1 / 12

Review of Mineral Rights and Conveyance of State Lands Proposed Final Report

Review of Mineral Rights and Conveyance of State Lands Proposed Final Report. Joint Legislative Audit & Review Committee December 3, 2008 Stacia Hollar, JLARC Staff. R E V I E W M A N D A T E. Review Mandated by 2008 Supplemental Operating Budget Note. JLARC was directed to:

adem
Download Presentation

Review of Mineral Rights and Conveyance of State Lands Proposed Final Report

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Review of Mineral Rights and Conveyance of State LandsProposed Final Report Joint Legislative Audit & Review Committee December 3, 2008 Stacia Hollar, JLARC Staff

  2. R E V I E WMANDATE Review Mandated by 2008 Supplemental Operating Budget Note JLARC was directed to: • Evaluate “public policy issues raised with respect to the conveyance of state lands that include the reservation to the state of mineral rights.” • Conduct case studies Review of Mineral Rights and Conveyance of State Lands

  3. BACKGROUND State Law Requires a Reservation of Mineral Rights • Since 1907, the state has been required to keep the rights to minerals when it transfers land. • State controls access to the reserved mineral rights even when the minerals are located on land owned by another person or entity. Review of Mineral Rights and Conveyance of State Lands Report Page 5

  4. M I N E R A L R E S E R V A T I O N State Law Defines Scope of Reservation • Law requires that the following be reserved: • “all oils, gases, coal, ores, minerals and fossils of every name, kind or description” • Law distinguish the above resources from “valuable materials” which are not reserved: • “forest products, forage or agricultural crops, stone, gravel, sand, peat, and all other materials of value except mineral, coal, petroleum, and gas” Review of Mineral Rights and Conveyance of State Lands Report Page 4-5

  5. S A L E O F L A N D How Does the Sale of State Lands Affect These Resources? • Sold before 1907 • Both minerals and valuable materials could be sold either with the land or separate from the land • Sold in or after 1907 • Minerals could not be sold with the land but rather the state must reserve mineral rights • Valuable materials continue to be sold either with the land or separate from the land Review of Mineral Rights and Conveyance of State Lands Report Page 5

  6. ACCESS P R O C E S S Process for Accessing Mineral Rights State ownsland & mineral rights State soldland & reserved mineral rights State soldland & mineral rights (Pre-1907) No state involvement Prospecting Lease Prospecting Lease Mining Contract Mining Contract Review of Mineral Rights and Conveyance of State Lands Report Page 4

  7. ACCESS P R O C E S S Process for Accessing Valuable Materials State ownsland & valuable materials State soldland & valuable materials Sale No state involvement Review of Mineral Rights and Conveyance of State Lands Report Page 4

  8. C A S E S T U D I E S JLARC Case Studies Selected for Review Review of Mineral Rights and Conveyance of State Lands • Mineral case studies – state had sold the land but reserved mineral rights • Valuable material case studies – state still owns the land • Maury Island parcel listed as possible case study in budget note • Included in mineral case studies due to a 1973 oil and gas lease • Not included in valuable materials case studies because state sold the land and the gravel together Report Page 10

  9. Locations of Case Studies Whatcom Skagit Stevens m m m m m m m m m m v v v v v v v v v v v v v v Snohomish Douglas King Grays Harbor Grant m • 10 mineral case studies covering from 1936-2007 Pacific Lewis v • 14 valuable material case studies covering from 1900-2001 Skamania Klickitat Source: Department of Natural Resources. Review of Mineral Rights and Conveyance of State Lands Report Page 7

  10. C A S E S T U D I E S Results of Case Studies • Mineral – reviewed 10 transactions • All transactions included a reservation of mineral rights • Access provided through mineral prospecting leases with few progressing to mining contracts • Valuable Material – reviewed 14 transactions • All but one in compliance but one transaction in Snohomish County involving gravel • DNR initially handled as a mining contract rather than a sale but later amended documents Review of Mineral Rights and Conveyance of State Lands Report Page 8

  11. A G E N C Y R E S P O N S E S Agency Responses “We are pleased to find that the appropriate methods for conveying minerals and valuable materials have been consistently followed over the years you examined.” • Office of Financial Management “We have no specific comments at this time, but wish to acknowledge the research and analysis presented in the report. It provides valuable clarification about who owns minerals and other resources when public lands are sold.” Department of Natural Resources Review of Mineral Rights and Conveyance of State Lands Report Appendix 2

  12. Contact Information Stacia Hollar 360-786-5191 hollar.stacia@leg.wa.gov www.jlarc.leg.wa.gov Review of Mineral Rights and Conveyance of State Lands

More Related