A fee for current day coal production that funds reclamation of mines abandoned before 1977.
Acquisition fee
A fee for securing an uncompetitive lease in place of a bonus.
Annual fee
A yearly maintenance fee for maintaining a claim.
Barrel
In the U.S., an oil barrel is defined as 42 US gallons.
Bonus
The amount the highest bidder paid for a natural resource lease.
Claim-staking fee
A fee that covers the government’s administrative costs in the claim-staking process for mining on federal lands.
Civil society
People and organizations not associated with industry or government, such as trade unions, issue-based coalitions, faith-based organizations, indigenous-peoples movements, the media, think tanks, and foundations.
Crude oil
Oil is that is not treated or refined.
Dry natural gas
Natural gas that remains after removing the liquefiable hydrocarbon portion from the gas stream (i.e., gas after lease, field, or plant separation) and after removing any quantities of nonhydrocarbon gases that render the gas unmarketable.
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
A document intended to provide decision makers and the public with information about the potential impacts of major federal actions and alternatives to them. Federal agencies prepare an EIS if a proposed federal action is determined to significantly affect the quality of the human environment, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
EITI Standard
The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative Standard is an international standard for openness around the management of revenue from natural resources. Governments disclose how much they receive from extractive companies operating in their country and these companies disclose how much they pay. Governments sign up to implement the EITI Standard and must meet seven requirements.
Extractive industry
Oil, gas, and mining industries that extract natural resources.
Fair market value
The estimated price for a natural resource lease, based on the government’s analysis and the geological resources on the lands or waters.
Federal land
Lands and waters owned by the federal government, including public domain lands, acquired lands, and the Outer Continental Shelf.
Fiscal year (FY)
Revenue data is often reported by fiscal year. For example, the federal government’s FY 2013 includes October 1, 2012 through September 30, 2013.
Fossil fuel
An energy source formed in the Earth’s crust from decayed organic material. Common fossil fuels include oil, gas, and coal.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
A measure of the total value of goods and services produced in a specific area. GDP is a common measure of the size of an economy.
Hydraulic fracturing
A well development process that involves injecting water under high pressure into a bedrock formation through the well, to increase the size and extent of existing bedrock fractures.
Independent Administrator (IA)
The EITI International Board requires participating countries to appoint an Independent Administrator to help apply the international standards. The USEITI Independent Administrator is Deloitte & Touche LLP.
Indian lands
Lands owned by Native Americans, including tribal lands held in trust by the federal government for a tribe’s use, Indian allotments held in trust by the federal government for individual use, and lands held by Alaska Native corporations.
Megawatt hours (Mwh)
One megawatt is equivalent to one million watts. One megawatt hour is equivalent to 1,000 Kilowatt hours (Kwh).
Lease
A contract that allows a company to be the exclusive entity that can apply to explore for and extract natural resources within a specific tract of federal lands or waters.
Lease condensate
Light liquid hydrocarbons recovered from oil and natural gas wells during production.
Locatable minerals
Locatable minerals are minerals that may be “located” and obtained by filing a mining claim. Locatable minerals include gold, silver, copper, lead, and many other metallic and nonmetallic minerals.
Material variance
A discrepancy between government-reported and company-reported revenue payments that is considered significant by the Independent Administrator. Margins of variance vary by revenue type, and were approved by the Multi-Stakeholder Group as part of the USEITI process.
Megawatt Capacity (MC) fee
A revenue payment for the calculated value of electricity generated on federal lands.
Metric ton
One metric ton is equal to 2240 pounds. To convert metric tons to tons, multiply by 1.1023. To convert tons to metric tons, multiply by 0.9072.
Millage tax
A millage tax is a property tax based on the assessed value of a property. Millage tax rates are quantified in terms of mills: One mill is worth 1/1000 of a dollar, or $0.001.
Mill levy
A mill levy is calculated by determining how much revenue each taxing jurisdiction will need for the upcoming year, then dividing that projection by the total value of the property within the area.
Mill rate
A mill rate is the amount of tax payable per dollar on the assessed value of a property. Each mill is worth one-tenth of a cent, or $0.001.
Mineral resource potential
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, mineral resource potential is the likelihood for the occurrence of undiscovered mineral resources in a defined area.
Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG)
A cross-sector body comprised of members and alternates from government, industry, and civil society organizations commissioned by the Secretary of the Interior to guide and monitor EITI implementation.
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)
The standard used by federal agencies in classifying business establishments for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and publishing statistical data related to the U.S. economy.
Operating fee
A fee for a percentage of the anticipated value of wind energy produced on federal waters.
Outer Continental Shelf
The part of the continental shelf under federal jurisdiction, seaward of the line that marks state ownership, often three miles off a state’s coastline.
Paying quantities
Quantities of oil or gas that are sufficient to yield a profit to the lease holder over operating expenses, even though the drilling costs or equipping costs are never recovered, and even if the undertaking as a whole may result in a loss to the lease holder.
Petroleum products
Products come from processing crude oil (including lease condensate), natural gas, and other hydrocarbon compounds. These include unfinished oils, liquefied petroleum gases, pentanes plus, aviation gasoline, motor gasoline, naphtha-type jet fuel, kerosene-type jet fuel, kerosene, distillate fuel oil, residual fuel oil, petrochemical feedstocks, special naphthas, lubricants, waxes, petroleum coke, asphalt, road oil, still gas, and miscellaneous products.
Play
A group of oil and gas fields in the same region formed by the same geological processes.
Private lands
Lands owned by citizens or corporations.
Proved reserves
Quantities of natural resources that, by analysis of geological and engineering data, can be estimated with reasonable certainty to be commercially recoverable from known reservoirs and under current economic conditions, operating methods, and government regulations.
Reclamation
The process of restoring the surface environment to acceptable pre-existing conditions, including surface contouring, equipment removal, well plugging, and revegetation.
Rent
An annual payment for leasing lands or waters before production starts.
Renewable energy
Energy resources that are virtually inexhaustible in duration but limited in the amount of energy that is available per unit of time. These include biomass, hydropower, geothermal, solar, wind, ocean thermal, wave action, and tidal action energy.
Resource advisory council (RAC)
A group of 12 to 15 members with diverse interests in local communities, such as ranchers, environmental groups, tribes, state and local government officials, academics, and other public land users.
Royalty
A payment for extracted natural resources, determined by a percentage of the resources’ production value.
Standard Occupation Classification
A system used by federal statistical agencies to classify workers into occupational categories for the purpose of collecting, calculating, or disseminating data.
State or local lands
Lands owned by state or local governments.
Split estate
A land parcel that has surface rights and subsurface rights (such as the rights to develop minerals) owned by different parties.
Subsurface rights
A lease holder’s right to use as much of the land beneath the surface as necessary to operate under the lease.
Subsurface mining
Underground mining, which has different and more labor intensive techniques than surface mining.
Surface rights
A leaseholder’s right to use as much of the surface of the land as necessary to operate under the lease.
Tax expenditures
Revenue lossess attributed to provisions of federal tax laws that allow a special exclusion, exemption, or deduction from gross income, or which provide a special credit, a preferential rate of tax, or a deferral of tax liability.
Ton
In the U.S., one ton is 2,000 pounds. In some countries this is referred to as a short ton.
Wet gas
Natural gas that hasn’t been treated to remove liquid hydrocarbons or other nonhydrocarbons that make the gas unmarketable.
The United States Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
USEITI is part of an international effort to promote open and accountable management of natural resources. This site provides data about how the U.S. manages extractive industries
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In 2013, the federal government collected over $12 billion from those extracting resources on federal lands and waters.
For the first time, data on all production on federal lands is available publicly. See how much energy was produced nationally, or explore all resources extracted on federal lands.
Natural resources located on federal lands belong to all U.S. citizens. Explore how much of 55 specific products is produced on federal lands and waters.
Extractive industries account for 2.6 percent of the national GDP, and contribute to exports and employment in many parts of the country.
Over 800,000 people worked in the extractive industries in 2013. Texas and Oklahoma stand out as the states with the most jobs in these industries.
The U.S. ranks at or near the top worldwide in the production of many natural resources. Explore this site to learn about U.S. natural gas, oil, coal, copper, gold, iron, and renewables.
This document includes an overview of the contextual narrative and an account of the reporting and reconciliation process for the EITI Standard in the U.S.
Companies pay for the right to explore on federal lands. If they find and extract resources, they may pay royalties, fees, taxes, and other revenues, depending on the resource.
Revenue from natural resources goes to federal, state, and county governments, as well as to a range of funds that work at the local and national levels.
