§970.601. Logical mining unit. — Inbound Citations

(2) A description of the area to be explored, including its delineation according to § 970.601;

(e) Any application based on pre-enactment exploration must be for a reasonably compact area with respect to which the applicant is a pre-enactment explorer, and, notwithstanding any part of § 970.601 which indicates otherwise, such area must be bounded by a single continuous boundary.

Before the Administrator may certify an application, he must approve the size and location of the exploration area selected by the applicant. The Administrator will approve the size and location of the area unless he determines that the area is not a logical mining unit pursuant to § 970.601.

(ii) A description of the area that will be explored, including its delineation according to § 970.601 of this chapter;

(b) In order to meet this requirement, a fee payment of $100,000 payable to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce, shall be submitted prior to or concurrent with each application; the application should state the method of payment and the date the payment was submitted. If costs incurred by NOAA in reviewing and processing an application are significantly less than or in excess of the original fee, the agency subsequently will determine those differences in costs and adjust the fee accordingly. If the costs are significantly less, NOAA will refund the difference. If they are significantly greater, the applicant will be required to submit the additional payment prior to issue or transfer of the license. In the case of an application for transfer of a license to an entity which has previously been found qualified for a license, the Administrator may, on the basis of pre-application consultations pursuant to § 970.200(d), reduce the fee in advance by an appropriate amount which reflects costs avoided by reliance on previous findings made in relation to the proposed transferee. If an applicant elects to pursue the ‘banking’ option under § 970.601(d), and exercises that option by submitting two applications, only one application fee needs to be submitted with respect to each use of the ‘banking’ option.

(3) Whether the other applicant is pursuing the “banking” option under § 970.601(d), and the number of applications filed, or to be filed, in pursuit of the “banking” option.