Colorado Code § 34-63-104

Special funds relating to oil shale lands - naval oil shale reserves - distribution to local governments - legislative declaration
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(1) All moneys from sales,
bonuses, royalties, leases, and rentals related to oil shale production on oil shale lands received
by the state pursuant to section 35 of the federal "Mineral Lands Leasing Act" of February 25,
1920, as amended, shall be deposited by the state treasurer into a special fund for appropriation
by the general assembly to state agencies, school districts, and political subdivisions of the state
affected by the development and production of energy resources from oil shale lands primarily
for use by such entities in planning for and providing facilities and services necessitated by such
development and production and secondarily for other state purposes.
(2) All moneys earned from the investment of the oil shale special fund established by
subsection (1) of this section shall be deposited by the state treasurer into a separate special fund
and shall be appropriated by the general assembly primarily to state agencies, school districts,
and political subdivisions of the state affected by the development and production of energy
resources from oil shale lands for planning and, in the form of grants and loans, for providing
facilities and services necessitated by such development and production and secondarily for
other state purposes.
(3) (a) The general assembly hereby finds and declares that:
(I) Colorado is the location of two federal naval oil shale reserves (NOSR), numbers 1
and 3;
(II) Congress passed the federal transfer act, codified at 10 U.S.C. sec. 7439, as
amended, which transferred administrative jurisdiction over NOSR 1 and 3 from the United
States secretary of energy to the United States secretary of the interior and requires the secretary
of the interior to manage the transferred lands through the federal bureau of land management;
(III) The federal transfer act further specified that royalties collected from NOSR 1 and 3
would be placed in the United States treasury and not distributed to the state until there was
enough money in the treasury to reimburse the United States for previous costs incurred relating
to the transferred lands and to provide for cleanup of the anvil points site at NOSR 3;
(IV) As a result, more than one hundred thirteen million dollars was withheld from
distribution to the state from 1997 to 2008, and this amount far exceeded the amount needed for
the reimbursement and the cleanup;
(V) Approximately eighty million dollars of these funds has been spent;
(VI) It is anticipated that a portion of the withheld money may soon be disbursed to the
state;
(VII) Garfield, Rio Blanco, Mesa, and Moffat counties made significant expenditures to
address the impacts of the operation of the anvil points site and the mineral extraction from
which the withheld money was derived, but have not received any state or federal money as
reimbursement; and
(VIII) The counties have been instrumental in the release of the withheld money.
(b) If the state receives any money in accordance with the federal "Mineral Lands
Leasing Act" of February 25, 1920, as amended, that was set aside prior to January 1, 2009, and
withheld by the federal government in accordance with 10 U.S.C. sec. 7439, as amended, then
the state treasurer shall distribute the money to the following counties or related federal mineral
lease districts, if applicable:
(I) Forty percent to Garfield county;
(II) Forty percent to Rio Blanco county;
(III) Ten percent to Mesa county; and
(IV) Ten percent to Moffat county.
(c) The state treasurer shall consult with the department of local affairs to determine
whether a county identified in subsection (3)(b) of this section has created a federal mineral lease
district in accordance with the "Federal Mineral Lease District Act", part 13 of article 20 of title
30. If a county has created a district, the state treasurer shall distribute any money in accordance
with subsection (3)(b) of this section directly to the district.

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