I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3303

To facilitate acquisition by the Secretary of the Interior of certain mineral 

rights, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 15, 2003

Mr. UDALL of Colorado (for himself and Mr. BEAUPREZ) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources 

A BILL

To facilitate acquisition by the Secretary of the Interior 

of certain mineral rights, 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, FINDINGS, AND PURPOSE. 

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

5 ‘‘Rocky Flats Minerals Acquisition Act’’. 

6 (b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) Pursuant to the Rocky Flats Wildlife Ref8 uge Act of 2001 (Subtitle F of Public Law 107–

9 107), upon completion of its cleanup and closure, 

10 the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, in 
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1 Colorado, will be transferred to the Department of 

2 the Interior and managed as a unit of the National 

3 Wildlife Refuge System. 

4 (2) Acquisition by the United States of certain 

5 mineral rights associated with Rocky Flats is desir6 able in order to—

7 (A) further sound management of the site 

8 as a wildlife refuge; and 

9 (B) reduce the long-term responsibility of 

10 the Department of Energy. 

11 (3) The likelihood of acquiring such rights will 

12 be increased by providing the Secretary of the Inte13 rior with additional methods for completion of the 

14 acquisition. 

15 (c) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to facili16 tate acquisition of mineral and other rights associated 

17 with the Rocky Flats site by authorizing the Secretary of 

18 the Interior to convey to the owners of such rights, with 

19 the concurrence of such owners, monetary credits or inter20 ests in certain public lands, instead of or in addition to 

21 making cash payments for such rights. 

22 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO ACQUIRE MINERAL INTERESTS. 

23 Section 3174 of Public Law 107–107 (115 Stat. 

24 1381) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

25 ‘‘(g) ACQUISITION OF MINERAL RIGHTS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte2 rior may acquire mineral interests, including inter3 ests in sand and gravel, and any other non-Federal 

4 interests in lands or waters, within Rocky Flats 

5 by—

6 ‘‘(A) purchase with funds available to the 

7 Secretary for such purpose; 

8 ‘‘(B) exchange under section 206 of the 

9 Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 

10 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716); 

11 ‘‘(C) issuance of credits in an amount 

12 equal to some or all of the market value of the 

13 mineral or other interests acquired, with the 

14 concurrence of the person transferring such in15 terests to the United States; or 

16 ‘‘(D) any combination of the means de17 scribed in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C). 

18 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION OF CREDITS.—For purposes 

19 of this subsection, the term ‘credits’ means appro20 priate legal instruments or other written documenta21 tion, or an entry in an account managed by the Sec22 retary of the Interior, that can be used in lieu of any 

23 other monetary payment—

24 ‘‘(A) for bonus bids for lease sales on the 

25 Outer Continental Shelf; or 
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1 ‘‘(B) for royalty due on oil or gas produc2 tion under any lease of an area located on the 

3 Outer Continental Shelf outside the zone de4 scribed in section 8(g)(2) of the Outer Conti5 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1337(g)(2)). 

6 ‘‘(3) TRANSFERABILITY OF CREDITS.—Any 

7 credits issued under this subsection shall be freely 

8 transferable to any other person, if the transferor 

9 notifies the Secretary of the Interior of the transfer 

10 by such method as the Secretary may specify. 

11 ‘‘(4) EXPIRATION.—Any credits issued under 

12 this subsection must be used within 10 years after 

13 the date on which they are issued. 

14 ‘‘(5) ACQUISITION THROUGH EXCHANGE.—

15 ‘‘(A) SAME-STATE RESTRICTION NOT AP16 PLICABLE.—The requirement under section 

17 206(b) of the Federal Land Policy and Manage18 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716(b)) that 

19 lands or interests exchanged under that section 

20 must be located in the same State shall not 

21 apply to land (or an interest in land) in Rocky 

22 Flats that is acquired by the United States in 

23 an exchange under that section. 

24 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—(i) Nothing in this 

25 subsection shall be construed as authorizing 
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1 disposal of any public land or interest therein 

2 that has not been identified as suitable for dis3 posal pursuant to section 203 of the Federal 

4 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 

5 U.S.C. 1713). 

6 ‘‘(ii) No lands or interests therein outside 

7 the exterior boundaries of Rocky Flats may be 

8 acquired by the Federal Government for the 

9 purposes of this Act except with the consent of 

10 the owner thereof. 

11 ‘‘(6) MANAGEMENT OF ACQUIRED INTER12 ESTS.—Any interests acquired by the United States 

13 under this subsection shall be managed by the Sec14 retary of the Interior under the standards that apply 

15 to the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge. No 

16 minerals acquired under this subsection shall be sub17 ject to development or disposal by the United States 

18 or any other party under any law related to minerals 

19 owned by the United States. 

20 ‘‘(7) RELATION TO OTHER AUTHORITY.—The 

21 authorities provided to the Secretary of the Interior 

22 by this subsection are in addition to any other au23 thority available to the Secretary with regard to ac-
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1 quisition of non-Federal interests located within 

2 Rocky Flats.’’.

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