U.S. CODE

U.S. Code

§ 167d. Sale of helium

(a) Purchase by Government agencies

The Department of Defense, the Atomic Energy Commission, and other agencies of the Federal Government, to the extent that supplies are readily available, shall purchase all major requirements of helium from persons who have entered into enforceable contracts to purchase an equivalent amount of crude helium from the Secretary.

(b) Sales by Secretary

The Secretary is authorized to sell crude helium for Federal, medical, scientific, and commercial uses in such quantities and under such terms and conditions as he determines. Except as may be required by reason of subsection (a) of this section, sales of crude helium under this section shall be in amounts as the Secretary determines, in consultation with the helium industry, necessary to carry out this subsection with minimum market disruption.

Sales of crude helium by the Secretary shall be at prices established by him which shall be adequate to cover all costs incurred in carrying out the provisions of this chapter and to repay to the United States by deposit in the Treasury, all funds required to be repaid to the United States as of October 1, 1995 under this section (referred to in this subsection as “repayable amounts”). The price at which crude helium is sold by the Secretary shall not be less than the amount determined by the Secretary by—

(1) dividing the outstanding amount of such repayable amounts by the volume (in million cubic feet) of crude helium owned by the United States and stored in the Bureau of Mines Cliffside Field at the time of the sale concerned, and

(2) adjusting the amount determined under paragraph (1) by the Consumer Price Index for years beginning after December 31, 1995.

(d) Extraction of helium from deposits on Federal lands

All moneys received by the Secretary from the sale or disposition of helium on Federal lands shall be paid to the Treasury and credited against the amounts required to be repaid to the Treasury under subsection (c) of this section.

(e) Helium production fund

(1) All moneys received under this chapter, including moneys from sale of helium or other products resulting from helium operations and from the sale of excess property shall be credited to the helium production fund, which shall be available without fiscal year limitation, for carrying out the provisions of this chapter, including any research relating to helium carried out by the Department of the Interior. Amounts accumulating in said fund in excess of amounts the Secretary deems necessary to carry out this chapter and contracts negotiated hereunder shall be paid to the Treasury and credited against the amounts required to be repaid to the Treasury under subsection (c) of this section.

(2)

(A) Within 7 days after the commencement of each fiscal year after the disposal of the facilities referred to in section 167b (c) of this title, all amounts in such fund in excess of $2,000,000 (or such lesser sum as the Secretary deems necessary to carry out this chapter during such fiscal year) shall be paid to the Treasury and credited as provided in paragraph (1).

(B) On repayment of all amounts referred to in subsection (c) of this section, the fund established under this section shall be terminated and all moneys received under this chapter shall be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury.

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