II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 771 

To provide to the Secretary of the Interior a mechanism to cancel contracts 

for the sale of materials CA–20139 and CA–22901, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 18, 2013 

Mrs. BOXER (for herself and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To provide to the Secretary of the Interior a mechanism 

to cancel contracts for the sale of materials CA–20139 

and CA–22901, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Soledad Canyon Settle5 ment Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) CITY OF SANTA CLARITA.—The term ‘‘City 

2 of Santa Clarita’’ means the City of Santa Clarita, 

3 California. 

4 (2) CITY OF VICTORVILLE.—The term ‘‘City of 

5 Victorville’’ means the City of Victorville, California. 

6 (3) CONTRACTS.—The term ‘‘contracts’’ means 

7 the Bureau of Land Management mineral contracts 

8 numbered CA–20139 and CA–22901. 

9 (4) CONTRACT HOLDER.—The term ‘‘contract 

10 holder’’ means the private party to the contracts, 

11 and any successors that hold legal interests in the 

12 contracts. 

13 (5) COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO.—The term 

14 ‘‘County of San Bernardino’’ means the County of 

15 San Bernardino, California. 

16 (6) MAP.—The term ‘‘Map’’ means the map en17 titled ‘‘Victorville disposal area, California’’ and 

18 dated March 2011. 

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

20 the Secretary of the Interior. 

21 (8) VICTORVILLE DISPOSAL AREA.—The term 

22 ‘‘Victorville disposal area’’ means the 10,224.32 

23 acres of land identified for disposal in the West Mo24 jave Land Management Plan (2006) of the Bureau 

25 of Land Management and depicted on the Map. 


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1 SEC. 3. APPRAISAL; COMPENSATION TO CONTRACT HOLD2 ER. 

3 (a) CONTRACT SUSPENSION.—The Secretary shall 

4 suspend the contracts until the completion of the processes 

5 described in subsections (b) and (c), effective on the date 

6 of enactment of this Act. 

7 (b) APPRAISALS.— 

8 (1) CONTRACT APPRAISAL.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

10 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec11 retary shall determine by mineral appraisal, 

12 using the discounted cash flow method of ap13 praisal (in accordance with the appraisal guide14 lines for appraisals of large quantities of min15 eral materials contained in section IV(E) of 

16 BLM Mineral Material Appraisal Handbook H– 

17 3630)— 

18 (i) the fair market value of the con19 tracts; and 

20 (ii) the amount of royalties the Fed21 eral Government would receive under the 

22 contracts over the 10-year period begin23 ning on the date of enactment of this Act. 

24 (B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In making the de25 termination under subparagraph (A), the Sec26 retary shall assume that— 


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1 (i) the contract holder has obtained 

2 all the permits and entitlements necessary 

3 to mine, produce, and sell sand and gravel 

4 under the contract; and 

5 (ii) mining operations under the con6 tract have commenced at the time of the 

7 determination, with maximum annual pro8 duction volumes that— 

9 (I) are based on the projected 

10 supply and demand outlook at the 

11 time of determination; and 

12 (II) reflect depletion of the re13 serves that are subject to the contract 

14 within the effective periods of the con15 tract. 

16 (C) DONATION.—The Secretary may ac17 cept a donation of non-Federal funds to cover 

18 the costs of the appraisal under subparagraph 

19 (A). 

20 (2) LAND APPRAISAL.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

22 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec23 retary shall determine by appraisal standards 

24 under existing laws and regulations, the fair 


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1 market value of the Victorville disposal area on 

2 a net present value basis. 

3 (B) DONATION.—The Secretary may ac4 cept a donation of non-Federal funds to cover 

5 the costs of the appraisal under subparagraph 

6 (A). 

7 (c) COMPENSATION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

9 not later than 30 days after completion of the ap10 praisals under subsection (b), the Secretary shall 

11 offer the contract holder compensation for the can12 cellation of the contracts. 

13 (2) CONDITIONS ON OFFER.—An offer made by 

14 the Secretary under paragraph (1) shall be subject 

15 to the following conditions: 

16 (A) The cancellation of the contracts and 

17 the provision of compensation shall be contin18 gent on the availability of funds from the sale 

19 of the Victorville disposal area under section 4, 

20 and any additional compensation provided 

21 under subparagraph (D), as determined nec22 essary by the Secretary. 

23 (B) The amount of compensation offered 

24 by the Secretary under this subsection shall be 

25 equal to or less than the fair market value of 


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1 the contracts, as determined under subsection 

2 (b)(1)(A)(i). 

3 (C) The amount of compensation offered 

4 by the Secretary under this subsection shall be 

5 equal to or less than the projected revenues 

6 generated by the sale of the Victorville disposal 

7 area under section 4, less the projected lost roy8 alties to the Federal Government over the 10- 

9 year period beginning on the date of enactment 

10 of this Act, as determined under subsection 

11 (b)(1)(A)(ii). 

12 (D) If the amount of projected revenues 

13 described in subparagraph (C) is less than the 

14 fair market value determined under subsection 

15 (b)(1)(A)(i), the Secretary shall, not later than 

16 60 days after the date on which the Director of 

17 the Bureau of Land Management determines 

18 the projected revenues under subparagraph (C), 

19 negotiate an agreement with the contract holder 

20 and the City of Santa Clarita to provide to the 

21 Secretary amounts equal to the difference, in 

22 the form of— 

23 (i) compensation to be received by the 

24 contract holder; and 


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1 (ii) compensation in a form acceptable 

2 to the Secretary to be provided by the City 

3 of Santa Clarita. 

4 (3) ACCEPTANCE OF OFFER.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The contract holder 

6 shall have 60 days from the later of the date on 

7 which the Secretary makes the offer under 

8 paragraph (1) or an agreement is negotiated 

9 under paragraph (2)(D) to accept the offer or 

10 agreement. 

11 (B) CLAIM.—If the contract holder does 

12 not accept the offer or agreement under sub13 paragraph (A), the Secretary shall cancel the 

14 contracts under paragraph (4) and direct that 

15 the contract holder file a claim relating to the 

16 issue of compensation in the United States 

17 Court of Federal Claims. 

18 (4) CANCELLATION.—If no agreement can be 

19 reached within the timeframe specified in paragraph 

20 2(D), the Secretary shall— 

21 (A) cancel the contracts; 

22 (B) withdraw those areas that were subject 

23 to the contracts from further mineral entry 

24 under all mineral leasing and sales authorities 

25 available to the Secretary; and 


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1 (C) direct that the contract holder file a 

2 claim in the United States Court of Federal 

3 Claims for relief. 

4 SEC. 4. SALE OF LAND NEAR VICTORVILLE, CALIFORNIA. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sections 202 and 

6 203 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 

7 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712, 1713) and subject to subsections 

8 (b) through (f), the Secretary shall offer for sale by com9 petitive bidding and in a manner designed to obtain the 

10 highest price possible, all right, title, and interest of the 

11 United States in and to the Victorville disposal area. 

12 (b) COMPLETION DATE.—The Secretary shall com13 plete the sale under subsection (a) by not later than 2 

14 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 

15 (c) AVAILABILITY OF MAP.—The Secretary shall 

16 keep the Map on file and available for public inspection 

17 in— 

18 (1) the office of the Director of the Bureau of 

19 Land Management; and 

20 (2) the district office of the Bureau of Land 

21 Management located in Barstow, California. 

22 (d) RIGHT OF LOCAL LAND USE AUTHORITY TO

23 PURCHASE CERTAIN LAND.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Before a sale of land under 

25 subsection (a), the Secretary shall provide to the apVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:38 Apr 25, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S771.IS S771

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1 plicable local land use authority an exclusive pre2 emptive right, as determined under State law, to 

3 purchase any right, title, or interest of the United 

4 States in and to any portion of the parcels of land 

5 identified as ‘‘Area A’’ and ‘‘Area B’’ on the Map 

6 that is located within the jurisdiction of the local 

7 land use authority. 

8 (2) TIMING.—A preemptive right under para9 graph (1) shall be in effect for a period of 30 days 

10 before the land is sold under subsection (a). 

11 (3) AUTHORITY.—During the period described 

12 in paragraph (2), the local land use authority may 

13 purchase some or all of the right, title, and interest 

14 of the United States, as provided in subsection (a), 

15 in and to the land to be offered for sale at fair mar16 ket value, as determined by an appraisal conducted 

17 by the Secretary. 

18 (4) EXERCISING RIGHT.—If the local land use 

19 authority exercises the preemptive right under para20 graph (1), the Secretary shall convey the land to the 

21 local land use authority immediately on payment by 

22 the local land use authority of the entire purchase 

23 price of the applicable parcel of land. 

24 (5) FAILURE TO PAY.—Failure by the local 

25 land use authority to purchase and pay for the right, 


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1 title, and interest of the United States in and to the 

2 land described in paragraph (1) within the time pe3 riod described in paragraph (2) and to comply with 

4 any other terms and conditions as the Secretary may 

5 require shall terminate the preemptive right of the 

6 local land use authority with respect to the right, 

7 title, and interest offered for sale. 

8 (e) WITHDRAWAL AND RESERVATION.— 

9 (1) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing 

10 rights, the land described in subsection (a) is with11 drawn from— 

12 (A) entry, appropriation, or disposal under 

13 the public land laws; 

14 (B) location, entry, and patent under the 

15 mining laws; and 

16 (C) operation of the mineral leasing, min17 eral materials, and geothermal leasing laws. 

18 (2) RESERVATION.—In any sale or other dis19 posal of land under this section, there shall be re20 served by the United States the right of the United 

21 States to prospect for, mine, and remove minerals 

22 from the conveyed land. 

23 (f) CONSULTATION.—In addition to any consultation 

24 otherwise required by law, before initiating efforts to dis25 pose of land under this section, the Secretary shall consult 


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1 with the City of Victorville, the County of San Bernardino, 

2 and surface owners in the jurisdiction in which the land 

3 is located regarding the potential impact of the disposal 

4 and other appropriate aspects of the disposal. 

5 (g) ACCOUNT.—The gross proceeds of a sale of land 

6 under subsection (a) shall be deposited in an account ac7 ceptable to the Secretary and available only for the pur8 poses of carrying out this Act. 

9 SEC. 5. CANCELLATION OF CONTRACTS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after the 

11 funds received from the sale under section 4 are available 

12 and not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

13 of this Act, the Secretary shall cancel the contracts and 

14 withdraw those areas that were subject to the contracts 

15 from further mineral entry under all mineral leasing and 

16 sales authorities available to the Secretary. 

17 (b) COMPENSATION; RETENTION OF FUNDS.—On 

18 cancellation of the contracts under subsection (a), the Sec19 retary shall— 

20 (1) provide the compensation agreed to under 

21 section 3 to the contract holder by disbursement of 

22 amounts from the account; and 


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1 (2) retain sufficient funds to cover the projected 

2 lost royalties determined under section 

3 3(b)(1)(A)(ii). 

Æ 


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