized officer under this part shall
remain effective pending appeal unless
the Interior Board of Land Appeals determines otherwise upon consideration
of the standards stated in this paragraph. The provisions of 43 CFR 4.21(a)
shall not apply to any decision or approval of the authorized officer under
this part. A petition for a stay of a decision or approval of the authorized officer shall be filed with the Interior
Board of Land Appeals, Office of Hearings and Appeals, Department of the
Interior, and shall show sufficient justification based on the following standards:
(1) The relative harm to the parties if
the stay is granted or denied,
(2) The likelihood of the appellant’s
success on the merits,
(3) The likelihood of irreparable
harm to the appellant or resources if
the stay is not granted, and
(4) Whether the public interest favors
granting the stay.
Nothing in this paragraph shall diminish the discretionary authority of the
authorized officer to stay the effectiveness of a decision subject to appeal pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section
upon a request by an adversely affected
party or on the authorized officer’s
own initiative. If the authorized officer
denies such a request, the requester
can petition for a stay of the denial decision by filing a petition with the Interior Board of Land Appeals that addresses the standards described above
in this paragraph.
[57 FR 9012, Mar. 13, 1992, as amended at 57
FR 44336, Sept. 25, 1992]

Subpart 3151—Exploration Outside
of Alaska
§ 3151.1 Notice of intent to conduct oil
and gas geophysical exploration operations.
Parties wishing to conduct oil and
gas geophysical exploration outside of
the State of Alaska shall file a Notice
of Intent to Conduct Oil and Gas Exploration Operations, referred to herein as
a notice of intent. The notice of intent
shall be filed with the District Manager
of the proper BLM office on the form
approved by the Director. Within 5
working days of the filing date, the authorized officer shall process the notice
of intent and notify the operator of
practices and procedures to be followed. If the notice of intent cannot be
processed within 5 working days of the
filing date, the authorized officer shall
promptly notify the operator as to
when processing will be completed, giving the reason for the delay. The operator shall, within 5 working days of the
filing date, or such other time as may
be convenient for the operator, participate in a field inspection if requested
by the authorized officer. Signing of
the notice of intent by the operator
shall signify agreement to comply with
the terms and conditions contained
therein and in this part, and with all
practices and procedures specified at
any time by the authorized officer.
§ 3151.2 Notice of completion of operations.
Upon completion of exploration,
there shall be filed with the District
Manager a Notice of Completion of Oil
and Gas Exploration Operations. Within 30 days after this filing, the authorized officer shall notify the party
whether rehabilitation of the lands is
satisfactory or whether additional rehabilitation is necessary, specifying
the nature and extent of actions to be
taken by the operator.

Subpart 3152—Exploration in
Alaska
§ 3152.1 Application for oil and gas
geophysical exploration permit.
Parties wishing to conduct oil and
gas geophysical exploration operations

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Bureau of Land Management, Interior

§ 3152.6

in Alaska shall complete an application for an oil and gas geophysical exploration permit. The application shall
contain the following information:
(a) The applicant’s name and address;
(b) The operator’s name and address;
(c) The contractor’s name and address;
(d) A description of lands involved by
township and range, including a map or
overlays showing the lands to be entered and affected;
(e) The period of time when operations will be conducted; and
(f) A plan for conducting the exploration operations.

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NOTE TO § 3152.1: Submit your application
along with the filing fee for geophysical exploration permit—Alaska, found in the fee
schedule in § 3000.12 of this chapter (except
where the exploration operations are to be
conducted on a leasehold by or on behalf of
the lessee), to the District Manager of the
proper BLM office.

(d) For lands subject to section 1008
of the Alaska National Interest Lands
Conservation Act, exploration shall be
authorized only upon a determination
that such activities can be conducted
in a manner which is consistent with
the purposes for which the affected
area is managed under applicable law.
§ 3152.3 Renewal of exploration permit.
Upon application by the permittee
and payment of the filing fee for renewal of exploration permit—Alaska,
found in the fee schedule in section
3000.12 of this chapter (except where
the exploration operations are to be
conducted on a leasehold by or on behalf of the lessee), an exploration permit may be renewed for a period not to
exceed one year.
[72 FR 50887, Sept. 5, 2007]

[53 FR 17359, May 16, 1988, as amended at 72
FR 50887, Sept. 5, 2007]

§ 3152.4 Relinquishment of exploration
permit.

§ 3152.2

Subject to the continued obligations
of the permittee and the surety to comply with the terms and conditions of
the exploration permit and the regulations, the permittee may relinquish an
exploration permit for all or any portion of the lands covered by it. Such relinquishment shall be filed with the
District Manager of the proper BLM office.

Action on application.

(a) The authorized officer shall review each application and approve or
disapprove it within 90 calendar days,
unless compliance with statutory requirements such as the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.
4321 et seq.) delays this action. The applicant shall be notified promptly in
writing of any such delay.
(b) The authorized officer shall include in each geophysical exploration
permit terms and conditions deemed
necessary to protect values, mineral
resources, and nonmineral resources.
Geophysical permits within National
Petroleum Reserve—Alaska shall contain such reasonable conditions, restrictions and prohibitions as the authorized officer deems appropriate to
mitigate adverse effects upon the surface resources of the Reserve and to
satisfy the requirement of section
104(b) of the Naval Petroleum Reserves
Production Act of 1976 (42 U.S.C. 6504)
(See part 3130 for stipulations relating
to the National Petroleum Reserve—
Alaska).
(c) An exploration permit shall become effective on the date specified by
the authorized officer and shall expire 1
year thereafter.

§ 3152.5 Modification
permit.

of

exploration

(a) A permittee may request, and the
authorized officer may approve a modification of an exploration permit.
(b) The authorized officer may, after
consultation with the permittee, require modifications determined necessary.
§ 3152.6 Collection and submission of
data.
(a) The permittee shall submit to the
authorized officer all data and information obtained in carrying out the exploration plan.
(b) All information submitted under
this section is subject to part 2 of this
title, which sets forth the rules of the
Department of the Interior relating to

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§ 3152.7

43 CFR Ch. II (10–1–08 Edition)

public availability of information contained in Departmental records, as provided at § 3100.4 of this chapter.
[53 FR 17359, May 16, 1988, as amended at 63
FR 52952, Oct. 1, 1998]

§ 3152.7 Completion of operations.
(a) The permittee shall submit to the
authorized officer a completion report
within 30 days of completion of all operations under the permit. The completion report shall contain the following:
(1) A description of all work performed;
(2) Charts, maps or plats depicting
the areas and blocks in which the exploration was conducted and specifically identifying the lines of geophysical traverses and any roads constructed;
(3) The dates on which the actual exploration was conducted;
(4) Such other information about the
exploration operations as may be specified by the authorized officer in the
permit; and
(5) A statement that all terms and
conditions have been complied with or
that corrective measures shall be
taken to rehabilitate the lands or other
resources.
(b) Within 90 days after the authorized officer receives a completion report from the permittee that exploration has been completed or after the
expiration of the permit, whichever occurs first, the authorized officer shall
notify the permittee of the specific nature and extent of any additional measures required to rectify any damage to
the lands and resources.
[53 FR 17359, May 16, 1988; 53 FR 31959, Aug.
22, 1988]

ebenthall on PROD1PC60 with CFR

Subpart
3153—Exploration
of
Lands Under the Jurisdiction
of the Department of Defense
§ 3153.1 Geophysical permit requirements.
Except in unusual circumstances,
permits for geophysical exploration on
unleased lands under the jurisdiction of
the Department of Defense shall be
issued by the appropriate agency of
that Department. In the event an agency of the Department of Defense refers

an application for exploration to the
Bureau for issuance, the provisions of
subpart 3152 of this title shall apply.
Geophysical exploration on lands under
the jurisdiction of the Department of
Defense shall be authorized only with
the consent of, and subject to such
terms and conditions as may be required by, the Department of Defense.

Subpart 3154—Bond Requirements
§ 3154.1 Types of bonds.
Prior to each planned exploration,
the party(s) filing the notice of intent
or application for a permit shall file
with the authorized officer a bond as
described in § 3104.1 of this title in the
amount of at least $5,000, conditioned
upon full and faithful compliance with
the terms and conditions of this subpart and the notice of intent or permit.
In lieu thereof, the party(s) may file a
statewide bond in the amount of $25,000
covering all oil and gas exploration operations in the same State or a nationwide bond in the amount of $50,000 covering all oil and gas exploration operations in the nation. Holders of individual, statewide or nationwide oil and
gas lease bonds shall be allowed to conduct exploration on their leaseholds
without further bonding, and holders of
statewide or nationwide lease bonds
wishing to conduct exploration on
lands they do not have under lease may
obtain a rider to include oil and gas exploration operations under this part.
Holders of nationwide or any National
Petroleum Reserve-Alaska oil and gas
lease bonds shall be permitted to obtain a rider to include the coverage of
oil and gas exploration within the National
Petroleum
Reserve—Alaska
under subpart 3152 of this title.
§ 3154.2 Additional bonding.
The authorized officer may increase
the amount of any bond that is required under this subpart after determining that additional coverage is
needed to ensure protection of the
lands or resources.
§ 3154.3 Bond cancellation or termination of liability.
The authorized officer shall not consent to the cancellation of the bond or
the termination of liability unless and

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