§ 1721a. Adjustments and refunds
(a)
Adjustments to royalties paid to Secretary or a delegated State
(1)
If, during the adjustment period, a lessee or its designee determines that an adjustment or refund request is necessary to correct an underpayment or overpayment of an obligation, the lessee or its designee shall make such adjustment or request a refund within a reasonable period of time and only during the adjustment period. The filing of a royalty report which reflects the underpayment or overpayment of an obligation shall constitute prior written notice to the Secretary or the applicable delegated State of an adjustment.
(2)
(A)
For any adjustment, the lessee or its designee shall calculate and report the interest due attributable to such adjustment at the same time the lessee or its designee adjusts the principle [1] amount of the subject obligation, except as provided by subparagraph (B).
(B)
In the case of a lessee or its designee who determines that subparagraph (A) would impose a hardship, the Secretary or such delegated State shall calculate the interest due and notify the lessee or its designee within a reasonable time of the amount of interest due, unless such lessee or its designee elects to calculate and report interest in accordance with subparagraph (A).
(3)
An adjustment or a request for a refund for an obligation may be made after the adjustment period only upon written notice to and approval by the Secretary or the applicable delegated State, as appropriate, during an audit of the period which includes the production month for which the adjustment is being made. If an overpayment is identified during an audit, then the Secretary or the applicable delegated State, as appropriate, shall allow a credit or refund in the amount of the overpayment.
(4)
For purposes of this section, the adjustment period for any obligation shall be the six-year period following the date on which an obligation became due. The adjustment period shall be suspended, tolled, extended, enlarged, or terminated by the same actions as the limitation period in section
1724 of this title.
(b)
Refunds
(1)
In general
A request for refund is sufficient if it—
(A)
is made in writing to the Secretary and, for purposes of section
1724 of this title, is specifically identified as a demand;
(2)
Payment by Secretary of the Treasury
The Secretary shall certify the amount of the refund to be paid under paragraph (1) to the Secretary of the Treasury who shall make such refund. Such refund shall be paid from amounts received as current receipts from sales, bonuses, royalties (including interest charges collected under this section) and rentals of the public lands and the Outer Continental Shelf under the provisions of the Mineral Leasing Act [30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.] and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act [43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.], which are not payable to a State or the Reclamation Fund. The portion of any such refund attributable to any amounts previously disbursed to a State, the Reclamation Fund, or any recipient prescribed by law shall be deducted from the next disbursements to that recipient made under the applicable law. Such amounts deducted from subsequent disbursements shall be credited to miscellaneous receipts in the Treasury.
(3)
Payment period
A refund under this subsection shall be paid or denied (with an explanation of the reasons for the denial) within 120 days of the date on which the request for refund is received by the Secretary. Such refund shall be subject to later audit by the Secretary or the applicable delegated State and subject to the provisions of this chapter.
(4)
Prohibition against reduction of refunds or credits
In no event shall the Secretary or any delegated State directly or indirectly claim or offset any amount or amounts against, or reduce any refund or credit (or interest accrued thereon) by the amount of any obligation the enforcement of which is barred by section
1724 of this title.
[1] So in original. Probably should be “principal”.