II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1129

To facilitate the acquisition of inholdings in Federal land management units

and the disposal of surplus public land, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 26, 1999

Mr. DOMENICI introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To facilitate the acquisition of inholdings in Federal land

management units and the disposal of surplus public

land, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Land Trans5 action Facilitation Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) the Bureau of Land Management has au9 thority under the Federal Land Policy and Manage10 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to sell
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1 land identified for disposal under its land use plan2 ning;

3 (2) the Bureau of Land Management has au4 thority under that Act to exchange Federal land for

5 non-Federal land if the exchange would be in the

6 public interest;

7 (3) through land use planning under that Act,

8 the Bureau of Land Management has identified cer9 tain tracts of public land for disposal;

10 (4) the land management agencies of the De11 partment of the Interior have authority under exist12 ing law to acquire land consistent with land use

13 plans and the mission of each agency;

14 (5) the sale or exchange of land identified for

15 disposal and the acquisition of certain non-Federal

16 land from willing landowners would—

17 (A) allow for the reconfiguration of land

18 ownership patterns to better facilitate resource

19 management;

20 (B) contribute to administrative efficiency

21 within Federal land management units; and

22 (C) allow for increased effectiveness of the

23 allocation of fiscal and human resources within

24 the Federal land management agencies;
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1 (6) a more expeditious process for disposal and

2 acquisition of land, established to facilitate a more

3 effective configuration of land ownership patterns,

4 would benefit the public interest;

5 (7) many private individuals own land within

6 the boundaries of Federal land management units

7 and desire to sell the land to the Federal Govern8 ment;

9 (8) such land lies within national parks, na10 tional monuments, national wildlife refuges, and

11 other areas designated for special management;

12 (9) Federal land management agencies are fac13 ing increased workloads from rapidly growing public

14 demand for the use of public land, making it dif15 ficult for Federal managers to address problems cre16 ated by the existence of inholdings in many areas;

17 (10) in many cases, inholders and the Federal

18 Government would mutually benefit from Federal

19 acquisition of the land on a priority basis;

20 (11) proceeds generated from the disposal of

21 public land may be properly dedicated to the acquisi22 tion of inholdings and other land that will improve

23 the resource management ability of the Bureau of

24 Land Management and adjoining landowners;
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1 (12) using proceeds generated from the disposal

2 of public land to purchase inholdings and other such

3 land from willing sellers would enhance the ability of

4 the Federal land management agencies to—

5 (A) work cooperatively with private land6 owners and State and local governments; and

7 (B) promote consolidation of the ownership

8 of public and private land in a manner that

9 would allow for better overall resource manage10 ment;

11 (13) in certain locations, the sale of public land

12 that has been identified for disposal is the best way

13 for the public to receive fair market value for the

14 land; and

15 (14) to allow for the least disruption of existing

16 land and resource management programs, the Bu17 reau of Land Management may use non-Federal en18 tities to prepare appraisal documents for agency re19 view and approval consistent with applicable provi20 sions of the Uniform Standards for Federal Land

21 Acquisition.

22 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

23 In this Act:

24 (1) EXCEPTIONAL RESOURCE.—The term ‘‘ex25 ceptional resource’’ means a resource of scientific,
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1 historic, cultural, or recreational value that has been

2 documented by a Federal, State, or local govern3 mental authority, and for which extraordinary con4 servation and protection is required to maintain the

5 resource for the benefit of the public.

6 (2) FEDERALLY DESIGNATED AREA.—The term

7 ‘‘Federally designated area’’ means land adminis8 tered by the Secretary in Alaska and the eleven con9 tiguous Western States (as defined in section 103 of

10 the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of

11 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)) that on the date of enact12 ment of this Act was within the boundary of—

13 (A) a national monument, area of critical

14 environmental concern, national conservation

15 area, national riparian conservation area, na16 tional recreation area, national scenic area, re17 search natural area, national outstanding nat18 ural area, or a national natural landmark man19 aged by the Bureau of Land Management;

20 (B) a unit of the National Park System;

21 (C) a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge

22 System; or

23 (D) a wilderness area designated under the

24 Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), the

25 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1271 et
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1 seq.), or the National Trails System Act (16

2 U.S.C. 1241 et seq.).

3 (3) INHOLDING.—The term ‘‘inholding’’ means

4 any right, title, or interest, held by a non-Federal

5 entity, in or to a tract of land that lies within the

6 boundary of a federally designated area.

7 (4) PUBLIC LAND.—The term ‘‘public land’’

8 means public lands (as defined in section 103 of the

9 Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976

10 (43 U.S.C. 1702)).

11 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

12 the Secretary of the Interior.

13 SEC. 4. IDENTIFICATION OF INHOLDINGS.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a

15 procedure to—

16 (1) identify, by State, inholdings within feder17 ally designated areas for which the landowner has

18 indicated a desire to sell the land or an interest in

19 land to the Federal Government; and

20 (2) establish the date on which the land or in21 terest in land identified became an inholding.

22 (b) NOTICE OF POLICY.—The Secretary shall pro23 vide, in the Federal Register and through such other

24 means as the Secretary may determine to be appropriate,

25 periodic notice to the public of the policy under subsection
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1 (a), including any information required by the Secretary

2 to consider an inholding for acquisition under section 6.

3 (c) IDENTIFICATION.—An inholding—

4 (1) shall be considered for identification under

5 this section only if the Secretary receives notification

6 of a desire to sell from the landowner in response to

7 public notice given under subsection (b); and

8 (2) shall be deemed to have been established as

9 of the later of—

10 (A) the earlier of—

11 (i) the date on which the land was

12 withdrawn from the public domain; or

13 (ii) the date on which the land was es14 tablished or designated for special manage15 ment; or

16 (B) the date on which the inholding was

17 acquired by the current owner.

18 (d) APPLICATION TO THE SECRETARY OF AGRI19 CULTURE.—If funds become available under section

20 6(c)(2)(E)—

21 (1) this section shall apply to the Secretary of

22 Agriculture; and

23 (2) private land within an area described in

24 that section shall be deemed to be an inholding for

25 the purposes of this Act.
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1 (e) NO OBLIGATION TO CONVEY OR ACQUIRE.—The

2 identification of an inholding under this section creates no

3 obligation on the part of a landowner to convey the

4 inholding or any obligation on the part of the United

5 States to acquire the inholding.

6 SEC. 5. DISPOSAL OF PUBLIC LAND.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a

8 program, using funds made available under section 6, to

9 complete appraisals and satisfy other legal requirements

10 for the sale or exchange of public land identified for dis11 posal under approved land use plans (as in effect on the

12 date of enactment of this Act) under section 202 of the

13 Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43

14 U.S.C. 1712).

15 (b) SALE OF PUBLIC LAND.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The sale of public land so

17 identified shall be conducted in accordance with sec18 tions 203 and 209 of the Federal Land Policy and

19 Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1713, 1719).

20 (2) EXCEPTIONS TO COMPETITIVE BIDDING RE21 QUIREMENTS.—The exceptions to competitive bid22 ding requirements under section 203(f) of the Fed23 eral Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43

24 U.S.C. 1713(f)) shall apply to this section in cases

25 in which the Secretary determines it to be necessary.
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1 (c) REPORT IN PUBLIC LAND STATISTICS.—The Sec2 retary shall provide in the annual publication of Public

3 Land Statistics, a report of activities under this section.

4 (d) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—The authority

5 provided under this section shall terminate 10 years after

6 the date of enactment of this Act.

7 SEC. 6. FEDERAL LAND DISPOSAL ACCOUNT.

8 (a) DEPOSIT OF PROCEEDS.—Notwithstanding any

9 other law (except a law that specifically provides for a pro10 portion of the proceeds to be distributed to any trust funds

11 of any States), the gross proceeds of the sale or exchange

12 of public land under this Act shall be deposited in a sepa13 rate account in the Treasury of the United States to be

14 known as the ‘‘Federal Land Disposal Account’’.

15 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts in the Federal Land

16 Disposal Account shall be available to the Secretary, with17 out further Act of appropriation, to carry out this Act.

18 (c) USE OF THE FEDERAL LAND DISPOSAL AC19 COUNT.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Funds in the Federal Land

21 Disposal Account shall be expended in accordance

22 with this subsection.

23 (2) FUND ALLOCATION.—
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1 (A) PURCHASE OF LAND.—Except as au2 thorized under subparagraph (C), funds shall

3 be used to purchase—

4 (i) inholdings; and

5 (ii) land adjacent to federally des6 ignated areas that contains exceptional re7 sources.

8 (B) INHOLDINGS.—Not less than 80 per9 cent of the funds allocated for the purchase of

10 land within each State shall be used to

11 acquire—

12 (i) inholdings identified under section

13 4; and

14 (ii) National Forest System land as

15 authorized under subparagraph (E).

16 (C) ADMINISTRATIVE AND OTHER EX17 PENSES.—An amount not to exceed 20 percent

18 of the funds in the Federal Land Disposal Ac19 count shall be used for administrative and other

20 expenses necessary to carry out the land dis21 posal program under section 5.

22 (D) SAME STATE PURCHASES.—Of the

23 amounts not used under subparagraph (C), not

24 less than 80 percent shall be expended within

25 the State in which the funds were generated.
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1 Any remaining funds may be expended in any

2 other State.

3 (E) PURCHASE OF NATIONAL FOREST SYS4 TEM LAND.—Beginning 5 years after the date

5 of enactment of this Act, if, for any fiscal year,

6 the Secretary determines that funds allocated

7 for the acquisition of inholdings under this sec8 tion exceed the availability of inholdings within

9 a State, the Secretary may use the excess funds

10 to purchase land, on behalf of the Secretary of

11 Agriculture, within the boundaries of a national

12 recreation area, national scenic area, national

13 monument, national volcanic area, or any other

14 area designated for special management by an

15 Act of Congress within the National Forest

16 System.

17 (3) PRIORITY.—The Secretary may develop and

18 use criteria for priority of acquisition that are based

19 on—

20 (A) the date on which land or interest in

21 land became an inholding;

22 (B) the existence of exceptional resources

23 on the land; and

24 (C) management efficiency.
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1 (4) BASIS OF SALE.—Any acquisition of land

2 under this section shall be—

3 (A) from a willing seller;

4 (B) contingent on the conveyance of title

5 acceptable to the Secretary (and the Secretary

6 of Agriculture, in the case of an acquisition of

7 National Forest System land) using title stand8 ards of the Attorney General; and

9 (C) at not less than fair market value con10 sistent with applicable provisions of the Uni11 form Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Ac12 quisitions.

13 (d) CONTAMINATED SITES AND SITES DIFFICULT

14 AND UNECONOMIC TO MANAGE.—Funds in the Federal

15 Land Disposal Account shall not be used to purchase land

16 or an interest in land that, as determined by the

17 Secretary—

18 (1) contains a hazardous substances or is other19 wise contaminated; or

20 (2) because of the location or other characteris21 tics of the land, would be difficult or uneconomic to

22 manage as Federal land.

23 (e) INVESTMENT.—Amounts in the Federal Land

24 Disposal Account shall earn interest at a rate determined

25 by the Secretary of the Treasury based on the current av-
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1 erage market yield on outstanding marketable obligations

2 of the United States of comparable maturities.

3 (f) LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND ACT.—

4 Funds made available under this section shall be supple5 mental to any funds appropriated under the Land and

6 Water Conservation Fund Act (16 U.S.C. 460l–4 et seq.).

7 (g) TERMINATION.—On termination of activities

8 under section 5—

9 (1) the Federal Land Disposal Account shall be

10 terminated; and

11 (2) any remaining balance in the account shall

12 become available for appropriation under section 3

13 of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act (16

14 U.S.C.460l–6).

15 SEC. 7. SPECIAL PROVISIONS.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act provides an

17 exemption from any limitation on the acquisition of land

18 or interest in land under any Federal Law in effect on

19 the date of enactment of this Act.

20 (b) OTHER LAW.—This Act shall not apply to land

21 eligible for sale under—

22 (1) Public Law 96–568 (commonly known as

23 the ‘‘Santini-Burton Act’’) (94 Stat. 3381); or

24 (2) the Southern Nevada Public Land Manage25 ment Act of 1998 (112 Stat. 2343).
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1 (c) EXCHANGES.—Nothing in this Act precludes, pre2 empts, or limits the authority to exchange land under—

3 (1) the Federal Land Policy and Management

4 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); or

5 (2) the Federal Land Exchange Facilitation Act

6 of 1988 (102 Stat. 1086) or the amendments made

7 by that Act.

8 (d) NO NEW RIGHT OR BENEFIT.—Nothing in this

9 Act creates a right or benefit, substantive or procedural,

10 enforceable at law or in equity by a party against the

11 United States, its agencies, its officers, or any other per12 son.

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