§ 1. United States Bureau of Mines; establishment; director; experts and other employees

There is hereby established in the Department of the Interior a bureau of mining, metallurgy, and mineral technology, to be designated the United States Bureau of Mines, and there shall be a director of said bureau, who shall be thoroughly equipped for the duties of said office by technical education and experience and who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; and there shall also be in the said bureau such experts and other employees, to be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior, as may be required to carry out the purposes of sections 1, 3, and 5 to 7 of this title in accordance with the appropriations made from time to time by Congress for such purposes.

(May 16, 1910, ch. 240, § 1, 36 Stat. 369; Feb. 25, 1913, ch. 72, § 1, 37 Stat. 681; Ex. Ord. No. 4239, June 4, 1925; Ex. Ord. No. 6611, Feb. 22, 1934; Pub. L. 102–285, § 10(b), May 18, 1992, 106 Stat. 172.)

Change Of Name

Change of Name

“United States Bureau of Mines” substituted in text for “Bureau of Mines” pursuant to section 10(b) of Pub. L. 102–285, set out below.

Pub. L. 102–285, § 10(b), May 18, 1992, 106 Stat. 172, provided that: “The Bureau of Mines established by the Act of May 16, 1910 (30 U.S.C. 1), is designated as and shall hereafter [on and after May 18, 1992] be known as the United States Bureau of Mines.”

Transfer Of Functions

Transfer of Functions

For provisions appropriating funds for the closure of the United States Bureau of Mines and the transfer of its functions, see Pub. L. 104–99, title I, § 123, Jan. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 32, and Pub. L. 104–134, title I, § 101(c) [title I], set out as a note below.

Pub. L. 104–134, title I, § 101(c) [title I], Apr. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 1321–156, 1321–167; renumbered title I, Pub. L. 104–140, § 1(a), May 2, 1996, 110 Stat. 1327, provided in part: “That there hereby are transferred to, and vested in, the Secretary of Energy: (1) the functions pertaining to the promotion of health and safety in mines and the mineral industry through research vested by law in the Secretary of the Interior or the United States Bureau of Mines and performed in fiscal year 1995 by the United States Bureau of Mines at its Pittsburgh Research Center in Pennsylvania, and at its Spokane Research Center in Washington; (2) the functions pertaining to the conduct of inquiries, technological investigations and research concerning the extraction, processing, use and disposal of mineral substances vested by law in the Secretary of the Interior or the United States Bureau of Mines and performed in fiscal year 1995 by the United States Bureau of Mines under the minerals and materials science programs at its Pittsburgh Research Center in Pennsylvania, and at its Albany Research Center in Oregon; and (3) the functions pertaining to mineral reclamation industries and the development of methods for the disposal, control, prevention, and reclamation of mineral waste products vested by law in the Secretary of the Interior or the United States Bureau of Mines and performed in fiscal year 1995 by the United States Bureau of Mines at its Pittsburgh Research Center in Pennsylvania: Provided further, That, if any of the same functions were performed in fiscal year 1995 at locations other than those listed above, such functions shall not be transferred to the Secretary of Energy from those other locations: Provided further, That the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy and the Secretary of the Interior, is authorized to make such determinations as may be necessary with regard to the transfer of functions which relate to or are used by the Department of the Interior, or component thereof affected by this transfer of functions, and to make such dispositions of personnel, facilities, assets, liabilities, contracts, property, records, and unexpended balances of appropriations, authorizations, allocations, and other funds held, used, arising from, available to or to be made available in connection with, the functions transferred herein as are deemed necessary to accomplish the purposes of this transfer: Provided further, That all reductions in personnel complements resulting from the provisions of this Act [probably means Pub. L. 104–134, title I, § 101(c), Apr. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 1321–156; renumbered title I, Pub. L. 104–140, § 1(a), May 2, 1996, 110 Stat. 1327, known as the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996, see Tables for classification] shall, as to the functions transferred to the Secretary of Energy, be done by the Secretary of the Interior as though these transfers had not taken place but had been required of the Department of the Interior by all other provisions of this Act before the transfers of function became effective: Provided further, That the transfers of function to the Secretary of Energy shall become effective on the date specified by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, but in no event later than 90 days after enactment into law of this Act [Apr. 26, 1996]: Provided further, That the reference to ‘function’ includes, but is not limited to, any duty, obligation, power, authority, responsibility, right, privilege, and activity, or the plural thereof, as the case may be.”

[Pub. L. 104–208, div. A, title I, § 101(e) [title II], Sept. 30, 1996, 110 Stat. 3009–233, 3009–244, provided in part: “That the functions described in clause (1) of the first proviso under the subheading ‘mines and minerals’ under the heading ‘Bureau of Mines’ in the text of title I of the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996, as enacted by section 101(c) of the Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions and Appropriations Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–134) [set out above], are hereby transferred to, and vested in, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, subject to section 1531 of title 31, United States Code” .]

Functions vested in, or delegated to, Secretary of Energy and Department of Energy under or with respect to sections 1, 3, and 5 to 7 of this title and other authorities relating to certain fossil energy research and development transferred to, and vested in, Secretary of the Interior, by section 100 of Pub. L. 97–257, 96 Stat. 841, set out as a note under section 7152 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare.

Functions of Secretary of the Interior, Department of the Interior, and officers and components of Department of the Interior under sections 1, 3, and 5 to 7 of this title and other authorities exercised by Bureau of Mines relating to fuel supply and demand analysis and data gathering, research and development relating to increased efficiency of production technology of solid fuel minerals other than research relating to mine health and safety and research relating to the environmental and leasing consequences of solid fuel mining, and coal preparation and analysis transferred to, and vested in, Secretary of Energy as part of the creation of Department of Energy by Pub. L. 95–91, Aug. 4, 1977, 91 Stat. 565. See section 7152(d) of Title 42.

For transfer of functions of other officers, employees, and agencies of Department of the Interior, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of the Interior, with power to delegate, see Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1950, §§ 1, 2, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1262, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.

Bureau of Mines originally created in Department of the Interior. Bureau transferred to Department of Commerce by Ex. Ord. No. 4239, but transferred back to Department of the Interior by Ex. Ord. No. 6611.