Sec. 23.034. MINERAL RIGHTS IN PARK. (a) The state reserves a preferential right, without consideration to the United States, to lease all mineral rights and interests that were conveyed by the state for the establishment of the Guadalupe Mountains National Park if:
(1) Congress declares by an act that the national welfare or an emergency requires the development and production of minerals in the park; and
(2) Congress authorizes the Secretary of Interior of the U. S. to lease park land for drilling, mining, developing, or producing minerals.
(b) If oil, gas, or other minerals are discovered and produced in commercial quantities from land outside the park sufficient to cause drainage of minerals from in the park and the Secretary of Interior participates in a communitization agreement or takes other action to protect the rights of the United States, the state retains its right to its proper share of the proceeds of the agreement or action. The state's proper share is not less than all bonuses, rentals, and royalties attributable to mineral rights conveyed to the United States for the establishment of Guadalupe Mountains National Park.
Acts 1975, 64th Leg., p. 1405, ch. 545, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1975.
Last modified: September 28, 2016