109TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2205

AN ACT

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain

parcels of land acquired for the Blunt Reservoir and

Pierre Canal features of the initial stage of the Oahe

Unit, James Division, South Dakota, to the Commission

of Schools and Public Lands and the Department of

Game, Fish, and Parks of the State of South Dakota

for the purpose of mitigating lost wildlife habitat, on

the condition that the current preferential leaseholders

shall have an option to purchase the parcels from the

Commission, 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 ‘‘Blunt Reservoir and

5 Pierre Canal Land Conveyance Act of 2006’’.
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1 SEC. 2. BLUNT RESERVOIR AND PIERRE CANAL.

2 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

3 (1) BLUNT RESERVOIR FEATURE.—The term

4 ‘‘Blunt Reservoir feature’’ means the Blunt Res5 ervoir feature of the Oahe Unit, James Division, au6 thorized by the Act of August 3, 1968 (82 Stat.

7 624), as part of the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin

8 program.

9 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’

10 means the Commission of Schools and Public Lands

11 of the State.

12 (3) NONPREFERENTIAL LEASE PARCEL.—The

13 term ‘‘nonpreferential lease parcel’’ means a parcel

14 of land that—

15 (A) was purchased by the Secretary for use

16 in connection with the Blunt Reservoir feature

17 or the Pierre Canal feature; and

18 (B) was considered to be a nonpreferential

19 lease parcel by the Secretary as of January 1,

20 2001, and is reflected as such on the roster of

21 leases of the Bureau of Reclamation for 2001.

22 (4) PIERRE CANAL FEATURE.—The term

23 ‘‘Pierre Canal feature’’ means the Pierre Canal fea24 ture of the Oahe Unit, James Division, authorized

25 by the Act of August 3, 1968 (82 Stat. 624), as
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1 part of the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin pro2 gram.

3 (5) PREFERENTIAL LEASEHOLDER.—The term

4 ‘‘preferential leaseholder’’ means a person or de5 scendant of a person that held a lease on a pref6 erential lease parcel as of January 1, 2001, and is

7 reflected as such on the roster of leases of the Bu8 reau of Reclamation for 2001.

9 (6) PREFERENTIAL LEASE PARCEL.—The term

10 ‘‘preferential lease parcel’’ means a parcel of land

11 that—

12 (A) was purchased by the Secretary for use

13 in connection with the Blunt Reservoir feature

14 or the Pierre Canal feature; and

15 (B) was considered to be a preferential

16 lease parcel by the Secretary as of January 1,

17 2001, and is reflected as such on the roster of

18 leases of the Bureau of Reclamation for 2001.

19 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

20 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the

21 Commissioner of Reclamation.

22 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State

23 of South Dakota, including a successor in interest of

24 the State.
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1 (9) UNLEASED PARCEL.—The term ‘‘unleased

2 parcel’’ means a parcel of land that—

3 (A) was purchased by the Secretary for use

4 in connection with the Blunt Reservoir feature

5 or the Pierre Canal feature; and

6 (B) is not under lease as of the date of en7 actment of this Act.

8 (b) DEAUTHORIZATION.—The Blunt Reservoir fea9 ture is deauthorized.

10 (c) ACCEPTANCE OF LAND AND OBLIGATIONS.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—As a term of each convey12 ance under subsections (d)(5) and (e), respectively,

13 the State may agree to accept—

14 (A) in ‘‘as is’’ condition, the portions of

15 the Blunt Reservoir Feature and the Pierre

16 Canal Feature that pass into State ownership;

17 (B) any liability accruing after the date of

18 conveyance as a result of the ownership, oper19 ation, or maintenance of the features referred

20 to in subparagraph (A), including liability asso21 ciated with certain outstanding obligations asso22 ciated with expired easements, or any other

23 right granted in, on, over, or across either fea24 ture; and
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1 (C) the responsibility that the Commission

2 will act as the agent for the Secretary in ad3 ministering the purchase option extended to

4 preferential leaseholders under subsection (d).

5 (2) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE STATE.—An

6 outstanding obligation described in paragraph (1)(B)

7 shall inure to the benefit of, and be binding upon,

8 the State.

9 (3) OIL, GAS, MINERAL AND OTHER OUT10 STANDING RIGHTS.—A conveyance to the State

11 under subsection (d)(5) or (e) or a sale to a pref12 erential leaseholder under subsection (d) shall be

13 made subject to—

14 (A) oil, gas, and other mineral rights re15 served of record, as of the date of enactment of

16 this Act, by or in favor of a third party; and

17 (B) any permit, license, lease, right-of-use,

18 or right-of-way of record in, on, over, or across

19 a feature referred to in paragraph (1)(A) that

20 is outstanding as to a third party as of the date

21 of enactment of this Act.

22 (4) ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS OF CONVEYANCE

23 TO STATE.—A conveyance to the State under sub24 section (d)(5) or (e) shall be subject to the reserva25 tions by the United States and the conditions speci-
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1 fied in section 1 of the Act of May 19, 1948 (chap2 ter 310; 62 Stat. 240), as amended (16 U.S.C.

3 667b), for the transfer of property to State agencies

4 for wildlife conservation purposes.

5 (d) PURCHASE OPTION.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—A preferential leaseholder

7 shall have an option to purchase from the Secretary

8 or the Commission, acting as an agent for the Sec9 retary, the preferential lease parcel that is the sub10 ject of the lease.

11 (2) TERMS.—

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

13 subparagraph (B), a preferential leaseholder

14 may elect to purchase a parcel on one of the

15 following terms:

16 (i) Cash purchase for the amount that

17 is equal to—

18 (I) the value of the parcel deter19 mined under paragraph (4); minus

20 (II) ten percent of that value.

21 (ii) Installment purchase, with 10 per22 cent of the value of the parcel determined

23 under paragraph (4) to be paid on the date

24 of purchase and the remainder to be paid
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1 over not more than 30 years at 3 percent

2 annual interest.

3 (B) VALUE UNDER $10,000.—If the value

4 of the parcel is under $10,000, the purchase

5 shall be made on a cash basis in accordance

6 with subparagraph (A)(i).

7 (3) OPTION EXERCISE PERIOD.—

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—A preferential lease9 holder shall have until the date that is 5 years

10 after enactment of this Act to exercise the op11 tion under paragraph (1).

12 (B) CONTINUATION OF LEASES.—Until the

13 date specified in subparagraph (A), a pref14 erential leaseholder shall be entitled to continue

15 to lease from the Secretary the parcel leased by

16 the preferential leaseholder under the same

17 terms and conditions as under the lease, as in

18 effect as of the date of enactment of this Act.

19 (4) VALUATION.—

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The value of a pref21 erential lease parcel shall be its fair market

22 value for agricultural purposes determined by

23 an independent appraisal less 25 percent, exclu24 sive of the value of private improvements made

25 by the leaseholders while the land was federally
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1 owned before the date of the enactment of this

2 Act, in conformance with the Uniform Ap3 praisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisition.

4 (B) FAIR MARKET VALUE.—Any dispute

5 over the fair market value of a property under

6 subparagraph (A) shall be resolved in accord7 ance with section 2201.4 of title 43, Code of

8 Federal Regulations.

9 (5) CONVEYANCE TO THE STATE.—

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—If a preferential lease11 holder fails to purchase a parcel within the pe12 riod specified in paragraph (3)(A), the Sec13 retary shall offer to convey the parcel to the

14 State of South Dakota Department of Game,

15 Fish, and Parks.

16 (B) WILDLIFE HABITAT MITIGATION.—

17 Land conveyed under subparagraph (A) shall be

18 used by the South Dakota Department of

19 Game, Fish, and Parks for the purpose of miti20 gating the wildlife habitat that was lost as a re21 sult of the development of the Pick-Sloan

22 project.

23 (6) USE OF PROCEEDS.—Proceeds of sales of

24 land under this Act shall be deposited as miscella25 neous funds in the Treasury and such funds shall be
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1 made available, subject to appropriations, to the

2 State for the establishment of a trust fund to pay

3 the county taxes on the lands received by the State

4 Department of Game, Fish, and Parks under the

5 bill.

6 (e) CONVEYANCE OF NONPREFERENTIAL LEASE

7 PARCELS AND UNLEASED PARCELS.—

8 (1) CONVEYANCE BY SECRETARY TO STATE.—

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year

10 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec11 retary shall offer to convey to the South Dakota

12 Department of Game, Fish, and Parks the non13 preferential lease parcels and unleased parcels

14 of the Blunt Reservoir and Pierre Canal.

15 (B) WILDLIFE HABITAT MITIGATION.—

16 Land conveyed under subparagraph (A) shall be

17 used by the South Dakota Department of

18 Game, Fish, and Parks for the purpose of miti19 gating the wildlife habitat that was lost as a re20 sult of the development of the Pick-Sloan

21 project.

22 (2) LAND EXCHANGES FOR NONPREFERENTIAL

23 LEASE PARCELS AND UNLEASED PARCELS.—

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—With the concurrence

25 of the South Dakota Department of Game,
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1 Fish, and Parks, the South Dakota Commission

2 of Schools and Public Lands may allow a per3 son to exchange land that the person owns else4 where in the State for a nonpreferential lease

5 parcel or unleased parcel at Blunt Reservoir or

6 Pierre Canal, as the case may be.

7 (B) PRIORITY.—The right to exchange

8 nonpreferential lease parcels or unleased parcels

9 shall be granted in the following order or pri10 ority:

11 (i) Exchanges with current lessees for

12 nonpreferential lease parcels.

13 (ii) Exchanges with adjoining and ad14 jacent landowners for unleased parcels and

15 nonpreferential lease parcels not exchanged

16 by current lessees.

17 (C) EASEMENT FOR WATER CONVEYANCE

18 STRUCTURE.—As a condition of the exchange of

19 land of the Pierre Canal Feature under this

20 paragraph, the United States reserves a per21 petual easement to the land to allow for the

22 right to design, construct, operate, maintain,

23 repair, and replace a pipeline or other water

24 conveyance structure over, under, across, or

25 through the Pierre Canal feature.
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1 (f) RELEASE FROM LIABILITY.—

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Effective on the date of con3 veyance of any parcel under this Act, the United

4 States shall not be held liable by any court for dam5 ages of any kind arising out of any act, omission, or

6 occurrence relating to the parcel, except for damages

7 for acts of negligence committed by the United

8 States or by an employee, agent, or contractor of the

9 United States, before the date of conveyance.

10 (2) NO ADDITIONAL LIABILITY.—Nothing in

11 this section adds to any liability that the United

12 States may have under chapter 171 of title 28,

13 United States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Fed14 eral Tort Claims Act’’).

15 (g) REQUIREMENTS CONCERNING CONVEYANCE OF

16 LEASE PARCELS.—

17 (1) INTERIM REQUIREMENTS.—During the pe18 riod beginning on the date of enactment of this Act

19 and ending on the date of conveyance of the parcel,

20 the Secretary shall continue to lease each pref21 erential lease parcel or nonpreferential lease parcel

22 to be conveyed under this section under the terms

23 and conditions applicable to the parcel on the date

24 of enactment of this Act.
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1 (2) PROVISION OF PARCEL DESCRIPTIONS.—

2 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact3 ment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with

4 the Commission, shall provide the State a full legal

5 description of all preferential lease parcels and non6 preferential lease parcels that may be conveyed

7 under this section.

8 (h) CURATION OF ARCHEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS.—

9 The Secretary, in consultation with the State, shall trans10 fer, without cost to the State, all archeological and cul11 tural resource items collected from the Blunt Reservoir

12 Feature and Pierre Canal Feature to the South Dakota

13 State Historical Society.

14 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

15 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act

16 $750,000 to reimburse the Secretary for expenses in17 curred in implementing this Act, and such sums as are

18 necessary to reimburse the Commission and the State De19 partment of Game, Fish, and Parks for expenses incurred
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1 implementing this Act, not to exceed 10 percent of the

2 cost of each transaction conducted under this Act.

Passed the Senate December 7, 2006.

Attest:

Secretary.
109TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2205

AN ACT

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey

poses.cels from the Commission, and for other purholders shall have an option to purchase the parcondition that the current preferential leasepose of mitigating lost wildlife habitat, on theParks of the State of South Dakota for the purLands and the Department of Game, Fish, andDakota, to the Commission of Schools and Publicstage of the Oahe Unit, James Division, SouthReservoir and Pierre Canal features of the initialcertain parcels of land acquired for the Blunt