Nick Rahall: “I rise in support of S. 2500, legislation dealing with the ownership of coalbed methane as a source of energy in…”

“I rise in support of S. 2500, legislation dealing with the ownership of coalbed methane as a source of energy in situations where a federal coal estate is involved. Until July of this year, the issue of how to allow the development of coalbed methane resources where a federal mineral estate was present seemed to be well settled. As a result of two Department of the Interior Solicitor opinions, it was held that the right to extract coalbed methane was vested with the owner of oil and gas rights rather than the coal resources. In situations where the federal government owned both, the Department required that an oil and gas lease be issued to extract the coalbed methane. There are other situations, however, where the federal government reserved to itself just the rights to the coal resource. These situations arise from federal policies pursued during the early part of this Century. Starting with the Coal Lands Act of 1909, the United States reserved coal deposits in lands subsequently disposed for agricultural purposes.”