II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1831 

To convey certain submerged land to the Commonwealth of the Northern 

Mariana Islands, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 6, 2005 

Mr. DOMENICI (for himself and Mr. BINGAMAN) (by request) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

To convey certain submerged land to the Commonwealth 

of the Northern Mariana Islands, 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. CONVEYANCE OF CERTAIN SUBMERGED LAND 

4 TO THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORTHERN 

5 MARIANA ISLANDS. 

6 The first section of Public Law 93–435 (48 U.S.C. 

7 1705) is amended— 

8 (1) in the second sentence of subsection (b), by 

9 inserting ‘‘Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

10 Islands,’’ after ‘‘Guam,’’; and 
2 

•S 1831 IS

1 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(e)(1) Subject to valid existing rights, all right, title, 

3 and interest of the United States in land permanently or 

4 periodically covered by tidal water up to but not above the 

5 line of mean high tide and seaward to a line 3 geographical 

6 miles distant from the coastline of the territory of the 

7 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (as modi8 fied before, on, or after the date of enactment of this sub9 section by accretion, erosion, or reliction, or in artificially 

10 made, filled in, or reclaimed land that was formerly per11 manently or periodically covered by tidal water) are con12 veyed to the Government of the Commonwealth of the 

13 Northern Mariana Islands to be administered in trust for 

14 the benefit of the people of the Commonwealth. 

15 ‘‘(2) The conveyance shall be subject to clauses (ii), 

16 (iv), (v), (vii), (viii), and (ix) of subsection (b) and sub17 section (c), except that each reference to the ‘date of en18 actment of this Act’ in those clauses shall (for the pur19 poses of this subsection) be considered to be a reference 

20 to the date of enactment of this subsection.’’. 

21 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY TO RESOLVE CERTAIN 

22 CLAIMS OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE 

23 NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—On the request of the Governor 

25 of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 
3 

•S 1831 IS

1 the Secretary of the Interior may settle any claim of the 

2 Commonwealth arising pursuant to any provision of the 

3 Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern 

4 Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States 

5 of America, approved by the first section of Public Law 

6 94–241 (48 U.S.C. 1801 note). 

7 (b) ASSISTANCE.— 

8 (1) REQUEST.—The Secretary may request as9 sistance from the head of any other Federal agency 

10 in order to expeditiously resolve any claim described 

11 in subsection (a). 

12 (2) PROVISION.—On request, the head of the 

13 Federal agency shall provide the assistance. 

14 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

16 appropriated to the Secretary such sums as are nec17 essary to carry out subsection (a). 

18 (2) OTHER FUNDS.—The Secretary may also 

19 use to carry out subsection (a) any other sums that 

20 are appropriated for the purpose of a provision of 

21 the Covenant that is subject to a claim by the Com22 monwealth. 

Æ