(a) Not less than 30 days prior to the publication of a notice of sale, the Secretary shall solicit public comments on fair market value (FMV) appraisal and the maximum economic recovery (MER) of the tract or tracts proposed to be offered and on factors that may affect these 2 determinations. BLM will publish the solicitation in the Federal Register and at least once per week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the area of the sale. Proprietary data marked as confidential may be submitted to the Bureau of Land Management in response to the solicitation of public comments. Data so marked shall be treated in accordance with the laws and regulations governing the confidentiality of such information.

(b) The authorized officer shall prepare a written report containing information on the mining method evaluation, estimated coal reserves by bed, coal quality assessment, royalty and lease bond recommendations and an evaluation of the public comments on the FMV and MER.

(c)

(1) The authorized officer shall not accept any bid that is less than the fair market value as determined by the Department.

(2) Minimum bids shall be set on a regional basis and may be expressed in either dollars-per-acre or cents-per-ton. In no case shall the minimum bid be less than $100 per acre or its equivalent in cents-per-ton.

[47 FR 33140, July 30, 1982, as amended at 50 FR 8626, Mar. 4, 1985; 51 FR 18888, May 23, 1986; 64 FR 52243, Sept. 28, 1999]