Lessee Qualifications and Limitations

According to 43 CFR Subpart 3471 You are qualified to hold a Federal coal lease if you are one of the following:

• A citizen of the United States;
• An association of citizens organized under the laws of the United States or any state thereof;
• A corporation organized under the laws of the United States, or of any state thereof, including a company or corporation operating a common carrier railroad; or
• A public body, including municipalities.

In addition to these general qualifications, you must also comply with several special leasing qualifications including:

• The aggregate acreage in leases and applications in which you can hold an interest, directly or indirectly, cannot exceed 75,000 acres in any one state and no more than 150,000 acres in the United States.
• You may not acquire any other mineral leases under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended, if you hold or have held a federal coal lease for 10 or more years that has not produced commercial quantities of coal.  Other minerals that can be leased under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 include oil, natural gas, sodium, potassium, phosphate, sulfur, and gilsonite.

As a part of your application for a new coal lease, you must provide a self-certified statement that you are in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

An alien may hold interests in leases only by stock ownership in U.S. corporations holding leases and only if the laws of that person's country do not deny similar privileges to citizens of the United States.  However, an alien may not hold a lease interest through units in a publicly traded partnership.