99–006

107TH CONGRESS REPORT " HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ! 2d Session 107–691

REPEAL OF RESERVATION OF MINERAL RIGHTS, 

LIVINGSTON PARISH, LOUISIANA

SEPTEMBER 25, 2002.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. HANSEN, from the Committee on Resources, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 3896] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 

(H.R. 3896) to repeal the reservation of mineral rights made by the 

United States when certain lands in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, 

were conveyed by Public Law 102–562, having considered the 

same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 3896 is to repeal the reservation of mineral 

rights made by the United States when certain lands in Livingston 

Parish, Lousiana, were conveyed by Public Law 102–562. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The land in question was held in private ownership when the 

United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France in 

1803. During the French Regime, Napoleonic Law maintained that 

all private land ownership applied exclusively to the surface rights, 

while subsurface (mineral) rights were the property of the French 

government. When Louisiana was purchased by the United States, 

and subsequently became a state in 1812, ownership of all privately held parcels of land entitled settlers to surface and mineral 

rights. 

For the United States and Louisiana to recognize a settler’s right 

to a parcel of land, Congress required a Commissioner’s Report to 

certify a settler’s entitlement of possession. On March 3, 1819, Congress passed an act for ‘‘adjusting the claims to Land establishing 

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land-offices in the District east of the island of New Orleans.’’ Specifically, this act was designed to resolve disputes and claims in the 

southeastern region of Louisiana, north of New Orleans, where the 

land in question is located. Pursuant to this act, a Commissioner’s 

Report was issued May 1, 1820, verifying the land owner’s entitlement to land. 

On December 17, 1824, an Order of Survey was signed by a federal land agent further asserting the landowner’s claim and specifically indicating the dimensions of the property. This and the Commissioner’s Report are required before the United States would 

issue a land patent. For unknown reasons, these documents were 

not received in Washington, DC. 

On December 2, 1875, the Surveyor General of the United States 

reasserted the land owner’s claim to the property and acknowledged the ‘‘clerical’’ negligence of the register (also called ‘‘recorder’’) to provide all necessary information required for landowner’s patent. For unknown reasons, these documents were not 

thoroughly processed, similar to numerous other patent cases in 

Louisiana, a state that at the time remained under federal military 

jurisdiction. 

From 1875 to 1970 the federal government neither issued the 

landowner a patent nor removed him from the property. In the late 

1960s and early 1970s the federal government surveyed the inventory of Louisiana properties and discovered no patent had been 

issued for the Livingston Parish property in question. During this 

time, Senator Allen Ellender attempted to resolve the matter, but 

passed away. The issue remained unattended until 1992 when 

Represenative Richard Baker and Senator J. Bennet Johnston 

passed legislation that became P.L. 102–948, which conveyed only 

the surface rights of the land, not the mineral rights. H.R. 3896 is 

designed to restore the mineral rights to the private landowners in 

Livingston Parish, Louisiana. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 3896 was introduced on March 7, 2002 by Mr. Baker of Louisiana. The bill was referred to the Committee on Resources, and 

within the Committee to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral 

Resources. On September 12, 2002, the Full Resources Committee 

met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral 

Resources was discharged from further consideration of the bill. 

The bill was then ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by voice vote. 

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in 

the body of this report. 

CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United States 

grants Congress the authority to enact this bill. 

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COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII 

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of 

the House of Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) of that rule provides 

that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. 

2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2) of rule 

XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 

308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this bill does not 

contain any new budget authority, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in tax expenditures. According 

to the Congressional Budget Office, H.R. 3896 could result in forgone offsetting receipts but they estimate that any such effects 

would be negligible. 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 

clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or objective 

of this bill is to repeal the reservation of mineral rights made by 

the United States when certain lands in Livingston, Parish, Louisiana, were conveyed by Public Law 102–562. 

4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause 

3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 

section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate for this bill from the 

Director of the Congressional Budget Office:

U.S. CONGRESS, 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, 

Washington, DC, September 24, 2002. 

Hon. JAMES V. HANSEN, 

Chairman, Committee on Resources, 

House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 3896, a bill to repeal the 

reservation of mineral rights made by the United States when certain lands in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, were conveyed by Public Law 102–562. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Megan Carroll. 

Sincerely, 

BARRY B. ANDERSON, 

(For Dan L. Crippen, Director). 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 3896—A bill to repeal the reservation of mineral rights made 

by the United States when certain lands in Livingston Parish, 

Louisiana, were conveyed by Public Law 102–562

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 3896 would have no significant impact on the federal budget. The bill could result in forgone 

offsetting receipts (a credit against direct spending); therefore, payas-you-go procedures would apply, but we estimate that any such 

effects would be negligible. H.R. 3896 contains no intergovernVerDate Sep 04 2002 00:36 Sep 28, 2002 Jkt 099006 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR691.XXX HR691
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mental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded 

Mandates Reform Act and would have no significant impact on the 

budgets of state, local, or tribal governments. 

Public Law 102–562 directed the Secretary of the Interior to convey to private landowners the surface estate to 640 acres of federal 

lands in Louisiana. H.R. 3896 would eliminate a provision in that 

law that reserved mineral rights to those lands for the federal government. In doing so, the bill effectively would convey those rights 

to the owners of the surface estate. 

Conveying the rights to mineral resources could result in forgone 

offsetting receipts if, under current law, those resources would generate income from federal programs to develop them. According to 

the Bureau of Land Management, however, the agency currently 

collects no significant receipts from such programs and does not expect to do so over the next 10 years. Hence, CBO estimates that 

any forgone receipts under H.R. 3896 would be negligible. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Megan Carroll. This 

estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4 

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law.

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill, 

as reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets and existing law in which no 

change is proposed is shown in roman): 

SECTION 102 OF THE ACT OF OCTOBER 28, 1992

(Public Law 102–562) 

AN ACT to authorize and direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain lands 

in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, and for other purposes. 

SEC. 102. CONVEYANCE OF LANDS. 

ø(a) IN GENERAL.—¿Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

øand subject to the reservation in subsection (b),¿ the United 

States hereby grants all right, title, and interest of the United 

States in and to certain lands in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, as 

described in section 103, to those parties who, as of the date of enactment of this Act, would be recognized as holders of a right, title, 

or interest to any portion of such lands under the laws of the State 

of Louisiana, but for the interest of the United States in such 

lands. 

ø(b) RESERVATION OF MINERAL RIGHTS.—The United States hereby excepts and reserves from the provisions of subsection (a) of this 

section, all minerals underlying such lands, along with the right to 

prospect for, mine, and remove the minerals under applicable law 

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and such regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe.¿

Æ