quent production leases may not exceed 5,120 acres; and, the production leases will run for a period of 10 years at the end of which time the lease may be renewed and the terms readjusted.

MINERAL RIGHTS

Legislation was introduced which would allow a person who has purchased surface rights to real property from the United States to buy the mineral rights also, if the mineral interest interfered with the development of the surface. Payment of fair market value for the mineral interest, and the administrative costs would be required. The Secretary of the Interior would be directed to make such conveyance unless it was not in the public interest.

OIL SHALE

A bill to initiate a development program for the vast oil shale deposits in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming was introduced. In addition to an oil shale research and development program, the bill called for a thorough inventory of the oil shale and several associated minerals. Upon development of a satisfactory recovery process, the Federal Government would build and operate a plant for the production of shale oil.

RECENT REPORTS AND THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS

1. U.S. National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, Committee on Mineral Science and Technology, Mineral Economics, Washington, D.C., 1969.

This report detailed the importance of minerals to the world economy and indicated the technological, political, and economic factors affecting mineral supplies. The following broad recommendations were made:

(a) That Government decisions and programs be formulated only after adequate study and interagency and industry consultation so that a sound and integrated national mineral policy is developed;

(b) That national security related programs (i.e., stockpile programs, oil, and other import regulations, active and standby supply expansion programs, current and standby conservation programs, and others) be frequently reviewed to insure that the United States maintains a sufficiently large and flexible mobilization base to meet the uncertainties of any emergency;

(c) That in the formulation of national economic or security measures, Government agencies give careful consideration to the important role of foreign mineral operations;

(d) That continuous and quantitative cost-benefit analyses be made in assessing alternative routes to environmental enhancement;

(e) That the Assistant Secretary for Minerals in the Department of the Interior be designated as the primary point of contact for interagency and industry consultation on matters of national mineral policy;

(f) That the Bureau of Mines expand collection of domestic and foreign mineral economics information, and that it expand dissemination thereof through timely abstracting and through expan

sion of the statistical and supporting textual material in the "Minerals Yearbook" series;

(g) That the Department of State increase its use of minerals attachés;

(h) That the government agencies, professional societies, trade associations and publications, and individual companies all exert more effort to collect, publish, disseminate, and analyze detailed statistical data relative to the mineral industries, including costs, profits, reserves, production, distribution, secondary recovery, and ultimate mineral consumption in end-items;

(2) That the Public Land Law Review Commission give full consideration to the contributions that modern science and technology can make toward the fuller understanding of our Nation's mineral resources;

(j).That research in mineral economics be expanded and supported in a degree commensurate with needed expansion of other components of mineral science and technology; and

(k) That the formal education of people being trained for responsible positions in or connected with the mineral industry include one or more broad courses in mineral economics.

2. U.S., Public Land Law Review Commission, One-Third of the Nation's Land, Washington, D.C., 1970.

The final report of the Public Land Law Review Commission was the culmination of nearly 5 years' study of laws governing the management of the Nation's public lands and their resources. The Commission offered the following recommendations with regard to mines and minerals:

(a) Congress should continue to exclude some classes of public lands from future mineral development;

(b) Existing Federal systems for exploration, development, and production of mineral resources on the public lands should be modified;

(c) Whether a prospector has done preliminary exploration work or not, he should, by giving written notice to the appropriate Federal land management agency, obtain an exclusive right to explore a claim of sufficient size to permit the use of advanced methods of exploration. As a means of assuring exploration, reasonable rentals should be charged for such claims, but actual expenditures for exploration and development work should be credited against the rentals;

Upon receipt of the notice of location, a permit should be issued to the claimholder, including measures specifically authorized by statute necessary to maintain the quality of the environment, together with the type of rehabilitation that is required;

When the claimholder is satisfied that he has discovered a commercially mineable deposit, he should obtain firm development and production rights by entering into a contract with the United States to satisfy specified work or investment requirements over a reasonable period of time;

When a claimholder begins to produce and market minerals, he should have the right to obtain a patent only to the mineral deposit, along with the right to utilize surface for production. He should have the option of acquiring title or lease to surface upon payment of market value;

Patent fees should be increased and equitable royalties should be paid to the United States on all minerals produced and marketed whether before or after patent;

(d) Competitive sale of exploration permits or leases should be held whenever competitive interest can reasonably be expected;

(e) Statutory provision should be made to permit hobby collecting of minerals on the unappropriated public domain and the Secretary of the Interior should be required to promulgate regulations in accordance with statutory guidelines applicable to these activities;

(f) Legislation should be enacted which would authorize legal actions by the Government to acquire outstanding claims or interests in public land oil shale subject to judicial determination of value;

(g) Some oil shale public lands should be made available now for experimental commercial development by private industry with the cooperation of the Federal Government in some aspects of the development;

(h) Restrictions on public land mineral activity that are no longer relevant to existing conditions should be eliminated so as to encourage mineral exploration and development and long standing claims should be disposed of expeditiously;

(2) The Department of the Interior should continue to have sole responsibility for administering mineral activities on all public lands, subject to consultation with the department having management functions for other uses; and

(3) In future disposals of public lands for nonmineral purposes, all mineral interests known to be of value should be reserved with exploration and development discretionary in the Federal Government and a uniform policy adopted relative to all reserved mineral interests. 3. U.S. Executive Office of the President, President's Panel on Oil Spills, The Oil Spill Problem, Washington, D.C., 1969.

4. U.S. Executive Office of the President, President's Panel on Oil Spills, Offshore Mineral Resources: A Challenge and an Opportunity, Washington, D.C., 1969.

Two reports were issued in 1969 by the President's Panel on Oil Spills. The first of these, "The Oil Spill Problem," dealt with oil pollution and the most effective means of organizing the Government and private sectors to prevent or control accidental discharges.

The second report, "Offshore Mineral Resources" was broader in scope, identifying several policy needs. The following were among the recommendations contained in that report:

(a) That prompt, and meaningful efforts be made to incorporate the opinions, advice and policies of State and local governments into the plans for development of the Federal offshore mineral resources;

(b) That well-publicized public hearings be held in the areas where offshore resource developments are contemplated;

(c) That a class of escrow resources be recognized as a matter of policy. These resources would be placed in escrow for fixed periods of time instead of being extracted at present; and

(d) That, through negotiation, purchase or possibly regulation, data necessary for resource evaluation held by private com

panies, State and local governments and any other parties by exploration and development of offshore mineral resources be made available to those who must make decisions about their exploitation.

EVENTS PERTINENT TO MINERAL RESOURCES

In late January 1969 a well being drilled by the Union Oil Company in California's Santa Barbara Channel began to spill oil into the water. The widespread publicity which followed the accident, the cost of cleaning up, and the fear that long-term catastrophic results could follow from such incidents resulted in legislative and administrative efforts to avoid repetition of the event.

In January 1970 a massive oil slick appeared off the coast of Louisiana and resulted in extensive damage.

Oil exploration activities on private land bordering Everglades National Park worried authorities who felt that even a minor accident could cause widespread damage to the park.

Unspoiled areas administered by the Forest Service in Idaho and Minnesota were to become the site of mineral exploration and possibly, surface mining operations.

On a more positive note, The National Coal Association reported that over 100 square miles of surface-mined coal lands had been reclaimed after mining.

Beginning in 1969 and carrying through 1970 there was a growing concern over the availability of sufficient fuel minerals to meet the national demand.

In the spring of 1970, President Nixon proposed the internationalization of all natural resources of the seabed beyond the 200-meter depth.

NATIONAL LAND USE POLICY*

INTRODUCTION

The 91st Congress gave substantial attention to the administration of public land programs and related problems of State and local planning activities with the avowed purpose of developing a more coherent policy on natural land use. The major enactment in this important legislative area was title VII of the 1970 Housing and Urban Development Act which set forth specific goals to guide future urban growth and also provided increased Federal assistance to public agencies and private developers for the creation of new communities. Extensive hearings were held before the Senate Interior Committee on a proposed National Land Use Policy Act, which would encourage each State to undertake a crash program of statewide land use planning to be financed by new Federal grants, supplementing State planning funds available under the 701 Planning Program of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In a related development, the Chairman of the Public Land Law Review Commission submitted a lengthy report to the President and the Congress in June 1970 recommending numerous changes in existing public land laws, administrative procedures and management policies on the public domain. The Commission's proposals are designed to help meet the growing demand for minerals, timber and other resource commodities produced on public lands in a manner consistent with the Nation's environmental protection goals. Followup legislation, based on the Commission's findings, will probably be introduced in the 92d Congress.

LEGISLATION

Title VII of the new Housing Act-cited as the "Urban Growth and New Community Development Act of 1970" incorporates several major features which will broadly affect future urban development patterns. It sets forth the elements of a national urban growth policy; requires a biennial report on urban growth to be transmitted by the President to the Congress; establishes an extensive program of guarantees, loans and grants for new community development; authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to plan and carry out new community demonstration projects on federally owned lands; authorizes the HUD Secretary to make grants to States or local bodies to provide initial public services for residents of new community projects; and also, gives the Secretary authority to provide special technical assistance to new town developers.

Although the Congress has long viewed the concept of urban planning for new communities as a fundamental tool in shaping land devel

*Prepared by Wallace D. Bowman, Assistant Chief, Environmental Policy Division.