Regulacje i polityka gospodarcza · 10/4/1995

Classification Standards for Establishing Known Leasing Areas for Gilsonite

The Secretary of the Interior, through Secretarial Orders 3071 and 3087, transferred the authority under 43 U.S.C. 21 to classify public lands for leasable minerals to the Director, Bureau of Land Management. On May 22, 1986, regulations were finalized at 43 CFR part 3500 which provided for prospecting permits for gilsonite on lands that were not known to contain valuable deposits of gilsonite. Lands with known gilsonite deposits will be subject to competitive leasing procedures only. On January 20, 1995, a notice was published in the Federal Register inviting comments on a proposed standard which would be used to determine whether lands will be subject to competitive leasing for gilsonite. A total of two comments were submitted on the proposed standard within the 60-day comment period identified in the notice. The first commenter suggested that the standard was too restrictive and should be broadened to include lands beyond the mappable surface exposure of a gilsonite vein. We recognize that some gilsonite veins continue to be minable at depth even though they are not exposed on the surface, but that is not always the case. Under the proposed standard, if a mappable gilsonite vein