II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 378

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to exchange certain lands of

the Columbia Basin Federal reclamation project, Washington, and for

other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 9 (legislative day, JANUARY 30), 1995

Mr. GORTON (for himself and Mrs. MURRAY) 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 exchange certain lands of the Columbia Basin Federal reclamation

project, Washington, 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. LAND EXCHANGE.

4 The Secretary of the Interior (hereinafter referred to

5 as the ‘‘Secretary’’) is authorized to convey to the Boise

6 Cascade Corporation (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Cor7 poration’’), a corporation formed under the statutes of the

8 State of Delaware, with its principal place of business at

9 Boise, Idaho, title to approximately seven acres of land,
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1 more or less, located in sections 14 and 23, township 36

2 north, range 37 east, Willamette Meridian, Stevens Coun3 ty, Washington, further identified in the records of the

4 Bureau of Reclamation, Department of the Interior, as

5 Tract No. GC–19860, and to accept from the Corporation

6 in exchange therefor, title to approximately one hundred

7 and thirty-six acres of land located in section 19, township

8 37 north, range 38 east and section 33, township 38

9 north, range 37 east, Willamette Meridian, Stevens Coun10 ty, Washington, and further identified in the records of

11 the Bureau of Reclamation, Department of the Interior,

12 as Tract No. GC–19858 and Tract No. GC–19859, re13 spectively.

14 SEC. 2. APPRAISAL.

15 The properties so exchanged either shall be approxi16 mately equal in fair market value or if they are not ap17 proximately equal, shall be equalized by the payment of

18 cash to the Corporation or to the Secretary as required

19 or in the event the value of the Corporation’s lands is

20 greater, the acreage may be reduced so that the fair mar21 ket value is approximately equal: Provided, That the Sec22 retary shall order appraisals made of the fair market value

23 of each tract of land included in the exchange without con24 sideration for improvements thereon: Provided further,

25 That any cash payment received by the Secretary shall
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1 be covered in the Reclamation Fund and credited to the

2 Columbia Basin project.

3 SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.

4 Costs of conducting the necessary land surveys, pre5 paring the legal descriptions of the lands to be conveyed,

6 performing the appraisals, and administrative costs in7 curred in completing the exchange shall be borne by the

8 Corporation.

9 SEC. 4. LIABILITY FOR HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES.

10 (a) The Secretary shall not acquire any lands under

11 this Act if the Secretary determines that such lands, or

12 any portion thereof, have become contaminated with haz13 ardous substances (as defined in the Comprehensive Envi14 ronmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (42

15 U.S.C. 9601)).

16 (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the

17 United States shall have no responsibility or liability with

18 respect to any hazardous wastes or other substances

19 placed on any of the lands covered by this Act after their

20 transfer to the ownership of any party, but nothing in this

21 Act shall be construed as either diminishing or increasing

22 any responsibility or liability of the United States based

23 on the condition of such lands on the date of their transfer

24 to the ownership of another party. The Corporation shall

25 indemnify the United States for liabilities arising under
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1 the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensa2 tion, and Liability Act (42 U.S.C. 9601), and the Re3 source Conservation Recovery Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et

4 seq.).

5 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

6 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

7 as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.

Æ