30 U.S.C. 191(d) (processing fee for APDs)

§ 189

TITLE 30—MINERAL LANDS AND MINING

(Nov. 28, 1943, ch. 329, 57 Stat. 593; 1946 Reorg.
Plan No. 3, § 403, eff. July 16, 1946, 11 F.R. 7876, 60
Stat. 1100.)
CODIFICATION
Section was not enacted as part of act Feb. 25, 1920,
ch. 85, 41 Stat. 437, known as the Mineral Leasing Act,
which comprises this chapter.
TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS
‘‘Bureau of Land Management’’ substituted in text
for ‘‘General Land Office’’ on authority of Reorg. Plan
No. 3 of 1946, § 403, set out in the Appendix to Title 5,
Government Organization and Employees.

§ 189. Rules and regulations; boundary lines;
State rights unaffected; taxation
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to
prescribe necessary and proper rules and regulations and to do any and all things necessary to
carry out and accomplish the purposes of this
chapter, also to fix and determine the boundary
lines of any structure, or oil or gas field, for the
purposes of this chapter. Nothing in this chapter
shall be construed or held to affect the rights of
the States or other local authority to exercise
any rights which they may have, including the
right to levy and collect taxes upon improvements, output of mines, or other rights, property, or assets of any lessee of the United
States.
(Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, § 32, 41 Stat. 450.)
TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS
Functions of Secretary of the Interior to promulgate
regulations under this chapter relating to fostering of
competition for Federal leases, implementation of alternative bidding systems authorized for award of Federal leases, establishment of diligence requirements for
operations conducted on Federal leases, setting of rates
for production of Federal leases, and specifying of procedures, terms, and conditions for acquisition and disposition of Federal royalty interests taken in kind,
transferred to Secretary of Energy by section 7152(b) of
Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. Section 7152(b)
of Title 42 was repealed by Pub. L. 97–100, title II, § 201,
Dec. 23, 1981, 95 Stat. 1407, and functions of Secretary of
Energy returned to Secretary of the Interior. See
House Report No. 97–315, pp. 25, 26, Nov. 5, 1981.
OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF; RULES AND REGULATIONS
WITH RESPECT TO LEASES
Rules and regulations with respect to mineral leases
on submerged lands of outer Continental Shelf to be
prescribed by Secretary of the Interior, see section 1334
of Title 43, Public Lands.

§ 190. Oath; requirement; form; blanks
All statements, representations, or reports required by the Secretary of the Interior under
this chapter shall be upon oath, unless otherwise
specified by him, and in such form and upon
such blanks as the Secretary of the Interior may
require.
(Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, § 33, 41 Stat. 450.)
§ 191. Disposition of moneys received
(a) In general
All money received from sales, bonuses, royalties including interest charges collected under
the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management
Act of 1982 [30 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.], and rentals of

Page 52

the public lands under the provisions of this
chapter and the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970
[30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.], shall be paid into the
Treasury of the United States; and, subject to
the provisions of subsection (b), 50 per centum
thereof shall be paid by the Secretary of the
Treasury to the State other than Alaska within
the boundaries of which the leased lands or deposits are or were located; said moneys paid to
any of such States on or after January 1, 1976, to
be used by such State and its subdivisions, as
the legislature of the State may direct giving
priority to those subdivisions of the State socially or economically impacted by development
of minerals leased under this chapter, for (i)
planning, (ii) construction and maintenance of
public facilities, and (iii) provision of public
service; and excepting those from Alaska, 40 per
centum thereof shall be paid into, reserved, appropriated, as part of the reclamation fund created by the Act of Congress known as the Reclamation Act, approved June 17, 1902, and of
those from Alaska, 90 per centum thereof shall
be paid to the State of Alaska for disposition by
the legislature thereof: Provided, That all moneys which may accrue to the United States
under the provisions of this chapter and the
Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 from lands within
the naval petroleum reserves shall be deposited
in the Treasury as ‘‘miscellaneous receipts’’, as
provided by section 7433(b) of title 10. All moneys received under the provisions of this chapter
and the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 not otherwise disposed of by this section shall be credited
to miscellaneous receipts. Payments to States
under this section with respect to any moneys
received by the United States, shall be made not
later than the last business day of the month in
which such moneys are warranted by the United
States Treasury to the Secretary as having been
received, except for any portion of such moneys
which is under challenge and placed in a suspense account pending resolution of a dispute.
Such warrants shall be issued by the United
States Treasury not later than 10 days after receipt of such moneys by the Treasury. Moneys
placed in a suspense account which are determined to be payable to a State shall be made
not later than the last business day of the
month in which such dispute is resolved. Any
such amount placed in a suspense account pending resolution shall bear interest until the dispute is resolved.
(b) Deduction for administrative costs
In determining the amount of payments to the
States under this section, beginning in fiscal
year 2014 and for each year thereafter, the
amount of such payments shall be reduced by 2
percent for any administrative or other costs incurred by the United States in carrying out the
program authorized by this chapter, and the
amount of such reduction shall be deposited to
miscellaneous receipts of the Treasury.
(c) Rentals received on or after August 8, 2005
(1) Notwithstanding the first sentence of subsection (a), any rentals received from leases in
any State (other than the State of Alaska) on or
after August 8, 2005, shall be deposited in the
Treasury, to be allocated in accordance with
paragraph (2).

Page 53

TITLE 30—MINERAL LANDS AND MINING

(2) Of the amounts deposited in the Treasury
under paragraph (1)—
(A) 50 percent shall be paid by the Secretary
of the Treasury to the State within the boundaries of which the leased land is located or the
deposits were derived; and
(B) 50 percent shall be deposited in a special
fund in the Treasury, to be known as the
‘‘BLM Permit Processing Improvement Fund’’
(referred to in this subsection as the ‘‘Fund’’).
(3) USE OF FUND.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Fund shall be available to the Secretary of the Interior for expenditure, without further appropriation and
without fiscal year limitation, for the coordination and processing of oil and gas use authorizations on onshore Federal and Indian
trust mineral estate land.
(B) ACCOUNTS.—The Secretary shall divide
the Fund into—
(i) a Rental Account (referred to in this
subsection as the ‘‘Rental Account’’) comprised of rental receipts collected under this
section; and
(ii) a Fee Account (referred to in this subsection as the ‘‘Fee Account’’) comprised of
fees collected under subsection (d).
(4) RENTAL ACCOUNT.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use the
Rental Account for—
(i) the coordination and processing of oil
and gas use authorizations on onshore Federal and Indian trust mineral estate land
under the jurisdiction of the Project offices
identified under section 15924(d) of title 42;
and
(ii) training programs for development of
expertise related to coordinating and processing oil and gas use authorizations.
(B) ALLOCATION.—In determining the allocation of the Rental Account among Project offices for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall consider—
(i) the number of applications for permit
to drill received in a Project office during
the previous fiscal year;
(ii) the backlog of applications described
in clause (i) in a Project office;
(iii) publicly available industry forecasts
for development of oil and gas resources
under the jurisdiction of a Project office;
and
(iv) any opportunities for partnership with
local industry organizations and educational
institutions in developing training programs
to facilitate the coordination and processing
of oil and gas use authorizations.
(5) FEE ACCOUNT.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use the
Fee Account for the coordination and processing of oil and gas use authorizations on onshore Federal and Indian trust mineral estate
land.
(B) ALLOCATION.—The Secretary shall transfer not less than 75 percent of the revenues
collected by an office for the processing of applications for permits to the State office of
the State in which the fees were collected.

§ 191

(d) BLM oil and gas permit processing fee
(1) In general
Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2026, the
Secretary, acting through the Director of the
Bureau of Land Management, shall collect a
fee for each new application for a permit to
drill that is submitted to the Secretary.
(2) Amount
The amount of the fee shall be $9,500 for each
new application, as indexed for United States
dollar inflation from October 1, 2015 (as measured by the Consumer Price Index).
(3) Use
Of the fees collected under this subsection
for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall transfer—
(A) for each of fiscal years 2016 through
2019—
(i) 15 percent to the field offices that collected the fees and used to process protests, leases, and permits under this chapter, subject to appropriation; and
(ii) 85 percent to the BLM Permit Processing Improvement Fund established
under subsection (c)(2)(B) (referred to in
this subsection as the ‘‘Fund’’); and
(B) for each of fiscal years 2020 through
2026, all of the fees to the Fund.
(4) Additional costs
During each of fiscal years of 2016 through
2026, the Secretary shall not implement a rulemaking that would enable an increase in fees
to recover additional costs related to processing applications for permits to drill.
(Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, § 35, 41 Stat. 450; May 27,
1947, ch. 83, 61 Stat. 119; Aug. 3, 1950, ch. 527, 64
Stat. 402; Pub. L. 85–88, § 2, July 10, 1957, 71 Stat.
282; Pub. L. 85–508, §§ 6(k), 28(b), July 7, 1958, 72
Stat. 343, 351; Pub. L. 94–273, § 6(2), Apr. 21, 1976,
90 Stat. 377; Pub. L. 94–377, § 9, Aug. 4, 1976, 90
Stat. 1089; Pub. L. 94–422, title III, § 301, Sept. 28,
1976, 90 Stat. 1323; Pub. L. 94–579, title III,
§ 317(a), Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2770; Pub. L. 97–451,
title I, §§ 104(a), 111(g), Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2451,
2456; Pub. L. 100–203, title V, § 5109, Dec. 22, 1987,
101 Stat. 1330–261; Pub. L. 100–443, § 5(b), Sept. 22,
1988, 102 Stat. 1768; Pub. L. 103–66, title X, § 10201,
Aug. 10, 1993, 107 Stat. 407; Pub. L. 106–393, title
V, § 503, Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1624; Pub. L.
109–58, title III, § 365(g), Aug. 8, 2005, 119 Stat. 725;
Pub. L. 113–67, div. A, title III, § 302, Dec. 26, 2013,
127 Stat. 1181; Pub. L. 113–291, div. B, title XXX,
§ 3021(b), (c)(1), Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 3760, 3761.)
REFERENCES IN TEXT
The Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of
1982, referred to in subsec. (a), is Pub. L. 97–451, Jan. 12,
1983, 96 Stat. 2447, which is classified generally to chapter 29 (§ 1701 et seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note
set out under section 1701 of this title and Tables.
The Geothermal Steam Act of 1970, referred to in subsec. (a), is Pub. L. 91–581, Dec. 24, 1970, 84 Stat. 1566,
which is classified principally to chapter 23 (§ 1001 et
seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this
Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1001 of this title and Tables.
The Reclamation Act, approved June 17, 1902, referred
to in subsec. (a), is act June 17, 1902, ch. 1093, 32 Stat.

§ 191

TITLE 30—MINERAL LANDS AND MINING

388, which is classified generally to chapter 12 (§ 371 et
seq.) of Title 43, Public Lands. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set
out under section 371 of Title 43 and Tables.
CODIFICATION
‘‘Section 7433(b) of title 10’’ substituted in subsec. (a)
for ‘‘the Act of June 4, 1920 (41 Stat. 813), as amended
June 30, 1938 (52 Stat. 1252)’’, which was classified to
section 524 of former Title 34, Navy, on authority of act
Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, § 49(b), 70A Stat. 640, the first section of which enacted Title 10, Armed Forces.
Provisions of subsec. (a) which authorized the payment of monies to the Territory of Alaska were omitted as superseded by the provisions authorizing the
payment of monies to the State of Alaska.
AMENDMENTS
2014—Subsec. (c)(3) to (5). Pub. L. 113–291, § 3021(c)(1),
added pars. (3) to (5) and struck out former par. (3)
which read as follows: ‘‘For each of fiscal years 2006
through 2015, the Fund shall be available to the Secretary of the Interior for expenditure, without further
appropriation and without fiscal year limitation, for
the coordination and processing of oil and gas use authorizations on onshore Federal land under the jurisdiction of the Pilot Project offices identified in section
15924(d) of title 42.’’
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 113–291, § 3021(b), added subsec. (d)
2013—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 113–67 amended subsec. (b)
generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows:
‘‘In determining the amount of payments to the States
under this section, the amount of such payments shall
not be reduced by any administrative or other costs incurred by the United States.’’
2005—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 109–58 added subsec. (c).
2000—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 106–393 amended subsec. (b)
generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (b) related to
deductions for administration from the amount to be
paid to States under this section or under other laws
requiring payment to a State of revenues derived from
the leasing of onshore lands owned by the United
States for the production of the same types of minerals
leasable under this chapter or of geothermal steam.
1993—Pub. L. 103–66 struck out last sentence, designated remaining provisions as subsec. (a) and in first
sentence inserted ‘‘and, subject to the provisions of
subsection (b),’’ before ‘‘50 per centum’’, and added subsec. (b). Prior to amendment, last sentence read as follows: ‘‘In determining the amount of payments to
States under this section, the amount of such payments shall not be reduced by any administrative or
other costs incurred by the United States.’’
1988—Pub. L. 100–443 struck out ‘‘notwithstanding the
provisions of section 20 thereof,’’ before ‘‘shall be paid’’.
1987—Pub. L. 100–203 inserted at end ‘‘In determining
the amount of payments to States under this section,
the amount of such payments shall not be reduced by
any administrative or other costs incurred by the
United States.’’
1983—Pub. L. 97–451, § 111(g), inserted reference to interest charges collected under the Federal Oil and Gas
Royalty Management Act of 1982.
Pub. L. 97–451, § 104(a), struck out ‘‘as soon as practicable after March 31 and September 30 of each year’’
after ‘‘Secretary of the Treasury’’ and ‘‘of those from
Alaska’’, and inserted at end provisions directing that
payments to States be made not later than the last
business day of the month in which such moneys are
warranted by the United States Treasury to the Secretary as having been received, that warrants be issued
by the Treasury not later than 10 days after receipt of
the money by the Treasury, that moneys placed in a
suspense account which are determined to be payable
to a State be made not later than the last business day
of the month in which a dispute is resolved, and that
amounts placed in a suspense account pending resolution bear interest until the dispute is resolved.
1976—Pub. L. 94–579 substituted provisions setting
forth determination of amount, time for payments, and

Page 54

manner of expenditure by the States of all moneys received from sales, etc., under provisions of this chapter
and the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970, and proviso relating to naval petroleum reserve moneys, for provisions setting forth determination of amount and time
for payment to the States of all moneys received from
sales, etc., under the provisions of this chapter, and
provisos relating to naval petroleum reserve moneys,
additional moneys from sales, etc., under this chapter
and the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970, and expenditure
of State oil shale funds.
Pub. L. 94–422 inserted proviso that all moneys paid
to any State from sales, bonuses, royalties, and rentals
of oil shale in public lands may be used by any State
for planning, construction, and maintenance of public
facilities as legislature of State may direct.
Pub. L. 94–377 substituted ‘‘40 per centum thereof
shall be paid into, reserved’’ for ‘‘521⁄2 per centum thereof shall be paid into, reserved’’, inserted ‘‘and the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970, notwithstanding the provisions of section 20 thereof’’ before ‘‘shall be paid into
the Treasury of the United States’’, ‘‘and the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970’’ before ‘‘from lands within
the naval petroleum reserves’’ and before ‘‘not otherwise disposed of by this section’’, and provisos relating
to the payment of an additional 121⁄2 per centum of all
money received from lands under provisions of this
chapter and the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 to the
State within whose boundaries the lands are located, to
be used for construction of public facilities, and relating to the use of funds received by Colorado and Utah
under the specified leases.
Pub. L. 94–273 substituted ‘‘March’’ for ‘‘December’’
and ‘‘September’’ for ‘‘June’’.
1958—Pub. L. 85–508, §§ 6(k), 28(b), struck out provisions which related to disposition of proceeds or income derived by the United States from mineral school
sections in the Territory of Alaska and substituted
‘‘, and of those from Alaska 521⁄2 per centum thereof
shall be paid to the State of Alaska for disposition by
the legislators thereof’’ for ‘‘, and of those from Alaska
521⁄2 per centum thereof shall be paid to the Territory
of Alaska for disposition by the Legislature of the Territory of Alaska’’ before proviso.
1957—Pub. L. 85–88 inserted ‘‘, and of those from Alaska 521⁄2 per centum thereof shall be paid to the Territory of Alaska for disposition by the Legislature of the
Territory of Alaska’’ before proviso.
1950—Act Aug. 3, 1950, in providing that payments to
States be made bi-annually instead of annually, substituted ‘‘as soon as practicable after December 31 and
June 30 of each year’’ for ‘‘after the expiration of each
fiscal year’’.
1947—Act May 27, 1947, extended provisions by allocating 371⁄2% of the money received from sales, bonuses,
royalties, and rentals of public lands to the Territory
of Alaska, for the construction and maintenance of
public schools or other public educational institutions
and inserted provisions relating to disposition of proceeds or income derived by the United States from mineral school sections in the Territory of Alaska.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1983 AMENDMENT
Amendment by section 104(a) of Pub. L. 97–451 applicable with respect to payments received by the Secretary of the Treasury after Oct. 1, 1983, unless the Secretary by rule, prescribes an earlier effective date, see
section 104(c) of Pub. L. 97–451, set out as an Effective
Date note under section 1714 of this title.
SAVINGS PROVISION
Amendment by Pub. L. 94–579 not to be construed as
terminating any valid lease, permit, patent, etc., existing on Oct. 21, 1976, see section 701 of Pub. L. 94–579, set
out as a note under section 1701 of Title 43, Public
Lands.
FINDINGS
Pub. L. 106–393, title V, § 502, Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat.
1624, provided that: ‘‘The Congress finds the following:

Page 55

TITLE 30—MINERAL LANDS AND MINING

‘‘(1) Section 10201 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (Public Law 103–66; 107 Stat. 407)
amended section 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30
U.S.C. 191) to change the sharing of onshore mineral
revenues and revenues from geothermal steam from a
50:50 split between the Federal Government and the
States to a complicated formula that entailed deducting from the State share of leasing revenues ‘50
percent of the portion of the enacted appropriations
of the Department of the Interior and any other agency during the preceding fiscal year allocable to the
administration of all laws providing for the leasing of
any onshore lands or interest in land owned by the
United States for the production of the same types of
minerals leasable under this Act or of geothermal
steam, and to enforcement of such laws * * *’.
‘‘(2) There is no legislative record to suggest a
sound public policy rationale for deducting prior-year
administrative expenses from the sharing of currentyear receipts, indicating that this change was made
primarily for budget scoring reasons.
‘‘(3) The system put in place by this change in law
has proved difficult to administer and has given rise
to disputes between the Federal Government and the
States as to the nature of allocable expenses. Federal
accounting systems have proven to be poorly suited
to breaking down administrative costs in the manner
required by the law. Different Federal agencies implementing this law have used varying methodologies
to identify allocable costs, resulting in an inequitable
distribution of costs during fiscal years 1994 through
1996. In November 1997, the Inspector General of the
Department of the Interior found that ‘the congressionally approved method for cost sharing deductions
effective in fiscal year 1997 may not accurately compute the deductions’.
‘‘(4) Given the lack of a substantive rationale for
the 1993 change in law and the complexity and administrative burden involved, a return to the sharing formula prior to the enactment of the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1993 [Aug. 10, 1993] is justified.’’
FUNDS HELD BY COLORADO AND UTAH FROM INTERIOR
DEPARTMENT OIL SHALE TEST LEASES
Pub. L. 94–579, title III, § 317(b), Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat.
2771, provided that: ‘‘Funds now held pursuant to said
section 35 [this section] by the States of Colorado and
Utah separately from the Department of the Interior
oil shale test leases known as C–A; C–B; U–A and U–B
shall be used by such States and subdivisions as the
legislature of each State may direct giving priority to
those subdivisions socially or economically impacted
by the development of minerals leased under this Act
for (1) planning, (2) construction and maintenance of
public facilities, and (3) provision of public services.’’
ADMISSION OF ALASKA AS STATE
Effectiveness of amendment by Pub. L. 85–508 was dependent on admission of Alaska into the Union under
sections 6(k) and 8(b) of Pub. L. 85–508. Admission was
accomplished Jan. 3, 1959, on issuance of Proc. No. 3269,
Jan. 3, 1959, 24 F.R. 81, 73 Stat. c16, as required by sections 1 and 8(c) of Pub. L. 85–508. See notes preceding
section 21 of Title 48, Territories and Insular Possessions.
OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF; REVENUES FROM LEASES
Disposition of revenues from leases on submerged
lands of outer Continental Shelf, see sections 1337 and
1338 of Title 43, Public Lands.

§ 191a. Late payment charges under Federal mineral leases
(a) Distribution of late payment charges
Any interest or other charges paid to the
United States by reason of the late payment of
any royalty, rent, bonus, or other amount due to

§ 192

the United States under any lease issued by the
United States for the extraction of oil, gas, coal,
or any other mineral, or for geothermal steam,
shall be deposited in the same account and distributed to the same recipients, in the same
manner, as such royalty, rent, bonus, or other
amount.
(b) Effective date
Subsection (a) shall apply with respect to any
interest, or other charge referred to in subsection (a), which is paid to the United States on
or after July 1, 1988.
(c) Prohibition against recoupment
Any interest, or other charge referred to in
subsection (a), which was paid to the United
States before July 1, 1988, and distributed to any
State or other recipient is hereby deemed to be
authorized and approved as of the date of payment or distribution, and no part of any such
payment or distribution shall be recouped from
the State or other recipient. This subsection
shall not apply to interest or other charges paid
in connection with any royalty, rent, bonus, or
other amount determined not to be owing to the
United States.
(Pub. L. 100–524, § 7, Oct. 24, 1988, 102 Stat. 2607.)
CODIFICATION
Section was enacted as part of the Congaree Swamp
National Monument Expansion and Wilderness Act, and
not as part of act Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, 41 Stat. 437,
known as the Mineral Leasing Act, which comprises
this chapter.

§ 191b. Collection of unpaid and underpaid royalties and late payment interest owed by
lessees
Beginning in fiscal year 1996 and thereafter,
the Secretary shall take appropriate action to
collect unpaid and underpaid royalties and late
payment interest owed by Federal and Indian
mineral lessees and other royalty payors on
amounts received in settlement or other resolution of disputes under, and for partial or complete termination of, sales agreements for minerals from Federal and Indian leases.
(Pub. L. 104–134, title I, § 101(c) [title I], Apr. 26,
1996, 110 Stat. 1321–156, 1321–167; renumbered title
I, Pub. L. 104–140, § 1(a), May 2, 1996, 110 Stat.
1327.)
CODIFICATION
Section was not enacted as part of act Feb. 25, 1920,
ch. 85, 41 Stat. 437, known as the Mineral Leasing Act,
which comprises this chapter.
SIMILAR PROVISIONS
Similar provisions were contained in the following
prior appropriation act:
Pub. L. 103–332, title I, Sept. 30, 1994, 108 Stat. 2508.

§ 192. Payment of royalties in oil or gas; sale of
such oil or gas
All royalty accruing to the United States
under any oil or gas lease or permit under this
chapter on demand of the Secretary of the Interior shall be paid in oil or gas.
Upon granting any oil or gas lease under this
chapter, and from time to time thereafter dur-