II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4696 

To provide for the continuation of higher education through the conveyance 

to the University of Alaska of certain public land in the State of Alaska, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 

Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself and Mr. SULLIVAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for the continuation of higher education through 

the conveyance to the University of Alaska of certain 

public land in the State of Alaska, 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘University of Alaska 

5 Fiscal Foundation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to establish a program 

8 within the Department of the Interior to fulfill the comVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:29 Oct 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4696.IS S4696

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1 mitment of Congress to establish the University of Alaska 

2 as a land grant university with holdings sufficient to facili3 tate operation and maintenance of a university system for 

4 the State of Alaska. 

5 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) AVAILABLE STATE SELECTED LAND.—The 

8 term ‘‘available State selected land’’ means Federal 

9 land in the State that has been selected by the 

10 State, including top-filed land, but not conveyed or 

11 patented to the State, pursuant to Public Law 85– 

12 508 (commonly known as the ‘‘Alaska Statehood 

13 Act’’) (48 U.S.C. note prec. 21). 

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

15 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di16 rector of the Bureau of Land Management. 

17 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

18 of Alaska. 

19 (4) UNIVERSITY.—The term ‘‘University’’ 

20 means the University of Alaska. 

21 SEC. 4. UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA LAND GRANT. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

23 a program within the Bureau of Land Management to 

24 identify and convey available State selected land to the 

25 University for a land grant to support higher education. 


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1 (b) IDENTIFICATION OF AVAILABLE STATE SE2 LECTED LAND.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

4 the date of enactment of this Act, the State and the 

5 University may jointly identify not more than 

6 500,000 acres of available State selected land for in7 clusion in the program established under subsection 

8 (a) for conveyance and patent to the University. 

9 (2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Upon the re10 quest of the State and the University, the Secretary 

11 shall provide technical assistance in the identifica12 tion of available State selected land for inclusion in 

13 the program. 

14 (3) SURVEY.—Upon notification that the State 

15 and the University have identified available State se16 lected land for conveyance under paragraph (1), the 

17 Secretary shall expeditiously survey the available 

18 State selected land. 

19 (4) MAPS.—As soon as practicable after the 

20 date on which the available State selected land is 

21 identified for conveyance under paragraph (1), the 

22 Secretary shall submit to Congress one or more 

23 maps depicting the available State selected land 

24 identified for conveyance under that paragraph. 


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1 (c) STATE AND UNIVERSITY CONCURRENCE; CON2 VEYANCES.—Subject to subsection (e), if the State and 

3 the University submit to the Secretary one or more joint 

4 letters stating that the State and the University concur 

5 with the conveyance of all or a portion of the available 

6 State selected land identified for conveyance under sub7 section (b)(1), the Secretary shall convey to the Board of 

8 Regents of the University, subject to valid existing rights, 

9 the applicable identified available State selected land, to 

10 be held in trust for the exclusive use and benefit of the 

11 University. 

12 (d) ADMINISTRATION OF CONVEYED LAND.—All 

13 available State selected land conveyed to the University 

14 under this Act, together with the income therefrom and 

15 the proceeds from any dispositions thereof, shall be admin16 istered by the University in trust to meet the necessary 

17 expenses of higher education programs, similar to prior 

18 Federal land grants to the University. 

19 (e) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.— 

20 (1) MAXIMUM ACREAGE.—The Secretary shall 

21 convey not more than a total of 360,000 acres of 

22 available State selected land to the University under 

23 this Act. 

24 (2) LETTERS OF CONCURRENCE.—For purposes 

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1 age limitation under paragraph (1), the State and 

2 the University may submit to the Secretary one or 

3 more joint letters of concurrence identifying parcels 

4 of available State selected land for conveyance as a 

5 subset of the total acres to be conveyed under this 

6 Act. 

7 (3) ACREAGE CHARGED AGAINST ALASKA

8 STATEHOOD ACT ENTITLEMENT.—The total acreage 

9 of all parcels of available State selected land con10 veyed to the University under this Act shall be 

11 charged against the remaining entitlement of the 

12 State under Public Law 85–508 (commonly known 

13 as the ‘‘Alaska Statehood Act’’) (48 U.S.C. note 

14 prec. 21). 

15 (4) SURVEY COSTS.—In accordance with Public 

16 Law 85–508 (commonly known as the ‘‘Alaska 

17 Statehood Act’’) (48 U.S.C. note prec. 21), the Sec18 retary shall be responsible for the costs of the survey 

19 under subsection (b)(3). 

20 (f) INTENT OF CONGRESS.—It is the intent of Con21 gress that any conveyance requested through a joint letter 

22 of concurrence under subsection (c) be finalized not later 

23 than 1 year after the date on which the letter is received 

24 by the Secretary. 


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1 (g) STATE AND UNIVERSITY PARTICIPATION.—Noth2 ing in this Act requires the State or the University— 

3 (1) to participate in the program established 

4 under subsection (a); or 

5 (2) to submit joint letters of concurrence under 

6 subsection (c) or (e)(2). 

7 SEC. 5. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION. 

8 On conveyance and patent to the University of the 

9 available State selected land under this Act, the Secretary 

10 shall notify the Committee on Energy and Natural Re11 sources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Re12 sources of the House of Representatives of the conveyance. 

Æ 


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