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Compiled and edited by Charles J. Kappler. Washington : Government Printing Office, 1929.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That unallotted lands within the limits of any reservation or withdrawal created by Executive order for Indian purposes or for the use or occupancy of any Indians or tribes may be leased for oil and gas mining purposes in accordance with the provisions contained in the Act of May 29, 1924 (Forty-third Statutes, page 244).
That the proceeds from rentals, royalties, or bonuses of oil and gas leases upon lands within Executive order Indian reservations or withdrawals shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the tribe of Indians for whose benefit the reservation or withdrawal was created or who are using and occupying the land, and shall draw interest at the rate of 4 per centum per annum and be available for appropriation by Congress for expenses in connection with the supervision of the development and operation of the oil and gas industry and for the use and benefit of such Indians: Provided, That said Indians, or their tribal council, shall be consulted in regard to the expenditure of such money, but no per capita payment shall be made except by Act of Congress.
That taxes may be levied and collected by the State or local authority upon improvements, output of mines or oil and gas wells or other rights, property, or assets of any lessee upon lands within Executive order Indian reservations in the same manner as such taxes are otherwise levied and collected, and such taxes may be levied against the share obtained for the Indians as bonuses, rentals, and royalties, and the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to cause such taxes to be paid out of the tribal funds in the Treasury: Provided, That such taxes shall not become a lien or charge of any hind against the land or other property of such Indians.
That hereafter changes in the boundaries of reservations created by Executive order, proclamation, or otherwise for the use and occupation of Indians shall not be made except by Act of Congress: Provided, That this shall not apply to temporary withdrawals by the Secretary of the Interior.
That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, to allow any person who prior to May 27, 1924, filed an application for a permit in accordance with the provisions of the Act of February 25, 1920, to prospect for oil and gas upon lands within an Indian reservation
or withdrawal created by Executive order who shall show to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior that he, or the party with whom he has contracted, has done prior to January 1, 1926, any or all of the following things, to wit, expended money or labor in geologically surveying the lands covered by such application, has built a road for the benefit of such lands, or has drilled or contributed toward the drilling of the geologic structure upon which such lands are located, or who in good faith either has either filed a motion for reinstatement or rehearing; or performed any other act which in the judgment of the Secretary of the Interior entitles him to equitable relief, to prospect for a period of two years from the date this Act takes effect, or for such further time as the Secretary of the Interior may deem reasonable or necessary for the full exploration of the land described in his application tinder the terms and conditions therein set out, and a substantial contribution toward the drilling of the geologic structure thereon by such applicant for a permit thereon may be considered as prospecting under the provisions hereof; and upon establishing to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior that valuable deposits of oil and gas have been discovered within the limits of the land embraced in any such application, he shall be entitled to a lease for one-fourth of the land embraced in the application: Provided, That the applicant shall be granted a lease for as much as one hundred and sixty acres of said lands if there be that number of acres within the application. The area to be selected by the applicant shall be in compact form and, if surveyed, to be described by the legal subdivisions of the public land surveyed; if unsurveyed, to be surveyed by the Government at the expense of the applicant for lease in accordance with rules and regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, and the lands leased shall be conformed to and taken in accordance with the legal subdivisions of such surveys; deposit made to cover expenses of surveys shall be deemed appropriated for that purpose, and any excess deposits may be repaid to the person or persons making such deposit, or their legal represenatives. Such leases shall be for a term of twenty years upon a royalty of 5 per centum in amount of value of the production and the annual payment in advance of a rental of $1 per acre, the rental paid for any one year to be credited against the royalties as they may accrue for that year, with the preferential right in the lessee to renew the same for successive periods of ten years upon such reasonable terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior. The applicant shall also be entitled to a preference right to a lease for the remainder of the land in his application at a royalty of not less than 12 ½ per centum in amount or value of the production, the royalty to be determined by competitive bidding or fixed by such other methods as the Secretary of the Interior may by regulations prescribe: Provided further, That the Secretary of the Interior shall have the right to reject any or all bids.1
Approved, March 3, 1927.
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