I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5651

To convey certain Federal lands to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and

for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

DECEMBER 8, 2000

Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO ́ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Armed Services, 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

A BILL

To convey certain Federal lands to the Commonwealth of

Puerto Rico, 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. CONVEYANCE OF FEDERAL LANDS.

4 All right, title and interest of the United States in

5 and to those lands designated for transfer, or transferred,

6 to the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to section 1508

7 of title XV of Public Law 106–398 shall be conveyed,

8 without consideration, to the Commonwealth of Puerto

9 Rico.
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1 SEC. 2. MANAGEMENT OF CONVEYED LANDS.

2 (a) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.—

3 (1) Those areas conveyed to the Commonwealth

4 of Puerto Rico pursuant to section 1 shall be man5 aged for conservation purposes subject to a coopera6 tive agreement between the Commonwealth of Puer7 to Rico and the Secretary of the Interior.

8 (2) Areas adjacent to the areas conveyed to the

9 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico pursuant to section 1

10 shall be considered for inclusion under the coopera11 tive agreement. Adjacent areas to be included under

12 the cooperative agreement shall be mutually agreed

13 to by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the

14 Secretary of the Interior. This determination of in15 clusion of lands shall be incorporated into the coop16 erative agreement process as set forth in paragraph

17 (1).

18 (3) The cooperative agreement referenced in

19 this subsection shall be implemented in cooperation

20 with the Puerto Rico Conservation Trust and other

21 interested parties.

22 (b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.—

23 (1) PURPOSES.—All lands subject to the coop24 erative agreement required by subsection (a) shall be

25 managed to protect and preserve the natural re26 sources of these lands in perpetuity. Consistent with
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1 the provisions of this subsection, the Commonwealth

2 of Puerto Rico, and the Secretary of the Interior

3 shall comply with all applicable Federal environ4 mental laws, including the National Environmental

5 Policy Act of 1969, the Endangered Species Act of

6 1973, and the National Historic Preservation Act.

7 (2) TIMING.—The cooperative agreement shall

8 be completed not later than 120 days after the en9 actment of this Act. The Commonwealth of Puerto

10 Rico shall implement the terms and conditions of the

11 cooperative agreement, which can only be amended

12 by agreement of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

13 and the Secretary of the Interior.

14 (c) ROLE OF NATIONAL FISH AND WILDLIFE FOUN15 DATION.—Contingent on funds being available specifically

16 for the preservation and protection of natural resources

17 on the lands referred to in section 1, amounts necessary

18 to carry out the cooperative agreement may be made avail19 able to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to es20 tablish and manage an endowment for the management

21 of lands conveyed to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

22 and subject to the cooperative agreement. The proceeds

23 from investment of the endowment shall be available on

24 an annual basis. The Foundation shall strive to leverage
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1 annual proceeds with non-Federal funds to the fullest ex2 tent possible.

3 SEC. 3. CONTINUED DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE RESPONSI4 BILITY.

5 Federal responsibility to fund and implement any

6 necessary response actions (including operation and main7 tenance) to address environmental contamination result8 ing from the acts, omissions or presence of the Depart9 ment of Defense or which is present at the time of any

10 conveyance by the Secretary of the Navy to the Secretary

11 of the Interior pursuant to title XV of Public Law 106–

12 398 (including contamination subsequently discovered) or

13 which is present at the time of conveyance by the Sec14 retary of the Navy to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

15 pursuant to this Act (including contamination subse16 quently discovered), shall be the exclusive responsibility of

17 the Secretary of Defense, and not the responsibility of the

18 Secretary of the Interior or the Commonwealth of Puerto

19 Rico, unless such contamination was caused or contributed

20 to by the Department of the Interior or the Common21 wealth of Puerto Rico. With respect to the conveyance im22 plemented pursuant to section 1, the Secretary of Defense

23 shall have the responsibility, on behalf of the United

24 States, to comply with the requirements of section 120(h)

25 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Com-
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1 pensation and Liability Act, as amended. The Common2 wealth of Puerto Rico and the Department of the Interior

3 shall provide the Department of Defense with access to

4 the property as may be required to carry out its obliga5 tions or to satisfy the liability of the United States. Any

6 response actions carried out by the Secretary of Defense

7 shall be conducted subject to and in compliance with envi8 ronmental laws, including but not limited to CERCLA (42

9 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.), and undertaken in a manner con10 sistent with the conservation and natural resources uses

11 and mission for the property.

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