43 CFR Part 3800--Mining Claims Under the General Mining Laws; Surface Management--RIN 1004-AD44 (Federal Register, 10/30/01, 66 FR 54863-54870). The comment period closed
on December 30, 2001. The proposed rule would--
- Give the public an additional opportunity to comment on final regulations published in the Federal Register on October 30, 2001 (see 66 FR 54833-54862); and
- Define casual use as including the use of gas drywashers of less than 10 horsepowers.
- 43 CFR Parts 3730, 3810, 3820, 3830-3840, and 3850--Locating, Recording, and Maintaining Mining
Claims or Sites; and Extension of Currently Approved Information Collection, OMB Approval Number 1004-0114--RIN 1004-AD31. (Federal Register, 10/26/99, 64 FR 57613). The
extended comment period closed on January 24, 2000.
The interim and proposed rule and notice and request for comment on
information were published in the Federal Register on August 27, 1999, 64 FR 47023-47046 (RIN 1004-AD31). BLM published two rules to implement the 1999 Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act; one interim final,
(Federal Register, August 27, 1999, 64 FR 47017-47022), effective the date of publication, and the other proposed, allowing 60 days for public comment.
The 1999 Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act--
- Moved the annual payment and waiver filing deadline from August 31 to September 1 to coincide with the beginning of the assessment year;
- Allowed time to cure a small miner waiver application defect; and
- Allowed claimants to make a maintenance fee payment after the payment deadline instead of forfeiting a claim or site.
The Act did not change the fee.
The proposed rule would rewrite and reorganize the existing regulations in a format that we believe the public will find easier to read and follow, and remove obsolete
provisions. Because this rewrite substantially changes the appearance of the regulations, we published it in proposed form. This proposed rule also contains the
substantive deadline and waiver procedure changes made by Congress that are in the interim
rule.
The proposed rule contains language that defines the amount of mill site land that may be located in association with mining claims.
When issued as a final rule, the proposed rule will replace the interim final rule.
- 43 CFR Parts 3100, 3110, 3120, 3130, 3140, 3150, 3160, 3170, and
3180--Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing and Operations--RIN 1004-AC94 (Federal Register, December 12, 1998, 63 FR 66839-66937). The extended comment period closed on July 19, 1999. (Federal Register,
6/1/99, 64 FR 29256-29257). This proposed rule would revise BLM's current Federal oil and gas leasing and operations regulations, except those concerning drainage, combined hydrocarbon leasing (part 3140), and oil and gas leasing in the National
Petroleum Reserve--Alaska (part 3130) and
would--
- Use performance standards in certain places instead of prescriptive requirements, to allow more flexibility for operators and protect the environment and Federal royalty
interests;
- Cite industry standards and incorporate them by reference rather than repeating those standards in the rule itself;
- Incorporate the requirements of the Onshore Oil and Gas Orders and national notices to lessees into the regulations to eliminate their overlap with the current regulations;
- Increase bonding for statewide and lease bonding;
- Add a fair market value user fee for geophysical exploration;
- Revise and replace BLM's current unitization regulations with a more flexible unit agreement process; and
- Eliminate redundancies, clarify procedures and regulatory requirements and streamline procedures.
2/15/07
