§190D-22  Leasing procedure.  (a)  Anyperson who wants to obtain a lease for marine activities in state marine watersshall request a lease from the board at the time of filing an application.

(b)  Upon receipt of a completed applicationand authorization of a lease, the board shall:

(1)  Negotiate with and grant a lease to theapplicant; or

(2)  Conduct a public auction and grant the lease tothe highest qualified bidder.

Public auctions shall be conducted inaccordance with chapter 171.  If an auction is held and the applicantsubmitting a completed application is not the highest qualified bidder, theboard shall require the highest qualified bidder to indemnify the applicant forall legitimate costs incurred  in the preparation of any environmental assessmentor environmental impact statement included in the application pursuant tochapter 343 and the rules adopted thereunder.  In establishing and followinginternal procedures for lease applications, the board shall attempt to minimizecosts to those applicants submitting completed applications.

(c)  The board shall not revoke or modify itsapproval of an application in such a way as to invalidate, impair, limit, oraffect, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, the rights of a lessee asset forth in the lease granted to the lessee pursuant to this chapter. [L 1986,c 91, pt of §1; am L 1999, c 176, §§6, 11; am L 2002, c 203, §1]