I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2032

To transfer the lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management

to the State in which the lands are located.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 13, 1995

Mr. HANSEN (for himself, Mrs. VUCANOVICH, Mrs. CUBIN, Mr. COOLEY, Mr.

POMBO, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. HERGER, Mr. SKEEN, Mr. STUMP, and Mr.

ALLARD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources

A BILL

To transfer the lands administered by the Bureau of Land

Management to the State in which the lands are located.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. TRANSFER OF BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

4 LANDS.

5 (a) REQUIRED OFFER.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to valid existing

7 rights and except as otherwise provided in this Act,

8 the Secretary of the Interior shall offer to transfer

9 all right, title, and interest of the United States in
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1 and to all lands and interests in lands administered

2 by the Bureau of Land Management to the State in

3 which such lands and interests are located.

4 (2) LANDS AND INTERESTS INCLUDED.—The

5 lands and interests in lands referred to in paragraph

6 (1) include—

7 (A) the fee simple interest where the

8 United States owns both the surface and min9 eral rights;

10 (B) the mineral rights where the surface

11 estate is owned by a non-Federal person, in12 cluding a State or political subdivision thereof;

13 and

14 (C) water rights related to such lands or

15 interests.

16 (3) EXCLUSION OF MINERAL INTERESTS UN17 DERLYING INDIAN RESERVATIONS.—Paragraph (1)

18 does not apply with respect to the mineral interests

19 underlying a surface estate held by the United

20 States in trust for an Indian tribe.

21 (b) TWO-YEAR PERIOD TO MAKE OFFER TO GOV22 ERNOR.—The offer required by subsection (a) with respect

23 to a State shall be made to the Governor within two years

24 after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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1 (c) ACCEPTANCE OF OFFER.—A State may only ac2 cept the offer of all such lands or reject such offer. Accept3 ance of an offer under subsection (a) may only be made

4 by the Governor, in writing to the Secretary.

5 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE OF TRANSFER.—Any transfer

6 of lands under this Act shall be effective with respect to

7 a State on the date which is ten years after the date on

8 which the offer to the Governor is accepted.

9 (e) SURVEYS.—The Secretary is not required to con10 duct a survey of any lands prior to transferring such lands

11 under this Act.

12 SEC. 2. LEASES, PERMITS, AND UNPATENTED MINING

13 CLAIMS.

14 (a) VALID LEASES AND PERMITS.—Each State re15 ceiving lands under this Act shall honor valid existing

16 leases and permits on such lands for the term of such lease

17 or permit and shall manage such leases and permits in

18 accordance with their other terms and conditions.

19 (b) MINING CLAIMS.—(1) Except for those mining

20 claims for which the holder is entitled to a patent as pro21 vided in paragraph (2), after the date on which lands sub22 ject to a mining claim are transferred to a State under

23 this Act, the validity and continued existence of the mining

24 claim shall be determined under the laws of the State to
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1 which the lands were transferred and shall be adminis2 tered in accordance with such laws.

3 (2) The holder of a mining claim is entitled to the

4 issuance of a patent in the case of a mining claim on lands

5 transferred to a State under this Act in the same manner

6 and degree to which such holder would have been entitled

7 to prior to the date of such transfer if, as of the date

8 of the transfer a patent application was filed with the Sec9 retary and all requirements—

10 (A) under sections 2325 and 2326 of the Re11 vised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 29 and 30) for vein or

12 lode claims;

13 (B) under sections 2329, 2330, 2331, and 2333

14 of the Revised Statues (30 U.S.C. 35, 36, 37) for

15 placer claims; and

16 (C) applicable to such patent application for

17 mill site claims,

18 were fully complied with.

19 (c) RIGHTS-OF-WAY.—Each State receiving lands

20 under this Act shall respect all rights-of-way granted by

21 the United States on such lands in accordance with the

22 terms and conditions of the rights-of-way.
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1 SEC. 3. MANAGEMENT OF LANDS TRANSFERRED BY THIS

2 ACT.

3 (a) WILDERNESS.—Lands transferred by this Act

4 which have been designated by an Act of Congress as wil5 derness shall be managed by the State as wilderness in

6 accordance with the requirements specified in the Wilder7 ness Act, the Act of Congress which designated the lands

8 as wilderness, and any other Act of Congress which spe9 cifically provides for the management of such lands, except

10 that the State shall be substituted for the Secretary of

11 the Interior.

12 (b) MILITARY USES.—(1) Lands transferred by this

13 Act which on the date of such transfer are subject to use

14 for military purposes shall continue to be subject to the

15 same military uses.

16 (2) In the case of lands transferred to a State under

17 this Act which are subject to a withdrawal from public

18 use for military purposes, the State shall respect the with19 drawal and military use for the term of the withdrawal

20 and may not impose any fee or other charge on the United

21 States with respect to the military purpose. At the end

22 of such term, the Secretary of the military department

23 concerned, or the Secretary of Defense, may negotiate

24 with the Governor of the State for the continued use of

25 such lands. Lands for which there is not a continued mili26 tary use shall be decontaminated by the appropriate Sec-
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1 retary in accordance with the Act of Congress which with2 drew such lands for military purposes or the withdrawal

3 order, if any.

4 (c) RECORDS.—The Secretary of the Interior shall

5 continue to hold all land records of the Secretary with re6 spect to the lands transferred to a State under this Act.

7 The Secretary shall provide to the State full copies of all

8 applicable land records relating to lands which are trans9 ferred under this Act. The Secretary shall make such

10 records available for public use as the Secretary deter11 mines appropriate.

12 (d) INDIAN LANDS.—The mineral interests described

13 in section 1(a)(3) shall be transferred from the adminis14 trative jurisidiction of the Bureau of Land Management

15 and shall be held in trust for the Indian tribe for whom

16 the overlying surface estate is held in trust.

17 SEC. 4. WATER RIGHTS.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall transfer to

19 the State receiving lands under this Act all water rights

20 of the United States associated with the lands.

21 (b) CERTAIN RIGHTS NOT AFFECTED.—A transfer

22 of water rights under subsection (a) shall not be construed

23 as—

24 (1) affecting, impairing, diminishing, subordi25 nating, or enlarging—
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1 (A) the rights of the United States or any

2 State to water under any international treaty,

3 interstate compact, or existing judicial decree;

4 (B) any obligation of the United States to

5 Indians or Indian tribes or any claim or right

6 owned or held by or for Indians or Indian

7 tribes, including with respect to any Indian

8 water compact;

9 (C) any right to any quantity of water re10 served or used for governmental purposes or

11 programs of the United States at any time

12 prior to the date of the enactment of this Act;

13 or

14 (D) any license or permit issued before the

15 date of the enactment of this Act; or

16 (2) as a recognition, disclaimer, relinquishment,

17 or reduction of any water right of the United States

18 reserved or appropriated before the date of the en19 actment of this Act.

20 SEC. 5. REDUCTION IN BUDGET AUTHORITY FOR THE BU21 REAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT.

22 (a) CAP ON OBLIGATIONS AND EXPENDITURES.—Be23 ginning with the fiscal year in which this Act is enacted,

24 not more than $800,000,000 may be obligated or ex25 pended in any fiscal year by the Bureau of Land Manage-
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1 ment in carrying out its duties, functions, and responsibil2 ities under any provision of law.

3 (b) PRIORITY FOR USE OF FISCAL RESOURCES.—

4 The Secretary shall give priority to expending amounts

5 available to the Bureau of Land Management to land

6 management activities and to carrying out this Act.

7 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

8 As used in this Act—

9 (1) the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ means any Indian

10 tribe, band, nation, pueblo, or other organized group

11 or community, including any Alaska Native village

12 or regional corporation as defined in or established

13 pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement

14 Act, which is recognized as eligible for the special

15 programs and services provided by the United States

16 to Indians because of their status as Indians; and

17 (2) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

18 of the Interior.

Æ