(a) Any person may at any time request that OCS minerals be offered for lease. A request that OCS minerals be offered for lease shall be submitted to the Director and shall contain the following information:

(1) The area to be offered for lease.

(2) The OCS minerals of primary interest.

(3) The available OCS mineral resource and environmental information pertaining to the area of interest to be offered for lease which supports the request.

(b) Within 45 days after receipt of a request submitted under paragraph (a) of this section, the Director shall either initiate steps leading to the offer of OCS minerals for lease and notify the applicant of the action taken or inform the applicant of the reasons for not initiating steps leading to the offer of OCS minerals for lease.

(c) Any interested party may at any time submit information to the Director concerning the scheduling of proposed lease sales of OCS minerals in any area of the OCS. Such information may include but not be limited to any of the following:

(1) Benefits of conducting a lease sale in an area.

(2) Costs of conducting a lease sale in an area.

(3) Geohazards which could be encountered in an area.

(4) Geological information about an area and mineral resource potential.

(5) Environmental information about an area.

(6) Information about known archaeological resources in an area.

(a) When considering whether to offer OCS minerals for lease, the Secretary, upon the Department of the Interior's own initiative or as a result of a submission under § 581.11, may request indications of interest in the leasing of a specific OCS mineral, a group of OCS minerals, or all OCS minerals in the area being considered for lease. Requests for information and interest shall be published in the Federal Register and may be published elsewhere.

(b) States and local governments, industry, other Federal Agencies, and all interested parties (including the public) may respond to a request for information and interest. All information provided to the Secretary will be considered in the decision whether to proceed with additional steps leading to the offering of OCS minerals for lease.

(c) The Secretary may request specific information concerning the offering of a specific OCS mineral, a group of OCS minerals, or all OCS minerals in a broad area for lease or the offering of one or more discrete tracts which represent a minable orebody. The Secretary's request may ask for comments on OCS areas which have been determined to warrant special consideration and analysis. Requests may be for comments concerning geological conditions or archaeological resources on the seabed; multiple uses of the area proposed for leasing, including navigation, recreation and fisheries; and other socioeconomic, biological, and environmental information relating to the area proposed for leasing.

(a) The Secretary may invite the adjacent State Governor(s) to join in, or the adjacent State Governor(s) may request that the Secretary join in, the establishment of a State/Federal task force or some other joint planning or coordination arrangement when industry interest exists for OCS mineral leasing or geological information appears to support the leasing of OCS minerals in specific areas. Participation in joint State/Federal task forces or other arrangements will afford the adjacent State Governor(s) opportunity for access to available data and information about the area; knowledge of progress made in the leasing process and of the results of subsequent exploration and development activities; facilitate the resolution of issues of mutual interest; and provide a mechanism for planning, coordination, consultation, and other activities which the Secretary and the Governor(s) may identify as contributing to the leasing process.

(b) State/Federal task forces or other such arrangements are to be constituted pursuant to such terms and conditions (consistent with Federal law and these regulations) as the Secretary and the adjacent State Governor(s) may agree.

(c) State/Federal task forces or other such arrangements will provide a forum which the Secretary and adjacent State Governor(s) may use for planning, consultation, and coordination on concerns associated with the offering of OCS minerals other than oil, gas, or sulphur for lease.

(d) With respect to the activities authorized under these regulations each State/Federal task force may make recommendations to the Secretary and adjacent State Governor(s) concerning:

(1) The identification of areas in which OCS minerals might be offered for lease;

(2) The potential for conflicts between the exploration and development of OCS mineral resources, other users and uses of the area, and means for resolution or mitigation of these conflicts;

(3) The economic feasibility of developing OCS mineral resources in the area proposed for leasing;

(4) Potential environmental problems and measures that might be taken to mitigate these problems;

(5) Development of guidelines and procedures for safe, environmentally responsible exploration and development practices; and

(6) Other issues of concern to the Secretary and adjacent State Governor(s).

(e) State/Federal task forces or other such arrangements might also be used to conduct or oversee research, studies, or reports (e.g., Environmental Impact Statements).

The Secretary, after considering the available OCS mineral resources and environmental data and information, the recommendation of any joint State/Federal task force established pursuant to § 581.13 of this part, and the comments received from interested parties, shall select the tracts to be considered for offering for lease. The selected tracts will be considered in the environmental analysis conducted for the proposed lease offering.

The size of the tracts to be offered for lease shall be as determined by the Secretary and specified in the leasing notice. It is intended that tracts offered for lease be sufficiently large to include potentially minable OCS mineral orebodies. When the presence of any minable orebody is unknown and additional prospecting is needed to discover and delineate OCS minerals, the size of tracts specified in the leasing notice may be relatively large.

(a) Prior to offering OCS minerals in an area for lease, the Director shall assess the available information including recommendations of any joint State/Federal task force established pursuant to § 581.13 of this part to determine lease sale procedures to be prescribed and to develop a proposed leasing notice which sets out the proposed primary term of the OCS mineral leases to be offered; lease stipulations including measures to mitigate potentially adverse impacts on the environment; and such rental, royalty, and other terms and conditions as the Secretary may prescribe in the leasing notice.

(b) The proposed leasing notice shall be sent to the Governor(s) of any adjacent State(s), and a Notice of its availability shall be published in the Federal Register at least 60 days prior to the publication of the leasing notice.

(c) Written comments of the adjacent State Governor(s) submitted within 60 days after publication of the Notice of Availability of the proposed leasing notice shall be considered by the Secretary.

(d) Prior to publication of the leasing notice, the Secretary shall respond in writing to the comments of the adjacent State Governor(s) stating the reasons for accepting or rejecting the Governor's recommendations, or for implementing any alternative mutually acceptable approach identified in consultation with the Governor(s) as a means to provide a reasonable balance between the National interest and the well being of the citizens of the adjacent State.

(a) The Director shall publish the leasing notice in the Federal Register at least 30 days prior to the date that OCS minerals will be offered for lease. The leasing notice shall state whether oral or sealed bids or a combination thereof will be used; the place, date, and time at which sealed bids shall be filed; and the place, date, and time at which sealed bids shall be opened and/or oral bids received. The leasing notice shall contain or reference a description of the tract(s) to be offered for lease; specify the mineral(s) to be offered for lease (if less than all OCS minerals are being offered); specify the period of time the primary term of the lease shall cover; and any stipulation(s), term(s), and condition(s) of the offer to lease (43 U.S.C. 1337(k)).

(b) The leasing notice shall contain a reference to the OCS minerals lease form which shall be issued to successful bidders.

(c) The leasing notice shall specify the terms and conditions governing the payment of the winning bid.

(a) The OCS minerals shall be offered by competitive, cash bonus bidding under terms and conditions specified in the leasing notice and in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.

(b)(1) When the leasing notice specifies the use of sealed bids, such bids received in response to the leasing notice shall be opened at the place, date, and time specified in the leasing notice. The sole purpose of opening bids is to publicly announce and record the bids received, and no bids shall be accepted or rejected at that time.

(2) The Secretary reserves the right to reject any and all sealed bids received for any tract, regardless of the amount offered.

(3) In the event the highest bids are tie bids when using sealed bidding procedures, the tied bidders may be permitted to submit oral bids to determine the highest cash bonus bidder.

(c)(1) When the leasing notice specifies the use of oral bids, oral bids shall be received at the place, time, and date and in accordance with the procedures specified in the leasing notice.

(2) The Secretary reserves the right to reject all oral bids received for any tract, regardless of the amount offered.

(d) When the leasing notice specifies the use of deferred cash bonus bidding, bids shall be received in accordance with paragraph (b) or (c) of this section, as appropriate. The high bid will be determined based upon the net present value of each total bid. The appropriate discount rate will be specified in the leasing notice. High bidders using the deferred bonus option shall pay a minimum of 20 percent of the cash bonus bid prior to lease issuance. At least a total of 60 percent of the cash bonus bid shall be due on or before the 5th anniversary of the lease, and payment of the remainder of the cash bonus bid shall be due on the 10th anniversary of the lease. The lessee shall submit a bond guaranteeing payment of the deferred portion of the bonus, in accordance with § 581.33.

An OCS mineral lease for OCS minerals other than sand and gravel shall be for a primary term of not less than 20 years as stipulated in the leasing notice. The primary lease term for each OCS mineral shall be determined based on exploration and development requirements for the OCS minerals being offered by the Secretary. An OCS mineral lease for sand and gravel shall be for a primary term of 10 years unless otherwise stipulated in the leasing notice. A lease will continue beyond the specified primary term for so long thereafter as leased OCS minerals are being produced in accordance with an approved mining operation or the lessee is otherwise in compliance with provisions of the lease and the regulations in this chapter under which a lessee can earn continuance of the OCS mineral lease in effect.

(a) If the bidder is an individual, a statement of citizenship shall accompany the bid.

(b) If the bidder is an association (including a partnership), the bid shall be accompanied by a certified statement indicating the State in which it is registered and that the association is authorized to hold mineral leases on the OCS, or appropriate reference to statements or records previously submitted to a BOEM OCS office (including material submitted in compliance with prior regulations).

(c) If the bidder is a corporation, the bid shall be accompanied by the following information:

(1) Either a statement certified by the corporate Secretary or Assistant Secretary over the corporate seal showing the State in which it was incorporated and that it is authorized to hold mineral leases on the OCS or appropriate reference to statements or record previously submitted to a BOEM OCS office (including material submitted in compliance with prior regulations).

(2) Evidence of authority of persons signing to bind the corporation. Such evidence may be in the form of a certified copy of either the minutes of the board of directors or of the bylaws indicating that the person signing has authority to do so, or a certificate to that effect signed by the Secretary or Assistant Secretary of the corporation over the corporate seal, or appropriate reference to statements or records previously submitted to a BOEM OCS office (including material submitted in compliance with prior regulations). Bidders are advised to keep their filings current.

(3) The bid shall be executed in conformance with corporate requirements.

(d) Bidders should be aware of the provisions of 18 U.S.C. 1860, which prohibits unlawful combination or intimidation of bidders.

(e) When sealed bidding is specified in the leasing notice, a separate sealed bid shall be submitted for each bid unit that is bid upon as described in the leasing notice. A bid may not be submitted for less than a bidding unit identified in the leasing notice.

(f) When oral bidding is specified in the leasing notice, information which must accompany a bid pursuant to paragraph (a), (b), or (c) of this section, shall be presented to BOEM at the lease sale prior to the offering of an oral bid.

(a)(1) The decision of the Director on bids shall be the final action of the Department, subject only to reconsideration by the Secretary, pursuant to a written request in accordance with paragraph (a)(2) of this section. The delegation of review authority to the Office of Hearings and Appeals shall not be applicable to decisions on high bids for leases in the OCS.

(2) Any bidder whose bid is rejected by the Director may file a written request for reconsideration with the Secretary within 15 days of notice of rejection, accompanied by a statement of reasons with a copy to the Director. The Secretary shall respond in writing either affirming or reversing the decision.

(b) Written notice of the Director's action in accepting or rejecting bids shall be transmitted promptly to those bidders whose deposits have been held. If a bid is accepted, such notice shall transmit three copies of the lease form to the successful bidder. As provided in § 581.26 of this part, the bidder shall, not later than the 10th business day after receipt of the lease, execute the lease, pay the first year's rental, and unless payment of a portion of the bid is deferred, pay the balance of the bonus bid. When payment of a portion of the bid is deferred, the successful bidder shall also file a bond to guarantee payment of the deferred portion as required in § 581.33. Deposits shall be refunded on high bids subsequently rejected. When three copies of the lease have been executed by the successful bidder and returned to the Director, the lease shall be executed on behalf of the United States; and one fully executed copy shall be transmitted to the successful bidder.

(c) If the successful bidder fails to execute the lease within the prescribed time or to otherwise comply with the applicable regulations, the successful bidder's deposit shall be forfeited and disposed of in the same manner as other receipts under the Act.

(d) If, before the lease is executed on behalf of the United States, the land which would be subject to the lease is withdrawn or restricted from leasing, the deposit shall be refunded.

(e) If the awarded lease is executed by an agent acting on behalf of the bidder, the bidder shall submit with the executed lease, evidence that the agent is authorized to act on behalf of the bidder.

The OCS mineral leases shall be issued on the lease form prescribed by the Secretary in the leasing notice.

Leases issued under the regulations in this part shall be dated and become effective as of the first day of the month following the date leases are signed on behalf of the lessor except that, upon written request, a lease may be dated and become effective as of the first day of the month within which it is signed on behalf of the lessor.