How Interior Should Handle Congressionally Authorized Federal Coal Lease Exchanges.
Abstract
Lease exchanges increasingly have been considered by both the Congress and the Department of the Interior as a way of redirecting coal or other resource development to more desirable areas on public lands. This report, a followup of an earlier GAO report to Interior, illustrates how Interior handled its evaluation of a proposed exchange of coal lands, specifically authorized by the Congress, involving the Utah Power and Light Company. The present administration recently rejected the exchange; however, Interior's previous 2-year effort in evaluating the proposal provides many important lessons and identifies some key issues that must be resolved in handling any future exchanges, including the need to -- first validate the basis and appropriateness for any exchange, -- ensure the availability of sufficient data to determine 'equal value,' -- consider potential competitive leasing interest in the exchange lands, and -- develop better procedures generally to manage the exchange. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 06, 1981
- Accession Number
- ADA106667
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office