Emergency Federal Coal Leasing: A Program in Need of Statutory Direction

This article, which appeared in the GAO Review, Vol. 20, Issue 4, Fall 1985, discusses the evaluation of the Department of the Interior's Emergency Federal Coal Leasing Program which provides existing coal operators with additional coal, as needed, under noncompetitive circumstances. Federal lands contain about 60 percent of western coal reserves and about 30 percent of total domestic coal reserves. Congress enacted legislation in 1976 to remedy abuses stemming from the vagueness of the Mineral Lands Leasing Act. GAO identified difficulties that Interior is encountering with the existing statutes governing coal leasing and reported a need for corrective legislation to enable the effective administration of emergency coal leasing.