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AIMD-00-184R 1 (2000-06-02)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaaloy0001 and id is 1 raw text is: I GAO Accountability * Integrity * Reliability United States General Accounting Office Accounting and Information Washington, DC 20548 Management Division B-285385 June 2, 2000 Congressional Requesters Subject: Review of the Bureau of Land Management's Administration and Use of Mining Maintenance Fees This letter summarizes the information provided during our briefing to your office on April 10, 2000. The enclosed briefing slides highlight the results of our work and the information provided. You asked that we determine for fiscal year 1998, (1) whether the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) used Mining Law Administration Program (MLAP) fees' to process mineral patent applications and whether this use was appropriate, and (2) the amount of MLAP fees collected by BLM in fiscal year 1998 and how BLM used these fees. The Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriation Act of 1993 authorized the collection of a $100 annual fee per claim or site from the holders of unpatented2 mining claims, mill sites, and tunnel sites in lieu of the annual $100 worth of labor or improvements required by the Mining Law of 1872.3 The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 authorized the collection of annual $100 mining maintenance fees on unpatented mining claims and sites for a 5-year period (through September 30, 1998), and the collection of a $25 location fee on new claims and sites for the same period. The Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 1999 reauthorized the collection of the maintenance and location fees for 3 additional years (through September 30, 2001). The Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 1998, and prior appropriations, required that these fees be used to fund MLAP operations. 1Mining Law Administration Program fees include mining maintenance fees and location fees. 2The Mining Law of 1872 (30 U.S.C. 21 et seq.) authorized the holder of a claim or site to purchase title to (or patent) the land on which the claim or site was located from the federal government. Patenting is not required for operation of a mining claim or site. 3The Mining Law of 1872 allows an individual to assert a right of possession (locate or stake a claim) on public land due to the presence of a valuable mineral deposit. The law required the holder of such a mining claim to perform at least $100 worth of labor or improvements on the claim annually, referred to as assessment work. GAO/AIMD-00-184R BLM's Administration and Use of Mining Maintenance Fees

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