(a) There is hereby created the Minerals Resource Management Committee which shall consist of three members serving ex officio as follows:

The State Geologist, the Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Director of Finance.

(b) The chairmanship of the committee shall rotate annually, each member serving in such capacity every third year beginning with the Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources, followed by the Director of Finance and the State Geologist.

The Minerals Resource Management Committee shall meet once a month in Montgomery, Alabama and at such other times and in such other places as a majority of the committee shall designate. The members of the Minerals Resource Management Committee shall serve without compensation but shall receive their actual expenses while attending their meetings or while performing the official duties of the committee.

The major function of the Minerals Resource Management Committee is to maximize the income realized by the state from oil, gas and other mineral resources owned by the state. In order to fulfill this function, the Minerals Resource Management Committee is hereby empowered and authorized to coordinate the activities of all state departments and agencies, but particularly the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the State Oil and Gas Board relating to the development of the mineral resources owned by the state. All such state departments and agencies shall cooperate fully with the committee in providing information requested by the committee. The Minerals Resource Management Committee shall, from time to time, hold public hearings when the chairman deems it in the public interest to do so. All recommendations made by the Minerals Resource Management Committee and approved by the Governor shall be implemented within the period of time prescribed by such recommendations as long as they are consistent with existing laws and statutes of the state.