II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1929 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to transfer to the State of Alaska 

certain land for the purpose of building a road between the community 

of King Cove and the all-weather airport in Cold Bay, Alaska. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 15, 2014 

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

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to transfer to the 

State of Alaska certain land for the purpose of building 

a road between the community of King Cove and the 

all-weather airport in Cold Bay, Alaska. 

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 ‘‘King Cove All-Weather 

5 Road Corridor Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IZEMBEK NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE LAND CON2 VEYANCE. 

3 Title VI of the Omnibus Public Land Management 

4 Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–11; 123 Stat. 1178) is 

5 amended by striking subtitle E and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘Subtitle E—Izembek National 

7 Wildlife Refuge Land Conveyance 

8 ‘‘SEC. 6401. DEFINITIONS. 

9 ‘‘In this subtitle: 

10 ‘‘(1) CORPORATION.—The term ‘Corporation’ 

11 means the King Cove Corporation. 

12 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘Federal land’ 

13 means— 

14 ‘‘(A) the approximately 206 acres of Fed15 eral land located within the Refuge, as generally 

16 depicted on the map; and 

17 ‘‘(B) the approximately 1,600 acres of 

18 Federal land located on Sitkinak Island, as gen19 erally depicted on the map. 

20 ‘‘(3) GOVERNOR.—The term ‘Governor’ means 

21 the Governor of the State. 

22 ‘‘(4) MAP.—The term ‘map’ means each of— 

23 ‘‘(A) the map entitled ‘Izembek and Alaska 

24 Peninsula National Wildlife Refuges’ and dated 

25 September 2, 2008; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the map entitled ‘Sitkinak Island2 Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge’ and 

3 dated September 2, 2008. 

4 ‘‘(5) NON-FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘non5 Federal land’ means— 

6 ‘‘(A) the approximately 43,093 acres of 

7 land owned by the State, as generally depicted 

8 on the map; and 

9 ‘‘(B) the approximately 13,300 acres of 

10 land owned by the Corporation (including ap11 proximately 5,430 acres of land for which the 

12 Corporation shall relinquish the selection rights 

13 of the Corporation under the Alaska Native 

14 Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) 

15 as part of the land exchange under section 

16 6402(a)), as generally depicted on the map. 

17 ‘‘(6) REFUGE.—The term ‘Refuge’ means the 

18 Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. 

19 ‘‘(7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

20 the Secretary of the Interior. 

21 ‘‘(8) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means the State 

22 of Alaska. 

23 ‘‘(9) TRIBE.—The term ‘Tribe’ means the 

24 Agdaagux Tribe of King Cove, Alaska. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 6402. LAND CONVEYANCE. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—On the date of enactment of the 

3 King Cove All-Weather Road Corridor Act, subject to the 

4 conditions and requirements described in this subtitle, the 

5 Secretary shall convey to the State all right, title, and in6 terest of the United States in and to the Federal land for 

7 the purpose of constructing a single-lane gravel road be8 tween the communities of King Cove and Cold Bay, Alas9 ka. 

10 ‘‘(b) LAND EXCHANGE.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of the con12 veyance under subsection (a), the State and the Cor13 poration shall, not later than 15 days after the date 

14 of enactment of the King Cove All-Weather Road 

15 Corridor Act, notify the Secretary of the intent to 

16 convey the non-Federal land from the State and the 

17 Corporation to the United States. 

18 ‘‘(2) REVERSION.—The land conveyance under 

19 section 6402(a) shall be null and void if the State 

20 and the Corporation have not conveyed the non-Fed21 eral land from the State and the Corporation to the 

22 United States not later than 60 days after the date 

23 of enactment of King Cove All-Weather Road Cor24 ridor Act. 

25 ‘‘(c) VALUATION.—The land conveyed under sub26 section (a) shall not be subject to any requirement under 


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1 any Federal law (including regulations) relating to the 

2 valuation, appraisal, or equalization of land. 

3 ‘‘(d) CONSIDERATIONS.—In constructing the road de4 scribed in subsection (a), the Governor shall— 

5 ‘‘(1) minimize the adverse impact of the road 

6 corridor on the Refuge; 

7 ‘‘(2) minimize the acreage of Federal land that 

8 is required for the construction of the road corridor, 

9 consistent with national road construction safety 

10 practices; and 

11 ‘‘(3) to the maximum extent practicable, incor12 porate into the road corridor roads that are in exist13 ence as of the date of enactment of the King Cove 

14 All-Weather Road Corridor Act. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 6403. KING COVE ROAD. 

16 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO USE, BARRIER

17 CABLES, AND DIMENSIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) LIMITATIONS ON USE.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

20 subparagraph (B), any portion of the road con21 structed on the land conveyed under section 

22 6402(a) shall be used primarily for health and 

23 safety purposes (including access to and from 

24 the Cold Bay Airport) and only for noncommer25 cial purposes. 


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1 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding sub2 paragraph (A), the use of taxis, commercial 

3 vans for public transportation, and shared rides 

4 (other than organized transportation of employ5 ees to a business or other commercial facility) 

6 shall be allowed on the road described in sub7 paragraph (A). 

8 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT OF BARRIER CABLE.—The 

9 road described in paragraph (1)(A) shall be con10 structed to include a cable barrier on each side of 

11 the road, as described in the record of decision enti12 tled ‘Mitigation Measure MM-11, King Cove Access 

13 Project Final Environmental Impact Statement 

14 Record of Decision’ and dated January 22, 2004. 

15 ‘‘(3) REQUIRED DIMENSIONS AND DESIGN FEA16 TURES.—The road described in paragraph (1)(A) 

17 shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) have a width of not greater than a 

19 single lane, in accordance with the applicable 

20 road standards of the State; 

21 ‘‘(B) be constructed with gravel; and 

22 ‘‘(C) if determined to be necessary, be con23 structed to include appropriate safety pullouts. 


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1 ‘‘(b) SUPPORT FACILITIES.—Support facilities for 

2 the road described in subsection (a)(1)(A) shall not be lo3 cated within the Refuge. 

4 ‘‘(c) FEDERAL PERMITS.—It is the intent of Con5 gress that any Federal permit required for construction 

6 of the road be issued or denied not later than 1 year after 

7 the date of application for the permit. 

8 ‘‘(d) TRANSFER OF LAND AFTER CONSTRUCTION.— 

9 On the date on which the road described in subsection 

10 (a)(1)(A) is completed, the Governor of the State shall 

11 transfer to the United States any land conveyed under sec12 tion 6402(a) that the Governor determines is not nec13 essary for the road corridor. 

14 ‘‘(e) APPLICABLE LAW.—Nothing in this section 

15 amends, or modifies the application of, section 1110 of 

16 the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 

17 U.S.C. 3170). 

18 ‘‘(f) AVOIDANCE OF WILDLIFE IMPACTS AND MITI19 GATION OF WETLAND LOSS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) AVOIDANCE OF WILDLIFE IMPACTS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Road construction 

22 shall comply with standard construction prac23 tices in the State, as determined by the Gov24 ernor of the State, that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) identify critical periods during the 

2 calendar year when the Refuge is utilized 

3 by wildlife, especially migratory birds; 

4 ‘‘(ii) include specific mandatory strat5 egies to alter, limit or halt construction ac6 tivities during identified high risk periods 

7 to minimize impacts to wildlife; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) allow for the timely construction 

9 of the road. 

10 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Gov11 ernor of the State shall make available to the 

12 public the practices described in subparagraph 

13 (A). 

14 ‘‘(2) MITIGATION OF WETLANDS LOSS.—The 

15 land conveyed under section 6402(a) shall comply 

16 with section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution 

17 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344) with regard to mini18 mizing, to the greatest extent practicable, the filling, 

19 fragmentation or loss of wetlands, especially 

20 intertidal wetlands, and the Governor shall evaluate 

21 mitigating any effect on those wetlands transferred 

22 in Federal ownership under the provisions of this 

23 subtitle. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 6404. ADMINISTRATION OF CONVEYED LANDS. 

2 ‘‘(a) FEDERAL LAND.—On completion of the land ex3 change under section 6402(a)— 

4 ‘‘(1) the boundary of the land designated as 

5 wilderness within the Refuge shall be modified to ex6 clude the Federal land conveyed to the State under 

7 the land exchange; and 

8 ‘‘(2) the Federal land located on Sitkinak Is9 land that is withdrawn for use by the Coast Guard 

10 shall, at the request of the State, be transferred by 

11 the Secretary to the State upon the relinquishment 

12 or termination of the withdrawal. 

13 ‘‘(b) NON-FEDERAL LAND.—Upon completion of the 

14 land exchange under section 6402(a), the non-Federal 

15 land conveyed to the United States under this subtitle 

16 shall be— 

17 ‘‘(1) added to the Refuge or the Alaska Penin18 sula National Wildlife Refuge, as appropriate, as 

19 generally depicted on the map; and 

20 ‘‘(2) administered in accordance with the laws 

21 generally applicable to units of the National Wildlife 

22 Refuge System. 

23 ‘‘(c) WILDERNESS ADDITIONS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon completion of the 

25 land exchange under section 6402(a), approximately 


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1 43,093 acres of land as generally depicted on the 

2 map shall be added to— 

3 ‘‘(A) the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge 

4 Wilderness; or 

5 ‘‘(B) the Alaska Peninsula National Wild6 life Refuge Wilderness. 

7 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION.—The land added as wil8 derness under paragraph (1) shall be administered 

9 by the Secretary in accordance with the Wilderness 

10 Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) and other applicable 

11 laws (including regulations). 

12 ‘‘(d) PERMITS FOR DREDGED OR FILL MATE13 RIALS.—The land conveyed under section 6402(a) shall 

14 not be subject to section 404(c) of the Federal Water Pol15 lution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344(c)). 

16 ‘‘SEC. 6405. FAILURE TO BEGIN ROAD CONSTRUCTION. 

17 ‘‘(a) VOIDED LAND CONVEYANCE.—The land convey18 ance under section 6402(a) shall be null and void if con19 struction of the road through the Refuge— 

20 ‘‘(1) has not begun during the period beginning 

21 on the date of enactment of the King Cove All22 Weather Road Corridor Act and ending on the date 

23 that is 7 years after the date of enactment of the 

24 King Cove All-Weather Road Corridor Act; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) has not been completed during the period 

2 beginning on the date of enactment of the King 

3 Cove All-Weather Road Corridor Act and ending on 

4 the date that is 12 years after the date of enactment 

5 of the King Cove All-Weather Road Corridor Act. 

6 ‘‘(b) RETURN OF PRIOR OWNERSHIP STATUS OF

7 FEDERAL LAND.—If the land conveyance is voided under 

8 subsection (b)— 

9 ‘‘(1) the ownership of the Federal land shall re10 vert back to the United States; and 

11 ‘‘(2) the parcel of the Federal land that is lo12 cated in the Refuge shall be managed as part of the 

13 Izembek National Wildlife Refuge Wilderness. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 6406. EXPIRATION OF LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY. 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any legislative authority for con16 struction of a road shall expire at the end of the 7-year 

17 period beginning on the date of the enactment of the King 

18 Cove All-Weather Road Corridor Act unless a construction 

19 permit has been issued during that period. 

20 ‘‘(b) EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY.—If a construction 

21 permit is issued within the allotted period, the 7-year au22 thority shall be extended for a period of 5 additional years 

23 beginning on the date of issuance of the construction per24 mit. 


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1 ‘‘(c) EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY AS RESULT OF

2 LEGAL CHALLENGES.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Prior to the issuance of a 

4 construction permit, if a lawsuit or administrative 

5 appeal is filed challenging the conveyance of the land 

6 under section 6402(a) or construction of the road, 

7 the 7-year deadline or the 5-year extension period, 

8 as appropriate, shall be extended for a time period 

9 equivalent to the time consumed by the full adju10 dication of the legal challenge or related administra11 tive process. 

12 ‘‘(2) INJUNCTION.—After a construction permit 

13 has been issued, if a court issues an injunction 

14 against construction of the road, the 7-year deadline 

15 or 5-year extension, as appropriate, shall be ex16 tended for a time period equivalent to the time pe17 riod that the injunction is in effect. 

18 ‘‘(d) APPLICABILITY OF SECTION 6405.—On the ex19 piration of the legislative authority under this section, if 

20 a road has not been constructed, the land exchange shall 

21 be null and void and the land ownership shall revert to 

22 the respective ownership status prior to the land exchange 

23 as provided in section 6405.’’. 

Æ 


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