I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 353

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to dispose of all public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management that have been identified 

for disposal under the Federal land use planning process. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 27, 2003

Mr. DUNCAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Resources 

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to dispose of all 

public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management that have been identified for disposal under 

the Federal land use planning process.

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 ‘‘Federal Lands Im5 provement Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PUBLIC LANDS DISPOSAL REQUIREMENT. 

7 (a) DISPOSAL REQUIREMENT.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 7 years after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, and subject 

3 to paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), the Secretary of the 

4 Interior shall dispose of all right, title, and interest 

5 of the United States in and to all public lands ad6 ministered by the Bureau of Land Management 

7 that, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, 

8 have been identified for disposal under the land use 

9 planning process under section 203 of the Federal 

10 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 

11 U.S.C. 1713). 

12 (2) MILESTONES.—Of the lands referred to in 

13 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall dispose of—

(A) at least 1 14 ⁄3 before the end of the 3-year 

15 period beginning on the date of the enactment 

16 of this Act; and 

(B) at least 2 17 ⁄3 before the end of the 5-year 

18 period beginning on such date. 

19 (3) RETENTION OF WILDERNESS LANDS.—The 

20 Secretary shall not under this section dispose of any 

21 lands located in any wilderness area or wilderness 

22 study area. 

23 (4) NET COST LIMITATION.—The Secretary 

24 shall not under this section dispose of a parcel of 

25 land if cost to the United States of the disposal ex-
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1 ceeds the amount that would be received by the 

2 United States for the parcel. 

3 (b) MANNER OF DISPOSAL.—The Secretary shall dis4 pose of public lands under this section—

5 (1) in accordance with the procedures that 

6 apply under subsection (f) of section 203 of the Fed7 eral Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 

8 U.S.C. 1713(f)) to sales of public lands under that 

9 section; and 

10 (2) in parcels of 160 acres or less. 

11 (c) DETERMINATION OF LANDS FOR DISPOSAL.—

12 The Secretary may determine the public lands to be dis13 posed of under this section. 

14 (d) USE OF PROCEEDS.—Of amounts received by the 

15 United States as proceeds of disposals of public lands 

16 under this section—

(1) 1 17 ⁄3 shall be deposited in the account estab18 lished by subsection (e); 

(2) 1 19 ⁄3 shall be paid to the county in which the 

20 lands are located for use by the county for any pur21 pose, which may include education, transportation 

22 and infrastructure, or preservation of open spaces; 

23 and

(3) 1 24 ⁄3 shall be deposited in the general fund of 

25 the Treasury and utilized to reduce the public debt. 
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1 (e) SPECIAL ACCOUNT.—

2 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

3 the Treasury of the United States a separate ac4 count to be used in carrying out this section. 

5 (2) CONTENTS.—The account shall consist of—

6 (A) amounts deposited in the account 

7 under subsection (d); and 

8 (B) interest added to the account under 

9 paragraph (4) of this subsection. 

10 (3) USE.—

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Amounts in the ac12 count shall be available to the Secretary until 

13 expended, without further appropriation, to 

14 pay—

15 (i) subject to subparagraph (B), costs 

16 incurred by the Bureau of Land Manage17 ment in arranging disposals of public lands 

18 under this section, including the costs of 

19 land boundary surveys, compliance with 

20 the National Environmental Policy Act of 

21 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), appraisals, 

22 environmental and cultural clearances, and 

23 public notice; 

24 (ii) the cost of acquisition from a will25 ing seller of environmentally sensitive land 
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1 or interests in such land in States in which 

2 are located public lands disposed of under 

3 this section; 

4 (iii) the cost of carrying out any nec5 essary revision or amendment of a current 

6 land use plan of the Bureau of Land Man7 agement that relates to public lands dis8 posed of under this section; 

9 (iv) the cost of projects or programs 

10 to restore or protect wetlands, riparian 

11 areas, or cultural, historic, prehistoric, or 

12 paleontological resources on public lands, 

13 including petroglyphs; and 

14 (v) the cost of projects, programs, or 

15 land acquisition to stabilize or restore 

16 water quality for water located or used on 

17 public lands.

18 (B) LIMITATIONS.—

19 (i) COSTS IN ARRANGING LAND DIS20 POSALS.—Costs charged against the ac21 count for the purposes described in sub22 paragraph (A)(i) shall not exceed the min23 imum amount practicable in view of the 

24 fair market value of the public lands dis25 posed of. 
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1 (ii) ACQUISITION.—Not more than 50 

2 percent of the amounts deposited in the ac3 count in any fiscal year may be used in 

4 that fiscal year or any subsequent fiscal 

5 year for the purpose described in subpara6 graph (A)(ii). 

7 (C) PLAN REVISIONS AND AMEND8 MENTS.—The process of revising or amending a 

9 land use plan shall not cause delay or postpone10 ment in the implementation of this section. 

11 (f) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than October 31 of 

12 each year, the Secretary shall report to the Congress de13 scribing in detail the use under subsection (d) during the 

14 preceding fiscal year of proceeds of disposals of public 

15 lands under this section, including the expenditures in 

16 that fiscal year of amounts made available under sub17 section (e). 

18 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 (1) PUBLIC LANDS.—The term ‘‘public lands’’ 

20 has the meaning that term has under section 103(e) 

21 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 

22 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702(e)). 

23 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

24 the Secretary of the Interior.

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