II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1571

To provide for the exchange of certain lands within the State of Montana,

and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 23, 1996

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

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To provide for the exchange of certain lands within the

State of Montana, 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 ‘‘Lost Creek Land Ex5 change Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. LAND EXCHANGE.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi8 sion of law, the Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in

9 this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall acquire by exchange cer10 tain land and interests in land owned by R–Y Timber,
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1 Inc., its successors and assigns or affiliates (referred to

2 in this Act as ‘‘R–Y’’), located in the Lost Creek area and

3 other areas of the Deerlodge National Forest, Montana.

4 (b) OFFER AND ACCEPTANCE OF LAND.—

5 (1) NON-FEDERAL LAND.—If R–Y offers fee

6 title that is acceptable to the United States to ap7 proximately 17,567 acres of land owned by R–Y and

8 available for exchange, the Secretary shall accept a

9 warranty deed to the land.

10 (2) FEDERAL LAND.—

11 (A) CONVEYANCE.—On acceptance by the

12 Secretary of title to R–Y’s land under para13 graph (1), the Secretary of the Interior shall

14 convey to R–Y, subject to reservations and valid

15 existing rights—

16 (i) by patent, fee title to approxi17 mately 3,605 acres in the Deerlodge Na18 tional Forest; and

19 (ii) by timber deed, the right to har20 vest approximately 46,628,000 board feet

21 of timber on certain land in the Deerlodge

22 National Forest, Helena National Forest,

23 and Lewis & Clark National Forest.

24 (B) TIMBER HARVEST PROVISIONS.—
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1 (i) PRACTICES.—Timber harvest prac2 tices used on the national forest land de3 scribed in subparagraph (A)(ii) shall be

4 conducted in accordance with Montana

5 Forestry Best Management Practices, the

6 Montana Streamside Zone Management

7 Law (Mont. Code Ann. sec. 77–5–301 et

8 seq.), and all other applicable laws of the

9 State of Montana.

10 (ii) RELATION TO PLANNED SALES.—

11 The timber harvest volume described in

12 subparagraph (A)(ii) shall be in addition

13 to, and not treated in any way as an offset

14 against, the present or future planned tim15 ber sale quantities for the Deerlodge Na16 tional Forest, Helena National Forest, and

17 Lewis & Clark National Forest.

18 (iii) TIMBER DESIGNATIONS.—

19 (I) CONTRACT.—To ensure the

20 expeditious and efficient designation

21 of the timber described in subpara22 graph (A)(ii), the Forest Service shall

23 contract with a qualified private per24 son agreed on by the Secretary and
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1 R–Y to perform the field work associ2 ated with the designations.

3 (II) MINIMUM ANNUAL DESIGNA4 TIONS.—Not less than 20 percent nor

5 more than 30 percent of the timber

6 described in subparagraph (A)(ii)

7 shall be made available by the end of

8 each fiscal year over a 5-year period

9 beginning with the first fiscal year

10 that begins after the date of enact11 ment of this Act, and R–Y shall be al12 lowed at least 5 years after the end of

13 each fiscal year in which to complete

14 the harvest of timber designated in

15 that fiscal year.

16 (c) TITLE.—

17 (1) REVIEW OF TITLE.—Not later than 30 days

18 after receipt of title documents from R–Y, the Sec19 retary shall review the title for the non-Federal land

20 described in subsection (b) and determine whether—

21 (A) the applicable title standards for Fed22 eral land acquisition have been satisfied or the

23 quality of title is otherwise acceptable to the

24 Secretary;
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1 (B) all draft conveyances and closing docu2 ments have been received and approved; and

3 (C) a current title commitment verifying

4 compliance with applicable title standards has

5 been issued to the Secretary.

6 (2) UNACCEPTABLE QUALITY OF TITLE.—If the

7 quality of title does not meet Federal standards and

8 is not otherwise acceptable to the Secretary, the Sec9 retary shall advise R–Y regarding corrective actions

10 necessary to make an affirmative determination.

11 (3) CONVEYANCE OF TITLE.—The Secretary,

12 acting through the Secretary of the Interior, shall

13 effect the conveyance of land described in subsection

14 (b) not later than 60 days after the Secretary has

15 made an affirmative determination of quality of title.

16 SEC. 3. GENERAL PROVISIONS.

17 (a) MAPS AND DOCUMENTS.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Maps pertaining to the land

19 described in section 2 are subject to such minor cor20 rections as may be agreed upon by the Secretary

21 and R–Y.

22 (2) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall notify

23 the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of

24 the Senate and the Committee on Resources of the
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1 House of Representatives of any corrections made

2 pursuant to this subsection.

3 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The maps and doc4 uments described in section 2(b) (1) and (3) shall be

5 on file and available for public inspection in the of6 fice of the Chief of the Forest Service.

7 (b) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LAND.—All land

8 conveyed to the United States under this Act shall be

9 added to and administered as part of the Deerlodge Na10 tional Forest in accordance with the laws pertaining to

11 the National Forest System.

12 (c) VALUATION.—The values of the lands and inter13 ests in land to be exchanged under this Act are deemed

14 to be of approximately equal value.

15 (d) HAZARDOUS MATERIAL LIABILITY.—The United

16 States (including its departments, agencies, and employ17 ees) shall not be liable under the Comprehensive Environ18 mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (42

19 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.), the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C.

20 1251 et seq.), or any other Federal, State, or local law,

21 solely as a result of the acquisition of an interest in the

22 Lost Creek Tract or due to circumstances or events occur23 ring before acquisition, including any release or threat of

24 release of a hazardous substance.

Æ