Laserfiche WebLink
IBI..A 2007-213 <br />Addressing Vessels' arguments that the special stipulations violate the r/ii.A, <br />the State Director denied that the MLA applies at all- He stated that <br />because VAM is artificially created in the mine and discharged through <br />a mechanical ventilation system at the earth's sw face, it does not meet <br />the definition of gas found in 43 C.F.R. § 3000.0-5(a): <br />Gas means any fluid, either combustible or noncombustible, <br />which is produced in a natural state from the earth <br />and which maintains a gaseous or rarefied state at ordinary <br />temperatures and pressure conditions, <br />Thus, pollutant VAM is not subject to leasing or regulation under the <br />[MLA]. VAM, if it is a resource with commercial value, is more <br />appropriately subject to the authority of [FLPMA] section 102(a) (8) <br />and (9), and Section 302(b), Consequently, BLM has chosen to modify <br />the standard form 3200-24, Offer to Lease and Lease for Geothermal <br />Resources, removing as much as practical any references to the rights <br />commonly associated with an oil and gas lease. <br />Decision at 3 (italicized emphasis ours, bold emphasis in original).9 <br />Vessels appealed. By orders dated July 18, and July 26, 2007, this Board <br />granted motions to intervene submitted by UAE and Oso, respectively. <br />In an extensively detailed set of legal arguments, Vessels repeats and enhances <br />its prior arguments that what it calls the "Offending Special Stipulations" 3, 4, and 5 <br />are illegal under the MLA, that the allegedly competitive lease sale was anti- <br />competitive because it favored only Oso, that BLM and Oso conspired to ensure that <br />only Oso could reasonably bid on the leases, and that UAE and 0so committed <br />violations of 30 U.S.C. § 195(a) (2000), by engaging in a scheme to violate the <br />MLA i° In Vessels' terms, the several issues are as follows: <br />A. Oil and gas lease sales under the MLA, as amended by the <br />Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act of 1987, must <br />9 The State Director also addressed vessels' arguments regarding unitization and <br />bonding. As Vessels does not pursue these arguments in this appeal, we do not <br />address them. <br />" MLA section 41, 30 U.S.C. § 195(a101 } (2000), rnakes it unlawful to "organize or <br />participate in any scheme, amngement, plan, or agreement to circumvent or defeat <br />the provisions of this chapter or its Implementing .regulations." <br />175 IBLA 13 <br />tl/l f [l;cL 'ON V191 ]Un Wd11};ZI 3607. W -Nnr <br />u