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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3427

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to convey lands within the State

of Missouri to local governments located within the State of Missouri.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 3, 1993

Mr. EMERSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Agriculture

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to convey lands

within the State of Missouri to local governments located

within the State of Missouri.

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 PROPERTY

4 The Secretary of Agriculture (hereafter ‘‘Secretary’’)

5 is authorized to sell to local governments within the State

6 of Missouri certain lands and interests therein and im7 provements thereon of the United States within the Coun8 ties of Phelps, Howell, Carter, and Ripley, subject to the

9 terms and conditions set forth in section 2. The lands and

10 interests and improvements to be conveyed shall be limited
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1 to Forest Service Administrative Sites that, in the discre2 tion of the Secretary, are no longer needed for National

3 Forest purposes.

4 SEC. 2. TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

5 (a) CONSIDERATION.—Consideration for a convey6 ance described in section 1 shall be equal to the fair mar7 ket value of the properties as determined by an appraisal

8 prepared in accordance with the Uniform Appraisal

9 Standards for Federal Land Acquisition, as published by

10 the Department of Justice, and which are acceptable to

11 the Secretary. Payment of consideration is due in full

12 within 6 months of conveyance or, at the option of the

13 local government, in 20 equal annual installments com14 mencing on January 1 of the first year following the con15 veyance and annually thereafter until the total amount

16 due has been paid. At the option of the local government,

17 consideration may be paid by services, in lieu of cash, the

18 value of which the Secretary finds to be equal to the ap19 praised fair market value of the Federal land. The type,

20 valuation, and manner of services must be acceptable to

21 the Secretary and provide for the administration of the

22 Mark Twain National Forest on an annual basis not to

23 exceed 20 years. What constitutes approved services shall

24 be set forth in a Memorandum of Understanding between

25 the involved parties prior to conveyance. An annual ac-
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1 counting of the services accomplished during the preceding

2 year shall be provided to the Secretary by the local govern3 ment by February 15 of each year.

4 (b) FUNDS RECEIVED.—Any funds received by the

5 Secretary as consideration for the conveyances authorized

6 by this Act shall be deposited into a special fund in the

7 Treasury which will remain available until expended by the

8 Secretary for the purpose of acquiring lands or interests

9 therein within the State of Missouri for National Forest

10 Service purposes.

11 (c) RELEASE.—Subject to compliance with all Fed12 eral environmental laws prior to transfer, the participating

13 local government, upon transfer of the property described

14 in section 1, shall agree in writing to hold the United

15 States harmless from any and all claims relating to the

16 property, including all claims resulting from hazardous

17 materials on the conveyed lands.

18 (d) REVERSION.—The conveyances described in sec19 tion 1 shall be by quitclaim deed in fee simple subject to

20 reversion or right of reentry upon conditions prescribed

21 by the Secretary in the deed of conveyance or in the event

22 of noncompliance with the compensation requirements de23 scribed in paragraph (a) of this section.

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