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I. INTRODUCTION

The Secretary of the Interior has been designated by law to manage and regulate many of the activities which relate to the leasing, exploration, development and production of mineral resources of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Most of the Secretary's responsibilities involving these activities have been delegated to the Geological Survey and the Bureau of Land Management.

The Bureau of Land Management has primary responsibility, with resource evaluation and other technical assistance from the Geological Survey, for the leasing of OCS mineral resources and the permitting of pipeline rights-of-way across the OCS. The Geological Survey has primary responsibility for the regulation of activities conducted for the exploration, development and production of OCS mineral resources, including various mineral resource evaluation functions and the collection of royalties on production and other payments. These payments exceeded $1.5 billion in calendar year 1979.

This document, in two volumes, is a compilation of Federal laws which directly or indirectly relate to the OCS mineral program responsibilities of the Department of the Interior. Thirtyfive laws, as amended, are included. One of the laws, the Crude Oil Windfall Profit Tax Act of 1980, was enacted April 2, 1980, during the Second Session of the 96th Congress and includes no amendments. Thirty-four of the laws were enacted during or prior to the First Session of the 96th Congress ending in January 1980. Seven of the thirty-four laws were not amended prior to January 1980. The remaining twenty-seven laws were collectively amended by legislation contained in 160 separate laws enacted prior to January 1980. The twenty-seven laws include all legislative amendments enacted through the First Session of the 96th Congress ending in January 1980. References to amending laws are included in the introductory paragraph preceding each law and parenthetical references to laws amending each section are included at the end of each section.

Twenty-three of the thirty-five laws, as amended, are included in their entirety. Certain portions (whole titles, sections or subsections) of the remaining twelve laws are omitted. These omitted portions are either not related or only remotely related to the Department's OCS program responsibilities, or they contain amendments to other laws included elsewhere in the compilation. The omitted portions are described in the introductory paragraph above each law and are indicated by parenthetical notations where they would have appeared in the text of each

law.

Many of the functions, as vested by the laws in this compilation, have been transferred to and vested in other Agencies and Officials by documents other than legislative amendments to the specific laws which are included. Such documents include Reorganization Plans, Executive Orders, and legislation which do not amend the specific laws included. Accordingly, users of this compilation are advised that such other documents should be consulted to determine current delegations of authorities and responsibilities. The Work Group recommends that consideration be given to including such other documents, or references thereto, in future compilations.

References to legislative histories, as they appear in original, amending, and related legislative source documents, are included at the end of each law. Available history references included for laws enacted prior to the 88th Congress (1963-64) are less comprehensive.

Legislative source documents used for this compilation were "slip" laws and the Statutes at Large. Marginal references to pages refer to pages of the Statutes of Large in which the particular law appears.

This compilation of laws is intended as a convenience for those who have responsibilities or interest in the regulation of mineral resource activity on the OCS. It is not intended to present official or authoritative copies of the laws of the United States. Errors in spelling, punctuation, and similar minor errors, occasionally found in the legislative source documents have been editorially corrected to more clearly represent the intent of Congress.

The Work Group responsible for this compilation endeavored to minimize errors. It is expected, however, that some errors do exist. Comments from users regarding errors and suggestions for improvement of revised or additional compilations are solicited. Comments should be forwarded to the Chief, Conservation Division, U.S. Geological Survey, National Center (MS600), Reston, Va. 22092.

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