Leases issued pursuant to this subpart may be held only by:

(a) Citizens and nationals of the United States;

(b) Aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States as defined in 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(20);

(c) Private, public or municipal corporations organized under the laws of the United States or of any State or of the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa or any of its territories; or

(d) Associations of such citizens, nationals, resident aliens or private, public or municipal corporations.

(a) A separate sealed bid shall be submitted for each tract in the manner prescribed. A bid shall not be submitted for less than an entire tract.

(b) Each bidder shall submit with the bid a certified or cashier's check, bank draft, U.S. currency or any other form of payment approved by the Secretary for one-fifth of the amount of the cash bonus, unless stated otherwise in the notice of sale.

(c) Each bid shall be accompanied by statements of qualifications prepared in accordance with § 3132.4 of this title.

(d) Bidders are bound by the provisions of 18 U.S.C. 1860 prohibiting unlawful combination or intimidation of bidders.

(a) Make payments of bonuses, including deferred bonuses, first year's rental, other payments due upon lease issuance, and fees, to BLM's Alaska State Office. Before we issue a lease, the highest bidder must pay the processing fee for competitive lease applications found in the fee schedule in § 3000.12 of this chapter in addition to other remaining bonus and rental payments. All payments shall be made by certified or cashier's check, bank draft, U.S. currency or any other form of payment approved by the Secretary. Payments shall be made payable to the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, unless otherwise directed.

(b) All other payments required by a lease or the regulations in this part shall be payable to the Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service.

Submission of a lease bid constitutes certification of compliance with the regulations of this part. Anyone seeking to acquire, or anyone holding, a Federal oil and gas lease or interest therein may be required to submit additional information to show compliance with the regulations of this part.

(a) Sealed bids received in response to the notice of lease sale shall be opened at the place, date and hour specified in the notice of sale. The opening of bids is for the sole purpose of publicly announcing and recording the bids received. No bids shall be accepted or rejected at that time.

(b) The United States reserves the right to reject any and all bids received for any tract, regardless of the amount offered.

(c) In the event the highest bids are tie bids, the tying bidders shall be allowed to submit within 15 days of the public announcement of a tie bid additional sealed bids to break the tie. The additional bids shall include any additional amount necessary to bring the amount tendered with his/her bid to one-fifth of the additional bid. Additional bids to break tie bids shall be processed in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section.

(d) If the authorized officer fails to accept the highest bid for a lease within 90 days or a lesser period of time as specified in the notice of sale, the highest bid for that lease shall be considered rejected. This 90-day period or lesser period as specified in the notice of sale shall not include any period of time during which acceptance, rejection or other processing of bids and lease issuance by the Department of the Interior are enjoined or prohibited by court order.

(e) Written notice of the final decision on the bids shall be transmitted to those bidders whose deposits have been held in accordance with instructions set forth in the notice of sale. If a bid is accepted, 2 copies of the lease shall be transmitted with the notice of acceptance to the successful bidder. The bidder shall, not later than the 15th day after receipt of the lease, sign both copies of the lease and return them, together with the first year's rental and the balance of the bonus bid, unless deferred, and shall file a bond, if required to do so. Deposits shall be refunded on rejected bids.

(f) If the successful bidder fails to execute the lease within the prescribed time or otherwise to comply with the applicable regulations, the deposit shall be forfeited and disposed of as other receipts under the Act.

(g) If the awarded lease is executed by an attorney-in-fact acting on behalf of the bidder, the lease shall be accompanied by evidence that the bidder authorized the attorney-in-fact to execute the lease on his/her behalf. Reference may be made to the serial number of the record and the office of the Bureau of Land Management in which such evidence has already been filed.

(h) When the executed lease is returned to the authorized officer, he/she shall within 15 days of receipt of the material required by paragraph (e) of this section, execute the lease on behalf of the United States. A copy of the fully executed lease shall be transmitted to the lessee.

Leases shall be issued on forms approved by the Director.

All leases issued under the regulations in this part shall become effective as of the first day of the month following the date they are signed on behalf of the United States. When prior written request is made, a lease may become effective as of the first day of the month within which it is signed on behalf of the United States.