II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2205 

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. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 26, 2006 

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

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

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. 
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•S 2205 IS

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BLUNT RESERVOIR AND PIERRE CANAL. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) BLUNT RESERVOIR FEATURE.—The term 

9 ‘‘Blunt Reservoir feature’’ means the Blunt Res10 ervoir feature of the Oahe Unit, James Division, au11 thorized by the Act of August 3, 1968 (82 Stat. 

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

13 program. 

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

15 means the Commission of Schools and Public Lands 

16 of the State. 

17 (3) NONPREFERENTIAL LEASE PARCEL.—The 

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

19 of land that— 

20 (A) was purchased by the Secretary for use 

21 in connection with the Blunt Reservoir feature 

22 or the Pierre Canal feature; and 

23 (B) was considered to be a nonpreferential 

24 lease parcel by the Secretary as of January 1, 
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1 2001, and is reflected as such on the roster of 

2 leases of the Bureau of Reclamation for 2001. 

3 (4) PIERRE CANAL FEATURE.—The term 

4 ‘‘Pierre Canal feature’’ means the Pierre Canal fea5 ture of the Oahe Unit, James Division, authorized 

6 by the Act of August 3, 1968 (82 Stat. 624), as 

7 part of the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin pro8 gram. 

9 (5) PREFERENTIAL LEASEHOLDER.—The term 

10 ‘‘preferential leaseholder’’ means a person or de11 scendant of a person that held a lease on a pref12 erential lease parcel as of January 1, 2001, and is 

13 reflected as such on the roster of leases of the Bu14 reau of Reclamation for 2001. 

15 (6) PREFERENTIAL LEASE PARCEL.—The term 

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

17 that— 

18 (A) was purchased by the Secretary for use 

19 in connection with the Blunt Reservoir feature 

20 or the Pierre Canal feature; and 

21 (B) was considered to be a preferential 

22 lease parcel by the Secretary as of January 1, 

23 2001, and is reflected as such on the roster of 

24 leases of the Bureau of Reclamation for 2001. 
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1 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 

3 Commissioner of Reclamation. 

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

5 of South Dakota, including a successor in interest of 

6 the State. 

7 (9) UNLEASED PARCEL.—The term ‘‘unleased 

8 parcel’’ means a parcel of land that— 

9 (A) was purchased by the Secretary for use 

10 in connection with the Blunt Reservoir feature 

11 or the Pierre Canal feature; and 

12 (B) is not under lease as of the date of en13 actment of this Act. 

14 (b) DEAUTHORIZATION.—The Blunt Reservoir fea15 ture is deauthorized. 

16 (c) ACCEPTANCE OF LAND AND OBLIGATIONS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of each con18 veyance under subsections (d)(5) and (e), respec19 tively, the State shall agree to accept— 

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

21 the Blunt Reservoir Feature and the Pierre 

22 Canal Feature that pass into State ownership; 

23 (B) any liability accruing after the date of 

24 conveyance as a result of the ownership, oper25 ation, or maintenance of the features referred 
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1 to in subparagraph (A), including liability asso2 ciated with certain outstanding obligations asso3 ciated with expired easements, or any other 

4 right granted in, on, over, or across either fea5 ture; and 

6 (C) the responsibility that the Commission 

7 will act as the agent for the Secretary in ad8 ministering the purchase option extended to 

9 preferential leaseholders under subsection (d). 

10 (2) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE STATE.—An 

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

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

13 the State. 

14 (3) OIL, GAS, MINERAL AND OTHER OUT15 STANDING RIGHTS.—A conveyance to the State 

16 under subsection (d)(5) or (e) or a sale to a pref17 erential leaseholder under subsection (d) shall be 

18 made subject to— 

19 (A) oil, gas, and other mineral rights re20 served of record, as of the date of enactment of 

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

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

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

24 a feature referred to in paragraph (1)(A) that 
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1 is outstanding as to a third party as of the date 

2 of enactment of this Act. 

3 (4) ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS OF CONVEYANCE

4 TO STATE.—A conveyance to the State under sub5 section (d)(5) or (e) shall be subject to the reserva6 tions by the United States and the conditions speci7 fied in section 1 of the Act of May 19, 1948 (chap8 ter 310; 62 Stat. 240), as amended (16 U.S.C. 

9 667b), for the transfer of property to State agencies 

10 for wildlife conservation purposes. 

11 (d) PURCHASE OPTION.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—A preferential leaseholder 

13 shall have an option to purchase from the Commis14 sion, acting as an agent for the Secretary, the pref15 erential lease parcel that is the subject of the lease. 

16 (2) TERMS.— 

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

18 subparagraph (B), a preferential leaseholder 

19 may elect to purchase a parcel on one of the 

20 following terms: 

21 (i) Cash purchase for the amount that 

22 is equal to— 

23 (I) the value of the parcel deter24 mined under paragraph (4); minus 

25 (II) ten percent of that value. 
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1 (ii) Installment purchase, with 10 per2 cent of the value of the parcel determined 

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

4 of purchase and the remainder to be paid 

5 over not more than 30 years at 3 percent 

6 annual interest. 

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

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

9 shall be made on a cash basis in accordance 

10 with subparagraph (A)(i). 

11 (3) OPTION EXERCISE PERIOD.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—A preferential lease13 holder shall have until the date that is 5 years 

14 after enactment of this Act to exercise the op15 tion under paragraph (1). 

16 (B) CONTINUATION OF LEASES.—Until the 

17 date specified in subparagraph (A), a pref18 erential leaseholder shall be entitled to continue 

19 to lease from the Secretary the parcel leased by 

20 the preferential leaseholder under the same 

21 terms and conditions as under the lease, as in 

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

23 (4) VALUATION.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The value of a pref25 erential lease parcel shall be its fair market 
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1 value for agricultural purposes determined by 

2 an independent appraisal, exclusive of the value 

3 of private improvements made by the lease4 holders while the land was federally owned be5 fore the date of the enactment of this Act, in 

6 conformance with the Uniform Appraisal 

7 Standards for Federal Land Acquisition. 

8 (B) FAIR MARKET VALUE.—Any dispute 

9 over the fair market value of a property under 

10 subparagraph (A) shall be resolved in accord11 ance with section 2201.4 of title 43, Code of 

12 Federal Regulations. 

13 (5) CONVEYANCE TO THE STATE.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—If a preferential lease15 holder fails to purchase a parcel within the pe16 riod specified in paragraph (3)(A), the Sec17 retary shall convey the parcel to the State of 

18 South Dakota Department of Game, Fish, and 

19 Parks. 

20 (B) WILDLIFE HABITAT MITIGATION.— 

21 Land conveyed under subparagraph (A) shall be 

22 used by the South Dakota Department of 

23 Game, Fish, and Parks for the purpose of miti24 gating the wildlife habitat that was lost as a re-
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1 sult of the development of the Pick-Sloan 

2 project. 

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

4 land under this Act shall be deposited as miscella5 neous funds in the Treasury and such funds shall be 

6 made available, subject to appropriations, to the 

7 State for the establishment of a trust fund to pay 

8 the county taxes on the lands received by the State 

9 Department of Game, Fish, and Parks under the 

10 bill. 

11 (e) CONVEYANCE OF NONPREFERENTIAL LEASE

12 PARCELS AND UNLEASED PARCELS.— 

13 (1) CONVEYANCE BY SECRETARY TO STATE.— 

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

15 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec16 retary shall convey to the South Dakota De17 partment of Game, Fish, and Parks the non18 preferential lease parcels and unleased parcels 

19 of the Blunt Reservoir and Pierre Canal. 

20 (B) WILDLIFE HABITAT MITIGATION.— 

21 Land conveyed under subparagraph (A) shall be 

22 used by the South Dakota Department of 

23 Game, Fish, and Parks for the purpose of miti24 gating the wildlife habitat that was lost as a re-
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1 sult of the development of the Pick-Sloan 

2 project. 

3 (2) LAND EXCHANGES FOR NONPREFERENTIAL

4 LEASE PARCELS AND UNLEASED PARCELS.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—With the concurrence 

6 of the South Dakota Department of Game, 

7 Fish, and Parks, the South Dakota Commission 

8 of Schools and Public Lands may allow a per9 son to exchange land that the person owns else10 where in the State for a nonpreferential lease 

11 parcel or unleased parcel at Blunt Reservoir or 

12 Pierre Canal, as the case may be. 

13 (B) PRIORITY.—The right to exchange 

14 nonpreferential lease parcels or unleased parcels 

15 shall be granted in the following order or pri16 ority: 

17 (i) Exchanges with current lessees for 

18 nonpreferential lease parcels. 

19 (ii) Exchanges with adjoining and ad20 jacent landowners for unleased parcels and 

21 nonpreferential lease parcels not exchanged 

22 by current lessees. 

23 (C) EASEMENT FOR WATER CONVEYANCE

24 STRUCTURE.—As a condition of the exchange of 

25 land of the Pierre Canal Feature under this 
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1 paragraph, the United States reserves a per2 petual easement to the land to allow for the 

3 right to design, construct, operate, maintain, 

4 repair, and replace a pipeline or other water 

5 conveyance structure over, under, across, or 

6 through the Pierre Canal feature. 

7 (f) RELEASE FROM LIABILITY.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Effective on the date of con9 veyance of any parcel under this Act, the United 

10 States shall not be held liable by any court for dam11 ages of any kind arising out of any act, omission, or 

12 occurrence relating to the parcel, except for damages 

13 for acts of negligence committed by the United 

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

15 United States, before the date of conveyance. 

16 (2) NO ADDITIONAL LIABILITY.—Nothing in 

17 this section adds to any liability that the United 

18 States may have under chapter 171 of title 28, 

19 United States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Fed20 eral Tort Claims Act’’). 

21 (g) REQUIREMENTS CONCERNING CONVEYANCE OF

22 LEASE PARCELS.— 

23 (1) INTERIM REQUIREMENTS.—During the pe24 riod beginning on the date of enactment of this Act 

25 and ending on the date of conveyance of the parcel, 
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1 the Secretary shall continue to lease each pref2 erential lease parcel or nonpreferential lease parcel 

3 to be conveyed under this section under the terms 

4 and conditions applicable to the parcel on the date 

5 of enactment of this Act. 

6 (2) PROVISION OF PARCEL DESCRIPTIONS.— 

7 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

8 of this Act, the Secretary shall provide the State a 

9 full legal description of all preferential lease parcels 

10 and nonpreferential lease parcels that may be con11 veyed under this section. 

12 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

13 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 

14 $750,000 to reimburse the Secretary for expenses in15 curred in implementing this Act, and such sums as are 

16 necessary to reimburse the Commission for expenses in17 curred implementing this Act, not to exceed 10 percent 

18 of the cost of each transaction conducted under this Act. 

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