2020 Colorado Revised Statutes
Title 34 - Mineral Resources
Article 63. Royalties Under Federal Leasing
Section 34-63-104. Special funds relating to oil shale lands - naval oil shale reserves distribution to local governments - legislative declaration.

(1) All moneys from sales, bonuses, royalties, leases, and rentals related to oil shale production on oil shale lands received by the state pursuant to section 35 of the federal "Mineral Lands Leasing Act" of February 25, 1920, as amended, shall be deposited by the state treasurer into a special fund for appropriation by the general assembly to state agencies, school districts, and political subdivisions of the state affected by the development and production of energy resources from oil shale lands primarily for use by such entities in planning for and providing facilities and services necessitated by such development and production and secondarily for other state purposes.

2. All moneys earned from the investment of the oil shale special fund established bysubsection (1) of this section shall be deposited by the state treasurer into a separate special fund and shall be appropriated by the general assembly primarily to state agencies, school districts, and political subdivisions of the state affected by the development and production of energy resources from oil shale lands for planning and, in the form of grants and loans, for providing facilities and services necessitated by such development and production and secondarily for other state purposes.

3. (a) The general assembly hereby finds and declares that:

1. Colorado is the location of two federal naval oil shale reserves (NOSR), numbers 1 and 3;

2. Congress passed the federal transfer act, codified at 10 U.S.C. sec. 7439, as amended, which transferred administrative jurisdiction over NOSR 1 and 3 from the United States secretary of energy to the United States secretary of the interior and requires the secretary of the interior to manage the transferred lands through the federal bureau of land management;

3. The federal transfer act further specified that royalties collected from NOSR 1 and 3 would be placed in the United States treasury and not distributed to the state until there was enough money in the treasury to reimburse the United States for previous costs incurred relating to the transferred lands and to provide for cleanup of the anvil points site at NOSR 3;

4. As a result, more than one hundred thirteen million dollars was withheld from distribution to the state from 1997 to 2008, and this amount far exceeded the amount needed for the reimbursement and the cleanup;

5. Approximately eighty million dollars of these funds has been spent;

6. It is anticipated that a portion of the withheld money may soon be disbursed to thestate;

7. Garfield, Rio Blanco, Mesa, and Moffat counties made significant expenditures toaddress the impacts of the operation of the anvil points site and the mineral extraction from which the withheld money was derived, but have not received any state or federal money as reimbursement; and

8. The counties have been instrumental in the release of the withheld money.

2. If the state receives any money in accordance with the federal "Mineral Lands Leasing Act" of February 25, 1920, as amended, that was set aside prior to January 1, 2009, and withheld by the federal government in accordance with 10 U.S.C. sec. 7439, as amended, then the state treasurer shall distribute the money to the following counties or related federal mineral lease districts, if applicable:

1. Forty percent to Garfield county;

2. Forty percent to Rio Blanco county;(III) Ten percent to Mesa county; and (IV) Ten percent to Moffat county.

3. The state treasurer shall consult with the department of local affairs to determinewhether a county identified in subsection (3)(b) of this section has created a federal mineral lease district in accordance with the "Federal Mineral Lease District Act", part 13 of article 20 of title 30. If a county has created a district, the state treasurer shall distribute any money in accordance with subsection (3)(b) of this section directly to the district.

Source: L. 74: Entire section added, p. 308, § 1, effective March 12. L. 75: Entire section amended, p. 1338, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2008: (1) amended, p. 2158, § 3, effective June 4. L. 2018: (3) added, (HB 18-1249), ch. 51, p. 491, § 3, effective March 22.

Cross references: For the "Mineral Lands Leasing Act" of February 25, 1920, see 30 U.S.C. § 181 et seq.