# 30 U.S.C. § 181: Lands subject to disposition; persons entitled to benefits; reciprocal privileges; helium rights reserved > Federal · Statutes · In force URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t30_s181 ## Section - **Citation:** 30 U.S.C. § 181 - **Heading:** Lands subject to disposition; persons entitled to benefits; reciprocal privileges; helium rights reserved - **Jurisdiction:** Federal - **Kind:** Statutes - **Status:** In force - **Text as of:** April 17, 2026 - **Source:** Publisher's official text - **Location:** Title 30—MINERAL LANDS AND MINING > CHAPTER 3A—LEASES AND PROSPECTING PERMITS > SUBCHAPTER I—GENERAL PROVISIONS ## Text Deposits of coal, phosphate, sodium, potassium, oil, oil shale, gilsonite (including all vein-type solid hydrocarbons), or gas, and lands containing such deposits owned by the United States, including those in national forests, but excluding lands acquired under the Appalachian Forest Act, approved March 1, 1911 ( 36 Stat. 961 ), and those in incorporated cities, towns, and villages and in national parks and monuments, those acquired under other Acts subsequent to February 25, 1920 , and lands within the naval petroleum and oil-shale reserves, except as hereinafter provided, shall be subject to disposition in the form and manner provided by this chapter to citizens of the United States, or to associations of such citizens, or to any corporation organized under the laws of the United States, or of any State or Territory thereof, or in the case of coal, oil, oil shale, or gas, to municipalities. Citizens of another country, the laws, customs, or regulations of which deny similar or like privileges to citizens or corporations of this country, shall not by stock ownership, stock holding, or stock control, own any interest in any lease acquired under the provisions of this chapter. The term “oil” shall embrace all nongaseous hydrocarbon substances other than those substances leasable as coal, oil shale, or gilsonite (including all vein-type solid hydrocarbons). The term “combined hydrocarbon lease” shall refer to a lease issued in a special tar sand area pursuant to section 226 of this title after November 16, 1981 . The term “special tar sand area” means (1) an area designated by the Secretary of the Interior’s orders of November 20, 1980 (45 FR 76800–76801) and January 21, 1981 (46 FR 6077–6078) as containing substantial deposits of tar sand. The United States reserves the ownership of and the right to extract helium from all gas produced from lands leased or otherwise granted under the provisions of this chapter, under such rules and regulations as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior: Provided further , That in the extraction of helium from gas produced from such lands it shall be so extracted as to cause no substantial delay in the delivery of gas produced from the well to the purchaser thereof, and that extraction of helium from gas produced from such lands shall maintain the lease as if the extracted helium were oil and gas. ( Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, § 1 , 41 Stat. 437 ; Feb. 7, 1927, ch. 66, § 5 , 44 Stat. 1058 ; Aug. 8, 1946, ch. 916, § 1 , 60 Stat. 950 ; Pub. L. 86–705, § 7(a) , Sept. 2, 1960 , 74 Stat. 790 ; Pub. L. 97–78, § 1(1) , (4), Nov. 16, 1981 , 95 Stat. 1070 ; Pub. L. 116–9, title I, § 1109 , Mar. 12, 2019 , 133 Stat. 610 .) ## Nearby sections - [30 U.S.C. § 181 Lands subject to disposition; persons entitled to benefits; reciprocal privileges; helium rights reserved](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t30_s181.md) - [30 U.S.C. § 182 Lands disposed of with reservation of deposits of coal, etc.](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t30_s182.md) - [30 U.S.C. § 183 Cancellation of prospecting permits](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t30_s183.md) - [30 U.S.C. § 184 Limitations on leases held, owned or controlled by persons, associations or corporations](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t30_s184.md) - [30 U.S.C. § 184a Authorization of States to include in agreements for conservation of oil and gas resources lands acquired from United States](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t30_s184a.md) - [30 U.S.C. § 185 Rights-of-way for pipelines through Federal lands](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t30_s185.md) - [30 U.S.C. § 186 Reservation of easements or rights-of-way for working purposes; reservation of right to dispose of surface of lands; determination before offering of lease; easement periods](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t30_s186.md) - [30 U.S.C. § 187 Assignment or subletting of leases; relinquishment of rights under leases; conditions in leases for protection of diverse interests in operation of mines, wells, etc.; State laws not impaired](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t30_s187.md) - [30 U.S.C. § 187a Oil or gas leases; partial assignments](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t30_s187a.md) - [30 U.S.C. § 187b Oil or gas leases; written relinquishment of rights; release of obligations](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t30_s187b.md) - [30 U.S.C. § 188 Failure to comply with provisions of lease](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t30_s188.md) - [30 U.S.C. § 188a Surrender of leases](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t30_s188a.md) - [30 U.S.C. § 189 Rules and regulations; boundary lines; State rights unaffected; taxation](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t30_s189.md) - [30 U.S.C. § 190 Oath; requirement; form; blanks](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t30_s190.md) --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/usc_t30_s181. Check the current official text before relying on it. Not legal advice.