IB 

Union Calendar No. 102 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 497 

[Report No. 115–155] 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain public lands in 

San Bernardino County, California, to the San Bernardino Valley Water 

Conservation District, and to accept in return certain exchanged nonpublic lands, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 12, 2017 

Mr. COOK (for himself and Mr. AGUILAR) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

JUNE 2, 2017 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House 

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 12, 2017] 


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•HR 497 RH

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain 

public lands in San Bernardino County, California, to 

the San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District, 

and to accept in return certain exchanged non-public 

lands, and for other purposes. 


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•HR 497 RH

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 ‘‘Santa Ana River Wash 

5 Plan Land Exchange Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) CONSERVATION DISTRICT.—The term ‘‘Con9 servation District’’ means the San Bernardino Valley 

10 Water Conservation District, a political subdivision 

11 of the State of California. 

12 (2) NON-FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘non-Fed13 eral Land’’ means the approximately 310 acres of 

14 land owned by the Conservation District generally de15 picted as ‘‘SBVWCD to BLM’’ on the Map. 

16 (3) MAP.—The term ‘‘Map’’ means the map ti17 tled ‘‘Santa Ana River Wash Land Exchange’’ and 

18 dated September 3, 2015. 

19 (4) NON-FEDERAL EXCHANGE PARCEL.—The 

20 term ‘‘non-Federal exchange parcel’’ means the ap21 proximately 59 acres of land owned by the Conserva22 tion District generally depicted as ‘‘SBVWCD Equali23 zation Land’’ on the Map and is to be conveyed to the 

24 United States if necessary to equalize the fair market 

25 values of the lands otherwise to be exchanged. 


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1 (5) FEDERAL EXCHANGE PARCEL.—The term 

2 ‘‘Federal exchange parcel’’ means the approximately 

3 90 acres of Federal land administered by the Bureau 

4 of Land Management generally depicted as ‘‘BLM 

5 Equalization Land to SBVWCD’’ on the Map and is 

6 to be conveyed to the Conservation District if nec7 essary to equalize the fair market values of the lands 

8 otherwise to be exchanged. 

9 (6) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 

10 means the approximately 327 acres of Federal land 

11 administered by the Bureau of Land Management 

12 generally depicted as ‘‘BLM Land to SBVWCD’’ on 

13 the Map. 

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

15 the Secretary of the Interior. 

16 SEC. 3. EXCHANGE OF LAND; EQUALIZATION OF VALUE. 

17 (a) EXCHANGE AUTHORIZED.—Notwithstanding the 

18 land use planning requirements of sections 202, 210, and 

19 211 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 

20 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712, 1720–21), subject to valid existing 

21 rights, and conditioned upon any equalization payment 

22 necessary under section 206(b) of the Federal Land Policy 

23 and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716(b)), and sub24 section (b) of this Act, as soon as practicable, but not later 

25 than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, if the 


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•HR 497 RH

1 Conservation District offers to convey the exchange land to 

2 the United States, the Secretary shall— 

3 (1) convey to the Conservation District all right, 

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

5 Federal land, and any such portion of the Federal ex6 change parcel as may be required to equalize the val7 ues of the lands exchanged; and 

8 (2) accept from the Conservation District a con9 veyance of all right, title, and interest of the Con10 servation District in and to the non-Federal land, 

11 and any such portion of the non-Federal exchange 

12 parcel as may be required to equalize the values of the 

13 lands exchanged. 

14 (b) EQUALIZATION PAYMENT.—To the extent an 

15 equalization payment is necessary under section 206(b) of 

16 the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 

17 U.S.C. 1716), the amount of such equalization payment 

18 shall first be made by way of in-kind transfer of such por19 tion of the Federal exchange parcel to the Conservation Dis20 trict, or transfer of such portion of the non-Federal ex21 change parcel to the United States, as the case may be, as 

22 may be necessary to equalize the fair market values of the 

23 exchanged properties. The fair market value of the Federal 

24 exchange parcel or non-Federal exchange parcel, as the case 

25 may be, shall be credited against any required equalization 


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1 payment. To the extent such credit is not sufficient to offset 

2 the entire amount of equalization payment so indicated, 

3 any remaining amount of equalization payment shall be 

4 treated as follows: 

5 (1) If the equalization payment is to equalize 

6 values by which the Federal land exceeds the non-Fed7 eral land and the credited value of the non-Federal 

8 exchange parcel, Conservation District may make the 

9 equalization payment to the United States, notwith10 standing any limitation regarding the amount of the 

11 equalization payment under section 206(b) of the Fed12 eral Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 

13 U.S.C. 1716). In the event Conservation District opts 

14 not to make the indicated equalization payment, the 

15 exchange shall not proceed. 

16 (2) If the equalization payment is to equalize 

17 values by which the non-Federal land exceeds the Fed18 eral land and the credited value of the Federal ex19 change parcel, the Secretary shall order the exchange 

20 without requirement of any additional equalization 

21 payment by the United States to the Conservation 

22 District. 

23 (c) APPRAISALS.— 


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1 (1) The value of the land to be exchanged under 

2 this Act shall be determined by appraisals conducted 

3 by 1 or more independent and qualified appraisers. 

4 (2) The appraisals shall be conducted in accord5 ance with nationally recognized appraisal standards, 

6 including, as appropriate, the Uniform Appraisal 

7 Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions and the 

8 Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Prac9 tice. 

10 (d) TITLE APPROVAL.—Title to the land to be ex11 changed under this Act shall be in a format acceptable to 

12 the Secretary and the Conservation District 

13 (e) MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.—As soon as prac14 ticable after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec15 retary shall finalize a map and legal descriptions of all 

16 land to be conveyed under this Act. The Secretary may cor17 rect any minor errors in the map or in the legal descrip18 tions. The map and legal descriptions shall be on file and 

19 available for public inspection in appropriate offices of the 

20 Bureau of Land Management. 

21 (f) COSTS OF CONVEYANCE.—As a condition of convey22 ance, any costs related to the conveyance under this section 

23 shall be paid by the Conservation District. 

24 SEC. 4. APPLICABLE LAW. 

25 (a) ACT OF FEBRUARY 20, 1909.— 


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1 (1) The Act of February 20, 1909 (35 Stat. 641), 

2 shall not apply to the Federal land and any public 

3 exchange land transferred under this Act. 

4 (2) The exchange of lands under this section 

5 shall be subject to continuing rights of the Conserva6 tion District under the Act of February 20, 1909 (35 

7 Stat. 641), on the non-Federal land and any ex8 changed portion of the non-Federal exchange parcel 

9 for the continued use, maintenance, operation, con10 struction, or relocation of, or expansion of, ground11 water recharge facilities on the non-Federal land, to 

12 accommodate groundwater recharge of the Bunker 

13 Hill Basin to the extent that such activities are not 

14 in conflict with any Habitat Conservation Plan or 

15 Habitat Management Plan under which such non16 Federal land or non-Federal exchange parcel may be 

17 held or managed. 

18 (b) FLPMA.—Except as otherwise provided in this 

19 Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 

20 (43 U.S.C. 1701, et seq.), shall apply to the exchange of 

21 land under this Act. 

22 SEC. 5. CANCELLATION OF SECRETARIAL ORDER 241. 

23 Secretarial Order 241, dated November 11, 1929 (with24 drawing a portion of the Federal land for an unconstructed 


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1 transmission line), is terminated and the withdrawal there2 by effected is revoked. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to direct the 

Secretary of the Interior to convey certain Federal lands 

in San Bernardino County, California, to the San 

Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District, and to 

accept in return certain non-Federal lands, and for other 

purposes.’’. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 102 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 497 

[Report No. 115–155] 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey 

purposes. certain exchanged non-public lands, and for other Conservation District, and to accept in return California, to the San Bernardino Valley Water certain public lands in San Bernardino County, 

JUNE 2, 2017 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee 

dered to be printed of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and orVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Jun 02, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H497.RH H497

sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS