I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 883

To preserve the sovereignty of the United States over public lands and

acquired lands owned by the United States, and to preserve State sovereignty and private property rights in non-Federal lands surrounding

those public lands and acquired lands.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 6, 2001

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Resources

A BILL

To preserve the sovereignty of the United States over public

lands and acquired lands owned by the United States,

and to preserve State sovereignty and private property

rights in non-Federal lands surrounding those public

lands and acquired lands.

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 ‘‘American Land Sov5 ereignty Protection Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) The power to dispose of and make all need2 ful rules and regulations governing lands belonging

3 to the United States is vested in the Congress under

4 article IV, section 3, of the Constitution.

5 (2) Some Federal land designations made pur6 suant to international agreements concern land use

7 policies and regulations for lands belonging to the

8 United States which under article IV, section 3, of

9 the Constitution can only be implemented through

10 laws enacted by the Congress.

11 (3) Some international land designations, such

12 as those under the United States Biosphere Reserve

13 Program and the Man and Biosphere Program of

14 the United Nations Scientific, Educational, and Cul15 tural Organization, operate under independent na16 tional committees, such as the United States Na17 tional Man and Biosphere Committee, which have no

18 legislative directives or authorization from the Con19 gress.

20 (4) Actions by the United States in making

21 such designations may affect the use and value of

22 nearby or intermixed non-Federal lands.

23 (5) The sovereignty of the States is a critical

24 component of our Federal system of government and
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1 a bulwark against the unwise concentration of

2 power.

3 (6) Private property rights are essential for the

4 protection of freedom.

5 (7) Actions by the United States to designate

6 lands belonging to the United States pursuant to

7 international agreements in some cases conflict with

8 congressional constitutional responsibilities and

9 State sovereign capabilities.

10 (8) Actions by the President in applying certain

11 international agreements to lands owned by the

12 United States diminishes the authority of the Con13 gress to make rules and regulations respecting these

14 lands.

15 (b) PURPOSE.—The purposes of this Act are the fol16 lowing:

17 (1) To reaffirm the power of the Congress

18 under article IV, section 3, of the Constitution over

19 international agreements which concern disposal,

20 management, and use of lands belonging to the

21 United States.

22 (2) To protect State powers not reserved to the

23 Federal Government under the Constitution from

24 Federal actions designating lands pursuant to inter25 national agreements.
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1 (3) To ensure that no United States citizen suf2 fers any diminishment or loss of individual rights as

3 a result of Federal actions designating lands pursu4 ant to international agreements for purposes of im5 posing restrictions on use of those lands.

6 (4) To protect private interests in real property

7 from diminishment as a result of Federal actions

8 designating lands pursuant to international agree9 ments.

10 (5) To provide a process under which the

11 United States may, when desirable, designate lands

12 pursuant to international agreements.

13 SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF CONGRESSIONAL ROLE IN

14 WORLD HERITAGE SITE LISTING.

15 Section 401 of the National Historic Preservation Act

16 Amendments of 1980 (Public Law 96–515; 94 Stat. 2987)

17 is amended—

18 (1) in subsection (a) in the first sentence, by—

19 (A) striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting

20 ‘‘Subject to subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e),

21 the Secretary’’; and

22 (B) inserting ‘‘(in this section referred to

23 as the ‘Convention’)’’ after ‘‘1973’’; and

24 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub25 sections:
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1 ‘‘(d)(1) The Secretary of the Interior may not nomi2 nate any lands owned by the United States for inclusion

3 on the World Heritage List pursuant to the Convention,

4 unless—

5 ‘‘(A) the Secretary finds with reasonable basis

6 that commercially viable uses of the nominated

7 lands, and commercially viable uses of other lands

8 located within 10 miles of the nominated lands, in

9 existence on the date of the nomination will not be

10 adversely affected by inclusion of the lands on the

11 World Heritage List, and publishes that finding;

12 ‘‘(B) the Secretary has submitted to the Con13 gress a report describing—

14 ‘‘(i) natural resources associated with the

15 lands referred to in subparagraph (A); and

16 ‘‘(ii) the impacts that inclusion of the nom17 inated lands on the World Heritage List would

18 have on existing and future uses of the nomi19 nated lands or other lands located within 10

20 miles of the nominated lands; and

21 ‘‘(C) the nomination is specifically authorized

22 by a law enacted after the date of enactment of the

23 American Land Sovereignty Protection Act and after

24 the date of publication of a finding under subpara25 graph (A) for the nomination.
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1 ‘‘(2) The President may submit to the Speaker of the

2 House of Representatives and the President of the Senate

3 a proposal for legislation authorizing such a nomination

4 after publication of a finding under paragraph (1)(A) for

5 the nomination.

6 ‘‘(e) The Secretary of the Interior shall object to the

7 inclusion of any property in the United States on the list

8 of World Heritage in Danger established under Article

9 11.4 of the Convention, unless—

10 ‘‘(1) the Secretary has submitted to the Speak11 er of the House of Representatives and the Presi12 dent of the Senate a report describing—

13 ‘‘(A) the necessity for including that prop14 erty on the list;

15 ‘‘(B) the natural resources associated with

16 the property; and

17 ‘‘(C) the impacts that inclusion of the

18 property on the list would have on existing and

19 future uses of the property and other property

20 located within 10 miles of the property pro21 posed for inclusion; and

22 ‘‘(2) the Secretary is specifically authorized to

23 assent to the inclusion of the property on the list,

24 by a joint resolution of the Congress after the date

25 of submittal of the report required by paragraph (1).
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1 ‘‘(f) The Secretary of the Interior shall submit an an2 nual report on each World Heritage Site within the United

3 States to the Chairman and Ranking Minority member of

4 the Committee on Resources of the House of Representa5 tives and of the Committee on Energy and Natural Re6 sources of the Senate, that contains for the year covered

7 by the report the following information for the site:

8 ‘‘(1) An accounting of all money expended to

9 manage the site.

10 ‘‘(2) A summary of Federal full time equivalent

11 hours related to management of the site.

12 ‘‘(3) A list and explanation of all nongovern13 mental organizations that contributed to the man14 agement of the site.

15 ‘‘(4) A summary and account of the disposition

16 of complaints received by the Secretary related to

17 management of the site.’’.

18 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION AND TERMINATION OF UNAUTHOR19 IZED UNITED NATIONS BIOSPHERE RE20 SERVES.

21 Title IV of the National Historic Preservation Act

22 Amendments of 1980 (16 U.S.C. 470a–1 et seq.) is

23 amended by adding at the end the following new section:

24 ‘‘SEC. 403. (a) No Federal official may nominate any

25 lands in the United States for designation as a Biosphere
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1 Reserve under the Man and Biosphere Program of the

2 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Or3 ganization.

4 ‘‘(b) Any designation on or before the date of enact5 ment of the American Land Sovereignty Protection Act

6 of an area in the United States as a Biosphere Reserve

7 under the Man and Biosphere Program of the United Na8 tions Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization

9 shall not have, and shall not be given, any force or effect,

10 unless the Biosphere Reserve—

11 ‘‘(1) is specifically authorized by a law enacted

12 after that date of enactment and before December

13 31, 2003;

14 ‘‘(2) consists solely of lands that on that date

15 of enactment are owned by the United States; and

16 ‘‘(3) is subject to a management plan that spe17 cifically ensures that the use of intermixed or adja18 cent non-Federal property is not limited or restricted

19 as a result of that designation.

20 ‘‘(c) The Secretary of State shall submit an annual

21 report on each Biosphere Reserve within the United States

22 to the Chairman and Ranking Minority member of the

23 Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives

24 and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of
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1 the Senate, that contains for the year covered by the re2 port the following information for the reserve:

3 ‘‘(1) An accounting of all money expended to

4 manage the reserve.

5 ‘‘(2) A summary of Federal full time equivalent

6 hours related to management of the reserve.

7 ‘‘(3) A list and explanation of all nongovern8 mental organizations that contributed to the man9 agement of the reserve.

10 ‘‘(4) A summary and account of the disposition

11 of the complaints received by the Secretary related

12 to management of the reserve.’’.

13 SEC. 5. INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS IN GENERAL.

14 Title IV of the National Historic Preservation Act

15 Amendments of 1980 (16 U.S.C. 470a–1 et seq.) is fur16 ther amended by adding at the end the following new sec17 tion:

18 ‘‘SEC. 404. (a) No Federal official may nominate,

19 classify, or designate any lands owned by the United

20 States and located within the United States for a special

21 or restricted use under any international agreement unless

22 such nomination, classification, or designation is specifi23 cally authorized by law. The President may from time to

24 time submit to the Speaker of the House of Representa25 tives and the President of the Senate proposals for legisla-
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1 tion authorizing such a nomination, classification, or des2 ignation.

3 ‘‘(b) A nomination, classification, or designation,

4 under any international agreement, of lands owned by a

5 State or local government shall have no force or effect un6 less the nomination, classification, or designation is spe7 cifically authorized by a law enacted by the State or local

8 government, respectively.

9 ‘‘(c) A nomination, classification, or designation,

10 under any international agreement, of privately owned

11 lands shall have no force or effect without the written con12 sent of the owner of the lands.

13 ‘‘(d) This section shall not apply to—

14 ‘‘(1) agreements established under section 16(a)

15 of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act

16 (16 U.S.C. 4413); and

17 ‘‘(2) conventions referred to in section 3(h)(3)

18 of the Fish and Wildlife Improvement Act of 1978

19 (16 U.S.C. 712(2)).

20 ‘‘(e) In this section, the term ‘international agree21 ment’ means any treaty, compact, executive agreement,

22 convention, bilateral agreement, or multilateral agreement

23 between the United States or any agency of the United

24 States and any foreign entity or agency of any foreign en25 tity, having a primary purpose of conserving, preserving,
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1 or protecting the terrestrial or marine environment, flora,

2 or fauna.’’.

3 SEC. 6. CLERICAL AMENDMENT.

4 Section 401(b) of the National Historic Preservation

5 Act Amendments of 1980 (16 U.S.C. 470a–1(b)) is

6 amended by striking ‘‘Committee on Natural Resources’’

7 and inserting ‘‘Committee on Resources’’.

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