II 

Calendar No. 624 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3839 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 7, 2016 

Received 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2016 

Read twice and placed on the calendar 

AN ACT 

To transfer administrative jurisdiction over certain Bureau 

of Land Management land from the Secretary of the 

Interior to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for inclusion 

in the Black Hills National Cemetery, 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 The Act may be cited as the ‘‘Black Hills National 

5 Cemetery Boundary Expansion Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. WITHDRAWAL AND TRANSFER OF PUBLIC LAND 

2 FOR CEMETERY USE. 

3 (a) DUE DILIGENCE.—Prior to the withdrawal and 

4 transfer in subsection (b), the Secretary of Veterans Af5 fairs will complete appropriate environmental, cultural re6 source and other due diligence activities on the public 

7 lands identified in subsection (c), so that the Secretary 

8 of Veterans Affairs may confirm that the land is suitable 

9 for cemetery purposes. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

10 shall notify the Secretary of the Interior of such due dili11 gence activities prior to initiating and shall coordinate as 

12 needed during the performance of such activities. 

13 (b) WITHDRAWAL AND TRANSFER.—After comple14 tion of the due diligence activities in subsection (a) and 

15 upon receipt by the Secretary of the Interior of written 

16 confirmation from the Secretary of the Veterans Affairs 

17 that the land is suitable for cemetery purposes, and sub18 ject to valid existing rights, the public lands described in 

19 subsection (c) shall be— 

20 (1) withdrawn from all forms of appropriation 

21 under the public land laws, including the mining 

22 laws, the mineral leasing laws, and the geothermal 

23 leasing laws, for as long as the lands remain under 

24 the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary of 

25 Veterans Affairs; 


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HR 3839 PCS

1 (2) deemed property as defined in section 

2 102(9) of title 40, United States Code, for as long 

3 as the lands remain under the administrative juris4 diction of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and 

5 (3) transferred to the administrative jurisdic6 tion of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for use as 

7 national cemeteries under chapter 24 of title 38, 

8 United States Code. 

9 (c) LAND DESCRIPTION.—The public lands with10 drawn, deemed property, and transferred under subsection 

11 (b) shall be the approximately 200 acres of land adjacent 

12 to Black Hills National Cemetery, South Dakota, gen13 erally depicted as ‘‘Proposed National Cemetery Expan14 sion’’ on the map entitled ‘‘Proposed Expansion of Black 

15 Hills National Cemetery - South Dakota’’ and dated June 

16 16, 2016, except the land located within 100 feet of the 

17 centerline of the Centennial Trail (which runs along the 

18 northern boundary of the ‘‘Proposed National Cemetery 

19 Expansion’’) and that is located south of the Trail. 

20 (d) BOUNDARY MODIFICATION.—Immediately after 

21 the public lands are withdrawn, deemed property, and 

22 transferred under subsection (b), the boundary of the 

23 Black Hills National Cemetery shall be modified to include 

24 the public lands identified in subsection (c). 


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HR 3839 PCS

1 (e) MODIFICATION OF PUBLIC LAND ORDER.—Im2 mediately after the public lands under subsection (b) are 

3 withdrawn, deemed property, and transferred under sub4 section (b), Public Land Order 2112, dated June 6, 1960 

5 (25 Fed. Reg. 5243), shall be modified to exclude the 

6 lands identified in subsection (c). 

7 SEC. 3. LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS. 

8 (a) PREPARATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.—As 

9 soon as practicable following receipt of written confirma10 tion from the Secretary of the Veterans Affairs that the 

11 land is suitable for cemetery purposes, the Secretary of 

12 the Interior shall publish in the Federal Register a notice 

13 containing the legal descriptions of the public lands with14 drawn, deemed property, and transferred under section 

15 2(b). 

16 (b) LEGAL EFFECT.—The legal descriptions pre17 pared under subsection (a) shall have the same force and 

18 effect as if the legal descriptions were included in this Act, 

19 except that the Secretary of the Interior may correct any 

20 clerical and typographical errors in the legal descriptions. 

21 (c) AVAILABILITY.—Copies of the map referred to in 

22 section 2(c) and the legal descriptions prepared under sub23 section (a) shall be available for public inspection in the 

24 appropriate offices of— 

25 (1) the Bureau of Land Management; and 


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1 (2) the National Cemetery Administration. 

2 (d) COSTS.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 

3 reimburse the Secretary of the Interior for reasonable 

4 costs incurred by the Secretary of the Interior in imple5 menting this section, including the costs of any surveys. 

6 SEC. 4. RESTORATION TO PUBLIC LANDS FOR NON-CEME7 TERY USE. 

8 (a) NOTICE AND EFFECT.—Upon a determination by 

9 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs that all or a portion of 

10 the lands withdrawn, deemed property, and transferred 

11 under section 2 shall not be used for cemetery purposes, 

12 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall notify the Sec13 retary of the Interior of such determination. Subject to 

14 subsections (b) and (c), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

15 shall transfer administrative jurisdiction of the lands sub16 ject to such notice to the Secretary of the Interior. 

17 (b) DECONTAMINATION.—The Secretary of Veterans 

18 Affairs shall be responsible for costs of any decontamina19 tion of the lands resulting from contamination on the 

20 lands withdrawn, deemed property, and transferred under 

21 section 2(b) while the Secretary of Veterans Affairs exer22 cised jurisdiction over those lands subject to a notice 

23 under subsection (a) determined by the Secretary of the 

24 Interior to be necessary for the lands to be restored to 

25 the public lands. 


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1 (c) RESTORATION TO THE PUBLIC LANDS.—The 

2 lands subject to a notice under subsection (a) shall only 

3 be restored to the public lands upon acceptance by the 

4 Secretary of the Interior and a determination by the Sec5 retary of the Interior that such lands are suitable for res6 toration to the public lands and operation of one or more 

7 of the public land laws. 

8 (d) OPENING ORDER.—If the Secretary of the Inte9 rior accepts the lands subject to such a notice and deter10 mines that the lands are suitable for restoration, in whole 

11 or in part, the Secretary of the Interior may open the 

12 lands to operation of one or more of the public land laws 

13 and may issue an order to that effect. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 6, 

2016. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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Calendar No. 624 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3839 

AN ACT 

To transfer administrative jurisdiction over certain 

tional Cemetery, and for other purposes. erans Affairs for inclusion in the Black Hills Naretary of the Interior to the Secretary of VetBureau of Land Management land from the SecSEPTEMBER 12, 2016 

Read twice and placed on the calendar 


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