II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 510 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain interests in 

Federal land acquired for the Scofield Project in Carbon County, Utah. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 7, 2013 

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

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain 

interests in Federal land acquired for the Scofield 

Project in Carbon County, Utah. 

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 ‘‘Scofield Land Transfer 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) CLAIMANT.—The term ‘‘claimant’’ means 

9 any person or entity that, according to the records 

10 in the office of the Recorder for Carbon County, 


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1 Utah, as of the date of enactment of this Act, claims 

2 title to, or an interest in, the Federal land. 

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

4 means the land acquired by Price River Water Con5 servation District and transferred to the United 

6 States for use in the construction and operation of 

7 Scofield Dam and Reservoir located between the nor8 mal water surface elevation and the property bound9 ary elevation in the Scofield Reservoir basin. 

10 (3) FLOOD SURCHARGE ELEVATION.—The term 

11 ‘‘flood surcharge elevation’’ means the elevation of 

12 7640.3 in the North American Vertical Datum of 

13 1988, which corresponds to the elevation of the crest 

14 of Scofield Dam. 

15 (4) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Sco16 field Reservoir Fund established by section 

17 3(b)(7)(A). 

18 (5) LIFE ESTATE.—The term ‘‘life estate’’ 

19 means— 

20 (A) if the claimant is a person, an interest 

21 of the claimant in the Federal land that will re22 vert to the United States on the date of the 

23 death of the claimant; and 

24 (B) if the claimant is an entity, an interest 

25 in the Federal land of a person designated by 


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1 the claimant that will revert to the United 

2 States on the date of the death of the des3 ignated person. 

4 (6) NORMAL WATER SURFACE ELEVATION.— 

5 The term ‘‘normal water surface elevation’’ means 

6 the contour elevation of 7621.8 in the North Amer7 ican Vertical Datum of 1988, which corresponds to 

8 the elevation of the crest of the spillway of Scofield 

9 Dam. 

10 (7) PROPERTY BOUNDARY ELEVATION.—The 

11 term ‘‘property boundary elevation’’ means the con12 tour elevation 7630, as surveyed by McGonagle and 

13 Ulrich, Land Surveyors, in 1926, which was trans14 muted to the current elevation of 7638.9 in the 

15 North American Vertical Datum of 1988 and which 

16 corresponds to 1.4 vertical feet below the crest of 

17 Scofield Dam. 

18 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

19 the Secretary of the Interior. 

20 (9) STRUCTURE.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘structure’’ 

22 means a residence of a claimant in existence on 

23 the date of enactment of this Act. 

24 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘structure’’ in25 cludes infrastructure associated with the resiVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:13 Mar 09, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S510.IS S510

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1 dence, including water, power, sewer, and 

2 roads. 

3 SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF SCOFIELD PROJECT LAND. 

4 (a) SURVEY; NOTIFICATION.—As soon as practicable 

5 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

6 shall— 

7 (1) complete a full physical and title survey of 

8 the Federal land and any other related land in and 

9 around the Scofield Reservoir Basin; and 

10 (2) attempt to notify each of the claimants of 

11 the trespass or encroachment on the Federal land by 

12 the applicable claimant, including the existence of 

13 any trespassing or encroaching structures of the 

14 claimant. 

15 (b) AUTHORIZATION TO CONVEY FEDERAL LAND.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—To resolve the issues of tres17 pass and encroachment on the Federal land by the 

18 claimants, the Secretary may, on election by the 

19 claimant in accordance with paragraph (5)— 

20 (A) convey to a claimant fee interest in the 

21 claimed portion of the Federal land that is lo22 cated above the normal water surface elevation, 

23 subject to paragraph (2); or 

24 (B) grant to a claimant a life estate per25 mitting the continued occupation of the claimed 


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1 portion of the Federal land above the normal 

2 water surface elevation, subject to paragraph 

3 (3). 

4 (2) CONVEYANCE REQUIREMENTS.—A convey5 ance under paragraph (1)(A) shall be subject to— 

6 (A) the claimant paying to the Secretary 

7 the fair market value of the fee interest in the 

8 claimed portion of the Federal land, exclusive of 

9 the value of any structures; 

10 (B) the United States retaining a flood 

11 easement over the entire portion of Federal 

12 land conveyed; and 

13 (C) deed restrictions requiring that— 

14 (i) to prevent any structure on the 

15 portion of the Federal land conveyed from 

16 being displaced during a flood event, the 

17 claimant— 

18 (I) secure or tie down the struc19 ture; 

20 (II) rebuild the structure with 

21 the same footprint as the original 

22 structure; or 

23 (III) repair the structure; and 

24 (ii) all activities carried out by the 

25 claimant under clause (i) with respect to a 


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1 structure be carried out in accordance 

2 with— 

3 (I) the International Building 

4 Code (as adopted by Utah Adminis5 trative Code R156–56); or 

6 (II) any other building code or 

7 engineering standard that is— 

8 (aa) similar to the Inter9 national Building Code; 

10 (bb) widely used; and 

11 (cc) nationally recognized. 

12 (3) LIFE ESTATE REQUIREMENTS.—A life es13 tate granted under paragraph (1)(B) shall be subject 

14 to— 

15 (A) the claimant paying to the Secretary 

16 the fair market value of the life estate on the 

17 claimed portion of the Federal land; 

18 (B) provisions under which the claimant 

19 agrees to hold the United States harmless for 

20 all claims arising from the design, construction, 

21 operation, or replacement of Scofield Dam and 

22 Reservoir; and 

23 (C) provisions requiring the claimant to se24 cure or tie down all structures on the portion 

25 of Federal land conveyed to prevent the strucVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:13 Mar 09, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S510.IS S510

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1 tures from being displaced during a flood event 

2 in accordance with a code described in clause (i) 

3 or (ii) of paragraph (2)(C). 

4 (4) COMPLIANCE WITH ENVIRONMENTAL

5 LAWS.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Before conveying the 

7 Federal land under paragraph (1)(A) or grant8 ing a life estate under paragraph (1)(B), the 

9 Secretary shall comply with all applicable re10 quirements under— 

11 (i) the National Environmental Policy 

12 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 

13 (ii) the Endangered Species Act of 

14 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); and 

15 (iii) any other applicable law. 

16 (B) EFFECT.—Nothing in this Act modi17 fies or alters any obligations under— 

18 (i) the National Environmental Policy 

19 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); or 

20 (ii) the Endangered Species Act of 

21 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 

22 (5) DEADLINE FOR ELECTION.—Not later than 

23 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, each 

24 of the claimants shall notify the Secretary in writing 

25 of whether the claimant opts to receive— 


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1 (A) a fee interest in the claimed portion of 

2 the Federal land, in accordance with paragraph 

3 (1)(A); or 

4 (B) a life estate in the claimed portion of 

5 the Federal land, in accordance with paragraph 

6 (1)(B). 

7 (6) FAILURE TO NOTIFY SECRETARY.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—If a claimant fails to 

9 submit to the Secretary a notice of an election 

10 in accordance with paragraph (5), any future 

11 claim by the claimant with respect to the Fed12 eral land shall be extinguished. 

13 (B) QUIET TITLE.—On extinguishment of 

14 the claim under subparagraph (A), the Sec15 retary shall take such action as is necessary to 

16 quiet title to the applicable portion of the Fed17 eral land, including removal of persons, entities, 

18 structures, and materials encumbering the ap19 plicable portion of the Federal land. 

20 (7) TRUST FUND.— 

21 (A) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is estab22 lished in the Treasury of the United States a 

23 fund to be known as the ‘‘Scofield Reservoir 

24 Fund’’, to be administered by the Secretary and 

25 to be available, without fiscal year limitation, 


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1 for providing enhanced recreation opportunities 

2 at Scofield Reservoir. 

3 (B) TRANSFERS TO FUND.—There shall be 

4 deposited in the Fund any amounts received as 

5 consideration for a conveyance under paragraph 

6 (2)(A) or a granting of a life estate under para7 graph (3)(A). 

8 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

9 Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 

10 of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a re11 port that— 

12 (1) describes the status of any activities author13 ized under this Act; 

14 (2) describes any obstacles to completing any 

15 outstanding transfers of title or grants of life es16 tates; 

17 (3) specifies an anticipated date for completion 

18 of any outstanding transfers of title or grants of life 

19 estates; and 

20 (4) describes efforts to quiet title to any portion 

21 of the Federal land to which a claimant did not sub22 mit an election under section 3(b)(5). 

Æ 


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