30 CFR § 1206.251 - Definitions.

The definitions in § 1206.20 do not apply to this subpart. For purposes of this subpart:

Ad valorem lease means a lease where the royalty due to the lessor is based upon a percentage of the amount or value of the coal.

Allowance means a deduction used in determining value for royalty purposes. Coal washing allowance means an allowance for the reasonable, actual costs incurred by the lessee for coal washing. Transportation allowance means an allowance for the reasonable, actual costs incurred by the lessee for moving coal to a point of sale or point of delivery remote from both the lease and mine or wash plant.

Area means a geographic region in which coal has similar quality and economic characteristics. Area boundaries are not officially designated and the areas are not necessarily named.

Arm's-length contract means:

(1) A contract or agreement that has been arrived at in the marketplace between independent, nonaffiliated persons with opposing economic interests regarding that contract. For purposes of this subpart, two persons are affiliated if one person controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with another person. For purposes of this subpart, based on the instruments of ownership of the voting securities of an entity, or based on other forms of ownership:

(i) Ownership in excess of 50 percent constitutes control;

(ii) Ownership of 10 through 50 percent creates a presumption of control; and

(iii) Ownership of less than 10 percent creates a presumption of noncontrol which ONRR may rebut if it demonstrates actual or legal control, including the existence of interlocking directorates.

(2) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this subpart, contracts between relatives, either by blood or by marriage, are not arm's-length contracts. The ONRR may require the lessee to certify ownership control. To be considered arm's-length for any production month, a contract must meet the requirements of this definition for that production month as well as when the contract was executed.

Audit means a review, conducted in accordance with generally accepted accounting and auditing standards, of royalty payment compliance activities of lessees or other interest holders who pay royalties, rents, or bonuses on Federal leases.

BLM means the Bureau of Land Management of the Department of the Interior.

Coal means coal of all ranks from lignite through anthracite.

Coal washing means any treatment to remove impurities from coal. Coal washing may include, but is not limited to, operations such as flotation, air, water, or heavy media separation; drying; and related handling (or combination thereof).

Contract means any oral or written agreement, including amendments or revisions thereto, between two or more persons and enforceable by law that with due consideration creates an obligation.

Gross proceeds (for royalty payment purposes) means the total monies and other consideration accruing to a coal lessee for the production and disposition of the coal produced. Gross proceeds includes, but is not limited to, payments to the lessee for certain services such as crushing, sizing, screening, storing, mixing, loading, treatment with substances including chemicals or oils, and other preparation of the coal to the extent that the lessee is obligated to perform them at no cost to the Federal Government. Gross proceeds, as applied to coal, also includes but is not limited to reimbursements for royalties, taxes or fees, and other reimbursements. Tax reimbursements are part of the gross proceeds accruing to a lessee even though the Federal royalty interest may be exempt from taxation. Monies and other consideration, including the forms of consideration identified in this paragraph, to which a lessee is contractually or legally entitled but which it does not seek to collect through reasonable efforts are also part of gross proceeds.

Lease means any contract, profit-share arrangement, joint venture, or other agreement issued or approved by the United States for a Federal coal resource under a mineral leasing law that authorizes exploration for, development or extraction of, or removal of coal—or the land covered by that authorization, whichever is required by the context.

Lessee means any person to whom the United States issues a lease, and any person who has been assigned an obligation to make royalty or other payments required by the lease. This includes any person who has an interest in a lease as well as an operator or payor who has no interest in the lease but who has assumed the royalty payment responsibility.

Like-quality coal means coal that has similar chemical and physical characteristics.

Marketable condition means coal that is sufficiently free from impurities and otherwise in a condition that it will be accepted by a purchaser under a sales contract typical for that area.

Mine means an underground or surface excavation or series of excavations and the surface or underground support facilities that contribute directly or indirectly to mining, production, preparation, and handling of lease products.

Net-back method means a method for calculating market value of coal at the lease or mine. Under this method, costs of transportation, washing, handling, etc., are deducted from the ultimate proceeds received for the coal at the first point at which reasonable values for the coal may be determined by a sale pursuant to an arm's-length contract or by comparison to other sales of coal, to ascertain value at the mine.

Net output means the quantity of washed coal that a washing plant produces.

Netting is the deduction of an allowance from the sales value by reporting a one line net sales value, instead of correctly reporting the deduction as a separate line item on the form ONRR-4430.

Person means by individual, firm, corporation, association, partnership, consortium, or joint venture.

Sales type code means the contract type or general disposition (e.g., arm's-length or non-arm's-length) of production from the lease. The sales type code applies to the sales contract, or other disposition, and not to the arm's-length or non-arm's-length nature of a transportation or washing allowance.

Spot market price means the price received under any sales transaction when planned or actual deliveries span a short period of time, usually not exceeding one year.