Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 106 Part 4.djvu/394

 106 STAT. 3130 PUBLIC LAW 102-486—OCT. 24, 1992 (b) DEFINITION.— (1) For purposes of this section, the term "tar sands" means any consolidated or imconsolidated rock (other than coal, oil shale, or gilsonite) that either— (A) contains a hydrocarbonaceous material with a gasfree viscosity, at original reservoir temperature, greater than 10,000 centipoise; or (B) contains a hydrocarbonaceous material and is produced by mining or quarrying. (2) Nothing in this section is intended or shall be construed to affect in any way the definition of the term tar sands under any other provision of Federal law. (c) STUDY. —The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, shall submit a study to the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate within one year after the date of enactment of this Act. Such study shall identify and evaluate the development potential of sources of tar sands in the United States. The study shall also identify and evaluate processes for extracting oil from the identified tar sand sources, including existing tar sands waste tailings, and evaluate the environmental benefits of, and the potential for coproduction of minerals and metals from, such processes. (d) AUTHORIZATION.— There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 1993 and 1994 to carry out this section. SEC. 3017. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 11 OF THE UNITED STATES CODE. (a) DEFINITION.— Section 101 of title 11, United States Code, is amended by inserting after paragraph (21) the following: '*(21A) 'farmout agreement' means a written agreement in which— "(A) the owner of a right to drill, produce, or operate liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons on property agrees or has agreed to transfer or assign all or a part of such right to another entity; and "(B) such other entity (either directly or through its agents or its assigns), as consideration, agrees to perform drilling, reworking, recompleting, testing, or similar or related operations, to develop or produce liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons on the property;". (b) PROPERTY OF THE ESTATE.— Section 541(b) of title 11, United States Code, is amended— (1) in paragraph (2) by striking "or" at the end, (2) in paragraph (3) by strucing the period at the end and inserting "o^, and (3) by adding at the end the following: "(4) any interest of the debtor in liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons to uie extent that— "(A) the debtor has transferred or has agreed to transfer such interest pursuant to a farmout agreement or any written agreement directly related to a farmout agreement; and "(B) but for the operation of this paragraph, the estate could include such interest only by virtue of section 365 or 544(a)(3) of this title. Paragraph (4) shall not be construed to exclude from the estate any consideration the debtor retains, receives, or is entitled to

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