[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 36, Volume 2]
[Revised as of July 1, 2008]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 36CFR251.15]

[Page 303-304]
 
              TITLE 36--PARKS, FORESTS, AND PUBLIC PROPERTY
 
          CHAPTER II--FOREST SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 
PART 251_LAND USES--Table of Contents
 
                    Subpart A_Miscellaneous Land Uses
 
Sec. 251.15  Conditions, rules and regulations to govern exercise of
mineral rights reserved in conveyances to the United States.

    (a) Except as otherwise provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this 
section, in conveyances of lands to the United States under authorized 
programs of the Forest Service, where owners reserve the right to enter 
upon the conveyed lands and to prospect for, mine and remove minerals, 
oil, gas, or other inorganic substances, said reservations shall be 
subject to the following conditions, rules and regulations which shall 
be expressed in and made a part of the deed of conveyance to the United 
States and such reservations shall be exercised thereunder and in 
obedience thereto:
    (1) Whoever undertakes to exercise the reserved rights shall give 
prior written notice to the Forest Service and shall submit satisfactory 
evidence of authority to exercise such rights. Only so much of the 
surface of the lands shall be occupied, used, or disturbed as is 
necessary in bona fide prospecting for, drilling, mining (including the 
milling or concentration of ores), and removal of the reserved minerals, 
oil, gas, or other inorganic substances.
    (2)(i) None of the lands in which minerals are reserved shall be so 
used, occupied, or disturbed as to preclude their full use for 
authorized programs of the Forest Service until the record owner of the 
reserved rights, or the successors, assigns, or lessees thereof, shall 
have applied for and received a permit authorizing such use, occupancy, 
or disturbance of those specifically described parts of the lands as may 
reasonably be necessary to exercise of the reserved rights.
    (ii) Said permit shall be issued upon agreement as to conditions 
necessary to protect the interest of the United States including such 
conditions deemed necessary to provide for the safety of the public and 
other users of the land, and upon initial payment of the annual fee, 
which shall be at the rate of $2 per acre or fraction of acre included 
in the permit.
    (iii) The permit shall also provide that the record owner of the 
reserved right or the successors, assigns, or lessees thereof, will 
repair or replace any improvements damaged or destroyed by the mining 
operations and restore the land to a condition safe and reasonably 
serviceable for authorized programs of the Forest Service, and shall 
provide for a bond in sufficient amount as determined necessary by the 
Forest Service to guarantee such repair, replacement or restoration.
    (iv) Failure to comply with the terms and conditions of the 
aforesaid permit shall be cause for termination of all rights to use, 
occupy, or disturb the surface of the lands covered thereby, but in 
event of such termination a new permit shall be issued upon application 
when the causes for termination of the preceding permit have been 
satisfactorily remedied and the United States reimbursed for any 
resultant damage to it.
    (3) All structures, other improvements, and materials shall be 
removed from the lands within one year after date of termination of the 
aforementioned permit. Should the holder of the permit fail to do so 
within the specified time, the Forest Service may remove, destroy or 
otherwise dispose of said structures, other improvements, and materials 
at the permittee's expense, or in lieu thereof, may upon written notice 
to the permittee, assume title thereto in the name of the United States.
    (4) Timber and/or young growth cut or destroyed in connection with 
exercise of the reserved right shall be paid for at rates determined by 
the Forest Service to be fair and equitable for comparable timber and/or 
young growth in the locality. All slash resulting from cutting or 
destruction of timber or young growth shall be disposed of as required 
by the Forest Service.
    (5) In the prospecting for, mining, and removal of reserved 
minerals, oil, gas, or other inorganic substances all reasonable 
provisions shall be made for the disposal of tailings, dumpage, and 
other deleterious materials or substances in such manner as to prevent 
obstruction, pollution, or deterioration of water resources.
    (6) Nothing herein contained shall be construed to exempt operators 
or the mining operations from any requirements of applicable State laws 
nor

[[Page 304]]

from compliance with or conformity to any requirement of any law which 
later may be enacted and which otherwise would be applicable.
    (7) While any activities and/or operations incident to the exercise 
of the reserved rights are in progress, the operators, contractors, 
subcontractors, and any employees thereof shall use due diligence in the 
prevention and suppression of fires, and shall comply with all rules and 
regulations applicable to the land.
    (b) The conditions, rules and regulations set forth in paragraphs 
(a) (1) through (7) of this section shall not apply to reservations 
contained in conveyances of lands to the United States under the Act of 
March 3, 1925, as amended (43 Stat. 1133, 64 Stat. 82; 16 U.S.C. 555).
    (c) In cases where a State, or an agency, or a political subdivision 
thereof, reserves minerals, oil, gas, or other inorganic substances, in 
the conveyance of land to the United States under authorized programs of 
the Forest Service and there are provisions in the laws of such State or 
in conditions, rules and regulations promulgated by such State, agency 
or political subdivision thereof, which the Chief, Forest Service, 
determines are adequate to protect the interest of the United States in 
the event of the exercise of such reservation, the Chief, Forest 
Service, is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to subject the 
exercise of the reservation to such statutory provisions or such 
conditions, rules and regulations in lieu of the conditions, rules and 
regulations set forth in paragraphs (a) (1) through (7) of this section. 
In that event, such statutory provisions or such conditions, rules and 
regulations shall be expressed in and made a part of the deed of 
conveyance to the United States and the reservation shall be exercised 
thereunder and in obedience thereto.

All regulations heretofore issued by the Secretary of Agriculture to 
govern the exercise of mineral rights reserved in conveyances of lands 
to the United States under authorized programs of the Forest Service 
shall continue to be effective in the cases to which they are 
applicable, but are hereby superseded as to mineral rights hereafter 
reserved in conveyances under such programs.

[28 FR 4440, May 3, 1963]

                           Rights of Grantors