Uranium Leasing Program - Current Status
On July 6, 2007, DOE finalized the Uranium Leasing Program Programmatic Environmental Assessment (ULP PEA) and issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the preferred Expanded Program alternative.
In October 2007, Department of Energy initiated the following actions in accordance with its preferred “Expanded Program” alternative as outlined in the ULP PEA and FONSI:
- Redefined the lease tract boundaries to incorporate prior existing unpatented mining claims that were located within the withdrawal boundaries and subsequently became invalid and reverted back to the withdrawal.
- Reconfigured the number of inactive lease tracts from 25 to 19 by combining some of the less-favorable lease tracts with other nearby lease tracts to make them more attractive to potential bidders.
- Revised the standard lease agreement to incorporate new lease language required by DOE to reflect the current environmental arena in which DOE operates, new royalty calculation methodology, and the new environmental stipulations outlined in the final PEA.
- Developed a comprehensive Web-based inactive lease tract bid‑solicitation process, populated it with current and historical information retained by DOE for each of the 19 inactive lease tracts, and then initiated the Web-based solicitation process that gave over 100 potential bidders access to all of the compiled lease tract data.
- Prepared separate and distinct lease agreements for the 13 active lease tracts and the 19 inactive lease tracts.
- Evaluated all bids received during the solicitation process, including supplemental information submitted by the apparent high bidders, and ultimately determined the successful bidder for each inactive lease tract.
This process culminated in the execution of 31 new 10-year lease agreements. DOE executed 13 new 10-year lease agreements with the existing leaseholders of the active lease tracts effective April 30, 2008. Subsequently, DOE executed 18 new 10-year lease agreements with the successful bidders of the inactive lease tracts effective June 27, 2008. One lease tract received no interest during the bid-solicitation process and will remain in inactive status indefinitely. Click here for a summary of lease tract metrics..gif?n=8804 "pdf_icon")
As the Uranium Leasing Program continues for the next 10 years, DOE will assure that the public’s health and welfare and the environment are protected. DOE’s leaseholders are required to comply with all applicable statutes, rules, and regulations and are required to post reclamation performance bonds with DOE that are sufficient to fund the ultimate reclamation of their respective lease operations.