(a) Sections 2275 and 2276 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (43 U.S.C. 851, 852), referred to in §§2621.0-3 to 2621.4 of this subpart as the law, authorize the public land States except Alaska to select lands (or the retained or reserved interest of the United States in lands which have been disposed of with a reservation to the United States of all minerals, or any specified mineral or minerals, which interest is referred to in §§2621.0-3 to 2621.4 as the mineral estate) of equal acreage within their boundaries as indemnity for grant lands in place lost to the States because of appropriation before title could pass to the State or because of natural deficiencies resulting from such causes as fractional sections and fractional townships.

(b) The law provides that indemnity for lands lost because of natural deficiencies will be selected from the unappropriated, nonmineral, public lands, and that indemnity for lands lost before title could pass to the State will be selected from the unappropriated, public lands subject to the following restrictions:

(1) No lands mineral in character may be selected except to the extent that the selection is made as indemnity for mineral lands.

(2) No lands on a known geologic structure of a producing oil or gas field may be selected except to the extent that the selection is made as indemnity for lands on such a structure.

(c) The law also provides that lands subject to a mineral lease or permit may be selected, but only if the lands are otherwise available for selection, and if none of the lands subject to that lease or permit are in producing or producible status. It permits the selection of lands withdrawn, classified, or reported as valuable for coal, phosphate, nitrate, potash, oil, gas, asphaltic minerals, oil shale, sodium, and sulphur and lands withdrawn by Executive Order 5327 of April 15, 1930, if such lands are otherwise available for, and subject to, selection: Provided, That except where the base lands are mineral in character, such minerals are reserved to the United States in accordance with and subject to the regulations in subpart 2093. Except for the withdrawals mentioned in this paragraph and for lands subject to classification under section 7 of the Taylor Grazing Act of June 28, 1934 (48 Stat. 1269; 43 U.S.C. 315f), as amended, the law does not permit the selection of withdrawn or reserved lands.

(d) Subsection (b) of the section 2276 of the Revised Statutes, as amended, sets forth the principles of adjustment where selections are made to compensate for deficiencies of school lands in fractional townships.

[35 FR 9607, June 13, 1970]