108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3514

AN ACT

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to convey

sylvania, and for other purposes.the National Forest System in the State of Penncertain lands and improvements associated with

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3514

AN ACT

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain

lands and improvements associated with the National

Forest System in the State of Pennsylvania, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

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

3 ‘‘Pennsylvania National Forest Improvement Act of

4 2004’’.

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

6 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Disposal of administrative sites, Allegheny National Forest, Pennsylvania.

Sec. 3. Conveyance of Sheffield Ranger District Headquarters, Warren County,

Pennsylvania.

Sec. 4. Conveyance of Ridgeway Ranger District Headquarters, Elk County,

Pennsylvania.

Sec. 5. Conveyance of Marienville Ranger Residence, Forest County, Pennsylvania.

Sec. 6. Disposition of funds.

Sec. 7. Administration of land acquired by United States.

Sec. 8. Relation to other conveyances authorities.

7 SEC. 2. DISPOSAL OF ADMINISTRATIVE SITES, ALLEGHENY

8 NATIONAL FOREST, PENNSYLVANIA.

9 (a) DISPOSAL AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Agri10 culture may convey, by sale or exchange, any and all right,

11 title, and interest of the United States in and to the fol12 lowing National Forest System lands and administrative

13 sites in the Allegheny National Forest, in Pennsylvania:

14 (1) US Tract 121, Sheffield ranger residence,

15 consisting of 0.41 acres, as depicted on the map ti16 tled ‘‘Allegheny Unit, Allen M. Gibson Tract 121,

17 March 1942’’.

18 (2) US Tract 896, an undeveloped administra19 tive site, consisting of 2.42 acres, as depicted on the
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1 map titled ‘‘Allegheny Unit, Howard L. Harp Tract

2 896, 1947’’.

3 (3) US Tract 1047 (formerly Tracts 551,

4 551a,b,c), original Marienville Ranger District

5 Headquarters, consisting of 4.90 acres, as depicted

6 on the map titled ‘‘Marienville Ranger Station Com7 pound Tract 1047, August 1998’’.

8 (4) US Tract 844, Marienville ranger residence,

9 as depicted on the map titled ‘‘Allegheny Unit, Peter

10 B. DeSmet Tract 844, 1936’’, except that portion of

11 the tract identified as Lot 2, on the Survey Plat pre12 pared by D. M. Heller and dated December 12,

13 1999, which is subject to conveyance under section

14 5.

15 (b) PROPERTY DESCRIPTIONS.—The maps referred

16 to in subsection (a) are the primary descriptions of the

17 lands to which the maps refer. In the event of a conflict

18 between a map description and the metes and bounds de19 scription of the lands, the map shall be deemed to be the

20 definitive description of the lands unless the map cannot

21 be located. The maps shall be on file and available for

22 public inspection in the Office of the Chief of the Forest

23 Service until the lands are disposed of pursuant to this

24 section.

25 (c) CONSIDERATION.—
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1 (1) AUTHORIZED CONSIDERATION.—As consid2 eration for a conveyance of land under subsection

3 (a), the recipient of the land, with the consent of the

4 Secretary, may convey to the Secretary other land,

5 existing improvements, or improvements constructed

6 to the specifications of the Secretary.

7 (2) CASH EQUALIZATION.—Notwithstanding

8 any other provision of law, the Secretary may accept

9 a cash equalization payment in excess of 25 percent

10 of the value of any land and administrative site ex11 changed under subsection (a).

12 (d) APPLICABLE LAW.—Except as otherwise provided

13 in this section, any conveyance of land under subsection

14 (a) shall be subject to the laws and regulations applicable

15 to the conveyance and acquisition of land for the National

16 Forest System.

17 (e) SOLICITATION OF OFFERS.—

18 (1) CONVEYANCE PRIORITY.—In the selection

19 of the recipient of land under this section, the Sec20 retary may give a preference to public entities that

21 agree to use the land for public purposes.

22 (2) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The Secretary

23 may solicit offers for the conveyance of land under

24 this section on such terms and conditions as the Sec25 retary may prescribe.
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1 (3) REJECTION OF OFFERS.—The Secretary

2 may reject any offer made under this section if the

3 Secretary determines that the offer is not adequate

4 or not in the public interest.

5 (f) REVOCATIONS.—Notwithstanding any other provi6 sion of law, on conveyance of land by the Secretary under

7 this section, any public order withdrawing the land from

8 any form of appropriation under the public land laws is

9 revoked.

10 (g) ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The

11 Secretary may require such additional terms and condi12 tions in connection with any conveyance under subsection

13 (a) as the Secretary considers appropriate to protect the

14 interests of the United States.

15 SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF SHEFFIELD RANGER DISTRICT

16 HEADQUARTERS, WARREN COUNTY, PENN17 SYLVANIA.

18 (a) CONVEYANCE AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of

19 Agriculture may convey to the Warren County Develop20 ment Association of Warren County, Pennsylvania, all

21 right, title, and interest of the United States in and to

22 US Tract 770, Sheffield Ranger District Headquarters,

23 consisting of 5.50 acres, as depicted on the map titled ‘‘Al24 legheny Unit, Elk Tanning Company Tract 770, 1934’’.
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1 (b) CONSIDERATION.—As consideration for the con2 veyance under subsection (a), the Warren County Develop3 ment Association shall make to the Secretary a lump sum

4 payment of $100,000.

5 (c) PROPERTY DESCRIPTION.—The map referred to

6 in subsection (a) is the primary description of the lands

7 to which the map refers. In the event of a conflict between

8 the map description and the metes and bounds description

9 of the lands, the map shall be deemed to be the definitive

10 description of the lands unless the map cannot be located.

11 The map shall be on file and available for public inspection

12 in the Office of the Chief of the Forest Service until the

13 lands are disposed of pursuant to this section.

14 (d) REVOCATIONS.—Notwithstanding any other pro15 vision of law, on conveyance of land by the Secretary

16 under this section, any public order withdrawing the land

17 from any form of appropriation under the public land laws

18 is revoked.

19 SEC. 4. CONVEYANCE OF RIDGEWAY RANGER DISTRICT

20 HEADQUARTERS, ELK COUNTY, PENNSYL21 VANIA.

22 (a) CONVEYANCE AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of

23 Agriculture may convey to Ridgeway Township, Pennsyl24 vania, all right, title, and interest of the United States

25 in and to US Tract 904, consisting of 8.812 acres, and
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1 US Tract 905, consisting of 0.869 acres, Ridgeway Rang2 er District Headquarters, as depicted on the maps titled

3 ‘‘Allegheny Unit, Harry R. Eliza E. Larson Tract 904,

4 1959’’ and ‘‘Allegheny Unit, Leo S. Laura A. Guth Tract

5 905, July 1948’’.

6 (b) CONSIDERATION.—As consideration for the con7 veyance under subsection (a), Ridgeway Township shall

8 pay to the Secretary an amount equal to the fair market

9 value of the conveyed lands, as determined by an appraisal

10 acceptable to the Secretary and Ridgeway Township.

11 (c) PROPERTY DESCRIPTION.—The maps referred to

12 in subsection (a) is the primary description of the lands

13 to which the maps refer. In the event of a conflict between

14 a map description and the metes and bounds description

15 of the lands, the map shall be deemed to be the definitive

16 description of the lands unless the map cannot be located.

17 The maps shall be on file and available for public inspec18 tion in the Office of the Chief of the Forest Service until

19 the lands are disposed of pursuant to this section.

20 (d) REVOCATIONS.—Notwithstanding any other pro21 vision of law, on conveyance of land by the Secretary

22 under this section, any public order withdrawing the land

23 from any form of appropriation under the public land laws

24 is revoked.
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1 SEC. 5. CONVEYANCE OF MARIENVILLE RANGER RESI2 DENCE, FOREST COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

3 (a) CONVEYANCE AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of

4 Agriculture may convey, without consideration, to the

5 Marienville Volunteer Fire Department of Forest County,

6 Pennsylvania, all right, title, and interest of the United

7 States in and to that portion of US Tract 844, Marienville

8 ranger residence, as depicted on the map titled ‘‘Allegheny

9 Unit, Peter B. DeSmet Tract 844, 1936’’, which is identi10 fied as Lot 2 on the Survey Plat prepared by D. M. Heller

11 and dated December 12, 1999.

12 (b) PROPERTY DESCRIPTION.—The map referred to

13 in subsection (a) is the primary description of the lands

14 to which the map refers. In the event of a conflict between

15 the map description and the metes and bounds description

16 of the lands, the map shall be deemed to be the definitive

17 description of the lands unless the map cannot be located.

18 The map shall be on file and available for public inspection

19 in the Office of the Chief of the Forest Service until the

20 lands are disposed of pursuant to this section.

21 (c) REVOCATIONS.—Notwithstanding any other pro22 vision of law, on conveyance of land by the Secretary

23 under this section, any public order withdrawing the land

24 from any form of appropriation under the public land laws

25 is revoked.
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1 SEC. 6. DISPOSITION OF FUNDS.

2 (a) DEPOSIT IN SISK ACT FUND.—The Secretary of

3 Agriculture shall deposit in the fund established under

4 Public Law 90–171 (16 U.S.C. 484a; commonly known

5 as the Sisk Act)—

6 (1) the proceeds of a sale or exchange under

7 section 2; and

8 (2) the consideration received pursuant to sec9 tions 3(b) and 4(b).

10 (b) USE OF PROCEEDS.—Subject to subsection (c),

11 funds deposited under subsection (a) shall be available to

12 the Secretary, without further appropriation, for—

13 (1) the acquisition, construction, or improve14 ment of administrative facilities and sites for the Al15 legheny National Forest; or

16 (2) the acquisition of land and interests in land

17 in the Allegheny National Forest.

18 (c) CONDITION ON LAND ACQUISITION.—The acqui19 sition of lands in the Allegheny National Forest using

20 funds deposited under subsection (a) is subject to the con21 dition that the market value of the acquired lands may

22 not exceed 125 percent of the market value of the lands

23 disposed of under this Act.
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1 SEC. 7. ADMINISTRATION OF LAND ACQUIRED BY UNITED

2 STATES.

3 Lands acquired by the Secretary of Agriculture under

4 section 6(b) or by exchange under section 2 shall be man5 aged by the Secretary in accordance with the Act of March

6 1, 1911 (commonly known as the Weeks Act; 16 U.S.C.

7 480 et seq.) and other laws and regulations pertaining to

8 National Forest System lands. For the purposes of section

9 7 of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965

10 (16 U.S.C. 460l–9), the boundaries of the Allegheny Na11 tional Forest, as adjusted on account of the disposal and

12 acquisition of lands under this Act, shall be considered to

13 be the boundaries of that national forest as of January

14 1, 1965.

15 SEC. 8. RELATION TO OTHER CONVEYANCES AUTHORITIES.

16 Except as expressly provided in this Act, nothing in

17 this Act affects any other authority of the Secretary of

18 Agriculture to sell, exchange, or acquire land. Lands au19 thorized for disposal under this Act shall not be subject
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1 to subchapters II and III of chapter 5 of title 40, United

2 States Code.

Passed the House of Representatives October 5,

2004.

Attest:

Clerk.