Pennsylvania Act 1961-208 — STATE FOREST LANDS PROSPECTING ACT

Act text

STATE FOREST LANDS PROSPECTING ACT
                 Act of Jun. 15, 1961, P.L. 418, No. 208              Cl. 32
                                  AN ACT

     To encourage and permit the prospecting for and development of
        certain valuable minerals on State forest land and providing
        for the waiver of competitive bidding requirements therefor.

        Compiler's Note:  Section 302(h) of Act 18 of 1995, which
            created the Department of Conservation and Natural
            Resources and renamed the Department of Environmental
            Resources as the Department of Environmental Protection,
            provided that the Department of Conservation and Natural
            Resources shall exercise the powers and duties conferred
            upon the Department of Forests and Waters by Act 208 of
            1961.

        The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
     hereby enacts as follows:

        Section 1.  Statement of Policy.--The Commonwealth is
     interested in the orderly, efficient development and full use of
     its mineral resources and as large landowner it believes that
     the possibility of development of minerals on State forest land
     must not be discouraged and that these lands must not forever be
     withdrawn from the possibility of mineral development.
        Section 2.  Short Title.--This act shall be known and may be
     cited as the "State Forest Lands Prospecting Act."
        Section 3.  Definitions.--As used in this act--
        (1)  "Ores" means all minerals which can be recovered at a
     profit, except mineral fuels (coal, oil, gas, etc.) peat, clay,
     building stone, crushed stone, sand, gravel, halite, gypsum and
     brines but shall include glass sands, high silica sands, black
     sands, heavy mineral sands, china clays and pottery clays, as
     well as other valuable non-metallic minerals not excluded above.
        (2)  "Prospecting" means surface examination, geologic
     mapping, geophysical and geochemical surveying and limited
     exploratory drilling and collection of samples which can be done
     without serious disturbances of the surface or damage to
     wildlife, plants and timber growth or disturbance or pollution
     of any stream or body of water.
        (3)  "Development" means extensive drilling, drainage,
     pitting, driving of shafts or adits, etc. as shall be necessary
     to determine the extent of an ore deposit and to mine, produce,
     extract, process and sell said ores and by-products.
        (4)  "Department" means the Department of Forests and Waters.
        (5)  "Secretary" means the Secretary of Forests and Waters.
        (6)  "Financial responsibility" means the financial backing
     or capital necessary to undertake the proposed development.
        Section 4.  Prospecting Permit.--A prospecting permit shall
     be issued by the department for the term of one year on payment
     of a fee of twenty-five dollars ($25) to any United States or
     Canadian citizens over eighteen years of age or any corporation
     with permission to operate in Pennsylvania. This permit will
     allow prospecting as defined on those lands owned by the
     Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and administered by the department,
     except lands in which mineral ownership is not vested in the
     Commonwealth, State parks, historical parks, picnic and monument
     areas, experimental and administrative areas and other
     restricted area as defined and limited by the rules and
     regulations of the department.
        The prospecting permit may be renewed annually for a fee of
     five dollars ($5) per year. The permit may be revoked by the
     secretary for violation of any provisions of the act or
     regulation promulgated by the department. Application for
     renewal must be received within fifteen days after the permit
     anniversary date or it will automatically become void.
        Section 5.  Development Permit.--A development permit may be
     issued by the department only to a holder of a prospecting
     permit upon the discovery of an ore deposit and only for a
     defined tract of land not exceeding five hundred acres.
        (a)  Requests for development permits shall be sent to the
     department by registered mail or certified mail, return receipt
     requested, the postmark establishing the priority of the claim
     or may be made in person at the office of the department in
     Harrisburg and a written dated receipt for the request shall be
     issued to such person at that time. Within six months
     thereafter, the discoverer shall submit evidence of financial
     responsibility and geological evidence of the occurrence of an
     ore body. Certification of an ore deposit discovery by the State
     geologist, acting in cooperation with the department, shall be
     obtained before final issuance of a development permit. A plat
     of the desired area on the latest United States Department of
     Interior Geological Survey Topographic Maps, not smaller in
     scale than 1:62,500 (fifteen minute quadrangles) shall be
     submitted with the initial request for a development permit. The
     final tract boundaries and size shall be determined by the
     department upon the advice of the State geologist and the Chief
     of the Division of Minerals of the department.
        The secretary may reject any request if inadequate financial
     responsibility is shown or if investigation of the deposit for
     certification indicates that it cannot be economically operated.
     The secretary may also reject requests for good cause but cannot
     then grant a development permit for all, or a portion of the
     same area, to another party for a period of five years, at which
     time the original request shall receive preferential
     consideration. If the original discoverer fails to meet the
     requirements set forth necessary to obtain a development permit,
     subsequent applications by other parties shall be considered in
     the order received as determined hereinbefore.
        (b)  The term of the permit shall be five years and renewable
     yearly so long thereafter as ore is produced in economic
     quantities or operations in the amount of four hundred dollars
     ($400) per year continue for the development of additional ore.
     The permit shall be for all ores covered by this act or the
     mineral by-products of mining of said ores.
        Operations in the amount of four hundred dollars ($400) per
     year for the development of ore must begin within one year after
     permit date unless sufficient reason for delay is shown.
     Operations shall include the engineering for or construction of
     operating facilities. Maps of surface and workings and analyses
     of ore produced shall be furnished to the department and to the
     State geologist upon request.
        A permittee may hold more than one permit concurrently for
     adjacent or separated tracts as the secretary may determine.
     Permits may be assigned or sublet with the written consent of
     the department. Permits may be surrendered at any time but there
     shall be no reimbursement for rentals already paid.
        (c)  All test holes, whether drilled, bored or dug, shall be
     restored to contour (unless said holes are shown to be necessary
     to future mining operations) and all plant growth damaged shall
     be paid for at usual stumpage rates and replanted by and at the
     expense of permittee. If a permit is cancelled, restoration of
     surface to the satisfaction of the department shall nevertheless
     be required.
        Permits shall be subject to such other reasonable regulations
     as the secretary may deem necessary to prevent unreasonable
     damage to forest, other plant life, waters, soil, game and fish
     and to protect the basic interests of the Commonwealth.
        (d)  A royalty of eight per centum of the value per crude ton
     based on current market quotations, if the ore is consumed by
     the permittee, or eight per centum of the contract price per
     ton, if the ore is sold to a consumer other than the producer of
     the ore, shall be paid to the department.
        A ground rental of one dollar ($1) per acre per year, or one
     hundred dollars ($100) per year, whichever is greater, shall be
     paid to the department for the life of the lease. Said rentals
     may be credited against royalties due during a given year but
     are not cumulative from one year to another.
        (e)  A bond conditioned upon the faithful performance of the
     terms of the permit and compliance with the rules and
     regulations of the department and this act shall be furnished by
     all permittees and shall be one hundred dollars ($100) per acre
     or one thousand dollars ($1,000), whichever is greater.
        Section 6.  Rules and Regulations.--The department is
     herewith empowered to formulate and institute all rules and
     regulations and permit forms pertinent hereto. The department
     shall have power to refuse any prospecting or development
     permit, or to impose conditions upon any such permit, whenever
     it deems the same necessary, to prevent the explosion or loss of
     gas from areas leased for the production or storage of natural
     gas or to assure to the lessees of such areas the peaceful
     enjoyment of the rights conferred by their leases. The
     department may also exercise such power, wherever it deems the
     same necessary, to prevent damage to pipe lines and other
     facilities beneath the surface of the earth.
        Section 7.  Mineral Fund Expenditures.--All rents, royalties
     and permit fees derived herefrom shall be deposited in the
     General Fund.
        Section 8.  Effective Date.--This act shall take effect
     immediately.