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91_SB1542
LRB9112672OBmg
1 AN ACT in relation to coal.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5 Coal Rights Act.
6 Section 5. Purpose. In recognition of the fact that an
7 estate of a joint owner in coal or coal mining rights can
8 only be enjoyed by developing, removing and selling the
9 products thereof, and that the mining, removal and sale of
10 coal by one joint owner therefore constitutes the use and not
11 the destruction of the common estate, the purpose of this Act
12 is to clarify the rights of joint owners of coal in this
13 State, to promote and preserve the value of coal reserves in
14 the State and to maximize the recovery thereof through the
15 orderly and efficient development of same for the benefit of
16 all joint owners in a fair and equitable manner.
17 Section 10. Multiple owners. When the right to mine
18 and remove coal from any lands in this State is owned by
19 joint tenants, or tenants in common, whether the right or
20 title is derived by purchase, legacy or descent, or whether
21 any or all of the claimants are minors or adults, any one or
22 more of the persons owning an interest in the coal or the
23 right to mine and remove coal from the land may be authorized
24 to mine and remove coal from the land in the manner provided
25 in this Act.
26 Section 15. Permission to mine. The owners of an
27 interest desiring to mine and remove coal may file a
28 complaint in the circuit court of the county in which the
29 lands, or some part thereof, are located, asking the court
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1 for permission to mine and remove coal therefrom for the use
2 and benefit of all the owners of the coal or the right to
3 mine and remove coal from the lands, and setting forth the
4 relevant facts and the interests of all persons owning the
5 coal or the right to mine and remove coal under the lands, so
6 far as the same are known to the plaintiffs.
7 Section 20. Minors; legal disabilities. Minors and
8 persons under legal disability may institute or defend
9 actions by guardian or next friend. Every person, including
10 spouses of owners, having any interest in the coal or the
11 right to mine and remove coal from the lands, whether in
12 possession or otherwise, and who is not a plaintiff, shall be
13 made a defendant to the complaint. Any person claiming or
14 appearing to claim an interest in the coal or the right to
15 mine and remove coal from the land may be made a defendant.
16 When there are or may be any persons interested in the coal
17 or the right to mine and remove coal from the lands whose
18 names are unknown, the complaint shall so state, and the
19 persons may be made parties to the action by the name and
20 description of Unknown Owners.
21 Section 25. Summons. Defendants, whether known or
22 unknown, shall be summoned or notified in the same manner as
23 known or unknown defendants may be summoned or notified in
24 other civil cases.
25 Section 30. Interpleader. During the pendency of any
26 suit, any person claiming to be interested in the coal or the
27 right to mine and remove coal from the lands may appear and
28 answer the complaint, and assert his or her rights, by way of
29 interpleas; and the court shall determine the rights of all
30 persons so appearing as though they had been made parties in
31 the first instance.
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1 Section 35. Suits; title. In all suits under this Act,
2 the court may investigate and determine all questions of
3 conflicting or controverted titles, remove clouds from, and
4 establish and confirm the title to the coal or the right to
5 mine and remove coal from any of the lands.
6 Section 40. Court orders. If the court finds that the
7 material averments of the complaint are true, and that the
8 plaintiffs do in fact own an interest in the coal or the
9 right to mine and remove the coal from the lands as joint
10 tenants, tenants in common or coparceners, the court shall
11 enter an order authorizing the plaintiffs to mine and remove
12 coal from the lands so as to realize the full value thereof
13 for the benefit of the parties entitled thereto. The court
14 shall also provide by order for the disposition by the
15 plaintiffs of the jointly owned coal, and provide for the
16 payment and distribution of the net proceeds thereof to the
17 defendants, as their respective interests may appear, after
18 deduction of the proportionate costs of the proceedings and
19 of the mining and producing, preparing for sale and sale of
20 the coal, and the court may, from time to time, require the
21 plaintiffs to give bond or other security, to be approved by
22 the court, to secure payment to the defendants.
23 Section 45. Lessee rights. If a person or persons
24 owning an interest in the coal or the right to mine and
25 remove coal from the lands has or have executed a coal lease
26 or leases to any person, firm or corporation, or other
27 entity, the lessee or lessees (or any sublessee or licensee
28 of a lessee) may institute and maintain or defend any suit
29 provided for by this Act, either in the name of the lessee or
30 lessees or in the name of his or its lessor or lessors.
31 Section 50. Civil Practice Law. The provisions of the
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1 Civil Practice Law and the Supreme Court Rules apply to all
2 proceedings under this Act, except as otherwise provided in
3 this Act.
4 Section 55. Payments.
5 (1) In this Section:
6 (a) "Payee" means any person or persons legally entitled
7 to payment from the proceeds derived from the sale of coal
8 produced from lands located in this State.
9 (b) "Payor" means that person, firm, corporation, or
10 other entity which actually mines, removes, (or engages an
11 independent contractor to mine and remove) and sells the
12 coal, whether by virtue of being an owner of the right to
13 mine, remove, and sell the coal or by virtue of having
14 obtained a lease from an owner of the right to mine, remove,
15 and sell the coal.
16 (2)(a) The net proceeds derived from the sale of coal
17 must be paid to each payee on or before 150 days after the
18 end of the month of first purchase by a payor. After that
19 time, payments must be made to each payee on a timely basis
20 according to the frequency of payment specified in a lease or
21 other written agreement between payee and payor. If no lease
22 or written agreement exists or if any existing lease or other
23 agreement does not specify the time for payment, subsequent
24 proceeds must be paid no later than 60 days after the end of
25 the calendar month in which subsequent coal production is
26 sold.
27 (b) Payments may be remitted to payees annually for the
28 aggregate of up to 12 months' accumulation of proceeds, if
29 the total amount owed is $25 or less.
30 (3)(a) If payment has not been made for any reason in
31 the time limits specified in subdivision (2)(a) of this
32 Section, the payor must pay interest to a payee beginning at
33 the expiration of those time limits at the rate charged on
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1 loans to depository institutions by the New York Federal
2 Reserve Bank, unless a different rate of interest is
3 specified in a written agreement between payor and payee.
4 (b) Subdivision (2)(a) does not apply where payments are
5 withheld or suspended by a payor beyond the time limits
6 specified in subdivision (2)(a) because there is:
7 (i) a dispute concerning title that would affect
8 distribution of payments;
9 (ii) a reasonable doubt that the payee does not
10 have clear title to the interest in the proceeds of
11 production; or
12 (iii) a requirement in a title opinion that places
13 in issue the title, identity, or whereabouts of the payee
14 and that has not been satisfied by the payee after a
15 reasonable request for curative information has been made
16 by the payor.
17 (4)(a) If a payee seeks relief for the failure of a
18 payor to make timely payment of proceeds from the sale of
19 coal as required under subsections (2) or (3) of this
20 Section, the payee must give the payor written notice by mail
21 of that failure as a prerequisite to beginning judicial
22 action against the payor for nonpayment.
23 (b) The payor has 30 days after receipt of the required
24 notice from the payee in which to pay the proceeds due, or to
25 respond by stating in writing a reasonable cause for
26 nonpayment.
27 (c) A payee has a cause of action for nonpayment of coal
28 proceeds or interest on those proceeds as required in
29 subsections (2) or (3) of this Section in the circuit court
30 in the county in which the lands from which the coal is mined
31 is located.
32 Section 99. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.