Land Management Bureau December 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This final rule amends the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) emergency withdrawal regulation to remove language that directs the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) to immediately make an emergency withdrawal upon notification by one of two congressional committees. Constitutional questions have arisen when this regulation and corresponding provisions in Section 204(e) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) have been used by a congressional committee to direct Secretarial action. A district court, however, found it unnecessary to rule on the constitutionality of the committee-directed provision in Section 204(e) of FLPMA because the Secretary had bound himself through regulations regarding special action on emergency withdrawal. This final rule removes from regulations only the provision that has been the subject of past constitutional questions.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is issuing this interim final rule to amend the BLM's regulations for Mining Claims under the General Mining Laws. The rule responds to a Federal district court decision that required the BLM to evaluate whether the regulations comply with Congress's policy goal for the United States to receive fair market value for the use of the public lands and their resources. The interim final rule makes it clear that, other than processing fees, location fees, and maintenance fees provided for in 43 CFR parts 3800 and 3830, the BLM does not require any other fees for surface use of the public lands for mining purposes.

Under the provisions of Public Law 97-451, the Bureau of Land Management-Eastern States (BLM-ES) received a petition for reinstatement of oil and gas lease LAES 51206 from Rhumba Operating, LLC for lands in Caldwell Parish, Louisiana. The petition was filed on time and was accompanied by all the rentals due since the date the lease terminated under the law.