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[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2304 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  1st Session
                                H. R. 2304

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 18, 2003

   Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

 
    To resolve boundary conflicts in the vicinity of the Mark Twain 
 National Forest in Barry and Stone Counties, Missouri, that resulted 
from private landowner reliance on a subsequent Federal survey, and for 
                            other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Certain landowners in Barry and Stone Counties, 
        Missouri, innocently and in good faith relied on subsequent 
        land surveys, which they believed to be correct, and occupied, 
        improved, or claimed portions of adjoining Federal lands based 
        on such survey information.
            (2) The appropriate Federal agencies should undertake 
        actions to correctly reestablish the corners of the Public Land 
        Survey System in Barry and Stone Counties, Missouri, and 
        rectify boundary conflicts and landownership claims against 
        Federal lands resulting from subsequent land surveys, and do so 
        in a manner which imposes the least cost and inconvenience to 
        affected private landowners.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to resolve boundary conflicts in Barry and Stone 
        Counties, Missouri, arising from subsequent land surveys; and
            (2) to minimize costs and inconvenience to the affected 
        private property owners in Barry and Stone Counties, Missouri.

SEC. 2. RESOLUTION OF BOUNDARY CONFLICTS, VICINITY OF MARK TWAIN 
              NATIONAL FOREST, BARRY AND STONE COUNTIES, MISSOURI.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``appropriate Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Army or the Secretary of Agriculture.
            (2) The term ``boundary conflict'' means the situation in 
        which the private claim of ownership to certain lands, based on 
        subsequent land surveys, overlaps or conflicts with Federal 
        ownership of the same lands.
            (3) The term ``Federal land surveys'' means any land survey 
        made by any agency or department of the Federal Government 
        using Federal employees, or by Federal contract with State-
        licensed private land surveyors or corporations and businesses 
        licensed to provide professional land surveying services in the 
        State of Missouri.
            (4) The term ``original land surveys'' means the land 
        surveys made by the United States General Land Office as part 
        of the Public Land Survey System in the State of Missouri, and 
        upon which Government land patents were issued conveying the 
        land.
            (5) The term ``Public Land Survey System'' means the 
        rectangular system of original Government lands surveys made by 
        the United States General Land Office and its successor, the 
        Bureau of Land Management, under Federal laws providing for the 
        survey of the public lands upon which the original land patents 
        were issued.
            (6) The term ``qualifying claimant'' means a private owner 
        of real property in Barry or Stone County, Missouri, who has a 
        boundary conflict as a result of good faith and innocent 
        reliance on subsequent land surveys, and as a result of such 
        reliance, has occupied, improved, or made ownership claims to 
        Federal lands.
            (7) The term ``subsequent land surveys'' mean any land 
        surveys made after the original land surveys.
    (b) Notice of Boundary Conflict.--
            (1) Submission and contents.--A qualifying claimant shall 
        notify the appropriate Secretary in writing of a claim that a 
        boundary conflict exists with Federal land administered by the 
        appropriate Secretary. The notice shall be accompanied by the 
        following information, which, except as provided in subsection 
        (d)(2)(B), shall be provided without cost to the United States:
                    (A) A land survey plat and legal description of the 
                affected Federal lands, which are based upon a land 
                survey completed and certified by a Missouri State-
                licensed professional land surveyor, and done in 
                conformity with the Public Land Survey System and in 
                compliance with the applicable State and Federal land 
                surveying laws.
                    (B) Information relating to the claim of ownership 
                of the Federal lands, including supporting 
                documentation showing the landowner relied on a 
                subsequent land survey due to actions by the Federal 
                Government in making or approving surveys for the Table 
                Rock Reservoir.
            (2) Deadline for submission.--To obtain relief under this 
        section, a qualifying claimant shall submit the notice required 
        by paragraph (1) within 15 years after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act.
            (3) Responsibilities of claimants.--The qualifying claimant 
        shall have the responsibility for establishing that the 
        qualifying claimant qualifies for the remedies provided in 
        subsection (c).
    (c) Resolution Authorities.--The appropriate Secretary may take any 
of the following actions, or combination of actions, in order to 
resolve boundary conflicts with qualifying claimants involving lands 
under the administrative jurisdiction of the appropriate Secretary:
            (1) Convey and quitclaim all right, title, and interest of 
        the United States in land subject to a boundary conflict.
            (2) Confirm Federal title to, and retain in Federal 
        management, any land subject to a boundary conflict, if the 
        appropriate Secretary determines there are Federal interests, 
        including improvements, authorized uses, easements, hazardous 
        materials, or historical and cultural resources, on the land 
        that necessitates retention of the land.
            (3) Compensate the qualifying claimant for the value of the 
        overlapping property for which title is confirmed and retained 
        in Federal management pursuant to paragraph (2).
    (d) Consideration and Cost.--
            (1) Conveyance without consideration.--The conveyance of 
        land under subsection (c)(1) shall be made without 
        consideration if the appropriate Secretary determines that the 
        boundary conflict was the result of the innocent detrimental 
        reliance by the qualifying claimant on a subsequent land 
        survey.
            (2) Costs.--The appropriate Secretary shall--
                    (A) pay administrative, personnel, and any other 
                costs associated with the implementation of this 
                section, including the costs of survey, marking, and 
                monumenting property lines and corners; and
                    (B) reimburse the qualifying claimant for 
                reasonable out-of-pocket survey costs necessary to 
                establish a claim under this section.
            (3) Valuation.--Compensation paid to a qualifying claimant 
        pursuant to subsection (c)(3) for land retained in Federal 
        ownership pursuant to subsection (c)(2) shall be valued on the 
        basis of the contributory value of the tract of land to the 
        larger adjoining private parcel and not on the basis of the 
        land being a separate tract. The appropriate Secretary shall 
        not consider the value of any Federal improvements to the land.
    (e) Preexisting Conditions; Reservations; Existing Rights and 
Uses.--
            (1) Preexisting conditions.--The appropriate Secretary 
        shall not compensate a qualifying claimant or any other person 
        for any preexisting condition or reduction in value of any land 
        subject to a boundary conflict because of any existing or 
        outstanding permits, use authorizations, reservations, timber 
        removal, or other land use or condition.
            (2) Existing reservations and rights and uses.--Any 
        conveyance pursuant to subsection (c)(1) shall be subject to--
                    (A) reservations for existing public uses for 
                roads, utilities, and facilities; and
                    (B) permits, rights-of-way, contracts and any other 
                authorization to use the property.
            (3) Treatment of land subject to special use authorization 
        or permit.--For any land subject to a special use authorization 
        or permit for access or utilities, the appropriate Secretary 
        may convert, at the request of the holder, such authorization 
        to a permanent easement prior to any conveyance pursuant to 
        subsection (c)(1).
            (4) Future reservations.--The appropriate Secretary may 
        reserve rights for future public uses in a conveyance made 
        pursuant to subsection (c)(1) if the qualifying claimant is 
        compensated for the reservation in cash or in land of equal 
        value.
    (f) Relation to Other Conveyance Authority.--Nothing in this 
section affects the Quiet Title Act (28 U.S.C. 2409a) or other 
applicable law, or affects the exchange and disposal authorities of the 
Secretary of Agriculture, including the Small Tracts Act (16 U.S.C. 
521c), or the exchange and disposal authorities of the Secretary of the 
Army.
    (g) Additional Terms and Conditions.--The appropriate Secretary may 
require such additional terms and conditions in connection with a 
conveyance under subsection (c)(1) as the Secretary considers 
appropriate to protect the interests of the United States.

            Passed the House of Representatives November 17, 2003.

            Attest:

                                                 JEFF TRANDAHL,

                                                                 Clerk.
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