II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1028

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain parcels of land

acquired for the Blunt Reservoir and Pierre Canal features of the initial

stage of the Oahe Unit, James Division, South Dakota, to the Commission of Schools and Public Lands and the Department of Game, Fish,

and Parks of the State of South Dakota for the purpose of mitigating

lost wildlife habitat, on the condition that the current preferential leaseholders shall have an option to purchase the parcels from the Commission, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 13, 2001

Mr. DASCHLE (for himself and Mr. JOHNSON) introduced the following bill;

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

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain

parcels of land acquired for the Blunt Reservoir and

Pierre Canal features of the initial stage of the Oahe

Unit, James Division, South Dakota, to the Commission

of Schools and Public Lands and the Department of

Game, Fish, and Parks of the State of South Dakota

for the purpose of mitigating lost wildlife habitat, on

the condition that the current preferential leaseholders

shall have an option to purchase the parcels from the

Commission, and for other purposes.
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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 ‘‘Blunt Reservoir and

5 Pierre Canal Land Conveyance Act of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) under the Act of December 22, 1944 (com9 monly known as the ‘‘Flood Control Act of 1944’’)

10 (58 Stat. 887, chapter 665; 33 U.S.C. 701–1 et

11 seq.), Congress approved the Pick-Sloan Missouri

12 River Basin Program—

13 (A) to promote the general economic devel14 opment of the United States;

15 (B) to provide for irrigation above Sioux

16 City, Iowa;

17 (C) to provide for municipal and industrial

18 water supply, fish and wildlife, and recreation;

19 (D) to protect urban and rural areas from

20 devastating floods of the Missouri River; and

21 (E) for other purposes;

22 (2) the purpose of the Oahe Unit, James Divi23 sion, of the Oahe Irrigation Project was to meet the

24 requirements of that Act by providing irrigation

25 above Sioux City, Iowa;
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1 (3) the principal features of the initial stage of

2 the Oahe Unit, James Division, of the Oahe Irriga3 tion Project included—

4 (A) a system of main canals, including the

5 Pierre Canal, running east from the Oahe Res6 ervoir; and

7 (B) the establishment of regulating res8 ervoirs, including the Blunt Dam and Res9 ervoir, located approximately 35 miles east of

10 Pierre, South Dakota;

11 (4) land to establish the Pierre Canal and

12 Blunt Reservoir was purchased between 1972 and

13 1977, when construction on the initial stage of the

14 Oahe Unit, James Division, was halted;

15 (5) since 1978, the Commissioner of Reclama16 tion has administered the land—

17 (A) on a preferential lease basis to original

18 landowners or their descendants; and

19 (B) on a nonpreferential lease basis to

20 other persons;

21 (6) the 2 largest reservoirs created by the Pick22 Sloan Missouri River Basin Program, Lake Oahe

23 and Lake Sharpe, caused the loss of approximately

24 221,000 acres of fertile, wooded bottomland in

25 South Dakota that constituted some of the most
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1 productive, unique, and irreplaceable wildlife habitat

2 in the State;

3 (7) the State has developed a plan to meet the

4 Federal obligation under the Fish and Wildlife Co5 ordination Act (16 U.S.C. 661 et seq.) to mitigate

6 the loss of wildlife habitat, the implementation of

7 which is authorized by section 602 of title VI of

8 Public Law 105–277 (112 Stat. 2681–660); and

9 (8) it is in the interests of the United States

10 and the State to—

11 (A) provide original landowners or their

12 descendants with an opportunity to purchase

13 back their land; and

14 (B) transfer the remaining land to the

15 State to allow implementation of its habitat

16 mitigation plan.

17 SEC. 3. BLUNT RESERVOIR AND PIERRE CANAL.

18 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

19 (1) BLUNT RESERVOIR FEATURE.—The term

20 ‘‘Blunt Reservoir feature’’ means the Blunt Res21 ervoir feature of the Oahe Unit, James Division, au22 thorized by the Act of August 3, 1968 (82 Stat.

23 624), as part of the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin

24 Program.
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1 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’

2 means the Commission of Schools and Public Lands

3 of the State.

4 (3) NONPREFERENTIAL LEASE PARCEL.—The

5 term ‘‘nonpreferential lease parcel’’ means a parcel

6 of land that—

7 (A) was purchased by the Secretary for use

8 in connection with the Blunt Reservoir feature

9 or the Pierre Canal feature; and

10 (B) was considered to be a nonpreferential

11 lease parcel by the Secretary as of January 1,

12 2001, and is reflected as such on the roster of

13 leases of the Bureau of Reclamation for 2001.

14 (4) PIERRE CANAL FEATURE.—The term

15 ‘‘Pierre Canal feature’’ means the Pierre Canal fea16 ture of the Oahe Unit, James Division, authorized

17 by the Act of August 3, 1968 (82 Stat. 624), as

18 part of the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin Pro19 gram.

20 (5) PREFERENTIAL LEASEHOLDER.—The term

21 ‘‘preferential leaseholder’’ means a person or de22 scendant of a person that held a lease on a pref23 erential lease parcel as of January 1, 2001, and is

24 reflected as such on the roster of leases of the Bu25 reau of Reclamation for 2001.
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1 (6) PREFERENTIAL LEASE PARCEL.—The term

2 ‘‘preferential lease parcel’’ means a parcel of land

3 that—

4 (A) was purchased by the Secretary for use

5 in connection with the Blunt Reservoir feature

6 or the Pierre Canal feature; and

7 (B) was considered to be a preferential

8 lease parcel by the Secretary as of January 1,

9 2001, and is reflected as such on the roster of

10 leases of the Bureau of Reclamation for 2001.

11 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

12 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the

13 Commissioner of Reclamation.

14 (8) STATE.—

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘State’’

16 means the State of South Dakota.

17 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘State’’ in18 cludes a successor in interest of the State.

19 (9) UNLEASED PARCEL.—The term ‘‘unleased

20 parcel’’ means a parcel of land that—

21 (A) was purchased by the Secretary for use

22 in connection with the Blunt Reservoir feature

23 or the Pierre Canal feature; and

24 (B) is not under lease as of the date of en25 actment of this Act.
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1 (b) DEAUTHORIZATION.—The Blunt Reservoir fea2 ture is deauthorized.

3 (c) CONVEYANCE.—Not later than 1 year after the

4 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall convey

5 all of the preferential lease parcels to the Commission,

6 without consideration, on the condition that the Commis7 sion honor the purchase option provided to preferential

8 leaseholders under subsection (e).

9 (d) ACCEPTANCE OF LAND AND OBLIGATIONS.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of each con11 veyance under subsections (c) and (f), respectively,

12 the State shall agree to accept—

13 (A) in ‘‘as is’’ condition, the Blunt Res14 ervoir Feature and the Pierre Canal Feature;

15 and

16 (B) any liability accruing after the date of

17 conveyance as a result of the ownership, oper18 ation, or maintenance of the features referred

19 to in subparagraph (A), including liability asso20 ciated with certain outstanding obligations asso21 ciated with expired easements, or any other

22 right granted in, on, over, or across either fea23 ture.

24 (2) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE STATE.—An

25 outstanding obligation described in paragraph (1)(B)
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1 shall inure to the benefit of, and be binding upon,

2 the State.

3 (3) OIL, GAS, MINERAL, AND OTHER OUT4 STANDING RIGHTS.—A conveyance under subsection

5 (c) or (f) shall be made subject to—

6 (A) oil, gas, and other mineral rights re7 served of record, as of the date of enactment of

8 this Act, by or in favor of a third party; and

9 (B) any permit, license, lease, right-of-use,

10 or right-of-way of record in, on, over, or across

11 a feature referred to in paragraph (1)(A) that

12 is outstanding as to a third party as of the date

13 of enactment of this Act.

14 (e) PURCHASE OPTION.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—A preferential leaseholder

16 shall have an option to purchase from the Commis17 sion the preferential lease parcel that is the subject

18 of the lease.

19 (2) TERMS.—

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

21 subparagraph (B), a preferential leaseholder

22 may elect to purchase a parcel on 1 of the fol23 lowing terms:

24 (i) Cash purchase for the amount that

25 is equal to—
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1 (I) the value of the parcel deter2 mined under paragraph (4); minus

3 (II) 10 percent of that value.

4 (ii) Installment purchase, with 10 per5 cent of the value of the parcel determined

6 under paragraph (4) to be paid on the date

7 of purchase and the remainder to be paid

8 over not more than 30 years at 3 percent

9 annual interest.

10 (B) VALUE UNDER $10,000.—If the value

11 of the parcel is under $10,000, the purchase

12 shall be made on a cash basis in accordance

13 with subparagraph (A)(i).

14 (3) OPTION EXERCISE PERIOD.—

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—A preferential lease16 holder shall have until the date that is 5 years

17 after the date of the conveyance under sub18 section (c) to exercise the option under para19 graph (1).

20 (B) CONTINUATION OF LEASES.—Until the

21 date specified in subparagraph (A), a pref22 erential leaseholder shall be entitled to continue

23 to lease from the Commission the parcel leased

24 by the preferential leaseholder under the same
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1 terms and conditions as under the lease, as in

2 effect as of the date of conveyance.

3 (4) VALUATION.—

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The value of a pref5 erential lease parcel shall be determined to be,

6 at the election of the preferential leaseholder—

7 (i) the amount that is equal to—

8 (I) the number of acres of the

9 preferential lease parcel; multiplied by

10 (II) the amount of the per-acre

11 assessment of adjacent parcels made

12 by the Director of Equalization of the

13 county in which the preferential lease

14 parcel is situated; or

15 (ii) the amount of a valuation of the

16 preferential lease parcel for agricultural

17 use made by an independent appraiser.

18 (B) COST OF APPRAISAL.—If a preferential

19 leaseholder elects to use the method of valu20 ation described in subparagraph (A)(ii), the

21 cost of the valuation shall be paid by the pref22 erential leaseholder.

23 (5) CONVEYANCE TO THE STATE.—

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—If a preferential lease25 holder fails to purchase a parcel within the pe-
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1 riod specified in paragraph (3)(A), the Commis2 sion shall convey the parcel to the State of

3 South Dakota Department of Game, Fish, and

4 Parks.

5 (B) WILDLIFE HABITAT MITIGATION.—

6 Land conveyed under subparagraph (A) shall be

7 used by the South Dakota Department of

8 Game, Fish, and Parks for the purpose of miti9 gating the wildlife habitat that was lost as a re10 sult of the development of the Pick-Sloan

11 project.

12 (6) USE OF PROCEEDS.—Of the proceeds of

13 sales of land under this subsection—

14 (A) not more than $750,000 shall be used

15 to reimburse the Secretary for expenses in16 curred in implementing this Act;

17 (B) an amount not exceeding 10 percent of

18 the cost of each transaction conducted under

19 this Act shall be used to reimburse the Commis20 sion for expenses incurred implementing this

21 Act;

22 (C) $3,095,000 shall be deposited in the

23 South Dakota Wildlife Habitat Mitigation

24 Trust Fund established by section 603 of the

25 Water Resources Development Act of 1999
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1 (113 Stat. 389) for the purpose of paying prop2 erty taxes on land transferred to the State;

3 (D) $185,400 shall be transferred to Sully

4 County, South Dakota;

5 (E) $14,600 shall be transferred to

6 Hughes County, South Dakota; and

7 (F) the remainder shall be used by the

8 Commission to support public schools in the

9 State.

10 (f) CONVEYANCE OF NONPREFERENTIAL LEASE

11 PARCELS AND UNLEASED PARCELS.—

12 (1) CONVEYANCE BY SECRETARY TO STATE.—

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year

14 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec15 retary shall convey to the South Dakota De16 partment of Game, Fish, and Parks the non17 preferential lease parcels and unleased parcels

18 of the Blunt Reservoir and Pierre Canal.

19 (B) WILDLIFE HABITAT MITIGATION.—

20 Land conveyed under subparagraph (A) shall be

21 used by the South Dakota Department of

22 Game, Fish, and Parks for the purpose of miti23 gating the wildlife habitat that was lost as a re24 sult of the development of the Pick-Sloan

25 project.
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1 (2) LAND EXCHANGES FOR NONPREFERENTIAL

2 LEASE PARCELS AND UNLEASED PARCELS.—

3 (A) IN GENERAL.—With the concurrence

4 of the South Dakota Department of Game,

5 Fish, and Parks, the South Dakota Commission

6 of Schools and Public Lands may allow a per7 son to exchange land that the person owns else8 where in the State for a nonpreferential lease

9 parcel or unleased parcel at Blunt Reservoir or

10 Pierre Canal, as the case may be.

11 (B) PRIORITY.—The right to exchange

12 nonpreferential lease parcels or unleased parcels

13 shall be granted in the following order of pri14 ority:

15 (i) Exchanges with current lessees for

16 nonpreferential lease parcels.

17 (ii) Exchanges with adjoining and ad18 jacent landowners for unleased parcels and

19 nonpreferential lease parcels not exchanged

20 by current lessees.

21 (C) EASEMENT FOR WATER CONVEYANCE

22 STRUCTURE.—As a condition of the exchange of

23 land of the Pierre Canal Feature under this

24 paragraph, the United States reserves a per25 petual easement to the land to allow for the
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1 right to design, construct, operate, maintain,

2 repair, and replace a pipeline or other water

3 conveyance structure over, under, across, or

4 through the Pierre Canal Feature.

5 (g) RELEASE FROM LIABILITY.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Effective on the date of con7 veyance of any parcel under this Act, the United

8 States shall not be held liable by any court for dam9 ages of any kind arising out of any act, omission, or

10 occurrence relating to the parcel, except for damages

11 for acts of negligence committed by the United

12 States or by an employee, agent, or contractor of the

13 United States, before the date of conveyance.

14 (2) NO ADDITIONAL LIABILITY.—Nothing in

15 this section adds to any liability that the United

16 States may have under chapter 171 of title 28,

17 United States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Fed18 eral Tort Claims Act’’).

19 (h) REQUIREMENTS CONCERNING CONVEYANCE OF

20 LEASE PARCELS.—

21 (1) INTERIM REQUIREMENTS.—During the pe22 riod beginning on the date of enactment of this Act

23 and ending on the date of conveyance of the parcel,

24 the Secretary shall continue to lease each pref25 erential lease parcel or nonpreferential lease parcel
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1 to be conveyed under this section under the terms

2 and conditions applicable to the parcel on the date

3 of enactment of this Act.

4 (2) PROVISION OF PARCEL DESCRIPTIONS.—

5 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment

6 of this Act, the Secretary shall provide the State a

7 full legal description of all preferential lease parcels

8 and nonpreferential lease parcels that may be con9 veyed under this section.

10 (i) FUNDING OF THE SOUTH DAKOTA TERRESTRIAL

11 WILDLIFE HABITAT RESTORATION TRUST FUND.—Sec12 tion 603(b) of the Water Resources Development Act of

13 1999 (113 Stat. 388) is amended by striking

14 ‘‘$108,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$111,095,000’’.

15 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

16 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act

17 $750,000.

Æ