II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1219 

To provide for stability of title to certain land in the State of Louisiana, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 24, 2017 

Mr. CASSIDY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for stability of title to certain land in the State 

of Louisiana, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lake Bistineau Land 

5 Title Stability Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

8 (1) on December 8, 1842, the Surveyor General 

9 approved an original survey of land in northern LouVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Jun 01, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1219.IS S1219

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1 isiana, which included the land surrounding Lake 

2 Bistineau; 

3 (2) under the equal footing doctrine, the State 

4 of Louisiana was entitled to the land underlying the 

5 navigable waters in place within the boundaries of 

6 the State as of the date on which the State joined 

7 the Union; 

8 (3) the State of Louisiana delineated the owner9 ship of the land in the State based on the Original 

10 Survey; 

11 (4) in 1901, the State of Louisiana— 

12 (A) transferred more than 7,000 acres of 

13 land to the commissioners of the Bossier Levee 

14 District through Louisiana Act Number 89 of 

15 1892; and 

16 (B) conducted a survey that followed the 

17 same path around Lake Bistineau as the path 

18 included in the Original Survey; 

19 (5) in 1904, the Bossier Levee District subse20 quently conveyed the land described in paragraph 

21 (4)(A) to private ownership; 

22 (6) parcels of the land described in paragraph 

23 (4)(A) were bought and sold in good faith based on 

24 the stability of the title to the land; 


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1 (7) on September 16, 1967, the Bureau of 

2 Land Management submitted a resurvey of the land 

3 described in paragraph (4)(A) for S30–T16N–R10W 

4 and 2 adjacent islands, which presented a new line 

5 to represent what the Bureau of Land Management 

6 surveyors believed to be the contour of Lake 

7 Bistineau as of the date on which the State of Lou8 isiana joined the Union; 

9 (8) on January 15, 1969, the Bureau of Land 

10 Management approved the Resurvey; 

11 (9) on February 27, 1969, notice of the filing 

12 of the Resurvey was filed in the Federal Register 

13 (34 Fed. Reg. 2677), but the Bureau of Land Man14 agement has presented no records of further notice 

15 provided to the affected landowners regarding— 

16 (A) the effects of the Resurvey; or 

17 (B) the right of affected landowners to 

18 contest the Resurvey; 

19 (10) on September 27, 2013, the Bureau of 

20 Land Management responded to an inquiry by cer21 tain owners of land subject to the Resurvey to in22 form the landowners that title to the land of the 

23 landowners would ‘‘appear to be still vested in the 

24 United States’’; and 


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1 (11) there are estimated to be more than 200 

2 acres of, and more than 50 residential homes located 

3 on, the land subject to the Resurvey. 

4 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to direct 

5 the Secretary of the Interior to issue a recordable dis6 claimer of interest of the United States in and to— 

7 (1) any land described in paragraphs (1) and 

8 (2) of subsection (b) of section 4 that is located out9 side the record meander lines described in that sub10 section; and 

11 (2) any omitted land. 

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

13 In this Act: 

14 (1) OMITTED LAND.—The term ‘‘omitted land’’ 

15 means any land in S30–T16N–R10W, including ad16 jacent islands and the meander lines of the water 

17 body, that was in place during the Original Survey, 

18 but that was not included in the Original Survey, re19 gardless of whether the exclusion of the land was 

20 due to gross error in the Original Survey or fraud 

21 by any individual conducting the Original Survey. 

22 (2) ORIGINAL SURVEY.—The term ‘‘Original 

23 Survey’’ means the survey of land in northern Lou24 isiana approved by the Surveyor General on Decem25 ber 8, 1842. 


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1 (3) RESURVEY.—The term ‘‘Resurvey’’ means 

2 the document entitled ‘‘Dependent Re-Survey, Ex3 tension Survey and Survey of Two Islands, Sections 

4 17, 29, and 30’’, which was completed on November 

5 24, 1967, approved on January 15, 1969, and pub6 lished in the Federal Register on February 27, 1969 

7 (34 Fed. Reg. 2677). 

8 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

9 the Secretary of the Interior. 

10 SEC. 4. LEGAL STATUS OF RESURVEY. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Resurvey— 

12 (1) shall not be considered to be, or serve as, 

13 a gross error determination; and 

14 (2) shall have no legal force or effect on the 

15 ownership of the land described in paragraphs (1) 

16 and (2) of subsection (b). 

17 (b) MEANDER LINES.—The meander lines in the 

18 Original Survey are definitive for purposes of determining 

19 title to— 

20 (1) the land in S30–T16N–R10W; and 

21 (2) the 2 islands adjacent to the land described 

22 in paragraph (1). 

23 (c) DISCLAIMER OF INTEREST.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall prepare 

25 a disclaimer of interest in which the United States 


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1 disclaims any right, title, or interest of the United 

2 States in and to— 

3 (A) any land described in paragraphs (1) 

4 and (2) of subsection (b) that is located outside 

5 the recorded meander lines described in that 

6 subsection; and 

7 (B) any omitted land. 

8 (2) FILING.—The Secretary shall record the 

9 disclaimer of interest prepared under paragraph (1) 

10 in the appropriate local office in the State of Lou11 isiana in which real property documents are re12 corded. 

13 (3) INCLUSIONS.—The disclaimer of interest 

14 filed under paragraph (2) shall include legal descrip15 tions of the land subject to the disclaimer of interest 

16 using the lot or tract numbers included in the Re17 survey. 

Æ 


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