The Bureau of Land Management today published a rule that implements a new law raising the acreage limits for producers of sodium (trona) on BLM-managed lands.

Under the rule, the BLM could raise the general limit of 5,120 acres per lessee per State to 30,720 acres if needed for a mining operation's economic viability. The new 30,720-acre figure is twice that of the previous high limit of 15,360 acres.

The rule, which appears in today's Federal Register, implements legislation passed by Congress that the President signed into law last April. The rule applies to sodium leases on all BLM-managed lands, but at this time is expected to affect only sodium lessees in Wyoming producing trona.

Under the new law and rule, companies seeking extra leasing acreage would have to show that they cannot operate an economically successful sodium operation using 5,120 or fewer acres of public land. The BLM will assess requests to exceed the 5,120 acreage limit on a case-by-case basis.