II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 179 

To provide for the exchange of land within the Sierra National Forest, 

California, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 26, 2005 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL

To provide for the exchange of land within the Sierra 

National Forest, California, 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 ‘‘Sierra National Forest 

5 Land Exchange Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 

9 means the parcels of land and improvements thereon 

10 comprising approximately 160 acres and located in 
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1 township 9 south, range 25 east, section 30, 

E1⁄2SW1⁄4 and W1⁄2SE1 2 ⁄4, Mt. Diablo Meridian, Cali3 fornia. 

4 (2) NON-FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘non-Fed5 eral land’’ means a parcel of land comprising ap6 proximately 80 acres and located in township 8 

south, range 26 east, section 29, N1⁄2NW1 7 ⁄4, Mt. 

8 Diablo Meridian, California. 

9 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

10 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

11 SEC. 3. LAND EXCHANGE, SIERRA NATIONAL FOREST, CALI12 FORNIA. 

13 (a) EXCHANGE AUTHORIZED.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—If, during the one-year pe15 riod beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, 

16 the owner of the non-Federal land offers the United 

17 States the exchange of the non-Federal land and a 

18 cash equalization payment of $50,000, the Secretary 

19 shall convey, by quit claim deed, all right, title, and 

20 interest of the United States in and to the Federal 

21 land. The conveyance of the Federal land shall be 

22 subject to valid existing rights and under such terms 

23 and conditions as the Secretary may prescribe. 

24 (2) ACCEPTABLE TITLE.—Title to the non-Fed25 eral land shall conform with the title approval stand-
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1 ards of the Attorney General applicable to Federal 

2 land acquisitions and shall be acceptable to the Sec3 retary. 

4 (3) CORRECTION AND MODIFICATION OF LEGAL

5 DESCRIPTIONS.—The Secretary, in consultation with 

6 the owner of the non-Federal land, may make cor7 rections to the legal descriptions of the Federal land 

8 and non-Federal land. The Secretary and the owner 

9 of the non-Federal land may make minor modifica10 tions to such descriptions insofar as such modifica11 tions do not affect the overall value of the exchange 

12 by more than five percent. 

13 (b) VALUATION OF LAND TO BE CONVEYED.—For 

14 purposes of this section, during the period referred to in 

15 subsection (a)(1), the value of the non-Federal land shall 

16 be deemed to be $200,000 and the value of the Federal 

17 land shall be deemed to be $250,000. 

18 (c) ADMINISTRATION OF LAND ACQUIRED BY

19 UNITED STATES.—Once acquired, the Secretary shall 

20 manage the non-Federal land in accordance with the Act 

21 of March 1, 1911 (commonly known as the Weeks Act; 

22 16 U.S.C. 480 et seq.), and in accordance with the other 

23 laws and regulations pertaining to National Forest System 

24 lands. 
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1 (d) CONDITIONS ON CONVEYANCE OF FEDERAL

2 LAND.—The conveyance by the Secretary under sub3 section (a) shall be subject to the following conditions: 

4 (1) That the recipient of the Federal land con5 vey all 160 acres of the Federal land to the Sequoia 

6 Council of the Boy Scouts of America not later than 

7 four months after the date on which the recipient re8 ceives the Federal land from the Secretary under 

9 subsection (a). 

10 (2) That, as described in section 5, the owner 

11 of the easement granted in section 4 have the right 

12 of first offer regarding any reconveyance of the Fed13 eral land by the Sequoia Council of the Boy Scouts 

14 of America. 

15 (e) DISPOSITION AND USE OF CASH EQUALIZATION

16 FUNDS.—The Secretary shall deposit the cash equali17 zation payment received under subsection (a) in the fund 

18 established by Public Law 90–171 (commonly known as 

19 the Sisk Act; 16 U.S.C. 484a). The cash equalization pay20 ment shall be available to the Secretary until expended, 

21 without further appropriation, for the acquisition of lands 

22 and interests in lands for the National Forest System in 

23 the State of California. 

24 (f) COST COLLECTION FUNDS.—The owner of the 

25 non-Federal land shall be responsible for all direct costs 
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1 associated with processing the land exchange under this 

2 section and shall pay the Secretary the necessary funds, 

3 which shall be deposited in a cost collection account. 

4 Funds so deposited shall be available to the Secretary 

5 until expended, without further appropriation, for the cost 

6 associated with the land exchange. Any funds remaining 

7 after completion of the land exchange, which are not need8 ed to cover expenses, shall be refunded to the owner of 

9 the non-Federal land. 

10 SEC. 4. GRANT OF EASEMENT IN CONNECTION WITH HY11 DROELECTRIC PROJECT NO. 67. 

12 (a) PURPOSE.—A hydroelectric project, licensed pur13 suant to the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 791a et seq.) 

14 as Project No. 67, is located on a majority of the Federal 

15 land authorized for exchange under section 3. To protect 

16 the ability of the owner of Project No. 67 to continue to 

17 operate and maintain that hydroelectric project under the 

18 current and all future licenses or authorizations issued 

19 pursuant to the Federal Power Act or any other applicable 

20 law, this section is necessary. 

21 (b) EASEMENT REQUIRED.—Before conveying the 

22 Federal land under section 3, the Secretary shall grant 

23 an easement, without consideration, to the owner of 

24 Project No. 67 for the right to enter, occupy, and use for 

25 hydroelectric power purposes the Federal land currently 
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1 within the licensed boundary for Project No. 67. The 

2 Project No. 67 owner shall hold harmless the Secretary 

3 for any claims against the owner due to the grant of ease4 ment. 

5 (c) REQUIRED TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The ease6 ment granted under this section shall provide the fol7 lowing: ‘‘The United States of America, hereinafter called 

8 ‘Grantor,’ pursuant to a congressional authorization, here9 by grants, transfers, and conveys unto the [insert name 

10 of Project No. 67 owner], its successors and assigns, here11 inafter called ‘Grantee,’ all those certain exclusive ease12 ments and rights in, on, under, over, along, and across 

13 certain real property described in Exhibit A, attached 

14 hereto [attach description of real property subject to the 

15 easement] and incorporated herein (the ‘Property’), for 

16 any purpose or activity that Grantee deems convenient or 

17 necessary to the creation, generation, transmission, or dis18 tribution of hydropower on and off the Property, includ19 ing, but not limited to, the right to inundate the Property 

20 with water, reservoir management, and compliance with 

21 legal obligations in accordance with the applicable Federal 

22 Energy Regulatory Commission license and those non-ex23 clusive easements and rights to use, occupy, and enter the 

24 Property, and to allow others to use, occupy, and enter 

25 the Property, for other purposes related to hydropower 
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1 and reservoir management and use, such as recreation by 

2 Grantee or the public, and regulation of any activities on 

3 the Property that may impact such purposes, at any time 

4 and from time to time. Grantor further grants, transfers, 

5 and conveys unto the Grantee the right of assignment, in 

6 whole or in part, to others, without limitation. Grantee 

7 shall have the right to take such actions on the Property 

8 as may be necessary to comply with all applicable laws, 

9 rules, regulations, ordinances, orders and other govern10 mental, regulatory, and administrative authorities and re11 quirements, or that may be necessary for the economical 

12 entry, occupancy, and use of the Property for hydropower 

13 purposes. Grantor, its successors and assigns, shall not 

14 deposit or permit or allow to be deposited, earth, rubbish, 

15 debris or any other substance or material on the Property, 

16 or so near thereto as to constitute, in the opinion of Grant17 ee, an interference or obstruction to the hydropower and 

18 reservoir purposes. No other easements, leases, or licenses 

19 shall be granted on, under or over the Property by Grantor 

20 to any person, firm or corporation without the previous 

21 written consent of Grantee, which consent shall not be un22 reasonably withheld. The terms, covenants and conditions 

23 of this Grant of Easement shall bind and inure to the ben24 efit of the successors and assigns of Grantor and the suc25 cessors and assigns of Grantee.’’. 
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1 SEC. 5. RIGHT OF FIRST OFFER FOR SUBSEQUENT CONVEY2 ANCE OF FEDERAL LAND. 

3 (a) RIGHT OF FIRST OFFER.—As a condition on the 

4 conveyance of the Federal land under section 3 and its 

5 reconveyance to the Sequoia Council of the Boy Scouts 

6 of America, as required by section 3(d)(1), the Secretary 

7 shall require that the Council agree to provide the owner 

8 of the easement granted under section 4 the right of first 

9 offer to obtain the Federal land, or any portion thereof, 

10 that the Council ever proposes to sell, transfer, or other11 wise convey. 

12 (b) NOTICE AND OFFER.—If the Council proposes to 

13 sell, transfer, or otherwise convey the Federal land or a 

14 portion thereof, the Council shall give the easement owner 

15 written notice specifying the terms and conditions on 

16 which the conveyance is proposed and offering to convey 

17 to the easement owner, on the same terms and conditions, 

18 the Federal land or the portion thereof proposed for con19 veyance. 

20 (c) ACCEPTANCE OR REJECTION OF OFFER.—Within 

21 90 days after the easement owner receives the notice re22 quired by subsection (b) and all available documents nec23 essary to perform reasonable due diligence on the pro24 posed conveyance, the easement owner shall either accept 

25 or reject the offer. If the easement owner accepts the offer, 
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1 the closing of the sale shall be governed by the terms of 

2 the offer in the notice. 

3 (d) EFFECT OF REJECTION.—If the hydropower 

4 easement owner rejects an offer under subsection (b) or 

5 fails to respond to the offer before the expiration of the 

6 90-day period provided in subsection (c), the Council may 

7 convey the property covered by the notice to any other per8 son on the same terms and conditions specified in the no9 tice. If those terms and conditions are subsequently al10 tered in any way, then the notice and offer shall again 

11 be made to the easement owner under subsection (b). The 

12 rejection by the easement owner of one or more of such 

13 offers shall not affect its right of first offer as to any other 

14 proposed conveyance by the Council.

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