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Section 4 would make future mining claims and patents under the mining laws subject to the reservation to the United States of all minerals which are disposable under the Mineral Leasing Act, together with rights of entry and operation. Section 5 would permit the location of mining claims on lands which are subject to leases, permits, applications, or offers under the Mineral Leasing Act or which are known to be valuable for the minerals disposable under the Mineral Leasing Act. Section 6 prescribes the principles of operation to be followed in conducting mining operations and Mineral Leasing Act operations on the same lands.

Section 7 provides a procedure under which a lessee, permittee, applicant, or offeror under the Mineral Leasing Act may obtain a determination as to the existence of unpatented mining claims on the land. under which rights in the oil and gas or other Leasing Act minerals are asserted, and the ownership of the rights so asserted. This procedure looks toward eliminating the title uncertainties which follow from the possible existence of unidentifiable mining locations and from the uncertain status of old and inactive locations, conditions which have retarded oil, gas, and other mineral development of the lands affected.

Section 8 provides that the owner of an unpatented mining claim heretofore located may relinquish all rights under the claim to the oil and gas and other Leasing Act minerals. This provision would assist in the negotiation of settlements and the avoidance of conflicts.

Section 9 of S. 3344 as reported is a new section added by the committee as a result of evidence that in some instances withdrawal of an area for one mineral has needlessly prevented development of deposits of other minerals in the same area. For example, a substantial reserve of helium was discovered by a Federal lessee while drilling for oil. Under existing law (act of September 1, 1937; 50 Stat. 885), the United States has title to all helium on the public lands and the area was immediately withdrawn. There was strong geologic evidence that a substantial oil deposit lay underneath the helium, and that the oil could be extracted without harm to the helium deposit. Yet, since the land was subject to the helium withdrawal, the oil deposit could not be developed.

The committee's amendment set forth in section 9 is designed to permit the development of leasable mineral resources, other than the one for which the withdrawal was made, in lands withdrawn for mineral purposes.

Section 10 of the reported bill covers the same subject matter as section 9 of S. 3344 as introduced. The language of subsections (a), (b), and (c) of the present section 10 is that proposed by the Atomic Energy Commission in its report to the committee and explained in detail by spokesmen for the Commission in the hearings. Department of the Interior spokesmen informed the committee that Interior would defer to the Commission's views as to the wording of the first three subsections, and strongly urged the adoption of the provision incorporated in subsection (d).

Section 10 of the reported bill would accomplish two principle objectives:

(1) Deletion of the reservation to the United States of fissionable material in the lands of the United States now in the Atomic Energy Act; and

(2) Confirmation of the validity of otherwise valid mining claims located on the basis of a discovery of fissionable source material alone.

Deletion of the reservation of fissionable materials necessitates several amendments to the Atomic Energy Act and these are set forth in subsections (a) (b) and (c) of section 10 in accordance with the Commission's recommendation.

Attention is directed to the following statement of the Commission in its favorable report to the committee:

"This (id est, deletion of the reservation) would represent no economic loss to the Government since at no time has the Atomic Energy Commission paid less for source materials originating on lands subject to the reservation than it has for source materials originating on lands to which the reservation had no application. The principal practical effect of the reservation thus far has been detrimental to the Commission's program in that, although neither the Commission nor the Department of Interior believes there is legal ground for it, doubt has arisen in the mining industry as to whether a mining claim based on the discovery of a source material alone is legally valid. Complete deletion of the reservation would place source materials on the same footing as any other minerals within the scope of the mining laws of 1872, as amended, and thereby leave no doubt whatsoever on this score."

Subsection (d), as stated, was adopted on the recommendation of the Department of the Interior to remove the cloud presently existing on claims located for fissionable materials by reason of the reservation.

Under a 1947 ruling by an official of the Department of the Interior, the reservation in section 5 (b) (7) of the Atomic Energy Act was interpreted as precluding mining locations for fissionable source materials (appeal of Jesse C. Clark, A. 24521, January 14, 1947). Although the Atomic Energy Commission has not given the act that interpretation and has encouraged mining locations for such materials, and although in the hearings spokesmen for the Department of the Interior testified that the present position of the Department is that such claims are valid, doubt does in fact still exist as to the validity of claims made on the basis of discovery or a source material alone. Subsection (d) of section 10 would protect mining claims against any invalidity by reason of having been located for fissionable source materials, and make it clear that the Atomic Energy Act does not preclude the location and patenting of mining claims for those materials, subject to the limitations in the act as to the disposal and use of such materials.

Section 11 defines the terms used in S. 3344, and sets forth the specific citation of the laws directly involved. The amendment to the definition of the term "uranium lease application" was made in accordance with the recommendation of the Atomic Energy

Commission.

Section 12 is the usual "saving clause," providing that if any part of the measure shall be held to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall not be affected by such a holding.

The title is amended to insert the words "and the mining laws" after the words "mineral leasing laws."

THE AMENDMENTS

In addition to rewriting entirely the present section 10, and adding section 9, as discussed above, the committee adopted one other amendment of substance, based on the hearings. Additional provisions were added to subsection (a) of section 7 to require that before the lessee, permittee, applicant or offeror under the Mineral Leasing Act invokes the procedure provided for in section 7, a notice of the filing of his application or his offer or the issuance of his permit or lease shall be filed for record in the county office of record for the county in which the lands involved are situated, and that his request for publication of the notice which commences the procedure shall be accompanied by a certified copy of the recorded notice of his application, offer, permit, or lease.

The Committee added these provisions in an effort to afford further protection to the holder of a mining claim or interest therein.

CONCLUSION

Your committee is convinced that enactment of S. 3344, as amended, would result in greatly increased development of the mineral resources of the public lands of the United States, including increased domestic supplies of fissionable source materials. It therefore recommends prompt approval of the measure by the Senate.

REPORTS OF EXECUTIVE AGENCIES

The favorable reports of the Atomic Energy Commission and of the Department of the Interior are set forth in full below. Also set forth is the favorable comment of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy of the Congress. The joint committee's views were sought since it is considering bills for overall revision of the Atomic Energy Act and the Interior Committee wished to do nothing at variance with or inconsistent with the probable action of the joint committee with respect to source materials.

UNITED STATES ATOMIC ENERGY
COMMISSION,

Washington, D. C., May 21, 1954. Hon. HUGH BUTLER,

Chairman, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, United States Senate. DEAR SENATOR BUTLER: Our views have been requested on S. 3344 and H. R. 8892, identical bills to amend the mineral leasing laws to provide for multiple mineral development of the same tracts of the public lands, and other purposes.

Insofar as they bear upon the activities and field of interest of the Atomic Energy Commission, the bills appear to have two major objectives:

1. To permit establishment of mining claims under the mining laws on lands to which the mineral leasing acts are applicable and

2. To confirm that despite the reservation to the United States of source material in the public lands set forth in section 5 (b) (7) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1946, as amended, valid mining claims may be established on the basis of a discovery of a source material alone.

We are of the opinion that realization of both objectives would further the Commission's aim of encouraging greater domestic production of source materials and are therefore happy to state our recommendation that the proposal be enacted. We should like to suggest certain amendments, however, which we believe are fully in keeping with the apparent purposes of the bills. The changes we suggest fall into two categories.

First, a group of formal changes which require very little discussion, all falling on page 21 of the committee prints:

1. In lines 1 and 2 of page 21, reference is made to the act of August 1, 1946, and "all heretofore enacted acts which are amendatory of or supplementary to said act." Since it might be difficult to determine with certainty what acts are "supplementary to" the Atomic Energy Act of 1946, our suggestion would be to substitute the words "as amended" for the longer phrase just quoted.

2. In line 7 of page 21 reference is made to "section 5 (b) (7) of the Atomic Energy Act." We believe that the reference should be to section 5 (b) (1).

3. In lines 8 through 14 of page 21 definitions are set forth of "uranium lease application" and "uranium lease." Both are defined by reference to the provisions of the Commission's Domestic Uranium Program Circular 7. We assume that all uranium lease applications or uranium leases relating to oil and gas lands are meant to be comprehended and that the reference to Circular 7 is intended to be shorthand for this purpose. The fact that the Commission both received some applications and issued some leases prior to the promulgation of Circular 7 produces the result that the shorthand phrase is somewhat deficient for its

intended purpose. It is suggested that lines 8 to 14 be revised to read as follows:

"Uranium lease application" shall mean an application for a uranium lease filed with said Commission with respect to lands which would be open for entry under the mining laws except for their being lands embraced within an offer, application, permit, or lease under the mineral leasing laws or lands known to be valuable for minerals leasable under those laws; "uranium lease" shall mean a uranium mining lease issued by said Commission with respect to any such lands;

Second, substitution of an entirely difrent draft for section 9 of the bills. This proposed alternative, set forth in full in the attached memorandum, is believed to be entirely consistent, so far as objectives are concerned, with section 9 as now set forth in the bills. It embodies the substance of proposals set forth in a general bill to amend the Atomic Energy Act, H. R. 8862 and S. 3323, now under consideration by the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy. It approaches the problems created by the reservation embodied in section 5 (b) (7) of the Atomic Energy Act by expunging the reservation This would from the act in its entirely.

represent no economic loss to the Government since at no time has the Atomic Energy Commission paid less for source materials originating on lands subject to the reservation than it has for source materials originating on lands to which the reservation had no application. The principal practical effect of the reservation thus far has been detrimental to the Commission's program in that, although neither the Commission nor the Department of Interior believes there is legal ground for it, doubt has arisen in the mining industry as to whether a mining claim based on the discovery of a source material alone is legally valid. Complete deletion of the reservation would place source materials on the same footing as any other minerals within the scope of the mining laws of 1872, as amended, and thereby leave no doubt whatsoever on this score.

With the deletion of the reservation, three related amendments of the Atomic Energy Act of 1946 become necessary:

1. The reservation of section 5 (b) (7) includes a right to enter upon the land and prospect for, mine, and remove source materials, with just compensation for any damage or injury occasioned thereby. Because section 5 (b) (5) of the Atomic Energy Act in its present form authorizes the Commission to acquire by purchase or condemnation supplies of source materials or any interest in real property containing deposits of source materials, the deletion of the part of the reservation giving the United States rights to enter upon lands containing source materials is of no great consequence to the Commission. On the other hand, the Commission's authority under section 5 (b) (5) to acquire source materials and interests in real property containing them does not explicitly comprehend acquisition of prospecting and exploratory rights in lands deemed to have possibilities of containing source materials. Hence, it is suggested that the scope of section 5 (b) (5) be enlarged to comprehend exploratory and prospecting rights. With section 5 (b) (5) thus amended, section 5 (b) (6) in its present form would be superfluous and should be deleted.

2. Although enactment of S. 3344 and H. R. 8892 would no longer make it necessary for the Commission to issue leases for source materials with respect to oil and gas lands, a narrow area would remain (e. g., source materials discovered on lands withdrawn other than by reason of the application of the mineral leasing laws) in which the only way the Commission could be assured of making deposits of source materials available for development and mining by private industry would be through the exercise of the leasing power. The Commis

sion's existing power to issue leases is legally founded upon the reservation now set forth in section 5 (b) (7) of the Atomic Energy Act. Hence, if the reservation is deleted as proposed, it will be necessary to add an explicit authorization to the Commission to issue leases for source materials with respect to lands belonging to the United States.

3. Since the reservation would be deleted for the future and since, where it exists, it is productive of uncertainty rather than advantageous to the Government, it is believed desirable to authorize the heads of agencies who have issued conveyances subject to the reservation to release the present holders of the land from the reservation. As indicated above this would put to rest any lingering doubts about validity of the claims in question without sacrifice of any substantial interest by the Government. The pressure of time has prevented us from submitting this report to the Bureau of the Budget.

Sincerely yours,

LEWIS L. STRAUSS, Chairman.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, D. C., May 14, 1954. Hon. HUGH BUTLER, Chairman, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, United States Senate, Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR SENATOR BUTLER: This in reply to the request of your committee for a report on S. 3344, a bill to amend the mineral leasing laws to provide for multiple mineral development of the same tracts of the public lands, and for other purposes.

I recommend the enactment of this bill. The United States mining laws provide for the location of mining claims on public lands containing valuable mineral deposits (30 U. S. C., sec. 22 et seq.). After February 25, 1920, deposits of coal, phosphate, sodium, potassium, oil, oil shale, or gas became subject to disposition under the mineral-leasing laws (30 U. S. C., sec. 181 et seq.). Section 37 of the 1920 act provided that, except as to valid claims then existing, such deposits could be disposed of only under the mineralleasing laws (30 U. S. C., sec. 193). Lands which were known to be valuable for minerals subject to the leasing laws or which were included in leases, permits, or applications or offers therefor could no longer be acquired under the mining laws.

To permit multiple development of lands in these latter categories, Congress passed the act of August 12, 1953 (67 Stat. 539), which, under certain conditions, validated mining claims located on such lands after July 31, 1939, but not later than December 31, 1952. S. 3344 would make some revisions in the terms of the 1953 act, but, in general, holders of such mining claims located after December 31, 1952, and prior to February 10, 1954, would be given the same benefits as those located prior to January 1, 1953, and these benefits would apply to a mining location which is made after the enactment of S. 3344.

The first three sections of S. 3344 provide for the validation of mining claims located subsequent to July 31, 1939, and prior to February 10, 1954, together with provisions for the conversion, at the election of the owners thereof, of uranium leases issued by the Atomic Energy Commission and applications for such uranium leases.

Sections 4 through 8 are provisions of general application, modifying the mineralleasing laws and the mining laws in certain significant respects in the interests of encouraging multiple-mineral development on mining claims and lands previously subject to mineral development only under the mineral-leasing laws.

Section 9 would revise section 5 (b) (7) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1946 (42 U. S. C., sec. 1805) and section 3 of the act of August

12, 1953, supra, to remove any doubts that mining claims have been and may be validly located for valuable deposits of fissionablesource materials. This provision appears to be of utmost importance to the maintenance of an adequate supply of fissionable-source materials. However, this Department defers to the views of the Atomic Energy Commission with respect to the specific language proposed.

The following section-by-section discussion is limited to the important additions to or changes in the provisions of existing law (including the act of August 12, 1953, supra).

The provision in section 1 of the bill calling for posting and recording of amended notices of location is patterned after the 1953 act. However, if the claimant previously has filed a lease application or obtained a lease under Domestic Uranium Program Circular 7 of the Atomic Energy Commission for the same land, he would be required to file with the Commission a withdrawal of any such application or a release of any such lease and to record a notice of his withdrawal or release in the office where his notice of mining location shall have been filed. This provision seems very desirable, since it should tend to clarify the record title where both uranium leases and mining claims would otherwise cover the same land.

Section 2 deals with possible conflicts which may arise between mining claimants. The first possible conflict dealt with is that between (a) mining claims located prior to January 1, 1953, and (b) claims located after December 31, 1952, but prior to February 10, 1954. The second possible conflict mentioned is between (c) claims located prior to February 10, 1954, and (d) claims located after the date of enactment of these bills. In the case of the first possible conflict, claims in category (b) are to be presumed as located December 11, 1953, which is the day following the last date for recording category (a) mining claims under the 1953 act.

In the case of the second possible conflict, claims in category (d) are to be presumed as located 121 days after enactment of the bill, that is, the day following the last date for recording category (c) mining claims.

Section 3 gives the holder of any pending uranium lease application or of a uranium lease a preference right to locate a mining claim within 120 days after the enactment date as against claimants attempting to locate a claim after the date of enactment. Provision is made for priorities among conflicting claimants to this preference right.

Under section 4 of the bill all mining claims and millsites located after enactment would be subject to a reservation to the United States of leasing act minerals. All claims validated by the bill would also be subject to such a reservation.

Section 5 expressly provides for the location, after enactment, of mining claims on lands valuable for leasable minerals, or included in a mineral lease or permit, or an application or offer for a mineral lease or permit.

Section 6 of the bill would set up legal standards for leasing act and mining operations on the same lands. Each type of operation generally would be required to be conducted so as not to endanger or materially interfere with any existing surface or underground improvements, workings, or facilities made for the other type of operation, or with the utilization of such improvement, workings, or facilities. An exception is provided permitting such injury or damage if a court of competent jurisdiction finds that the refusal to permit the injury or damage would cause greater damage than that which would result to the existing improvements, workings, or facilities, or from interference with the utilization thereof, if the use were allowed. However, fair compensation would be required. Provision is also made for interchange of information and reasonable access

to each other's facilities, workings, and improvements.

Section 7 authorizes publication of notice of any leasing act permit, lease, or application or offer for such permit or lease. The mining claimant may file a claim to minerals subject to the mineral leasing laws by reason of his mining location. If he does not file his claim within 150 days after the date of first publication of the notice, any claim or right to these minerals by the locator will be deemed to be relinquished. If a claim is asserted, this Department would hold hearings to determine the right of the claimant to the minerals. This provision would delay somewhat the issuance of mineral leases and permits, but would furnish the mineral lessee or permittee with some security of title with respect to outstanding claims to the land he wishes to explore or develop. The publication provisions are comparable to those applicable to contests of applications for mineral patents under the mining laws.

A typographical error on page 8, line 6, of the bill may be corrected by striking out the word "law" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "laws." This Department strongly supports this bill since it would encourage fuller mineral development of the public lands.

Since I am informed that there is a particular urgency for the submission of the views of the Department, this report has not been cleared through the Bureau of the Budget and, therefore, no commitment can be made concerning the relationship of the views expressed herein to the program of the President.

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DEAR SENATOR BUTLER: We have received the request of May 24 from Mr. Stewart French, your committee counsel, soliciting the views of this committee on S. 3344, a bill to amend the mineral leasing laws to provide for multiple mineral developments of the public lands with particular reference to section 9 of the bill which provides for certain changes in the Atomic Energy Act.

As you know, this committee is in the process of making major revisions in the Atomic Energy Act of 1946, through bills H. R. 8862 and S. 3323. Since these bills were introduced, the committee has held extensive hearings and has put through a clean print, a copy of which is enclosed for your information.

This committee has also examined the report of the Atomic Energy Commission on S. 3344. We find that the position taken by the Commission is in line with the position presently set forth in H. R. 8862 and S. 3323. If you will refer to the clean print of the joint committee bill, you will note:

Section 66, dealing with the power of the Commission to acquire supplies of source materials, has been merged with the section on exploration, and then expanded in order to permit the Commission to condemn the right to enter upon real property deemed by the Commission to have possibilities of containing deposits of source material in order to conduct prospecting and exploratory operations for such deposits. Section 66 further permits the payment of just compensation for any interest taken in land, as is suggested to your committee by the Commission.

Section 67 is new and gives the Commission permission to issue leases of public lands. While there is some question as to the necessity of such a provision in view of

the other extensive powers given to the Commission, the provision has been incorporated into the present proposal.

Section 68 contains some of the provisions of former section 67. By deleting the provisions of the original act, which contained reservations in favor of the United States with respect to the locations of source materials on public lands deeded to others, it was hoped that prospecting for source materials would be encouraged. In view of the deletion of this reservation, appropriate language was inserted in the section which would permit patentees to get new patents without any reservations. The language for this purpose is slightly different in the proposed bill than in the Commission proposals. Where the earlier language requiring the reservation provided that "the Secretary of the Interior shall cause to be inserted in every patent, conveyance, lease, permit, or other authorization, hereafter granted to use the public lands or their mineral resources * *”, the language of section 68 was drafted to provide a parallel instruction to order the issuance of new patents without the reservations. The Commission proposal would require any head of a department or an agency to issue a new or supplemental patent without such reservation. It is believed that the committee language more closely parallels the former language of the Atomic Energy Act. In addition, one new sentence has been added to section 68 requiring that any new patent shall be subject to any rights heretofore issued by the United States; then the new patent shall be subject to those rights, but the patentee shall be subrogated to the right of the United States.

*

It will be noted that proposed section 68 deletes the unfair advantage clause in the statute. While this clause was originally drawn to be applicable to the Manhattan Engineer District, and hence is now 8 years old, it appears to have been construed to apply Thereto present Commission activities. fore, it probably will be reworded to bring it up to date and reinstated in section 68.

One very minor technical point should be mentioned in passing. It is suggested that the provisions of S. 3344 be reworded so that the phrase "fissionable source material" becomes "source material" throughout, and the clause in lines 17 through 20 of page 21 of the committee print would then read: ""source material' shall mean uranium, thorium, and all other materials defined in section 5 (b) (1) of the Atomic Energy Act to be source materials;"

We would, in turn, appreciate having the views of your committee on the clean print of H. R. 8862 and S. 3323 relating to source materials.

Sincerely yours,

STERLING COLE, Chairman.

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with the Cordon rule (subsec. (4) of rule XXIX of the Standing Rules of the Senate), changes in existing law made by the bill S. 3344, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be repealed is enclosed in black brackets, additions to existing law are italicized): The Atomic Energy Act of 1946 (Public Law 585, 79th Cong., 2d sess.; 60 Stat. 755) "Control of materials

"SEC. 5. (b) Source materials: "(1) Definition: As used in this act, the term 'source material' means uranium, thorium, or any other material which is determined by the Commission, with the approval of the President, to be peculiarly essential to the production of fissionable materials; but includes ores only if they contain one or more of the foregoing materials in such concentration as the Commission may by regulation determine from time to time.

"(2) License for transfers required: Unless authorized by a license issued by the Commission, no person may transfer or deliver, receive possession of or title to, or export from the United States any source material after removal from its place of deposit in nature, except that licenses shall not be required for quantities of source materials which, in the opinion of the Commission, are unimportant.

"(3) Issuance of licenses: The Commission shall establish such standards for the issuance, refusal, or revocation of licenses as it may deem necessary to assure adequate source materials for production, research, or development activities pursuant to this act or to prevent the use of such materials in a manner inconsistent with the national welfare. Licenses shall be issued in accordance with such procedures as the Commission may by regulation establish.

"(4) Reporting: The Commission is authorized to issue such regulations or orders requiring reports of ownership, possession, extraction, refining, shipment, or other handling of source materials as it may deem necessary, except that such reports shall not be required with respect to (A) any source material prior to removal from its place of deposit in nature, or (B) quantities of source materials which in the opinion of the Commission are unimportant or the reporting of which will discourage independent prospecting for new deposits.

[(5) Acquisition: The Commission is authorized and directed to purchase, take, requisition, condemn, or otherwise acquire, supplies of source materials or any interest in real property containing deposits of source materials to the extent it deems necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act. Any purchase made under this paragraph may be made without regard to the provisions of section 3709 of the Revised Statutes (U. S. C., title 41, sec. 5) upon certification by the Commission that such action is necessary in the interest of the common defense and security, or upon a showing that advertising is not reasonably practicable, and partial, and advance payments may be made thereunder. The Commission may establish guaranteed prices for all source materials delivered to it within a specified time. Just compensation shall be made for any property taken, requisitioned, or condemned under this paragraph.]

(5) Acquisition: The Commission is authorized, to the extent it deems necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act, to purchase, take, requisition, condemn, or otherwise acquire

"(A) supplies of source materials or any interest in real property containing deposits of source materials; and

"(B) rights to enter upon any real property deemed by it to have possibilities of containing deposits of source materials and to conduct prospecting and exploratory operations for such deposits.

Any purchase made under this paragraph may be made without regard to the provisions of section 3709 of the Revised Statutes (U. S. C., title 41, sec. 5) upon certification by the Commission that such action is necessary in the interest of the common defense and security, or upon a showing that advertising is not reasonably practicable, and partial and advance payments may be made thereunder. The Commission may establish guaranteed prices for all source materials delivered to it within a specified time. Just compensation shall be made for any property or interest in property taken, requisitioned, or condemned under this paragraph.

[(6) Exploration: The Commission is authorized to conduct and enter into contracts for the conduct of exploratory operations, investigations, and inspections to determine the location, extent, mode of occurrence, use, or conditions of deposits or supplies of source materials, making just compensation

for any damage or injury occasioned thereby. Such exploratory operations may be conducted only with the consent of the owner, but such investigations and inspections may be conducted with or without such consent.]

(6) Operations on lands belonging to the United States: The Commission is authorized, to the extent it deems necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act, to issue leases or permits for prospecting for, exploration for, mining, or removal of deposits of source materials (or for any or all of these purposes) in lands belonging to the United States.

[(7) Public lands: All uranium, thorium, and all other materials determined pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection to be peculiarly essential to the production of fissionable material, contained in whatever concentration, in deposits in the public lands are hereby reserved for the use of the United States subject to valid claims, rights or privileges existing on the date of the enactment of this act: Provided, however, That no individual, corporation, partnership, or association, which had any part, directly or indirectly, in the development of the atomic bomb project, may benefit by any location, entry, or settlement upon the public domain made after such individual, corporation, partnership or association took part in such project, if such individual, corporation, partnership, or association, by reason of having had such part in the development of the atomic bomb project, acquired confidential official information as to the existence of deposits of such uranium, thorium, or other materials in the specific lands upon which such location, entry, or settlement is made, and subsequent to the date of the enactment of this act made such location, entry, or settlement or caused the same to be made for his, its, or their benefit. The Secretary of the Interior shall cause to be inserted in every patent, conveyance, lease, permit, or other authorization hereafter granted to use the public lands or their mineral resources, under any of which there might result the extraction of any materials so reserved, a reservation to the United States of all such materials, whether or not of commercial value together with the right of the United States through its authorized agents or representatives at any time to enter upon the land and prospect for, mine, and remove the same, making just compensation for any damage or injury occasioned thereby. Any lands so patented, conveyed, leased, or otherwise disposed of may be used, and any rights under any such permit or authorization may be exercised as if no reservation of such materials had been made under this subsection; except that, when such use results in the extraction of any such material from the land in quantities which may not be transferred or delivered without a license under this subsection, such material shall be the property of the Commission and the Commission may require delivery of such material to it by any possessor thereof after such material has been separated as such from the ores in which it was contained. If the Commission requires the delivery of such material to it, it shall pay to the person mining or extracting the same, or to such other person as the Commission determines to be entitled thereto, such sums, including profits, as the Commission deems fair and reasonable for the discovery, mining, development, production, extraction, and other services performed with respect to such material prior to such delivery, but such payment shall not include any amount on account of the value of such material before removal from its place of deposit in nature. If the Commission does not require delivery of such material to it, the reservation made pursuant to this paragraph shall be of no further force or effect.]

(7) Public lands: No individual, corporation, partnership, or association, which had any part, directly or indirectly, in the de

velopment of the atomic bomb project, may benefit by any location, entry, or settlement upon the public domain made after such individual, corporation, partnership, or association took part in such project, if such individual, corporation, partnership, or association, by reason of having had such part in the development of the atomic bomb project, acquired confidential official information as to the existence of deposits of such uranium, thorium, or other materials in the specific lands upon which such location, entry, or settlement is made, and subsequently to the date of the enactment of this act made such location, entry, or settlement or caused the same to be made for his, or its, or their benefit. In cases where any patent, conveyance, lease, permit, or other authorization has been issued, which reserved to the United States source materials and the right to enter upon the land and prospect for, mine, and remove the same, the head of the department or agency which issued the patent, conveyance, lease, permit, or other authorization shall, on application of the holder thereof, issue a new or supplemental patent, conveyance, lease, permit, or other authorization without such reservation.

APPENDIX

(The act of August 12, 1953 [67 Stat. 539], to which reference is made in S. 3344, is set forth below.)

Public Law 250, 83d Congress, Chapter 405, 1st Session, S. 1397

An act relating to mining claims located on land with respect to which a permit or lease has been issued, or an application or offer for permit or lease has been made, under the mineral leasing laws, or known to be valuable for minerals subject to disposition under the mineral leasing laws, and for other purposes

Be it enacted, etc., That (a) subject to the provisions of this act and to any valid intervening rights acquired under laws of the United States, any mining claim located under the mining laws of the United States subsequent to July 31, 1939, and prior to January 1, 1953, on lands of the United States which were, at the time of such location—

(1) included in a permit or lease issued under the mineral leasing laws; or

(2) covered by an application or offer for a permit or lease which had been filed under the mineral leasing laws; or

(3) known to be valuable for minerals subject to disposition under the mineral leasing laws;

shall be effective to the same extent as if such mining claim had been located on lands which were at the time of such location subject to location under the mining laws of the United States: Provided, however, That in order to obtain the benefits of this act, the owner of any such mining claim shall, not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this act, post on such claim in the manner required for posting notice of location of mining claims and file for record in the office where the notice or certificate of location of such claim is of record an amended notice of location of such claim, stating that such notice is filed pursuant to the provisions of this act and for the purpose of obtaining the benefits thereof.

(b) Labor performed or improvements made upon or for the benefit of such mining claims after the original location thereof shall be recognized as applicable thereto for all purposes to the same extent as labor performed and improvements made upon or for the benefit of mining claims which are not affected by this act.

(c) Any withdrawal or reservation made after the original location of such mining claim affecting land covered by such mining claim is hereby modified and amended so that the effect thereof upon such mining claim shall be the same as if such mining claim had been located upon the lands of the

United States, which, subsequent to July 31, 1939, and prior to the date of such withdrawal, were subject to location under the mining laws of the United States.

SEC. 2. Any mining claim given force and effect as provided in section 1 of this act shall be subject to the reservation to the United States of all minerals which, upon the effective date of this act, are provided in the mineral leasing laws to be disposed of thereunder, and the right of the United States, its lessees, permittees, and licensees, to enter upon the land covered by such mining claim to prospect for, mine, treat, store, and remove such minerals, and to use so much of the surface and subsurface of such mining claim as may be necessary for such purposes, and to enter upon such land whenever reasonably necessary for the purpose of prospecting for, mining, treating, storing, and removing such minerals on and from other lands of the United States; and any patent issued for any such mining claim shall contain such reservation.

SEC. 3. The rights under any mining claim given force and effect by this act shall also be subject to the reservation to the United States specified in section 5 (b) (7) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1946, as amended, and, in addition, any reservation or reservations required by any other provision or provisions of law; and any patent issued for such mining claim shall contain such reservations.

SEC. 4. Except as this Act provides for (a) validation of certain mining claims located on lands described in section 1 of this act, and (b) the modification and amendment of certain withdrawals or reservations of land, nothing in this act shall affect any power or authority duly vested in the Atomic Energy Commission or any other agency, department, or officer of the United States to make leases, withdrawals, reservations, or other arrangements with respect to source materials as defined in section 5 (b) (1) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1946, as amended.

SEC. 5. As used in this act, "mineral leasing laws" shall mean the act of October 20, 1914 (38 Stat. 741); the act of February 25, 1920 (41 Stat. 437); the act of April 17, 1926 (44 Stat. 301); the act of February 7, 1927 (44 Stat. 1057); and all acts heretofore or hereafter enacted which are amendatory of or supplementary to any of the foregoing acts. Approved August 12, 1953.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill is open to further amendment.

Mr. MILLIKIN. Mr. President, I too, wish to thank the distinguished Senator from Wyoming for the excellent work he has done previously and has done on the floor of the Senate today in connection with the bill.

Mr. BARRETT. I thank the distinguished Senator from Colorado, but I may say, Mr. President, that the Senator from Colorado is the author of the proposed legislation. He deserves great credit for inducing the conflicting industries of the Western States to get together and to agree to the introduction of the measure which will prove to be in the public interest in the long run. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill is open to further amendment.

If there be no further amendment to be proposed, the question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill.

The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, was read the third time, and passed.

The title was amended so as to read: laws and the mining laws to provide for "A bill to amend the mineral leasing multiple mineral development of the same tracts of the public lands, and for other purposes."

AMENDMENT OF MINERAL LEASING ACT OF FEBRUARY 25, 1920, AS AMENDED

Mr. CARLSON. Mr. President, I move that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar 1621, Senate bill 2380, to amend section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act of February 25, 1920, as amended.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will state the bill by title. The LEGISLATIVE CLERK. A bill (S. 2380) to amend section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act of February 25, 1920, as amended.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion of the Senator from Kansas.

The motion was agreed to; and the Senate proceeded to consider the bill (S. 2380) to amend section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act of February 25, 1920, as amended, which had been reported from the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs with an amendment, to strike out all after the enacting clause, and insert:

That the act of February 25, 1920, as amended (30 U. S. C. 226), is further amended as follows:

(1) Strike out the second paragraph of section 17 and insert the following language in lieu thereof:

"Any lease issued under this act which is subject to termination by reason of cessation of production shall not terminate if within 60 days after production ceases, reworking or drilling operations are commenced on the land under lease and are thereafter conducted with reasonable diligence during such period of nonproduction. No lease issued under the provisions of this act shall expire because operations or production is suspended under any order, or with the consent, of the Secretary of the Interior. No lease issued under the provisions of this act covering lands in which there is a well capable of producing oil or gas in paying quantities shall expire because the lessee fails to produce the same, unless the lessee is allowed a reasonable time, but not less than 60 days after notice by registered mail, within which to place such well on a producing status: Provided, That after such status is established production shall continue on the leased premises unless and until suspension of production is allowed by the Secretary of the Interior under the provisions of this act.”

(2) Strike out the third paragraph of section 17 and insert in lieu thereof:

"Upon the expiration of the initial 5-year term of any noncompetitive lease maintained in accordance with applicable statutory requirements and regulations, the record titleholder thereof shall be entitled to a single extension of the lease, unless then otherwise provided by law, for such lands covered by it as are not on the expiration date of the lease withdrawn from leasing under this section. A withdrawal, however, shall not affect the right to an extension if actual drilling operations on such lands were commenced prior to such withdrawal becoming effective and were being diligently prosecuted on such expiration date. No withdrawal shall be effective within the meaning of this section until 90 days after notice thereof shall be sent by registered mail, to each lessee to be affected by such withdrawal. A noncompetitive lease, as to lands not within the known geologic structure of a producing oil or gas field, shall be extended for a period of 5 years and so long thereafter as oil or gas is produced in paying quantities. A noncompetitive lease, as to lands within the known geologic structure of a producing oil or gas field, shall be extended for a period of 2

years and so long thereafter as oil or gas is produced in paying quantities. Any noncompetitive lease extended under this paragraph shall be subject to the rules and regulations in force at the expiration of the initial 5-year term of the lease. No extension shall be granted, however, unless within a period of 90 days prior to such expiration date an application therefor is filed by the record titleholder or an assignee whose assignment has been filed for approval, or an operator whose operating agreement has been filed for approval."

(3) Strike out the fifth paragraph of section 17 and insert the following language in lieu thereof:

"Whenever it appears to the Secretary of the Interior that lands owned by the United States are being drained of oil or gas by wells drilled on adjacent lands, he is hereby authorized and empowered to negotiate agreements whereby the United States, or the United States and its lessees, shall be compensated for such drainage, such agreements to be made with the consent of the lessees affected thereby, and the primary term including any extensions thereof of any lease for which compensatory royalty is being paid shall be extended for the period during which such compensatory royalty is paid and for a period of 1 year from discontinuance of such payment and so long thereafter as oil or gas is produced in paying quantities: Provided, That the Secretary of the Interior shall report to Congress at the beginning of each regular session, all such agreements entered into during the previous year which involve unleased Government lands."

(4) Strike out the second sentence of the fourth paragraph of section 17 (b) and insert in lieu thereof the following language: "Any other lease issued under any section of this act which has heretofore or may hereafter be committed to any such plan that contains a general provision for allocation of oil or gas, shall continue in force and effect as to the land committed, so long as the lease remains subject to the plan: Provided, That production is had in paying quantities under the plan prior to the expiration date of the term of such lease. Any lease hereafter committed to any such plan embracing lands that are in part within and in part outside of the area covered by any such plan shall be segregated into separate leases as to the lands committed and the lands not committed as of the effective date of unitization: Provided, however, That any such lease as to the nonunitized portion shall continue in force and effect for the term thereof but for not less than 2 years from the date of such segregation and so long thereafter as oil or gas is produced in paying quantities."

(5) Strike out the words "and regardless of acreage limitations provided for in this act" in the fifth paragraph of section 17 (b) and insert the following sentence at the end of that paragraph: "All leases operated under such approved operating, drilling, or development contracts, and interests thereunder, shall be excepted in determining holdings or control under the provisions of any section of this act."

(6) Strike out the last sentence of section 30 (a) and insert the following in lieu thereof: "Assignments under this section may also be made of parts of leases which are in their extended term because of any provision of this act. The segregated lease of any undeveloped lands shall continue in full force and effect for 2 years and so long thereafter as oil or gas is produced in paying quantities."

(7) Insert the following sentence immediately after the second paragraph of section 31: "Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, however, upon failure of a lessee to pay rental on or before the anniversary date of the lease, for any lease on which there is no well capable of producing oil or gas in paying quantities, the lease

shall automatically terminate by operation of law: Provided, however, That when the time for payment falls upon any day in which the proper office for payment is not open, payment may be received the next official working day and shall be considered as timely made."

CONSTRUCTION AT MILITARY AND NAVAL INSTALLATIONS

Mr. LONG.

Mr. President, I rather doubt that the Senate will reach the consideration of the military construction bill this evening. In order that Senators may understand the motion I intend to make when the bill is called up, I believe I should discuss it, in order that my remarks will appear in the RECORD Which will be available tomorrow.

I have had some experience on the Committee on Armed Services. At one time I had the honor of serving on a subcommittee which dealt with military construction. At that time the committee worked very diligently in an effort to find ways of economizing on military spending.

The subcommittee was instrumental in reducing the military construction bill of 1952 by about $700 million, in ways which would not prevent a single plane from flying, a single gun from shooting, or a single ship from sailing.

Having seen the manner in which enormous waste creeps into the military construction program, I have become very much concerned about the military construction authorization bill, which will soon be called up.

The item which concerns me most is an item which the committee turned down at the time when I had an opportunity to serve on the committee. That was an item calling for $100 million of additional barracks, which was rejected 2 years ago on the basis that the Army already had a sufficient number of barracks.

At that time the committee carefully studied the item, and concluded that it was completely wasteful, when there were already plenty of barracks, to proceed with the construction of another $100 million worth of barracks. The only argument which was made at that time in favor of the additional construction was that in the event war broke out, it would be necessary to construct many additional barracks buildings; that there would be such a demand for additional barracks buildings that it would be well if the Government had a large number of empty barracks across the Nation, because, in the event of an emergency, they could be filled immediately, and there would be a head start on a barracks-construction program.

That was not a very compelling argument, because there were so many other things which would be needed besides barracks, in the event a war broke out, and the committee felt that a priority should be established on items which would be more difficult to obtain. Therefore, the item for barracks was removed from the military construction bill of 1952.

Since that time the strength of the Army has been reduced by 20 percent. Army bases are being closed all over the United States. For example, in the State

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