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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 159 / Friday, August 20, 2021 / Notices
8339 to contact Ms. Curnutt. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7
days a week, to leave a message or question. You will receive a reply during normal business hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 15, 2016, Secretary of the Interior S.M.R. Jewell issued Order No.
3338 Jewell Order, directing the BLM
to conduct a broad, programmatic review of its Federal coal program through preparation of a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement PEIS
under the National Environmental Policy Act NEPA. 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq. The Jewell Order was issued in response to a range of concerns regarding the Federal coal program, including, in particular, concerns as to whether American taxpayers are receiving a fair return from the development of these publicly owned resources; concerns about fluctuating market conditions and attendant consequences for coal-dependent communities; and concerns about whether the leasing and production of large quantities of coal under the Federal coal program is consistent with the Nations goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate climate change. The Jewell Order directed a pause on the issuance of new Federal leases for thermal steam coal, subject to certain enumerated exclusions, until completion of the PEIS.
On March 29, 2017, former Secretary Zinke issued Secretarys Order No. 3348
Zinke Order entitled, Concerning the Federal Coal Moratorium. The Zinke Order rescinded the Jewell Order, lifted the coal leasing pause, and halted preparation of the PEIS. On April 16, 2021, Secretary Haaland issued Secretarys Order 3398, which rescinded the Zinke Order Haaland Order. While the Haaland Order did not reinstitute the Jewell Order, it directed the Department to review and revise as necessary all policies and instructions that implemented the revoked Secretarys Orders. This Federal Register Notice is intended to further the goals of the Haaland Order by beginning a new review of the Federal coal leasing program. The BLM has not approved a new coal lease sale since the Biden Administration took office.
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Background A. Overview of Federal Coal Program Under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 MLA, as amended, 30 U.S.C. 181
et seq., and the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands of 1947 MLAAL, as amended, 30 U.S.C. 351 et seq., the BLM
is responsible for the leasing of Federal coal and regulation of the development
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of that coal on the approximately 700
million acres of mineral estate that is owned by the Federal Government. This responsibility includes Federal mineral rights on Federal lands and Federal mineral rights located under surface lands with non-Federal ownership.
Other Departmental bureaus, particularly the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement OSMRE
and the Office of Natural Resources Revenue ONRR, also take actions related to coal mining on Federal lands.
The OSMRE, and States that have obtained regulatory primacy under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 SMCRA, permit coal mining and reclamation activities, and monitor reclamation and reclamation bonding actions. The ONRR
collects and audits all payments required under a Federal lease, including bonus bids, royalties, and rental payments, and distributes those funds, pursuant to statute, between the U.S. Treasury and the States where the coal resources are located, 30 U.S.C.
191a.

2. Federal Coal Program
In recent years and on average, approximately 42 percent of the Nations annual coal production came from Federal lands. Federal coal produced from the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming accounts for over 85 percent of all Federal coal production.
As of Fiscal Year 2020, the BLM
administered 287 coal leases, covering 437,039 acres in 11 States, with an estimated 7 billion tons of recoverable Federal coal. Over the last decade 20112020, the BLM sold 17 coal leases and managed leases that produced approximately 3.7 billion tons of coal and resulted in $9.2 billion in revenue collections by the United States.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration EIA estimates total U.S. coal production in 2020 was about 534 million short tons MMst, 24
percent lower than in 2019.1 EIA
estimates that U.S. total annual coal imports reached a record high of about 36 million short tons in 2007. In 2020, the United States imported about 5
MMst of coal, which was equal to about 1 percent of U.S. coal consumption in 2020.2

The current BLM coal leasing program includes land use planning, the processing of applications e.g., applications for exploration licenses and lease sales, estimation of the value of proposed leases, lease sales, and postleasing actions e.g., production verification, lease and production inspection and enforcement, royalty reductions, and bond review.
The Federal Government receives revenue from coal leasing in three ways:
1 A bonus that is paid at the time the BLM issues a lease; 2 Rental fees; and 3 Production royalties. The royalty rates are set by regulation at a fixed 8
percent for underground mines and not less than 12.5 percent for surface mines.
For coal leases outside of Alaska, Treasury pays approximately 50 percent of receipts to the State where the leased lands are located, 30 U.S.C. 191a. For leases and mineral deposits in Alaska, Treasury pays 90 percent of the receipts to the State, 30 U.S.C. 191a.3 Federal coal development provides coal producing states like Wyoming, Montana, Utah, and Colorado with significant income and other economic benefits.
The BLMs planning process for Resource Management Plans, supported by environmental analysis under NEPA, identifies areas that are potentially available to be considered for coal leasing. The planning process considers, among other things, the impacts of a reasonably foreseeable development scenario, but it does not directly authorize any coal leasing or determine which coal will be leased.
The Federal Coal Leasing Amendments Act of 1976 FCLAA, which amended Section 2 of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, requires that, with limited exceptions, Federal lands available for coal leasing be sold by competitive bid, with the BLM
receiving fair market value for the lease.
While multiple bids are not required, all successful bids must equal or exceed the estimated pre-sale fair market value for the lease, as calculated by the BLM.
Competitive leasing is not required for:
1 Preference right lease applications for owners of pre-FCLAA prospecting permits; and 2 Modifications of existing leases, where Congress has authorized the Secretary to allow up to 960 acres increased from 160 acres by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 of
1 U.S. EIA, Coal Data August 4, 2021 https
www.eia.gov/coal/data/browser/.
2 U.S. EIA, Coal Data July 20, 2021 https
www.eia.gov/energyexplained/coal/imports-andexports.php.

3 Payments to the States are reduced by 2
percent for any administrative or other costs incurred by the United States, and the amount of such reduction shall be deposited to miscellaneous receipts of the Treasury. 30 U.S.C. 191b.

1. Federal Coal Leasing and Production
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