Mineral Resources

Interior's Actions on Three Coal Leases Gao ID: RCED-87-193 September 30, 1987

In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) proposal to suspend a portion of a firm's coal leases to encourage the firm's compliance with a law prohibiting a firm and its affiliates from obtaining additional onshore federal mineral leases if the firm is not producing coal from a lease within a certain time frame.

GAO found that: (1) BLM and the firm disagreed over the amount of recoverable reserves BLM should count to establish the leases' coal production requirements; (2) the firm and its parent company appealed the BLM determination, hoping to reduce it to a level that would ensure compliance; (3) the BLM proposal contained an alternative to improve the likelihood of compliance; (4) since the firm did not request that BLM act on its proposal, BLM took no action; and (5) the firm and its parent company have appealed the determination.



The Justia Government Accountability Office site republishes public reports retrieved from the U.S. GAO These reports should not be considered official, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Justia.