(a) No lease shall be issued before final action has been taken on any prior offer to lease the lands or any extension of, or petition for reinstatement of, an existing or former lease on the lands. If a lease is issued before final action, it shall be canceled, if the prior offeror is qualified to receive a lease or the petitioner is entitled to reinstatement of a former lease.

(b) The authorized officer shall not issue a lease for lands covered by a lease which terminated automatically, until 90 days after the date of termination.

(c) The United States shall indicate its acceptance of the lease offer, in whole or in part, and the issuance of the lease, by signature of the authorized officer on the current lease form. A signed copy of the lease shall be delivered to the offeror.

(d) Except as otherwise specifically provided in the regulations of this group, an offer that is not filed in accordance with the regulations in this part shall be rejected.

(e) Filing an offer on a lease form not currently in use, unless such lease form has been declared obsolete by the Director prior to the filing shall be allowed, on the condition that the offeror is bound by the terms and conditions of the lease form currently in use.