II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2000 

To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to provide for equitable 

allotment of land to Alaska Native veterans. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 10, 2005 

Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself and Mr. STEVENS) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to provide for equitable allotment of land to Alaska Native 

veterans. 

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 ‘‘Alaska Native Vet5 erans Land Allotment Equity Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OPEN SEASON FOR CERTAIN ALASKA NATIVE VET7 ERANS FOR ALLOTMENTS. 

8 Section 41 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement 

9 Act (43 U.S.C. 1629g) is amended— 
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1 (1) in subsection (a)— 

2 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

3 ‘‘IN GENERAL’’ and inserting ‘‘ALASKA NATIVE

4 VETERAN ALLOTMENTS’’; 

5 (B) by striking paragraphs (1) through (4) 

6 and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(1) ALLOTMENTS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—Any person 

9 described in paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection 

10 (b) shall be eligible to receive an allotment 

11 under the Act of May 17, 1906 (34 Stat. 197, 

12 chapter 2469), of not more than 2 parcels of 

13 Federal land, the total area of which shall not 

14 exceed 160 acres. 

15 ‘‘(B) FILING DEADLINE.—An allotment 

16 shall be filed for an eligible recipient not later 

17 than 3 years after the date on which the Sec18 retary promulgates regulations pursuant to sec19 tion 3 of the Alaska Native Veterans Land Al20 lotment Equity Act. 

21 ‘‘(2) LAND AVAILABLE FOR ALLOTMENTS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An allotment under 

23 this section shall be selected from land that 

24 is— 

25 ‘‘(i)(I) vacant; and 
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1 ‘‘(II) owned by the United States; 

2 ‘‘(ii) selected by, or conveyed to, the 

3 State of Alaska, if the State voluntarily re4 linquishes or conveys to the United States 

5 the land for the allotment; or 

6 ‘‘(iii) selected by, or conveyed to, a 

7 Native Corporation, if the Native Corpora8 tion voluntarily relinquishes or conveys to 

9 the United States the land for the allot10 ment. 

11 ‘‘(B) RELINQUISHMENT BY NATIVE COR12 PORATION.—If a Native Corporation relin13 quishes land under subparagraph (A)(iii), the 

14 Native Corporation may select appropriate Fed15 eral land, as determined by the Secretary, the 

16 area of which is equal to the area of the land 

17 relinquished by the Native Corporation, to re18 place the relinquished land. 

19 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSIONS.—An allotment under 

20 this section shall not be selected from land that 

21 is located within— 

22 ‘‘(i) a right-of-way of the TransAlaska 

23 Pipeline; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) an inner or outer corridor of 

25 such a right-of-way. 
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1 ‘‘(3) ALTERNATIVE ALLOTMENTS.—A person 

2 described in paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (b) 

3 who qualifies for an allotment under this section on 

4 land described in paragraph (2)(C) may select an al5 ternative allotment from land that is— 

6 ‘‘(A) located within the boundaries land 

7 described in paragraph (2)(C); and 

8 ‘‘(B)(i)(I) withdrawn under section 

9 11(a)(1)(C); and 

10 ‘‘(II) not selected, or relinquished after se11 lection, under section 11(a)(3); 

12 ‘‘(ii) contiguous to an outer boundary of 

13 land withdrawn under section 11(a)(1)(C), un14 less that land is within a National Park; or 

15 ‘‘(iii) vacant, unappropriated, and unre16 served.’’; and 

17 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and 

18 (6) as paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively; 

19 (2) in subsection (b)— 

20 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking subpara21 graph (B) and inserting the following: 

22 ‘‘(B) is a veteran who served during the period 

23 beginning August 5, 1964, and ending May 7, 

24 1975.’’; 
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1 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert2 ing the following: 

3 ‘‘(2) DECEASED INDIVIDUALS.—If an individual 

4 who would otherwise have been eligible for an allot5 ment under this section dies before applying for an 

6 allotment, an heir of the individual may apply for, 

7 and receive, an allotment under this section, on be8 half of the estate of the individual.’’; 

9 (C) in paragraph (3), by inserting before 

10 the period at the end the following: ‘‘, other 

11 than an heir who applies for, and receives, an 

12 allotment on behalf of the estate of a deceased 

13 individual under paragraph (2).’’; 

14 (3) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as 

15 subsections (f) and (g), respectively; and 

16 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(d) APPROVAL OF ALLOTMENTS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to any valid right 

19 in existence on the date of enactment of the Alaska 

20 Native Veterans Land Allotment Equity Act, and ex21 cept as provided in paragraph (3), not later than 

22 January 31, 2010, the Secretary shall— 

23 ‘‘(A) approve any application for an allot24 ment filed in accordance with subsection (a); 

25 and 
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1 ‘‘(B) issue a certificate of allotment under 

2 any term, condition, or restriction as the Sec3 retary determines to be appropriate. 

4 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than October 

5 31, 2007, on receipt of an application for an allot6 ment under this section, the Secretary shall provide 

7 to any person or entity that has an interest in land 

8 described in subsection (a)(2) that is potentially ad9 verse to the interest of the applicant notice of the 

10 right of the person or entity, not later than 90 days 

11 after the date of receipt of the notice— 

12 ‘‘(A) to initiate a private contest of the al13 lotment; or 

14 ‘‘(B) to file a protest against the allotment 

15 in accordance with procedures established by 

16 the Secretary. 

17 ‘‘(3) ACTION BY SECRETARY.—If a private con18 test or protest relating to an application for an allot19 ment is initiated or filed under paragraph (2), the 

20 Secretary shall not issue a certificate to the allot21 ment under paragraph (1)(B) until a final deter22 mination has been made with respect to the private 

23 contest or protest. 

24 ‘‘(e) RESELECTION.—A person that selected an allot25 ment under this section may withdraw that selection and 
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1 reselect land in accordance with this section after the date 

2 of enactment of the Alaska Native Veterans Land Allot3 ment Equity Act, if the land originally selected— 

4 ‘‘(1) was selected before the date of enactment 

5 of the Alaska Native Veterans Land Allotment Eq6 uity Act; and 

7 ‘‘(2) as of the date of enactment of that Act, 

8 was not conveyed to the person.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. REGULATIONS. 

10 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

11 of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall promulgate 

12 final regulations to carry out the amendments made by 

13 this Act. 

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