[ Home ] [ ILCS ] [ Search ] [ Bottom ]
[ Other General Assemblies ]
Public Act 92-0390
SB104 Enrolled LRB9201635DHmbA
AN ACT in relation to coal.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Coal Rights Act.
Section 5. Purpose. In recognition of the fact that an
estate of a joint owner in coal can be enjoyed only by
mining, removing, and selling the products of the coal, and
that the mining, removal, and sale of coal by one joint owner
therefore constitutes the use and not the destruction of the
common estate, the purpose of this Act is to clarify the
rights of joint owners of coal in this State, to promote and
preserve the value of coal reserves in the State, and to
maximize the recovery of coal through the orderly and
efficient development of coal reserves for the benefit of all
joint owners in a fair and equitable manner.
Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
"Joint owner" means a person or entity that is a joint
tenant, a tenant in common, or a tenant by the entirety.
"Coal owner" means a person or entity vested with a whole
or undivided fee simple interest or other freehold interest
in the coal estate, but "coal owner" does not include a
person or entity with a leasehold or any other lesser estate.
Section 15. Venue. Proceedings under this Act must be
brought in the circuit court of the county in which coal
lands sought to be affected, or the major portion of those
lands, is located.
Section 20. Joint owners; trusts.
(a) If the title to coal is owned by joint tenants,
tenants in common, or tenants by the entirety, whether the
title is derived by purchase, legacy, or descent, any coal
owner or owners vested with at least a one-half interest in
the coal under the lands, or any coal lessee of the coal
owner or owners, upon proper petition, shall be authorized to
mine and remove coal from the land in the manner provided in
this Act, provided, however, that a petition shall not be
authorized under this Act for the mining and removal of coal
by the surface method of mining unless all of the owners of
the surface consent to the mining and removal of coal by the
surface method of mining.
This Act affects only coal owners, as defined in Section
10 of this Act, and does not affect the rights of surface
owners, except to the extent that they may also be coal
owners.
(b) The circuit court of the county in which the coal
lands or the major portion of those lands lie has the power
to declare a trust in those lands, appoint a trustee for all
persons owning an interest in the coal who are not
plaintiffs, and authorize the trustee to sell, execute, and
deliver a valid lease on those lands on behalf of all of the
defendants on terms and conditions approved by the circuit
court for the purposes provided in this Act. The lease shall
continue in full force and effect after the termination of
the trust unless the lease has previously expired by its own
terms.
Section 25. Proceedings for appointment of trustee.
Proceedings for the appointment of a trustee may be
instituted by any person or persons (i) vested in fee simple
with at least an undivided one-half interest in the coal
sought to be developed or (ii) vested with a valid and
subsisting coal lease, the lessor of which is a person
defined in subdivision (i).
Section 30. Procedure.
(a) The person or persons seeking to impress a trust
upon a coal interest for the purpose of leasing and
developing it shall join as the defendant or defendants all
persons, other than the plaintiff or plaintiffs, having a
legal interest in the coal. All parties not in being who
might have some contingent or future interest in the coal and
all persons, whether in being or not in being, having any
interest, whether present, future, or contingent, in the coal
interest sought to be leased shall be fully bound by the
proceedings.
(b) A verified petition shall be filed specifically
setting forth the following:
(1) The request of the plaintiff or plaintiffs that
a trustee be appointed to execute a lease granting the
plaintiff or plaintiffs the right to mine and remove coal
from the subject lands.
(2) The legal description of the lands.
(3) The interest of the plaintiff or plaintiffs in
the coal underlying the lands.
(4) The apparent interest of the defendant or
defendants in the coal underlying the lands.
(5) That the plaintiff or plaintiffs are willing to
purchase a mineral lease covering the interest of the
defendant or defendants and that the existence of these
unleased mineral interests is detrimental to and impairs
the enjoyment of the interest of the plaintiff or
plaintiffs.
(c) If in any action there are persons who would be
unknown parties as defined in Section 2-413 of the Code of
Civil Procedure, those persons may be made defendants to the
action in the same manner and with the same effect as
provided in the Code of Civil Procedure. The defendant or
defendants shall be given notice of the pendency of the
action by publication as provided in the Code of Civil
Procedure.
(d) The court shall appoint a guardian ad litem for any
party to the proceeding who is a ward and is not represented
by a guardian.
(e) If it appears that any person not in being, upon
coming into being, is or may become or may claim to be
entitled to any interest in the property sought to be leased,
the court shall appoint a guardian ad litem to appear for and
represent the interest in the proceeding and to defend the
proceeding on behalf of the person not in being, and any
judgment or order rendered in the proceeding is as effectual
for all purposes as though the person were in being and were
a party to the proceeding.
(f) The court shall take evidence and hear testimony as
to the matters set forth in the petition. The court shall
determine the prevailing terms of similar coal leases
obtained in the vicinity of the lands described in the
petition, including, but not limited to, length of primary
term, bonus moneys, delay rentals, royalty rates, and other
forms of lease payments. If, upon taking evidence and
hearing testimony, it appears that the material allegations
of the petition are true and that there has been compliance
with the notice provisions of this Act, the court shall enter
an order determining the interest of each defendant in the
coal sought to be leased. The court shall also appoint a
trustee for the purpose of executing in favor of the
plaintiff or plaintiffs a coal lease covering the interest of
the defendant or defendants. The judgment appointing the
trustee and authorizing the execution of the lease shall
specify the minimum terms which may be accepted by the
trustee. Those terms shall be substantially consistent with
the terms of other similar coal leases obtained in the
vicinity as determined by the court. The terms of the coal
lease shall also be substantially consistent with the terms
of other existing leases, if any, covering the remaining coal
interests in the lands described in the petition. The lands
to be covered by the coal lease shall be contiguous. To the
extent that any of the lands described in the petition are
not contiguous to other lands in the petition, those lands
shall be the subject of separate coal leases. The court
shall determine a reasonable fee to be paid to the trustee
and that fee, together with the reasonable attorney's fees
and costs of the proceeding incurred by the trustee, shall be
paid by the plaintiff or plaintiffs.
(g) The plaintiff or plaintiffs shall forthwith furnish
the court with a report of proceedings of the evidence
received and testimony taken at the hearing on the petition,
and the report of proceedings shall be filed and made a part
of the case record.
(h) In all suits under this Act, the court may
investigate and determine all questions of conflicting or
controverted titles, remove clouds from the title to the
coal, and establish and confirm the title to the coal or the
right to mine and remove coal from any of the lands.
(i) An action filed under this Act may be joined with an
action under the Severed Mineral Interest Act.
Section 35. Coal leases; report by trustee. The trustee
shall enter into negotiations with the plaintiff or
plaintiffs and shall execute a coal lease in favor of the
plaintiff or plaintiffs covering the interest of the
defendant or defendants. The terms of the coal lease shall
be in accordance with the findings and judgment of the court.
The trustee shall forthwith prepare and file a report of sale
of the coal lease stating the terms of the lease and the
payments received for the lease and give notice to all
parties appearing of record. If the court finds that the
sale was in accordance with its judgment, the sale shall be
confirmed by court order and the court shall order the trust
terminated and the trustee and his or her bond discharged.
Section 40. Payment. All moneys due to the defendant or
defendants under the lease executed by the trustee shall be
paid by the plaintiff or plaintiffs directly to the defendant
or defendants.
Section 45. Binding effect of lease. The sale of and
execution of any coal lease under this Act is binding in all
respects as to all of the interest in the coal and the right
to mine and remove the coal owned by the defendant or
defendants to the action in the same manner as if the
defendant or defendants had personally signed and delivered
the lease. The lease shall be binding upon the heirs,
legatees, personal representatives, successors, and assigns
of the defendant or defendants.
Section 50. Incapacity of trustee; subsequent
proceedings.
(a) In the event of the death or resignation of the
trustee or the refusal or inability of the trustee to act,
the court, upon its own motion or upon the motion of the
plaintiff or plaintiffs, shall appoint a successor trustee.
(b) After the entry of the initial judgment authorizing
a lease, all subsequent proceedings pertaining to the lands
and the coal interest involved in the initial litigation,
including subsequent leasing proceedings or proceedings by
the trustee requesting authority to execute and deliver
additional documents pertaining to a coal lease, shall be
commenced and prosecuted in the same case as the proceedings
for the initial lease. The acting trustee at the time of any
subsequent proceedings shall act as the trustee in those
proceedings. The court shall retain continuing authority
and jurisdiction to conduct the subsequent proceedings.
Section 55. Costs. All court costs incident to the
proceedings authorized under this Act shall be paid by the
plaintiff or plaintiffs.
Section 60. Construction. This Act shall be liberally
construed so that any lease issued under this Act conveys
merchantable title.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.
Passed in the General Assembly May 22, 2001.
Approved August 16, 2001.
[ Top ]