(a) Any application for a lease, lease modification, or license to mine shall include a complete and accurate description of the lands for which the lease, lease modification, or license to mine is desired.

(b) If the land has been surveyed under the public land rectangular survey system, each application shall describe the land by legal subdivision (section, township, and range), or aliquot part thereof (but not less than 10 acres).

(c) Where protraction diagrams have been approved and the effective date has been published in the Federal Register, the application for land shown on such protraction diagrams and filed on or after the effective date shall contain a description of the land according to the section, township, and range shown on the approved protraction diagrams.

(d)(1) If the land has not been surveyed on the ground and is not shown on the records as covered by protraction diagrams, the application shall describe the land by metes and bounds, giving courses and distances between the successive angle points on the boundary of the tract, in cardinal directions except where the boundaries of the land are in irregular form, and connected by courses and distances to an official corner of the public land surveys. In Alaska, the description of unsurveyed land shall be connected by courses and distances to either an official corner of the public land surveys or to a triangulation station established by an agency of the United States such as the Geological Survey, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or the International Boundary Commission, if the record position is available to the general public.

(2)(i) If the land is acquired land in a non-public land state which has not been surveyed under the rectangular system of public land surveys, the land shall be described as in the deed or other document by which the United States acquired title to the lands or minerals.

(ii) If the land constitutes less than the entire tract acquired by the United States, it shall be described by courses and distances between successive angle points on its boundary tying by course and distance into an identifiable point listed in the description in the deed or other document by which the United States acquired title to the land.

(iii) If the description in the deed or other document by which the United States acquired title to the land does not include the courses and distance between the successive angle points on the boundary of the desired tract, the description in the application shall be expanded to include such courses and distances.

(iv) The application shall be accompanied by a map on which the land is clearly marked showing its location with respect to the administrative unit or project of which it is a part. It is not necessary to submit a map if the land has been surveyed under the rectangular system of public land surveys, and the land description can be conformed to that system.

(v) If an acquisition tract number has been assigned by the acquiring agency to the tract, a description by tract number will be accepted.

(vi) Any accreted land not described in the deed to the United States shall be described by metes and bounds, giving courses and distances between the successive angle points on the boundary of the tract, and connected by courses and distances to an angle point on the perimeter of the acquired tract to which the accretions belong.

(a) All unsurveyed lands in a public land survey system state shall have a cadastral survey performed at Federal Government expense before a lease or license to mine may be issued, except for areas covered by a skeleton survey, i.e. Utah and Alaska, and the lease when issued shall be described by legal subdivision (section, township, and range), or aliquot part thereof (but no less than 10 acres).

(b) If the land is acquired land in a non-public land state, the land in the lease shall be described in the same manner provided for lease applications under § 3471.1-1(d)(2) of this title.

(a) Where the lands included in a lease or license to mine have been or may be disposed of with reservation of the coal deposits, a lessee or the holder of a license to mine must comply fully with the law under which the reservation was made. See, among other laws, the Acts of March 3, 1909 (34 Stat. 844; 30 U.S.C. 81); June 22, 1910 (35 Stat. 583; 30 U.S.C. 83-85); December 29, 1916, as amended (39 Stat. 862; 43 U.S.C. 291-301); June 17, 1949 (63 Stat. 200); June 21, 1949 (63 Stat. 214; 30 U.S.C. 54); March 8, 1922 (42 Stat. 415; 48 U.S.C. 376-377); and October 21, 1976 (90 Stat. 2759; 43 U.S.C. 1719).

(b) Any sale or conveyance of acquired lands by the agency having jurisdiction shall be subject to any lease or license to mine previously issued under the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands.

(c) Leases on acquired lands outstanding on August 7, 1947, and covering lands subject to the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands may be exchanged for new leases to be issued under that Act.

(d) When: (1) The coal is to be mined by other than underground mining techniques, (2) the surface of the land is owned by a qualified surface owner, and (3) the lease is issued after August 3, 1977, the lessee shall comply with the terms of the written consent of the qualified surface owner not inconsistent with Federal and state mined land reclamation laws and regulations.

[44 FR 42643, July 19, 1979, as amended at 47 FR 33149, July 30, 1982]

(a) If the United States has conveyed the title to, or otherwise transferred control of the land surface containing the coal deposits to (1) any state or political subdivision, agency, or its instrumentality, (2) a college, any other educational corporation, or association, or (3) to a charitable or religious corporation or association, the transferee shall be notified by certified mail of the application for the license to mine or lease, or the scheduling of a lease sale. The transferee shall be given a reasonable period of time within which to suggest any stipulations necessary for the protection of existing surface improvements or uses to be included in the license or lease and state the supporting facts, or to file any objections to its issuance and state the supporting facts.

(b) Opposition by the state or local entity is not a bar to issuance of the license to mine or lease for the reserved minerals in the lands. (See, however, § 3461.1(b).) In each case, the final determination on whether to issue the license to mine or lease is based on the best interests of the public.

[44 FR 42643, July 19, 1979, as amended at 47 FR 33149, July 30, 1982]

(a) The Secretary's right to cancel or forfeit a lease for any violation shall not adversely affect the title or interest of a bona fide purchaser of any lease or any interest therein. A bona fide purchaser must be a person, association, or corporation qualified to hold such lease or interest, even though the holdings of the party or parties from which the lease or interest therein was acquired or their predecessor(s) in title (including the original lessee of the United States), may have been cancelled or forfeited for any such violation.

(b) Any party to any proceedings with respect to a violation of any provision of the mineral leasing laws may be dismissed promptly as a party by showing that he/she holds and acquired his/her interest as a bona fide purchaser without having violated any provisions of the mineral leasing laws.

(c) If a party waives his or her rights under the lease, or if such rights are suspended by order of the Secretary pending a decision, rental payments and time counted against the term of the lease shall be suspended as of the first day of the month following the filing of the waiver or the Secretary's suspension until the first day of the month following the final decision in the proceeding or the revocation of the waiver or suspension.

[44 FR 42643, July 19, 1979. Redesignated and amended at 47 FR 33149, July 30, 1982]

If, in any proceeding to cancel or forfeit a lease or any interest therein acquired in violation of any of the provisions of the mineral leasing laws, the lease or interest therein is cancelled or forfeited, and if there are valid options to acquire the lease or an interest therein that are not subject to cancellation, forfeiture, or compulsory disposition, this lease or interest therein shall be sold to the highest responsible qualified bidder by competitive bidding, in a manner similar to that provided for in the offering of leases by competitive bidding, subject to all outstanding valid interests and options. If less than the whole interest in the lease or interest therein is cancelled or forfeited, the partial interest shall be sold in the same way. If no satisfactory offer is obtained as a result of the competitive offering of a whole or partial interest, it may be sold by other methods that the authorized officer finds appropriate. However, the terms shall not be less favorable to the Government than those of the best competitive bid received.

[44 FR 42643, July 19, 1979. Redesignated at 47 FR 33149, July 30, 1982]

An application to lease lands in which the United States has a future interest filed more than 2 years prior to the date of the vesting in the United States of the interest in the coal shall be rejected. Any application for a future interest lease outstanding at the time of the vesting in the United States of the present possessory interest in the coal shall not lapse, but shall continue to be treated under subpart 3425 of this title. (See 43 CFR 3472.1-2(g).)

[44 FR 42643, July 19, 1979, as amended at 47 FR 33149, July 30, 1982]