The operator/lessee must comply with the following performance standards concerning exploration, development, and production:

(a) All operations must be conducted to achieve MER;

(b) Operations must be conducted under an approved POD or exploration plan;

(c) The operator/lessee must diligently develop the lease and must comply with the diligent development milestones and production requirements at § 3930.30;

(d) The operator/lessee must notify the BLM promptly if operations encounter unexpected wells or drill holes that could adversely affect the recovery of shale oil or other minerals producible under an oil shale lease during mining operations, and must not take any action that would disturb such wells or drill holes without the BLM's prior approval;

(e) The operator/lessee must conduct operations to:

(1) Prevent waste and conserve the recoverable oil shale reserves and other resources;

(2) Prevent damage to or degradation of oil shale formations;

(3) Ensure that other resources are protected upon abandonment of operations; and

(f) The operator must save topsoil for use in final reclamation after the reshaping of disturbed areas has been completed.

The operator/lessee must adhere to the following standards for all exploration and in situ drilling operations:

(a) At the end of exploration operations, all drill holes must be capped with at least 5 feet of cement and plugged with a permanent plugging material that is unaffected by water and hydrocarbon gases and will prevent the migration of gases and water in the drill hole under normal hole pressures. For holes drilled deeper than stripping limits, the operator/lessee, using cement or other suitable plugging material the BLM approves in advance, must plug the hole through the thickness of the oil shale bed(s) or mineral deposit(s) and through aquifers for a distance of at least 50 feet above and below the oil shale bed(s) or mineral deposit(s) and aquifers, or to the bottom of the drill hole. The BLM may approve a lesser cap or plug. Capping and plugging must be managed to prevent water pollution and the mixing of ground and surface waters and to ensure the safety of people, livestock, and wildlife;

(b) The operator/lessee must retain for 1 year all drill and geophysical logs. The operator must also make such logs available for inspection or analysis by the BLM. The BLM may require the operator/lessee to retain representative samples of drill cores for 1 year;

(c) The operator/lessee may, after the BLM's written approval, use drill holes as surveillance wells for the purpose of monitoring the effects of subsequent operations on the quantity, quality, or pressure of ground water or mine gases; and

(d) The operator/lessee may, after written approval from the BLM and the surface owner, convert drill holes to water wells. When granting such approvals, the BLM will include a transfer to the surface owner of responsibility for any liability, including eventual plugging, reclamation, and abandonment.

(a) Underground mining operations must be conducted in a manner to prevent the waste of oil shale, to conserve recoverable oil shale reserves, and to protect other resources. The BLM must approve in writing permanent abandonment and operations that render oil shale inaccessible.

(b) The operator/lessee must adopt mining methods that ensure the proper recovery of recoverable oil shale reserves.

(c) Operators/lessees must adopt measures consistent with known technology to prevent or, where the mining method used requires subsidence, control subsidence, maximize mine stability, and maintain the value and use of surface lands. If the POD indicates that pillars will not be removed and controlled subsidence is not part of the POD, the POD must show that pillars of adequate dimensions will be left for surface stability, considering the thickness and strength of the oil shale beds and the strata above and immediately below the mined interval.

(d) The lessee/operator must have the BLM's approval to temporarily abandon a mine or portions thereof.

(e) The operator/lessee must have the BLM's prior approval to mine any recoverable oil shale reserves or drive any underground workings within 50 feet of any of the outer boundary lines of the federally-leased or federally-licensed land. The BLM may approve operations closer to the boundary after taking into consideration state and Federal environmental laws and regulations.

(f) The lessee/operator must have the BLM's prior approval before drilling any lateral holes within 50 feet of any outside boundary.

(g) Either the operator/lessee or the BLM may initiate the proposal to mine oil shale in a barrier pillar if the oil shale in adjoining lands has been mined out. The lessee/operator of the Federal oil shale must enter into an agreement with the owner of the oil shale in those adjacent lands prior to mining the oil shale remaining in the Federal barrier pillars (which otherwise may be lost).

(h) The BLM must approve final abandonment of a mining area.

(a) Pit widths for each oil shale seam must be engineered and designed to eliminate or minimize the amount of oil shale fender to be left as a permanent pillar on the spoil side of the pit.

(b) Considering mine economics and oil shale quality, the amount of oil shale wasted in each pit must be minimal.

(c) The BLM must approve the final abandonment of a mining area.

(d) The BLM must approve the conditions under which surface mines, or portions thereof, will be temporarily abandoned, under the regulations in this part.

(e) The operator/lessee may, in the interest of conservation, mine oil shale up to the Federal lease or license boundary line, provided that the mining:

(1) Complies with existing state and Federal mining, environmental, reclamation, and safety laws and rules; and

(2) Does not conflict with the rights of adjacent surface owners.

(f) The operator must save topsoil for final application after the reshaping of disturbed areas has been completed.

(a) Maximum Economic Recovery (MER). All mining and in situ development and production operations must be conducted in a manner to yield the MER of the oil shale deposits, consistent with the protection and use of other natural resources, the protection and preservation of the environment, including, land, water, and air, and with due regard for the safety of miners and the public. All shafts, main exits, and passageways, and overlying beds or mineral deposits that at a future date may be of economic importance must be protected by adequate pillars in the deposit being worked or by such other means as the BLM approves.

(b) New geologic information. The operator must record any new geologic information obtained during mining or in situ development operations regarding any mineral deposits on the lease. The operator must report this new information in a BLM-approved format to the proper BLM office within 90 calendar days after obtaining the information.

(c) Statutory compliance. Operators must comply with applicable Federal and state law, including, but not limited to the following:

(1) Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 1857 et seq.);

(2) Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (30 U.S.C. 1151 et seq.);

(3) Solid Waste Disposal Act as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.);

(4) National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.);

(5) Archaeological and Historical Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 469 et seq.);

(6) Archaeological Resources Protection Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470aa et seq.); and

(7) Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, as amended (25 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.).

(d) Resource protection. The following additional resource protection provisions apply to oil shale operations:

(1) Operators must comply with applicable Federal and state standards for the disposal and treatment of solid wastes. All garbage, refuse, or waste must either be removed from the affected lands' or disposed of or treated to minimize, so far as is practicable, their impact on the lands, water, air, and biological resources;

(2) Operators must conduct operations in a manner to prevent adverse impacts to threatened or endangered species and any of their habitat that may be affected by operations.

(3) If the operator encounters any scientifically important paleontological remains or any historical or archaeological site, structure, building, or object on Federal lands, it must immediately notify the BLM. Operators must not, without prior BLM approval, knowingly disturb, alter, damage, or destroy any scientifically important paleontological remains or any historical or archaeological site, structure, building, or object on Federal lands.

(a) Operators must diligently develop the oil shale resources consistent with the terms and conditions of the lease, POD, and these regulations. If the operator does not maintain or comply with diligent development milestones, the BLM may initiate lease cancellation. In order to be considered diligently developing the lease, the lessee/operator must comply with the following diligence milestones:

(1) Milestone 1. Within 2 years of the lease issuance date, submit to the proper BLM office an initial POD that meets the requirements of subpart 3931. The operator must revise the POD following subpart 3931, if the BLM determines that the initial POD is unacceptable;

(2) Milestone 2. Within 3 years of the lease issuance date, submit a final POD. The BLM may, based on circumstances beyond the control of the lessee or operator, or on the complexity of the POD, grant a 1 year extension to the lessee or operator to submit a complete POD;

(3) Milestone 3. Within 2 years after the BLM approves the final POD, apply for all required Federal and state permits and licenses;

(4) Milestone 4. Before the end of the 7th year after lease issuance, begin permitted infrastructure installation, as required by the BLM approved POD; and

(5) Milestone 5. Before the end of the 10th year after lease issuance, begin oil shale production.

(b) Operators may apply for additional time to complete a milestone. The BLM may grant additional time for completing a milestone if the operator provides documentation that shows to the BLM's satisfaction that achieving the milestone by the deadline is not possible for reasons that are beyond the control of the operator. Allowable time extensions to meet milestone 4 will extend the requirement to begin production in the 10th lease year by an amount of time equal to the extension granted for milestone 4. This extension also extends the requirements for payments in lieu of production and minimum production under paragraphs (c), (d), and (e) of this section.

(c) Operators must maintain minimum annual production every year after the 10th lease year or pay in lieu of production according to the lease terms.

(d) Each lease will provide for minimum production. The minimum production requirement stated in the lease must be met by the end of the 10th lease year and will be based on the BLM's estimate of the extraction technology to be used, the recoverable resources on the lease, expected life of the operation, and other factors the BLM considers.

(e) Each lease will provide for payment in lieu of the minimum production for any particular year starting in the 10th lease year. Payments in lieu of production in year 10 of the lease satisfies Milestone 5 in paragraph (a)(5) of this section.

The BLM will assess $50 for each acre in the lease for each missed diligence milestone each year, prorated on a daily basis, until the operator or lessee complies with § 3930.30(a). For example: If the operator does not submit the required POD within the required 2 years after lease issuance (the first milestone), the BLM will assess the operator $50 per acre per year until the milestone is met. If the operator does not meet the second milestone, the BLM will assess the operator an additional $50 per acre per year, resulting in a total assessment of $100 per acre per year. If the operator does not begin production by the end of the initial lease term, or make payments in lieu thereof, the BLM may initiate lease cancellation procedures (see §§ 3934.21 and 3934.22).