Minerals Management: Annual Adjustment of Cost Recovery Fees, 77170-77171 [2024-21605]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Land Management

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 183 (Friday, September 20, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77170-77171]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-21605]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[BLM_HQ_FRN_MO4500181308]


Minerals Management: Annual Adjustment of Cost Recovery Fees

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of fee adjustments.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is adjusting the fixed 
fees set forth in the Department of the Interior's onshore mineral 
resources regulations for the processing of certain minerals program-
related documents and actions.

DATES: The adjusted fees take effect on October 1, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Yvette M. Fields, Chief, Division of 
Fluid Minerals, 240-712-8358, [email protected]; Matthew Marsh, Acting 
Chief, Division of Solid Minerals, 307-347-5243, [email protected]. 
Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of 
hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or 
TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services. Individuals 
outside the United States should use the relay services offered within 
their country to make international calls to the point-of-contact in 
the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Independent Offices Appropriations Act 
of 1953, 31 U.S.C. 9701, and section 304 of the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act of 1976, 43 U.S.C. 1734, authorize the BLM to charge 
fees for processing applications and other documents related to public 
lands. In 2005, the BLM published a final cost recovery rule (70 FR 
58854) that established new fees or revised existing fees and service 
charges for processing documents related to its minerals program and 
established the method that the BLM uses to adjust those fees and 
services charges for inflation on an annual basis. BLM regulations at 
43 CFR 3000.120 provide that the BLM Director will post the fixed 
filing fees on the BLM's web page (www.blm.gov) and publish a notice in 
the Federal Register announcing the fee adjustments by October 1 of 
each year to provide additional public notice. The new fees take effect 
each year on October 1.
    The fee adjustments are based on mathematical formulas that were 
established in the 2005 final cost recovery rule and, in the case of 
the Application for Permit to Drill fee, section 3021(b) of the 
National Defense Authorization Act of 2015. For more details on how the 
BLM calculates the fee increases, please refer to the BLM website.

                     Processing and Filing Fee Table
------------------------------------------------------------------------
              Document/action                        FY 2025 fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oil & Gas (parts 3100, 3110, 3120, 3130,
 3150, 3160, and 3180):
    Competitive lease application..........  $3,100
    Leasing and compensatory royalty         660
     agreements under right-of-way pursuant
     to subpart 3109..
    Lease consolidation....................  575
    Assignment and transfer of record title  115
     or operating rights.
    Overriding royalty transfer, payment     15
     out of production.
    Name change; corporate merger;           270
     sheriff's deed; dissolution of
     corporation, partnership, or trust; or
     transfer to heir/devisee.
    Lease reinstatement, Class I...........  1,260
    Geophysical exploration permit           1,150
     application--all states *.
    Renewal of exploration permit--Alaska..  30
    Final application for Federal unit       1,200
     agreement approval, Federal unit
     agreement expansion, and Federal
     subsurface gas storage application *.
    Designation of successor operator for    120
     all Federal agreements, except for
     contracted unit agreements that
     contain no Federal lands *.
Geothermal (part 3200):
    Noncompetitive lease application.......  520
    Competitive lease application..........  200
    Assignment and transfer of record title  115
     or operating rights.
    Name change, corporate merger or         270
     transfer to heir/devisee.
    Lease consolidation....................  575
    Lease reinstatement....................  100
    Nomination of lands....................  145
    plus per acre nomination fee...........  0.14

[[Page 77171]]

 
    Site license application...............  80
    Assignment or transfer of site license.  80
Coal (parts 3400, 3470):
    License to mine application............  15
    Exploration license application........  425
    Lease or lease interest transfer.......  85
Leasing of Solid Minerals Other Than Coal
 and Oil Shale (parts 3500, 3580):
    Applications other than those listed     45
     below.
    Prospecting permit application           85
     amendment.
    Extension of prospecting permit........  140
    Lease modification or fringe acreage     40
     lease.
    Lease renewal..........................  670
    Assignment, sublease, or transfer of     40
     operating rights.
    Transfer of overriding royalty.........  40
    Use permit.............................  40
    Shasta and Trinity hardrock mineral      40
     lease.
    Renewal of existing sand and gravel      40
     lease in Nevada.
Public Law 359; Mining in Powersite
 Withdrawals: General (part 3730):
    Notice of protest of placer mining       15
     operations.
Mining Law Administration (parts 3800,
 3810, 3830, 3860, 3870):
    Application to open lands to location..  15
    Notice of location **..................  25
    Amendment of location..................  15
    Transfer of mining claim/site..........  15
    Recording an annual FLPMA filing.......  15
    Deferment of assessment work...........  140
    Recording a notice of intent to locate   40
     mining claims on Stockraising
     Homestead Act lands.
    Mineral patent adjudication (more than   3,915
     10 claims).
    (10 or fewer claims)...................  1,955
    Adverse claim..........................  140
    Protest................................  85
Oil Shale Management (parts 3900, 3910,
 3930):
    Exploration license application........  410
    Application for assignment or sublease   85
     of record title or overriding royalty.
Onshore Oil and Gas Operations and
 Production (parts 3160, 3170):
    Application for Permit to Drill........  12,515
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* These fees are new for FY 2025. The BLM adopted them in the final rule
  titled ``Fluid Mineral Leases and Leasing Process,'' published on
  April 23, 2024 (89 FR 30916).
** To record a mining claim or site location, this processing fee along
  with the initial maintenance fee and the one-time location fee
  required by statute and at 43 CFR part 3833 must be paid.


David Rosenkrance,
Assistant Director, Office of Energy, Minerals, and Realty Management.
[FR Doc. 2024-21605 Filed 9-19-24; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4331-29-P