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121425 1 (1983-05-23)

handle is hein.gao/gaobactaq0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 




              UNITED STATES GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE
                      WASHINGTON, D.C.  20548


                                       For Release at 10:00 a.m.



                           STATEMENT OF
                    J.  DEXTER PEACH, DIRECTOR
                 RESOURCES, COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC
                       DEVELOPMENT DIVISION
                           BEFORE THE
                       SENATE COMMITTEE ON
                  ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES              121425

Mr. Chairman and Members of  the Committee:

     We appreciate the opportunity  to be here today to discuss
our recent report entitled  Analysis of the Powder River Basin
Federal Coal Lease Sale:  Economic Valuation  Improvements and
Legislative Changes Needed  (GAO/RCED-83-119).  In response to
Congressman Edward Markey's request--later  joined by Senator Max
Baucus--we have spent almost a year studying  this very sensitive
and controversial sale.  The many issues surrounding  the sale
are technically complex, interrelated, and simply cannot  be
examined in isolation.  The issues we have evaluated  include:


     --an alleged unauthorized disclosure by Interior of
       proprietary coal data prior to the sale;

     --the change of bidding systems made about 6 weeks before
       the Powder River sale;

     --whether Interior received fair market value for leased
       coal; and

     --a question over whether the objectives of current coal
       leasing law are realistic in light of actual coal
       development patterns.

     In evaluating these,issues we raise--on the one hand--some
serious questions regarding Interior actions and the reasoning
behind them.  On the other hand we recognize that Interior faces




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