§126. Inspection; quantity of land; advertisements for bids; fees

A. Upon receipt of an application accompanied by the nonrefundable fee, the State Mineral and Energy Board may cause an inspection of the land to be made, including geophysical and geological surveys. After receiving the report of the inspection, the board may offer for lease all or part of the lands described in the application. However, no lease shall contain more than five thousand acres. The board shall publish in the official journal of the state, and in the official journal of the parish where the lands are located, an advertisement which must appear in these journals not more than sixty days prior to the date for the opening of bids. The board may, at its discretion, publish other such advertisements. This advertisement shall contain a description of the land proposed to be leased, the time when and place where sealed bids shall be received and publicly opened, a statement that the bid may be for the whole or any particularly described portion of the land advertised, and any other information that the board may consider necessary, and the royalty to be demanded should the board deem it to be in the interest of the state to call for bids on the basis of a royalty fixed by it. If the lands are situated in two or more parishes, the advertisement shall appear in the official journals of all the parishes where the lands may be partly located. This advertisement and any other published by the board shall constitute judicial advertisement and legal notice within the contemplation of Chapter 5 of Title 43 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950. When requested to furnish proof of publication, the board may charge a fee of twenty dollars to furnish the proof of publication.

B.(1) The board may also cause notices to be sent to those whom it thinks would be interested in submitting bids. Upon the request of the board, the office of mineral resources shall prepare and mail the notice of publication. In addition, the board may make available, in whatever format it deems appropriate, maps showing tracts from past and present lease sales (G5 maps), proof of no conflict or overlap of tracts, and proof that tracts are within the three-mile limit of the Louisiana coastline.

(2) The office of mineral resources may charge the following fees for the following services:

(a) Yearly subscription for notice of publication - one hundred twenty dollars per year.

(b) Copies of maps of tracts north of the thirty-first parallel - ten dollars per month.

(c) Copies of maps of tracts south of the thirty-first parallel - twenty dollars per month.

(d) Proofs of no conflict or overlap - five dollars each.

(e) Proofs that tracts are within the three-mile limit of the Louisiana coastline - five dollars each.

(f) Subscription for any of the information listed in this Paragraph in electronic form - two hundred dollars per year.

(3) On its own motion and after complying with the provisions of R.S. 36:354(A)(2), or at the request of the secretary of the Department of Natural Resources, the board shall advertise for bids for a lease in the same manner as if an application had been made therefor.

Amended by Acts 1950, No. 388, §1; Acts 1958, No. 353, §1; Acts 1970, No. 582, §1; Acts 1975, No. 286, §1; Acts 1977, No. 667, §1, eff. July 20, 1977; Acts 1978, No. 583, §1; Acts 1985, No. 980, §1, eff. July 23, 1985; Acts 1992, No. 178, §1; Acts 1995, No. 92, §1, eff. July 1, 1995; Acts 2002, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 106, §1, eff. April 18, 2002; Acts 2009, No. 196, §2, eff. July 1, 2009.