Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 61 Part 1.djvu/939

 61 STAT.] 80TH CONG. , IST SESS.-CH. 513-AUG. 7, 1947 may lease any interest of the United States then owned or to be acquired in the future in the same manner as provided in the pre- ceding sentence. SEC. 6. All receipts derived from leases issued under the authority of this Act shall be paid into the same funds or accounts in the Treas- ury and shall be distributed in the same manner as prescribed for other receipts from the lands affected by the lease, the intention of this provision being that this Act shall not affect the distribution of receipts pursuant to legislation applicable to such lands: Provided, however, That receipts from leases or permits for minerals in lands set apart for Indian use, including lands the jurisdiction of which has been transferred to the Department of the Interior by the Executive order for Indian use, shall be deposited in a special fund in the Treasury until final disposition thereof by the Congress. SEC. 7. Upon request by the Secretary, the heads of all executive departments, independent establishments, or instrumentalities having jurisdiction over any of the lands referred to in section 2 of this Act shall furnish to the Secretary the legal description of all of such lands, and all pertinent abstracts, title papers, and other documents in the possession of such agencies concerning the status of the title of the United States to the mineral deposits that may be found in such lands. Abstracts, title papers, and other documents furnished to the Secre- tary under this section shall be recorded promptly in the Bureau of Land Management in such form as the Secretary shall deem adequate for their preservation and use in the administration of this Act, where- upon the originals shall be returned promptly to the agency from which they were received. Duly authenticated copies of any such abstracts, title papers, or other documents may, however, be fur- nished to the Secretary, in lieu of the originals, in the discretion of the agency concerned. SEC. 8. Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to affect the rights of the State or other local authorities to exercise any right which they may have with respect to properties covered by leases issued under this Act, including the right to levy and collect taxes upon improvements, output of mines, or other rights, property, or assets of any lessee of the United States. SEC. 9. Nothing in this Act shall affect any rights acquired by any lessee of lands subject to this Act und(er the law as it existeld prior to the effective date of this Act, and sulch rights shall be goverlied by the law in effect at the time of their acquisition; but any person qualified to hold a lease who, on the date of this Act, had pending an application for an oil and gas lease for any lands subject to this Act whicl on the date the application was filed was not situated within the known geologic structure of a producing oil or gas field, shall have a preference right over others to a lease of such lands without competi- tive bidding. Any person holding a lease on lands subject hereto, which lease was issued prior to the effective date of this Act, shall be entitled to exchange such lease for a new lease issued under the provisions of this Act, at any time prior to the expiration of such existing lease. SEC. 10. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to prescribe such rules and regulations as are necessary and appropriate to carry out the purposes of this Act, which rules and regulations shall be the same as those prescribed under the mineral leasing laws to the extent that they are applicable. Approved August 7, 1947. Distribution of re- ceipts, etc. Furnishing of legal descriptions, etc. Authenticated cop- ies. Rights of State, etc. lightis ouitlrtrd by le'sselt. Exchange of lease. Rules and regula- tolls.

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