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Union Calendar No. 15

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 256

[Report No. 104–28, Parts I & II]

To withdraw and reserve certain public lands and minerals within the State

of Colorado for military uses, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 4, 1995

Mr. HEFLEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on National Security and, in addition, to the Committee on Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

FEBRUARY 10, 1995

Reported from the Committee on Resources without amendment

FEBRUARY 14, 1995

Reported from the Committee on National Security without amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union,

and ordered to be printed

A BILL

To withdraw and reserve certain public lands and minerals

within the State of Colorado for military uses, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

3 ‘‘Fort Carson-Pinon Canyon Military Lands Withdrawal

4 Act’’.

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for

6 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.

Sec. 2. Withdrawal and reservation of lands at Fort Carson Military Reservation.

Sec. 3. Withdrawal and reservation of lands at Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site.

Sec. 4. Maps and legal descriptions.

Sec. 5. Management of withdrawn lands.

Sec. 6. Management of withdrawn and acquired mineral resources.

Sec. 7. Hunting, fishing, and trapping.

Sec. 8. Termination of withdrawal and reservation.

Sec. 9. Determination of presence of contamination and effect of contamination.

Sec. 10. Delegation.

Sec. 11. Hold harmless.

Sec. 12. Amendment to Military Lands Withdrawal Act of 1986.

Sec. 13. Authorization of appropriations.

7 SEC. 2. WITHDRAWAL AND RESERVATION OF LANDS AT

8 FORT CARSON MILITARY RESERVATION.

9 (a) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing rights

10 and except as otherwise provided in this Act, the lands

11 at the Fort Carson Military Reservation, Colorado, that

12 are described in subsection (c) are hereby withdrawn from

13 all forms of appropriation under the public land laws, in14 cluding the mining laws, the mineral and geothermal leas15 ing laws, and the mineral materials disposal laws.

16 (b) RESERVATION.—The lands withdrawn under sub17 section (a) are reserved for use by the Secretary of the

18 Army—
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1 (1) for military maneuvering, training and

2 weapons firing; and

3 (2) for other defense related purposes consist4 ent with the uses specified in paragraph (1).

5 (c) LAND DESCRIPTION.—The lands referred to in

6 subsection (a) comprise 3,133.02 acres of public land and

7 11,415.16 acres of federally-owned minerals in El Paso,

8 Pueblo, and Fremont Counties, Colorado, as generally de9 picted on the map entitled ‘‘Fort Carson Proposed With10 drawal—Fort Carson Base’’, dated February 6, 1992, and

11 published in accordance with section 4.

12 SEC. 3. WITHDRAWAL AND RESERVATION OF LANDS AT

13 PINON CANYON MANEUVER SITE.

14 (a) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing rights

15 and except as otherwise provided in this Act, the lands

16 at the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site, Colorado, that are

17 described in subsection (c) are hereby withdrawn from all

18 forms of appropriation under the public land laws, includ19 ing the mining laws, the mineral and geothermal leasing

20 laws, and the mineral materials disposal laws.

21 (b) RESERVATION.—The lands withdrawn under sub22 section (a) are reserved for use by the Secretary of the

23 Army—

24 (1) for military maneuvering and training; and
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1 (2) for other defense related purposes consist2 ent with the uses specified in paragraph (1).

3 (c) LAND DESCRIPTION.—The lands referred to in

4 subsection (a) comprise 2,517.12 acres of public lands and

5 130,139 acres of federally-owned minerals in Las Animas

6 County, Colorado, as generally depicted on the map enti7 tled ‘‘Fort Carson Proposed Withdrawal—Fort Carson

8 Maneuver Area—Pinon Canyon site’’, dated February 6,

9 1992, and published in accordance with section 4.

10 SEC. 4. MAPS AND LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.

11 (a) PREPARATION OF MAPS AND LEGAL DESCRIP12 TION.—As soon as practicable after the date of the enact13 ment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall pre14 pare maps depicting the lands withdrawn and reserved by

15 this Act and publish in the Federal Register a notice con16 taining the legal description of such lands.

17 (b) LEGAL EFFECT.—Such maps and legal descrip18 tions shall have the same force and effect as if they were

19 included in this Act, except that the Secretary of the Inte20 rior may correct clerical and typographical errors in such

21 maps and legal descriptions.

22 (c) AVAILABILITY OF MAPS AND LEGAL DESCRIP23 TION.—Copies of such maps and legal descriptions shall

24 be available for public inspection in the offices of the Colo25 rado State Director and the Canon City District Manager
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1 of the Bureau of Land Management and in the offices of

2 the Commander of Fort Carson, Colorado.

3 (d) COSTS.—The Secretary of the Army shall reim4 burse the Secretary of the Interior for the costs of imple5 menting this section.

6 SEC. 5. MANAGEMENT OF WITHDRAWN LANDS.

7 (a) MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES.—

8 (1) MANAGEMENT BY SECRETARY OF THE

9 ARMY.—Except as provided in section 6, during the

10 period of withdrawal, the Secretary of the Army

11 shall manage for military purposes the lands covered

12 by this Act and may authorize use of the lands by

13 the other military departments and agencies of the

14 Department of Defense, and the National Guard, as

15 appropriate.

16 (2) ACCESS RESTRICTIONS.—When military op17 erations, public safety, or national security, as deter18 mined by the Secretary of the Army, require the clo19 sure of roads and trails on the lands withdrawn by

20 this Act commonly in public use, the Secretary of

21 the Army is authorized to take such action, except

22 that such closures shall be limited to the minimum

23 areas and periods required for the purposes specified

24 in this subsection. Appropriate warning notices shall

25 be kept posted during closures.
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1 (3) SUPPRESSION OF FIRES.—The Secretary of

2 the Army shall take necessary precautions to prevent

3 and suppress brush and range fires occurring within

4 and outside the lands as a result of military activi5 ties and may seek assistance from the Bureau of

6 Land Management in suppressing such fires. The

7 memorandum of understanding required by this sec8 tion shall provide for Bureau of Land Management

9 assistance in the suppression of such fires, and for

10 a transfer of funds from the Department of the

11 Army to the Bureau of Land Management as com12 pensation for such assistance.

13 (b) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—

14 (1) DEVELOPMENT REQUIRED.—The Secretary

15 of the Army, with the concurrence of the Secretary

16 of the Interior, shall develop a plan for the manage17 ment of acquired lands and lands withdrawn under

18 sections 2 and 3 for the period of withdrawal. The

19 plan shall—

20 (A) be consistent with applicable law;

21 (B) include such provisions as may be nec22 essary for proper resource management and

23 protection of the natural, cultural, and other re24 sources and values of such lands; and
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1 (C) identify those withdrawn and acquired

2 lands, if any, which are to be open to mining

3 or mineral and geothermal leasing, including

4 mineral materials disposal.

5 (2) TIME FOR DEVELOPMENT.—The manage6 ment plan required by this subsection shall be devel7 oped not later than 5 years after the date of the en8 actment of this Act.

9 (c) IMPLEMENTATION OF MANAGEMENT PLAN.—

10 (1) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING RE11 QUIRED.—The Secretary of the Army and the Sec12 retary of the Interior shall enter into a memoran13 dum of understanding to implement the manage14 ment plan developed under subsection (b).

15 (2) DURATION.—The duration of any such

16 memorandum of understanding shall be the same as

17 the period of withdrawal specified in section 8(a).

18 (3) AMENDMENT.—The memorandum of under19 standing may be amended by agreement of both Sec20 retaries.

21 (d) USE OF CERTAIN RESOURCES.—The Secretary of

22 the Army is authorized to utilize sand, gravel, or similar

23 mineral or mineral material resources from the lands with24 drawn by this Act when the use of such resources is re-
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1 quired for construction needs of the Fort Carson Reserva2 tion or Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site.

3 SEC. 6. MANAGEMENT OF WITHDRAWN AND ACQUIRED

4 MINERAL RESOURCES.

5 Except as provided in section 5(d), the Secretary of

6 the Interior shall manage all withdrawn and acquired min7 eral resources within the boundaries of the Fort Carson

8 Military Reservation and Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site in

9 the same manner as provided in section 12 of the Military

10 Lands Withdrawal Act of 1986 (Public Law 99–606; 100

11 Stat. 3466) for mining and mineral leasing on certain

12 lands withdrawn by that Act from all forms of appropria13 tion under the public land laws.

14 SEC. 7. HUNTING, FISHING, AND TRAPPING.

15 All hunting, fishing, and trapping on the lands with16 drawn and reserved by this Act shall be conducted in ac17 cordance with section 2671 of title 10, United States

18 Code.

19 SEC. 8. TERMINATION OF WITHDRAWAL AND RESERVA20 TION.

21 (a) TERMINATION DATE.—The withdrawal and res22 ervation made by this Act shall terminate 15 years after

23 the date of the enactment of this Act.

24 (b) DETERMINATION OF CONTINUING MILITARY

25 NEED.—
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1 (1) DETERMINATION REQUIRED.—At least

2 three years before the termination under subsection

3 (a) of the withdrawal and reservation established by

4 this Act, the Secretary of the Army shall advise the

5 Secretary of the Interior as to whether or not the

6 Department of the Army will have a continuing mili7 tary need for any of the lands after the termination

8 date.

9 (2) METHOD OF MAKING DETERMINATION.—If

10 the Secretary of the Army concludes under para11 graph (1) that there will be a continuing military

12 need for any of the lands after the termination date

13 established by subsection (a), the Secretary of the

14 Army, in accordance with applicable law, shall—

15 (A) evaluate the environmental effects of

16 renewal of such withdrawal and reservation;

17 (B) hold at least one public hearing in Col18 orado concerning such evaluation; and

19 (C) file, after completing the requirements

20 of subparagraphs (A) and (B), an application

21 for extension of the withdrawal and reservation

22 of such lands in accordance with the regulations

23 and procedures of the Department of the Inte24 rior applicable to the extension of withdrawals

25 for military uses.
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1 (3) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary of the Inte2 rior shall notify the Congress concerning a filing

3 under paragraph (3)(C).

4 (c) EARLY RELINQUISHMENT OF WITHDRAWAL.—If

5 the Secretary of the Army concludes under subsection (b)

6 that before the termination date established by subsection

7 (a) there will be no military need for all or any part of

8 the lands withdrawn and reserved by this Act, or if, during

9 the period of withdrawal, the Secretary of the Army other10 wise decides to relinquish any or all of the lands with11 drawn and reserved under this Act, the Secretary of the

12 Army shall file with the Secretary of the Interior a notice

13 of intention to relinquish such lands.

14 (d) ACCEPTANCE OF LANDS PROPOSED FOR RELIN15 QUISHMENT.—Notwithstanding any other provision of

16 law, the Secretary of the Interior, upon deciding that it

17 is in the public interest to accept jurisdiction over the

18 lands proposed for relinquishment, may revoke the with19 drawal and reservation established by this Act as it applies

20 to the lands proposed for relinquishment. Should the deci21 sion be made to revoke the withdrawal and reservation,

22 the Secretary of the Interior shall publish in the Federal

23 Register an appropriate order which shall—

24 (1) terminate the withdrawal and reservation;
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1 (2) constitute official acceptance of full jurisdic2 tion over the lands by the Secretary of the Interior;

3 and

4 (3) state the date upon which the lands will be

5 opened to the operation of the public land laws, in6 cluding the mining laws if appropriate.

7 SEC. 9. DETERMINATION OF PRESENCE OF CONTAMINA8 TION AND EFFECT OF CONTAMINATION.

9 (a) DETERMINATION OF PRESENCE OF CONTAMINA10 TION.—

11 (1) BEFORE RELINQUISHMENT NOTICE.—Be12 fore filing a relinquishment notice under section

13 8(c), the Secretary of the Army shall prepare a writ14 ten determination as to whether and to what extent

15 the lands to be relinquished are contaminated with

16 explosive, toxic, or other hazardous materials. A

17 copy of the determination made by the Secretary of

18 the Army shall be supplied with the relinquishment

19 notice. Copies of both the relinquishment notice and

20 the determination under this subsection shall be

21 published in the Federal Register by the Secretary

22 of the Interior.

23 (2) UPON TERMINATION OF WITHDRAWAL.—At

24 the expiration of the withdrawal period made by this

25 Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall determine
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1 whether and to what extent the lands withdrawn by

2 this Act are contaminated to an extent which pre3 vents opening such contaminated lands to operation

4 of the public land laws.

5 (b) PROGRAM OF DECONTAMINATION.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Throughout the duration of

7 the withdrawal and reservation made by this Act,

8 the Secretary of the Army, to the extent funds are

9 made available, shall maintain a program of decon10 tamination of the lands withdrawn by this Act at

11 least at the level of effort carried out during fiscal

12 year 1992.

13 (2) DECONTAMINATION OF LANDS TO BE RE14 LINQUISHED.—In the case of lands subject to a re15 linquishment notice under section 8(c) that are con16 taminated, the Secretary of the Army shall decon17 taminate the land to the extent that funds are ap18 propriated for such purpose if the Secretary of the

19 Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of the

20 Army, determines that—

21 (A) decontamination of the lands is prac22 ticable and economically feasible, taking into

23 consideration the potential future use and value

24 of the land; and
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1 (B) upon decontamination, the land could

2 be opened to the operation of some or all of the

3 public land laws, including the mining laws.

4 (c) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR TO

5 REFUSE CONTAMINATED LANDS.—The Secretary of the

6 Interior shall not be required to accept lands proposed for

7 relinquishment if the Secretary of the Army and the Sec8 retary of the Interior conclude that—

9 (1) decontamination of any or all of the lands

10 proposed for relinquishment is not practicable or

11 economically feasible;

12 (2) the lands cannot be decontaminated suffi13 ciently to allow them to be opened to the operation

14 of the public land laws; or

15 (3) insufficient funds are appropriated for the

16 purpose of decontaminating the lands.

17 (d) EFFECT OF CONTINUED CONTAMINATION.—If

18 the Secretary of the Interior declines under subsection (c)

19 to accept jurisdiction of lands proposed for relinquishment

20 or if the Secretary of the Interior determines under sub21 section (a)(2) that some of the lands withdrawn by this

22 Act are contaminated to an extent that prevents opening

23 the contaminated lands to operation of the public land

24 laws—
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1 (1) the Secretary of the Army shall take appro2 priate steps to warn the public of the contaminated

3 state of such lands and any risks associated with

4 entry onto such lands;

5 (2) after the expiration of the withdrawal, the

6 Secretary of the Army shall undertake no activities

7 on such lands except in connection with decon8 tamination of such lands; and

9 (3) the Secretary of the Army shall report to

10 the Secretary of the Interior and to the Congress

11 concerning the status of such lands and all actions

12 taken under paragraphs (1) and (2).

13 (e) EFFECT OF SUBSEQUENT DECONTAMINATION.—

14 If the lands described in subsection (d) are subsequently

15 decontaminated, upon certification by the Secretary of the

16 Army that the lands are safe for all nonmilitary uses, the

17 Secretary of the Interior shall reconsider accepting juris18 diction over the lands.

19 (f) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in this Act

20 shall affect, or be construed to affect, the obligations of

21 the Secretary of the Army, if any, to decontaminate lands

22 withdrawn by this Act pursuant to applicable law, includ23 ing the Comprehensive Environmental Response Com24 pensation and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et
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1 seq.) and the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901

2 et seq.).

3 SEC. 10. DELEGATION.

4 The functions of the Secretary of the Army under

5 this Act may be delegated. The functions of the Secretary

6 of the Interior under this Act may be delegated, except

7 that the order referred to in section 8(d) may be approved

8 and signed only by the Secretary of the Interior, the Dep9 uty Secretary of the Interior, or an Assistant Secretary

10 of the Department of the Interior.

11 SEC. 11. HOLD HARMLESS.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The United States shall be held

13 harmless and shall not be liable for any injuries or dam14 ages to persons or property suffered in the course of any

15 mining, mineral activity, or geothermal leasing activity

16 conducted on lands comprising the Fort Carson Reserva17 tion or Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site, including liabilities

18 to non-Federal entities under section 107 or 113 of the

19 Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation

20 and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9607, 9613), or sec21 tion 7003 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C.

22 6973).

23 (b) INDEMNIFICATION.—Any party conducting any

24 mining, mineral, or geothermal leasing activity on lands

25 comprising the Fort Carson Reservation or Pinon Canyon
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1 Maneuver Site shall indemnify the United States against

2 any costs, fees, damages, or other liabilities (including

3 costs of litigation) incurred by the United States and aris4 ing from or relating to such mining activities, including

5 costs of mineral materials disposal, whether arising under

6 the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensa7 tion and Liability Act of 1980, the Solid Waste Disposal

8 Act, or otherwise.

9 SEC. 12. AMENDMENT TO MILITARY LANDS WITHDRAWAL

10 ACT OF 1986.

11 (a) USE OF CERTAIN RESOURCES.—Section 3(f) of

12 the Military Lands Withdrawal Act of 1986 (Public Law

13 99–606; 100 Stat. 3461) is amended by adding at the end

14 the following new paragraph:

15 ‘‘(2) Subject to valid existing rights, the Secretary

16 of the military department concerned may utilize sand,

17 gravel, or similar mineral or material resources when the

18 use of such resources is required for construction needs

19 on the respective lands withdrawn by this Act.’’.

20 (b) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Section 9(b) of the

21 Military Lands Withdrawal Act of 1986 (Public Law 99–

22 606; 100 Stat. 3466) is amended by striking ‘‘section

23 7(f)’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘section 8(f)’’.
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1 SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such

3 sums as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of

4 this Act.

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