Leasing of Solid Minerals Other Than Coal and Oil Shale

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is amending its regulations governing leasing of solid minerals other than coal and oil shale. The purpose of this rule is to comply with President Clinton's government-wide regulatory reform initiative to eliminate unnecessary regulations, and streamline and rewrite necessary regulations in plain English. Under the previous rule, each solid mineral commodity had its own separate regulations, much of which was repeated in each set of regulations. This rule now combines these solid minerals regulations into one set of regulations, streamlined, updated and re-written in plain English. The rule also clarifies the responsibilities of interested parties.