R652-30-500. Application Procedures

1. Submittal

Applications for surface leases may be submitted to the Salt Lake Office, or area offices during office hours.

2. Competitive Leasing

(a) The division may advertise a parcel of land as open and available for lease.

i) The advertising shall be done pursuant to R652-30-500(2)(d) and R652-30-500(2)(e), as well as any additional advertising the director deems appropriate and shall be considered as a substitute for the competitive advertising process described in R652-30-500(2)(b).

ii) Applications received in response to division advertising will be evaluated pursuant to R652-30-500(2)(g).

(b) Upon receipt of any special use lease application, the division shall solicit competing lease applications except as provided for under R652-30-500(3). If the subject parcel meets the established criteria for sale then applications to purchase shall also be solicited.

(c) The applicant may request an exemption from R652-30-500(2)(b) by petitioning the director to provide for rules exempting that particular class of applications from the competitive process. Pursuant to this rule, the following classes of leases are exempt from the requirements of R652-30-500(2):

i) Communication sites within division approved Communication Site Locations.

ii) Mineral and oil and gas extraction facilities when the division does not own the mineral estate.

(d) Competing applications will be solicited through publication at least once a week for three consecutive weeks in one or more newspapers of general circulation in the county in which the lease is offered. At least 30 days prior to auction or acceptance of a bid, certified notification will be sent to lessees/permittees of record, adjoining permittees/lessees and adjoining landowners. Notices will also be posted in the local governmental administrative building or courthouses.

(e) Notification and advertising shall include a general description of the parcel including township, range, and section, and any other information which may create interest in the parcel without violating the confidentiality of the initial application. The successful applicant shall bear the cost of the advertising.

(f) An applicant may claim that information provided to the division on the initial application except for the legal description and the lease type should be protected under Section 63G-2-305(1) or 63G-2-305(2). The claimant shall submit a written request for protected records status pursuant to R652-6-500(3). The appropriate information shall receive protected records status during the solicitation period.

(g) The division shall allow all applicants at least 20 days from the date of mailing of notice, as evidenced by the certified mail posting receipt (Postal Service Form 3800), within which to submit a sealed bid containing their proposal to lease, purchase or exchange the subject parcel. Applicants not submitting a proposal within the prescribed time period shall have their application(s) rejected. The sealed bid proposal for a lease shall contain the first year's rental. A sealed bid proposal for a sale shall contain 10% of the offer to purchase. These deposits are refundable if the applicant is not successful or if the applicant withdraws the application prior to the issuance of the record of decision. Competing bids are evaluated using the following criteria:

i) Income potential,

ii) Ability of proposed use to enhance adjacent state property,

iii) Proposed timetable for development,

iv) Ability of applicant to perform satisfactorily, and

v) Desirability of proposed use.

(h) The director shall select the preferred applicant based on R652-30-500(2)(g). If the preferred application is for a lease, it shall proceed through the review process as outlined in R652-30-500(5). If the preferred application is for an exchange, it shall be reviewed pursuant to R652-80-200.

(i) If a competing application received pursuant to R652-30-500(2) qualifies as a unit development lease as defined in R652-30-1100, the division shall extend the sealed bid proposal deadline to 120 days.

3. Non-competitive Leasing

Subsequent to completing public notification requirements of Subsection 65A-7-5(4)(c) and R361-1-4(E), the division may enter into surface leases through negotiation rather than a competitive process. The proposed use shall be evaluated using the criteria in R652-30-500(2)(g) with particular attention to its desirability in the context of contributing to the sovereign land management objectives in R652-2. This action shall be documented in a record of decision which shall be subject to consistency review pursuant to R652-9.

4. Application Requirements

(a) All applications shall be received with an application processing charge, a deposit to cover applicable advertising and appraisal costs, and the lease processing charge as established by the division which shall all be refunded if the subject parcel is withdrawn for planning purposes. The director may waive any of these charges when the application is to be processed non-competitively.

(b) The deposit to cover advertising, appraisal costs and the lease processing charge shall be forfeited if the lease is offered but not executed by the applicant.

5. Refunds and Withdrawals

(a) If an application for a surface lease is rejected, all monies tendered by the applicant, except the application fee, will be refunded.

(b) Should an applicant desire to withdraw the application, the applicant must make a written request. If the request is received prior to the time that the application is considered for formal action, all monies tendered by the applicant, except the application fee and any amounts expended on advertising or appraisals prior to the receipt of the withdrawal request, will be refunded. If the request for withdrawal is received after the application is approved, all monies tendered are forfeited to the division, unless otherwise ordered by the division for a good cause shown.

6. Application Review

(a) Upon receipt of an application, the division shall review the application for completeness. Applicants submitting incomplete applications shall be allowed 60 days to provide the required data. Incomplete applications not remedied within the 60-day period may be denied, and the application fee forfeited to the division.

(b) The lease must be executed by the applicant and returned to the division within 60 days from the date of applicant's receipt of the written lease. Leases not received within the 60-day period shall be subject to immediate cancellation without further notice.