[104th Congress Public Law 273]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
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[DOCID: f:publ273.104]
[[Page 110 STAT. 3315]]
Public Law 104-273
104th Congress
An Act
To amend the Helium Act to authorize the Secretary to enter into
agreements with private parties for the recovery and disposal of helium
on Federal lands, and for other purposes. <<NOTE: Oct. 9, 1996 - [H.R.
4168]>>
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Helium
Privatization Act of 1996.>>
<<NOTE: 50 USC 167 note.>> SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Helium Privatization Act of 1996''.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENT OF HELIUM ACT.
Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an
amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal
of, a section or other provision, the reference shall be considered to
be made to a section or other provision of the Helium Act (50 U.S.C.
167-167n).
SEC. 3. AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.
Sections 3, 4, and 5 <<NOTE: 50 USC 167a-167c.>> are amended to
read as follows:
``SEC. 3. AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.
``(a) Extraction and Disposal of Helium on Federal Lands.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary may enter into agreements
with private parties for the recovery and disposal of helium on
Federal lands upon such terms and conditions as the Secretary
deems fair, reasonable, and necessary.
``(2) Leasehold rights.--The Secretary may grant leasehold
rights to any such helium.
``(3) Limitation.--The Secretary may not enter into any
agreement by which the Secretary sells such helium other than to
a private party with whom the Secretary has an agreement for
recovery and disposal of helium.
``(4) Regulations.--Agreements under paragraph (1) may be
subject to such regulations as may be prescribed by the
Secretary.
``(5) Existing rights.--An agreement under paragraph (1)
shall be subject to any rights of any affected Federal oil and
gas lessee that may be in existence prior to the date of the
agreement.
``(6) Terms and conditions.--An agreement under paragraph
(1) (and any extension or renewal of an agreement) shall contain
such terms and conditions as the Secretary may consider
appropriate.
[[Page 110 STAT. 3316]]
``(7) Prior agreements.--This subsection shall not in any
manner affect or diminish the rights and obligations of the
Secretary and private parties under agreements to dispose of
helium produced from Federal lands in existence on the date of
enactment of the Helium Privatization Act of 1996 except to the
extent that such agreements are renewed or extended after that
date.
``(b) Storage, Transportation, and Sale.--The Secretary may store,
transport, and sell helium only in accordance with this Act.
``SEC. 4. STORAGE, TRANSPORTATION, AND WITHDRAWAL OF CRUDE HELIUM.
``(a) Storage, Transportation, and Withdrawal.--The
Secretary may store, transport, and withdraw crude helium and maintain
and operate crude helium storage facilities, in existence on the date of
enactment of the Helium Privatization Act of 1996 at the Bureau of Mines
Cliffside Field, and related helium transportation and withdrawal
facilities.
``(b) Cessation of Production, Refining, and Marketing.--Not later
than 18 months after the date of enactment of the Helium Privatization
Act of 1996, the Secretary shall cease producing, refining, and
marketing refined helium and shall cease carrying out all other
activities relating to helium which the Secretary was authorized to
carry out under this Act before the date of enactment of the Helium
Privatization Act of 1996, except activities described in subsection
(a).
``(c) Disposal of Facilities.--
``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (5), not later than
24 months after the cessation of activities referred to in
subsection (b) of this section, the Secretary shall designate as
excess property and dispose of all facilities, equipment, and
other real and personal property, and all interests therein,
held by the United States for the purpose of producing, refining
and marketing refined helium.
``(2) Applicable law.--The disposal of such property shall
be in accordance with the Federal Property and Administrative
Services Act of 1949.
``(3) Proceeds.--All proceeds accruing to the United States
by reason of the sale or other disposal of such property shall
be treated as moneys received under this chapter for purposes of
section 6(f).
``(4) Costs.--All costs associated with such sale and
disposal (including costs associated with termination of
personnel) and with the cessation of activities under subsection
(b) shall be paid from amounts available in the helium
production fund established under section 6(f).
``(5) Exception.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any
facilities, equipment, or other real or personal property, or
any interest therein, necessary for the storage, transportation,
and withdrawal of crude helium or any equipment, facilities, or
other real or personal property, required to maintain the
purity, quality control, and quality assurance of crude helium
in the Bureau of Mines Cliffside Field.
``(d) Existing Contracts.--
``(1) In general.--All contracts that were entered into by
any person with the Secretary for the purchase by the person
from the Secretary of refined helium and that are in effect
[[Page 110 STAT. 3317]]
on the date of the enactment of the Helium Privatization Act of
1996 shall remain in force and effect until the date on which
the refining operations cease, as described in subsection (b).
``(2) Costs.--Any costs associated with the termination of
contracts described in paragraph (1) shall be paid from the
helium production fund established under section 6(f).
``SEC. 5. FEES FOR STORAGE, TRANSPORTATION AND WITHDRAWAL.
``(a) In General.--Whenever the Secretary provides helium storage
withdrawal or transportation services to any person, the Secretary shall
impose a fee on the person to reimburse the Secretary for the full costs
of providing such storage, transportation, and withdrawal.
``(b) Treatment.--All fees received by the Secretary under
subsection (a) shall be treated as moneys received under this Act for
purposes of section 6(f).''.
SEC. 4. SALE OF CRUDE HELIUM.
<<NOTE: 50 USC 167d.>> (a) Subsection 6(a) is amended by striking
``from the Secretary'' and inserting ``from persons who have entered
into enforceable contracts to purchase an equivalent amount of crude
helium from the Secretary''.
(b) Subsection 6(b) is amended--
(1) by inserting ``crude'' before ``helium''; and
(2) by adding the following at the end: ``Except as may be
required by reason of subsection (a), sales of crude helium
under this section shall be in amounts as the Secretary
determines, in consultation with the helium industry, necessary
to carry out this subsection with minimum market disruption.''.
(c) Subsection 6(c) is amended--
(1) by inserting ``crude'' after ``Sales of''; and
(2) by striking ``together with interest as provided in this
subsection'' and all that follows through the end of the
subsection and inserting ``all funds required to be repaid to
the United States as of October 1, 1995 under this section
(referred to in this subsection as `repayable amounts'). The
price at which crude helium is sold by the Secretary shall not
be less than the amount determined by the Secretary by--
``(1) dividing the outstanding amount of such repayable
amounts by the volume (in million cubic feet) of crude helium
owned by the United States
and stored in the Bureau of Mines Cliffside Field at the time of the
sale concerned, and
``(2) adjusting the amount determined under paragraph (1) by
the Consumer Price Index for years beginning after December 31,
1995.''.
(d) Subsection 6(d) is amended to read as follows:
``(d) Extraction of Helium From Deposits on Federal Lands.--All
moneys received by the Secretary from the sale or disposition of helium
on Federal lands shall be paid to the Treasury and credited against the
amounts required to be repaid to the Treasury under subsection (c).''.
(e) Subsection 6(e) is repealed.
(f) Subsection 6(f) is amended--
(1) by striking ``(f)'' and inserting ``(e)(1)''; and
(2) by adding the following at the end:
``(2)(A) Within 7 days after the commencement of each fiscal year
after the disposal of the facilities referred to in section 4(c),
[[Page 110 STAT. 3318]]
all amounts in such fund in excess of $2,000,000 (or such lesser sum as
the Secretary deems necessary to carry out this Act during such fiscal
year) shall be paid to the Treasury and credited as provided in
paragraph (1).
``(B) On repayment of all amounts referred to in subsection (c), the
fund established under this section shall be terminated and all moneys
received under this Act shall be deposited in the general fund of the
Treasury.''.
SEC. 5. ELIMINATION OF STOCKPILE.
Section 8 <<NOTE: 50 USC 167f.>> is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 8. ELIMINATION OF STOCKPILE.
``(a) Stockpile Sales.--
``(1) Commencement.--Not later than January 1, 2005, the
Secretary shall commence offering for sale crude helium from
helium reserves owned by the United States in such amounts as
would be necessary to dispose of all such helium reserves in
excess of 600,000,000 cubic feet on a straight-line basis
between such date and January 1, 2015.
``(2) Times of sale.--The sales shall be at such times
during each year and in such lots as the Secretary determines,
in consultation with the helium industry, to be necessary to
carry out this subsection with minimum market disruption.
``(3) Price.--The price for all sales under paragraph (1),
as determined by the Secretary in consultation with the helium
industry, shall be such price as will ensure repayment of the
amounts
required to be repaid to the Treasury under section 6(c).
``(b) Discovery of Additional Reserves.--The discovery of additional
helium reserves shall not affect the duty of the Secretary to make sales
of helium under subsection (a).''.
SEC. 6. LAND CONVEYANCE IN POTTER COUNTY, TEXAS.
Section 12 <<NOTE: 50 USC 167j.>> is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 12. LAND CONVEYANCE IN POTTER COUNTY, TEXAS.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior shall transfer all
right, title, and interest of the United States in and to the parcel of
land described in subsection (b) to the Texas Plains Girl Scout Council
for consideration of $1, reserving to the United States such easements
as may be necessary for pipeline rights-of-way.
``(b) Land Description.--The parcel of land referred to in
subsection (a) is all those certain lots, tracts or parcels of land
lying and being situated in the County of Potter and State of Texas, and
being the East Three Hundred Thirty-One (E331) acres out of Section
Seventy-eight (78) in Block Nine (9), B.S. & F. Survey, (some times
known as the G.D. Landis pasture) Potter County, Texas, located by
certificate No. 1/39 and evidenced by letters patents Nos. 411 and 412
issued by the State of Texas under date of November 23, 1937, and of
record in Vol. 66A of the Patent Records of the State of Texas. The
metes and bounds description of such lands is as follows:
``(1) First tract.--One Hundred Seventy-one (171) acres of
land known as the North part of the East part of said survey
Seventy-eight (78) aforesaid, described by metes and bounds as
follows:
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``Beginning at a stone 20 x 12 x 3 inches marked X,
set by W.D. Twichell in 1905, for the Northeast corner
of this survey and the Northwest corner of Section 59;
``Thence, South 0 degrees 12 minutes East with the
West line of said Section 59, 999.4 varas to the
Northeast corner of the South 160 acres of East half of
Section 78;
``Thence, North 89 degrees 47 minutes West with the
North line of the South 150 acres of the East half,
956.8 varas to a point in the East line of the West half
Section 78;
``Thence, North 0 degrees 10 minutes West with the
East line of the West half 999.4 varas to a stone 18 x
14 x 3 inches in the middle of the South line of Section
79;
``Thence, South 89 degrees 47 minutes East 965 varas
to the place of beginning.
``(2) Second tract.--One Hundred Sixty (160) acres of land
known as the South part of the East part of said survey No.
Seventy-eight (78) described by metes and bounds as
follows:
``Beginning at the Southwest corner of Section 59, a
stone marked X and a pile of stones; Thence, North 89
degrees 47 minutes West with the North line of Section
77, 966.5 varas to the Southeast corner of the West half
of Section 78; Thence, North 0 degrees 10 minutes West
with the East line of the West half of Section 78;
``Thence, South 89 degrees 47 minutes East 965.8
varas to a point in the East line of Section 78;
``Thence, South 0 degrees 12 minutes East 934.6
varas to the place of beginning.
``Containing an area of 331 acres, more or less.''.
SEC. 7. REPORT ON HELIUM.
Section 15 <<NOTE: 50 USC 167m.>> is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 15. REPORT ON HELIUM.
``(a) NAS Study and Report.--Not later than three years before the
date on which the Secretary commences offering for sale crude helium
under section 8, the Secretary shall enter into appropriate arrangements
with the National Academy of Sciences to study and report on whether
such disposal of helium reserves will have a substantial adverse effect
on United States scientific, technical, biomedical, or national security
interests.
``(b) Transmission to Congress.--Not later than 18 months before the
date on which the Secretary commences offering for sale crude helium
under section 8, the Secretary shall transmit to the Congress--
``(1) the report of the National Academy under subsection
(a);
``(2) the findings of the Secretary, after consideration of
the conclusions of the National Academy under subsection (a) and
after consultation with the United States helium industry and
with heads of affected Federal agencies, as to whether the
disposal of the helium reserve under section 8 will have a
substantial adverse effect on the United States helium industry,
United States, helium market or United States, scientific,
technological, biomedical, or national security interests; and
[[Page 110 STAT. 3320]]
``(3) if the Secretary determines that selling the crude
helium reserves under the formula established in section 8 will
have a substantial adverse effect on the United States helium
industry, the United States helium market or United States
scientific, technological, biomedical, or national security
interest, the Secretary shall make recommendations, including
recommendations for proposed legislation, as may be necessary to
avoid such adverse effects.''.
Approved October 9, 1996.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 4168:
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 142 (1996):
Sept. 26, considered and passed House.
Sept. 28, considered and passed Senate.
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