II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 339

To ensure the provision of appropriate compensation for the real property

and mining claims taken by the United States as a result of the establishment of the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 2 (legislative day, JANUARY 30), 1995

Mr. DOMENICI (for himself and Mr. BINGAMAN) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services

A BILL

To ensure the provision of appropriate compensation for the

real property and mining claims taken by the United

States as a result of the establishment of the White

Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.

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 ‘‘White Sands Fair

5 Compensation Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress makes the following findings:
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1 (1) The White Sands Missile Range, New Mex2 ico, is an installation that is vital to the national se3 curity interests of the United States.

4 (2) The United States established the Range

5 during World War II, and, in doing so, temporarily

6 displacing ranchers and miners who owned land

7 within the boundaries of the Range or whose liveli8 hood depended on such land.

9 (3) These ranchers and miners made a signifi10 cant contribution to the effort of the United States

11 to win World War II and to the post-war national

12 defense program by vacating land within the Range

13 at the request of the United States Government.

14 (4) In 1975, all land within the Range was per15 manently taken by the United States Government.

16 (5) The United States Government has never

17 fully compensated ranchers and miners who owned

18 land within the boundaries of the Range or whose

19 livelihood depended on such land for the value of the

20 land and claims taken by the Government.

21 (6) The method utilized by the United States

22 Government to compensate such ranchers differs

23 from the method utilized by the Government to com24 pensate ranchers during the taking of land in the

25 area in New Mexico that became the McGregor
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1 Range and Extension Area of the Fort Bliss Mili2 tary Reservation, Texas. Ranchers owning property

3 in that were fully compensated for their ranches as

4 operating units, including the carrying capacity of

5 public domain lands associated with such ranches.

6 (7) Through the Legacy Fellowship Program in

7 Natural and Cultural Resource Management estab8 lished by section 328 of Public Law 102–484, the

9 Department of Defense is sponsoring a 5-year re10 search project on the historical significance of ranch11 ing in the area that is now the White Sands Missile

12 Range.

13 (8) The United States Government has an obli14 gation to pay full compensation to ranchers and

15 miners who owned land within the boundaries of the

16 Range or whose livelihood depended on such land for

17 the value of the land and claims that were taken by

18 the Government.

19 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the

21 Department of Defense a commission to be known as the

22 White Sands Fair Compensation Commission (hereafter in

23 this section referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’).

24 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—
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1 (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Com2 mission shall be composed of nine members ap3 pointed by the Secretary of Defense as follows—

4 (A) one shall be an employee of the De5 partment of Defense;

6 (B) one shall be an employee of the De7 partment of the Interior who shall be appointed

8 from among individuals recommended by the

9 Secretary of the Interior;

10 (C) five shall be individuals appointed from

11 among individuals recommended by the Sen12 ators and Representatives from the State of

13 New Mexico, with one individual appointed

14 from among the recommendations of each such

15 Senator and Representative; and

16 (D) two shall be individuals appointed

17 from among individuals recommended by the

18 Governor of New Mexico.

19 (2) EXPERTISE.—The Secretary shall, to the

20 maximum extent practicable, make appointments

21 under this subsection from among individuals rec22 ommended to the Secretary who are present or

23 former residents of the State of New Mexico and

24 who have an expertise in matters of agricultural eco-
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1 nomics or the history of the establishment of the

2 White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.

3 (c) TERMS AND VACANCIES.—Members of the Com4 mission shall be appointed for the life of the Commission.

5 Any vacancy in the Commission shall not affect its powers

6 but shall be filled in the same manner as the original ap7 pointment.

8 (d) COMPENSATION.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para10 graph (2), members of the Commission shall serve

11 without pay or compensation.

12 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member of the

13 Commission shall be allowed travel expenses, includ14 ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates author15 ized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of

16 chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while

17 away from their homes or regular places of business

18 in the performance of services for the Commission.

19 (e) OFFICERS.—The members of the Commission

20 shall elect the Chairman of the Commission and any other

21 officers that may be required for the Commission. The

22 term of office of an officer of the Commission shall be

23 established by the members of the Commission.
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1 (f) QUORUM.—Five members of the Commission shall

2 constitute a quorum but a lesser number may hold hear3 ings.

4 (g) BYLAWS.—The Commission may make such by5 laws, rules, and regulations as it considers necessary to

6 carry out its functions.

7 (h) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The Secretary shall

8 provide the Commission with such professional and tech9 nical support, clerical staff and services, and administra10 tive support as the Secretary determines necessary for the

11 Commission to carry out its responsibilities under this Act.

12 Amounts required by the Secretary to carry out this sub13 section shall be paid from funds appropriated under sec14 tion 5(a).

15 (i) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate

16 on the date that is 14 months after the completion of the

17 evaluations by the Commission of the claims submitted to

18 the Commission under section 4.

19 SEC. 4. EVALUATION AND PAYMENT OF CLAIMS FOR COM20 PENSATION FOR TAKINGS RELATING TO

21 WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Claims for compensation for

23 takings of property associated with the establishment of

24 the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, shall be eval-
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1 uated, and payments of such compensation made, in ac2 cordance with this section.

3 (b) SUBMITTAL OF CLAIMS.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (3),

5 any individual described in paragraph (2) may sub6 mit to the White Sands Fair Compensation Commis7 sion a claim for full compensation for the taking of

8 such individual’s property as a result of the estab9 lishment of the White Sands Missile Range.

10 (2) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—The following in11 dividuals may submit claims under this subsection:

12 (A) Individuals—

13 (i) who—

14 (I) owned real property that was

15 taken by the United States for the

16 purpose of establishing the area now

17 known as the White Sands Missile

18 Range, New Mexico; and

19 (II) engaged in ranching activi20 ties on the real property at the time

21 of the taking; and

22 (ii) who claim that the amount paid

23 by the United States in 1975 in compensa24 tion for the taking was not full compensa-
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1 tion for the value of the property at the

2 time of the taking.

3 (B) Individuals who—

4 (i) possessed a mining claim in real

5 property that was so taken; and

6 (ii) claim that the amount paid by the

7 United States in 1975 in compensation for

8 the taking was not full compensation for

9 value of the mining claim at the time of

10 the taking.

11 (C) Heirs or assigns of the individuals de12 scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B).

13 (3) DEADLINE FOR CLAIMS.—A claim shall be

14 submitted under this subsection not later than the

15 end of the 14-month period beginning on the date of

16 the enactment of this Act.

17 (c) EVALUATION OF CLAIMS.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall evalu19 ate each claim submitted under this section. In eval20 uating a claim, the Commission shall—

21 (A) determine whether or not the individ22 ual submitting the claim is eligible to submit

23 the claim;

24 (B) if the individual is so eligible, deter25 mine whether or not the amount paid by the
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1 United States to the individual in 1975 for the

2 real property or mining claim of the individual,

3 as the case may be, was full compensation for

4 the value of the real property or mining claim

5 at the time of the taking;

6 (C) if the amount so paid is determined

7 not to have been such full compensation, deter8 mine the amount that would constitute such full

9 compensation; and

10 (D) notify the individual and the Secretary

11 of Defense of the determinations.

12 (2) RULES FOR VALUATION OF REAL PROP13 ERTY.—In determining the value of real property

14 under paragraph (1)(B), the Commission—

15 (A) shall utilize established precedents for

16 the valuation of real property in New Mexico

17 that is similar to the real property subject to

18 valuation;

19 (B) shall take into account the value, if

20 any, added to the real property by Federal

21 grazing permits associated with the real prop22 erty; and

23 (C) may not take into account any lease

24 payments paid by the United States Govern-
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1 ment with respect to the real property between

2 1942 and 1975.

3 (3) PRIORITY OF EVALUATION.—The Commis4 sion shall give priority in the order of evaluating

5 claims under this subsection to claims submitted by

6 individuals who owned the real property subject to

7 the claims continuously from 1941 until the taking

8 of the real property in 1975.

9 (d) APPEAL.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—An individual submitting a

11 claim under this section may appeal a determination

12 of the Commission under subparagraph (B) or (C)

13 of subsection (c)(1) by submitting a notice of appeal

14 of the determination to the Secretary of Defense. An

15 individual shall submit the appeal not later than 30

16 days after receiving notice of the determination

17 under subparagraph (D) of such subsection.

18 (2) REVIEW.—The Secretary shall review each

19 appeal submitted to the Secretary under this sub20 section. The Secretary shall complete the review not

21 later than 60 days after the date of receiving the ap22 peal.

23 (3) RELIEF.—Subject to paragraph (4), upon

24 completion of the review of an appeal under this

25 subsection, the Secretary shall—
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1 (A) uphold the determination of the Com2 mission; or

3 (B) establish an amount that is appro4 priate to provide full compensation to the indi5 vidual submitting the appeal for the value of

6 the real property or mining claim, as the case

7 may be, of the individual that was taken by the

8 United States Government.

9 (4) LIMITATION ON ADJUSTMENT OF COM10 PENSATION.—The amount of compensation estab11 lished by the Secretary for a claim on appeal under

12 paragraph (3)(B) may not be less than the amount

13 of compensation determined by the Commission for

14 the claim under subsection (c)(1).

15 (5) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall notify

16 each individual submitting an appeal under this sub17 section of the decision of the Secretary under para18 graph (3).

19 (6) FINALITY OF DECISION.—The decision of

20 the Secretary under paragraph (3) shall not be sub21 ject to judicial review.

22 (e) PAYMENT OF COMPENSATION.—

23 (1) PAYMENT.—Subject to paragraph (2), upon

24 upholding the determination of the Commission with

25 respect to a claim under paragraph (3)(A) of sub-
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1 section (d) or establishing an appropriate amount of

2 compensation with respect to the claim under para3 graph (3)(B) of that subsection, the Secretary of

4 Defense shall pay to the individual submitting the

5 claim the amount, if any, that is so upheld or estab6 lished, as the case may be.

7 (2) PAYMENT SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY OF

8 APPROPRIATIONS.—The Secretary may make pay9 ments under this subsection in a fiscal year only to

10 the extent that funds are appropriated for such pur11 pose in advance in an appropriations Act.

12 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

13 (a) AUTHORIZATION FOR ACTIVITIES OF COMMIS14 SION.—There are authorized to be appropriated such

15 sums as may be necessary for the payment of the cost

16 of the activities of the White Sands Fair Compensation

17 Commission under this Act. Such sums shall be available

18 for expenditure until the termination of the Commission

19 under section 3(i).

20 (b) AUTHORIZATION FOR PAYMENT OF CLAIMS.—

21 There is authorized to be appropriated $20,300,000 for

22 the purposes of payment of claims under section 4. Such

23 amount shall remain available until expended.

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