Continued Operation Statistics for the Fiscal_Year 2007 Public Land Statistics; DD: 10/31/2007

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
Washington, D.C.  20240

October 16, 2007

In Reply Refer To:
3483 (320) P

EMS TRANSMISSION 10/18/2007
Instruction Memorandum No. 2008-011
Expires:  09/30/2009

To:                   State Directors

From:               Assistant Director, Minerals, Realty and Resource Protection

Subject:           Continued Operation Statistics for the Fiscal Year 2007 Public Land Statistics      DD:  10/31/2007

Program Area:  Coal Management.

Purpose:  Request for data from State offices concerning diligent development and continued operation compliance for all Federal coal leases.

Policy/Action:  The Mineral Leasing Act (MLA), as amended, requires that Federal coal leases be diligently developed and maintained in continued operation.  Beginning with Fiscal Year 2007, a new table will be added in the Public Land Statistics (PLS) to summarize compliance with the diligent development and continued operation requirements for Federal coal leases.

For all authorized Federal coal leases as of September 30, 2007, that are under your management, please indicate as illustrated in Attachment “A”, how each lease has most recently complied with the diligent development and continued operation requirements of the MLA, as amended.  Other than for Alaska, the Federal coal lease serial numbers provided in Attachment “A” are all coal leases with an authorized case disposition in the LR2000 Database as of August 30, 2007.

The Washington Office will check the total authorized coal leases for each state from the LR2000 Database as of September 30, 2007, as a part of our preparation of the annual PLS Report.  Any variance between the LR2000 total leases and the total leases provided under this Instruction Memorandum must be reconciled.  Please provide the name and phone number of a contact person to facilitate such reconciliation as needed. 

Timeframe:  The diligent development and continued operation data must be received by Washington Office 320 on or before October 31, 2007.

Budget Impact:  Minimal.

Background:  These requests are received several times each year for summary level statistics for the number of producing Federal coal leases or to demonstrate compliance with the diligence requirements.  Reporting this information annually will provide a consistent basis to respond to such requests in the future with minimal impact on the state or field offices. 

Manual/Handbook Sections Affected:  None.

Coordination:  None.

Contact Persons:  Mitchell Leverette, Solid Mineral Division, at 202-452-5088 or William Radden-Lesage 202-452-0360.

Signed by:                                                                 Authenticated by:
Bob Anderson                                                            Robert M. Williams
Acting, Assistant Director                                          Division of IRM Governance,WO-560
Minerals, Realty and Resource Protection

1 Attachment
    1 –   Federal coal lease compliance with diligent development and continued operation requirements (15 pp)