[Request for Opinion Concerning Use of Monetary Credits Under Cranberry Wilderness Act]

The Bureau of Land Management requested a GAO opinion on several questions concerning the use of monetary credits under the Cranberry Wilderness Act, including whether: (1) the Government may require that the monetary credits be used only in West Virginia; (2) the Government may require that the monetary credits be used only to offset payments on mineral, oil, or gas leases; (3) the Government may limit the use of monetary credits to payments into the Treasury on behalf of the Department of the Interior; (4) the monetary credits may be used to offset only the Federal Government's share of receipts under the Mineral Lands Leasing Act of 1920; (5) the Government may require that monetary credits be transferred only in total from one party to another; and (6) since it will take a minimum of 10 years to liquidate monetary credits under the act, the Government is authorized to change the value of monetary credits through the paying of interest, providing a discount in the value of the debt liquidated with the monetary credit, or providing a premium to the monetary credit to compensate for inflation from the date of the credit to the date the credit is redeemed. GAO found that the Government may not restrict the use of monetary credits to West Virginia and saw no indication that Congress intended to limit the use of monetary credits to payments into the Treasury in behalf of the Department of the Interior, or to payments on mineral, oil, or gas leases. In addition, it seemed that Congress intended that the monetary credit would be applied only against the Government's share of the receipts and that the States would continue to receive their share in cash. Since there is no evidence that Congress intended to require that credit be transferred only in total, transfer of portions of the credit is permissible. The act provides that monetary credits be based on the fair market value of the owner's mineral interests. Accordingly, GAO found that the act does not provide for the payment of interest, the discounting of the debt liquidated with the monetary credit, or the payment of a premium to compensate for inflation between the date the credit is issued and the date on which it is redeemed.