I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3612

To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 21, 1993

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Natural Resources

A BILL

To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, 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. RESCISSION OF RELINQUISHMENT.

4 Section 12 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement

5 Act (43 U.S.C. 1611) is amended by adding at the end

6 the following:

7 ‘‘(f) The Secretary of the Interior shall develop proce8 dures under which a rescission of a relinquishment of a

9 parcel of land properly selected pursuant to this Act may

10 be made before adjudication with respect to that parcel

11 and conveyance to a third party.’’.
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1 SEC. 2. KAGEET POINT LAND SELECTION.

2 The following lands shall be treated as acreage allot3 ted to the Chugach Alaska Corporation for the purpose

4 of making selections under section 12(c) of the Alaska Na5 tive Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1611(c)): those

6 lands contained within the west half of Township 21

7 South, Range 24 East, Copper River Meridian, commonly

8 known as ‘‘Kageet Point’’.

9 SEC. 3. RATIFICATION OF CERTAIN CASWELL AND MON10 TANA CREEK NATIVE ASSOCIATIONS CON11 VEYANCES.

12 The conveyance of approximately 11,520 acres to

13 Montana Creek Native Association, Inc., and the convey14 ance of approximately 11,520 acres to Caswell Native As15 sociation, Inc., by Cook Inlet Region, Inc. In fulfillment

16 of the agreement of February 3, 1976, and subsequent

17 letter agreement of March 26, 1982, among the three par18 ties are hereby adopted and ratified as a matter of Federal

19 law. These conveyances shall be deemed to be conveyances

20 pursuant to section 14(h)(2) of the Alaska Native Claims

21 Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1613(h)(2)). The group cor22 porations for Montana Creek and Caswell are hereby de23 clared to have received their full entitlement and shall not

24 be entitled to the receipt of any additional lands under

25 the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
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1 SEC. 4. MINING CLAIMS AFTER LANDS PATENTED TO RE2 GIONAL CORPORATION.

3 Section 22(c) of Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act

4 (43 U.S.C. 1621(c)) is amended by adding at the end the

5 following:

6 ‘‘(3) After the fee or subsurface lands subject to a

7 valid mining claim have been patented to a Regional Cor8 poration—

9 ‘‘(A) any person holding such valid mining

10 claim shall continue to meet all requirements of the

11 general mining laws and section 314 of the Federal

12 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43

13 U.S.C. 1744);

14 ‘‘(B) the administration of the mining claim

15 shall continue to be by the United States, unless the

16 Secretary, acting through the Bureau of Land Man17 agement, waives administration in favor of the Re18 gional Corporation; and

19 ‘‘(C) all revenues from the mining claim other20 wise due the United States shall be remitted to the

21 Regional Corporation for distribution pursuant to

22 section 7(i) of this Act, except that in the event that

23 the Regional Corporation patent does not cover all

24 land embraced within the mining claim, the Regional

25 Corporation shall be entitled only to that proportion
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1 of revenues reasonably allocated to the portion of the

2 mining claim so covered.’’.

3 SEC. 5. SETTLEMENT OF CLAIMS ARISING FROM CONTAMI4 NATION OF TRANSFERRED LANDS.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Alaska Native Claims Settle6 ment Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is amended by adding

7 at the end the following:

8 ‘‘CLAIMS ARISING FROM CONTAMINATION OF

9 TRANSFERRED LANDS

10 ‘‘SEC. 40. (a) As used in this section:

11 ‘‘(1) The term ‘contaminant’ means substances

12 harmful to public health or the environment, includ13 ing asbestos.

14 ‘‘(2) The term ‘lands’ means real property

15 transferred to a Native Corporation pursuant to this

16 Act.

17 ‘‘(b)(1) Not later than one year after being notified

18 by a Native Corporation of contaminants on lands, the

19 Secretary shall reach a settlement with the Native Cor20 poration that provides for—

21 ‘‘(A) the removal of all contaminants left by the

22 United States, an agent of the United States, or a

23 lessee, from the transferred lands; or

24 ‘‘(B) the replacement of the lands containing

25 contaminants in accordance with paragraph (2).
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1 ‘‘(2) If the settlement reached pursuant to paragraph

2 (1) provides for the replacement of lands containing con3 taminants in accordance with paragraph (1)(B), the Sec4 retary shall—

5 ‘‘(A) accept title to the lands containing con6 taminants from the Native Corporation; and

7 ‘‘(B) replace the lands by conveying to the Na8 tive Corporation—

9 ‘‘(i) other lands, from unreserved, vacant,

10 and unappropriated public lands, in accordance

11 with section 1302(h) of the Alaska National In12 terest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C.

13 3192(h)); or

14 ‘‘(ii) other lands, interests in lands, or

15 rights available under this Act, pursuant to

16 such authority, and under such terms with re17 spect to value and acreage, as governed the

18 original conveyance.

19 ‘‘(c) The United States shall—

20 ‘‘(1) assume all past, present, and future liabil21 ities and obligations arising from the original trans22 fer of contaminated lands; and

23 ‘‘(2) defend and hold harmless Native Corpora24 tions in all claims arising from the original transfer

25 of contaminated lands.’’.
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1 (b) PENDING TRANSFERS.—Nothing in the amend2 ment made by subsection (a) is intended to impede or

3 delay any transfer of lands under the Alaska Native

4 Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) that is

5 pending on the date of enactment of this Act.

6 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE

7 PURPOSES OF IMPLEMENTING REQUIRED

8 RECONVEYANCES.

9 Section 14(c) of Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act

10 (43 U.S.C. 1613(c)) is amended by adding at the end the

11 following:

12 ‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as may

13 be necessary for the purpose of providing technical assist14 ance to Village Corporations in carrying out this sub15 section. The Secretary may provide amounts appropriated

16 pursuant to this subsection through contracts to nonprofit

17 organizations whose function is to provide technical assist18 ance in planning, developing, and administering assistance

19 to Village Corporations in fulfilling their requirements

20 under this subsection.’’.

21 SEC. 7. COMMUNITY NEED.

22 Section 14(c)(3) of the Alaska Native Claims Settle23 ment Act (43 U.S.C. 1613(c)(3)) is amended—

24 (1) by striking ‘‘community needs: Provided,’’

25 and inserting ‘‘community needs: Provided, That the
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1 Village Corporation need not convey any particular

2 lands unless the Municipal Corporation or the State

3 in trust shows that those lands are necessary for

4 community expansion, rights-of-way, or other fore5 seeable community needs: Provided further,’’; and

6 (2) by inserting after ‘‘one thousand two hun7 dred and eighty acres:’’ the following: ‘‘Provided fur8 ther, That if the improved lands owned by the Vil9 lage Corporation within the Native Village plus the

10 Village Corporation lands that are shown to be nec11 essary for community expansion, rights-of-way, or

12 other foreseeable community needs amount to less

13 than 1,280 acres, and if the Municipal Corporation

14 or the State in trust cannot reach a written agree15 ment with the Village Corporation, then the Village

16 Corporation shall have the discretion to designate

17 which additional lands shall be conveyed to bring the

18 total conveyance to 1,280 acres:’’.

19 SEC. 8. NATIVE ALLOTMENTS.

20 Section 1431(o) of the Alaska National Interest

21 Lands Conservation Act (94 Stat. 2542) is amended by

22 adding at the end the following:

23 ‘‘(5) Following the exercise by Arctic Slope Regional

24 Corporation of its option under paragraph (1) to acquire

25 the subsurface estate beneath lands within the National
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1 Petroleum Reserve—Alaska selected by a Village Corpora2 tion, where such subsurface estate entirely surrounds

3 lands subject to a Native allotment application approved

4 under section 905 of this Act, and the oil and gas in such

5 lands have been reserved to the United States, Arctic

6 Slope Regional Corporation, at its further option, shall be

7 entitled to receive a conveyance of the reserved oil and

8 gas, including all rights and privileges therein reserved to

9 the United States, in such lands. Upon the receipt of a

10 conveyance of such oil and gas interests, the entitlement

11 of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation to in-lieu subsurface

12 lands under section 12(a)(1) of the Alaska Native Claims

13 Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1611(a)(1)) shall be reduced

14 by the amount of acreage determined by the Secretary to

15 be conveyed to Arctic Slope Regional Corporation pursu16 ant to this paragraph.’’.

17 SEC. 9. OPEN SEASON FOR CERTAIN NATIVE ALASKAN VET18 ERANS FOR ALLOTMENTS.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—During the one-year period begin20 ning on the date of enactment of this Act, an individual

21 described in subsection (b) is eligible for an allotment of

22 not to exceed 160 acres under the Act of May 17, 1906

23 (Chapter 2469; 34 Stat. 197), as such Act was in effect

24 before December 18, 1971. The Secretary shall prescribe

25 such rules as may be necessary to carry out this section.
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1 (b) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—(1) An individual is eli2 gible under subsection (a) if the individual would have

3 been eligible under the Act of May 17, 1906 (Chapter

4 2469; 34 Stat. 197), as such Act was in effect before De5 cember 18, 1971, and the individual is a veteran of the

6 Korean conflict or the Vietnam era.

7 (2) In the case of an individual described in para8 graph (1) who is deceased, the heirs of the individual shall

9 be treated as the individual described in paragraph (1).

10 (c) CONVEYANCE DEADLINE.—The Secretary of the

11 Interior shall complete land conveyances pursuant to this

12 section within one year after the end of the period referred

13 to in subsection (a).

14 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section,

15 the terms ‘‘veteran’’, ‘‘Korean conflict’’, and ‘‘Vietnam

16 era’’ have the meaning given such terms by paragraphs

17 (2), (9), and (29), respectively, of section 101 of title 38,

18 United States Code.

19 SEC. 10. LAPSED MINING CLAIMS.

20 Section 22(c)(2)(A) of the Alaska Native Claims Set21 tlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1621(c)(2)(A)) is amended—

22 (1) in clause (i)—

23 (A) by striking ‘‘outside the boundaries of

24 a conservation system unit (as such term is de-
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1 fined in the Alaska National Interest Lands

2 Conservation Act) and’’; and

3 (B) by striking ‘‘The Secretary shall

4 promptly determine the validity of such claims

5 or locations within conservation system units.’’;

6 and

7 (2) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘outside a con8 servation system unit’’ both places it appears.

9 SEC. 11. TRANSFER OF WRANGELL INSTITUTE.

10 (a) PROPERTY TRANSFER.—Cook Inlet Region, In11 corporated, is authorized to transfer to the United States

12 and the General Services Administration shall accept an

13 approximately 10-acre site of the Wrangell Institute in

14 Wrangell, Alaska, and the structures contained thereon.

15 (b) RESTORATION OF PROPERTY CREDITS.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—In exchange for the land

17 and structures transferred under subsection (a),

18 property bidding credits in the total amount of

19 $382,305, and in addition, interest calculated in ac20 cordance with paragraph (2), shall be restored to the

21 Cook Inlet Region, Incorporated, property account in

22 the Treasury established under section 12(b) of the

23 Act of January 2, 1976 (Public Law 94–204; 43

24 U.S.C. 1611 note), referred to in such section as the

25 ‘‘Cook Inlet Region, Incorporated, property ac-
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1 count.’’ Property bidding credits sufficient to reim2 burse Cook Inlet Region for all legal and other ex3 penses incurred due to the return of this property,

4 shall also be added to the property account provided

5 that all such credits restored or added to the prop6 erty account shall be used solely for the acquisition

7 or purchase of General Services Administration

8 properties.

9 (2) CALCULATIONS OF INTEREST.—The inter10 est credited to the Cook Inlet Region, Incorporated,

11 property account shall be compounded semiannually

12 and calculated at the same interest rate as that of

13 5-year Treasury bonds issued by the United States

14 Treasury on or about November 2, 1987. The inter15 est shall be calculated on a principal amount equal

16 to the property bidding credits restored to the prop17 erty account under paragraph (1), and shall be for

18 the time period from November 2, 1987, to the date

19 of conveyance of the land and buildings to the Unit20 ed States.

21 (3) HOLD HARMLESS.—The United States shall

22 defend and hold harmless Cook Inlet Region, Incor23 porated, and its subsidiaries in any and all claims

24 arising from Federal or Cook Inlet Region, Incor-
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1 porated, ownership of the land and structures prior

2 to their return to the United States.

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