II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 537

To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 10 (legislative day, MARCH 6), 1995

Mr. MURKOWSKI (for himself and Mr. STEVENS) introduced the following bill;

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

A BILL

To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, 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. RATIFICATION OF CERTAIN CASWELL AND

4 MONTANA CREEK NATIVE ASSOCIATIONS

5 CONVEYANCES.

6 The conveyance of approximately 11,520 acres to

7 Montana Creek Native Association, Inc., and the convey8 ance of approximately 11,520 acres to Caswell Native As9 sociation, Inc., by Cook Inlet Region, Inc. in fulfillment

10 of the agreement of February 3, 1976, and subsequent
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1 letter agreement of March 26, 1982, among the 3 parties

2 are hereby adopted and ratified as a matter of Federal

3 law. The conveyances shall be deemed to be conveyances

4 pursuant to section 14(h)(2) of the Alaska Native Claims

5 Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1613(h)(2)). The group cor6 porations for Montana Creek and Caswell are hereby de7 clared to have received their full entitlement and shall not

8 be entitled to receive any additional lands under the Alas9 ka Native Claims Settlement Act. The ratification of these

10 conveyances shall not have any effect on section 14(h) of

11 the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C.

12 1613(h)) or upon the duties and obligations of the United

13 States to any Alaska Native Corporation. This ratification

14 shall not be for any claim to land or money by the Caswell

15 or Montana Creek group corporations or any other Alaska

16 Native Corporation against the State of Alaska, the

17 United States, or Cook Inlet Region, Incorporated.

18 SEC. 2. MINING CLAIMS ON LANDS CONVEYED TO ALASKA

19 REGIONAL CORPORATIONS.

20 Section 22(c) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement

21 Act (43 U.S.C. 1621(c)) is amended by adding at the end

22 the following:

23 ‘‘(3) This section shall apply to lands conveyed

24 by interim conveyance or patent to a regional cor25 poration pursuant to this Act which are made sub-
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1 ject to a mining claim or claims located under the

2 general mining laws, including lands conveyed prior

3 to enactment of this paragraph. Effective upon the

4 date of enactment of this paragraph, the Secretary,

5 acting through the Bureau of Land Management

6 and in a manner consistent with section 14(g), shall

7 transfer to the regional corporation administration

8 of all mining claims determined to be entirely within

9 lands conveyed to that corporation. Any person hold10 ing such mining claim or claims shall meet such re11 quirements of the general mining laws and section

12 314 of the Federal Land Management and Policy

13 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1744), except that any fil14 ings that would have been made with the Bureau of

15 Land Management if the lands were within Federal

16 ownership shall be timely made with the appropriate

17 regional corporation. The validity of any such min18 ing claim or claims may be contested by the regional

19 corporation, in place of the United States. All con20 test proceedings and appeals by the mining claim21 ants of adverse decision made by the regional cor22 poration shall be brought in Federal District Court

23 for the District of Alaska. Neither the United States

24 nor any Federal agency or official shall be named or

25 joined as a party in such proceedings or appeals. All
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1 revenues from such mining claims received after pas2 sage of this paragraph shall be remitted to the re3 gional corporation subject to distribution pursuant

4 to section 7(i) of this Act, except that in the event

5 that the mining claim or claims are not totally with6 in the lands conveyed to the regional corporation,

7 the regional corporation shall be entitled only to that

8 proportion of revenues, other than administrative

9 fees, reasonably allocated to the portion of the min10 ing claim so conveyed.’’.

11 SEC. 3. SETTLEMENT OF CLAIMS ARISING FROM HAZARD12 OUS SUBSTANCE CONTAMINATION OF TRANS13 FERRED LANDS.

14 The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C.

15 1601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the follow16 ing:

17 ‘‘CLAIMS ARISING FROM CONTAMINATION OF

18 TRANSFERRED LANDS

19 ‘‘SEC. 40. (a) As used in this section—

20 ‘‘(1) the term ‘contaminant’ means hazardous

21 substance harmful to public health or the environ22 ment, including asbestos; and

23 ‘‘(2) the term ‘land’ means real property trans24 ferred to an Alaska Native Corporation pursuant to

25 this Act.
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1 ‘‘(b) Within 18 months of enactment of this section,

2 and after consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture,

3 State of Alaska, and appropriate Alaska Native corpora4 tions and organizations, the Secretary shall submit to the

5 Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives

6 and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of

7 the Senate, a report addressing issues presented by the

8 presence of hazardous substances on lands conveyed or

9 prioritized for conveyance to such corporations pursuant

10 to this Act. Such report shall consist of—

11 ‘‘(1) existing information concerning the nature

12 and types of contaminants present on such lands

13 prior to conveyance to Alaska Native corporations;

14 ‘‘(2) existing information identifying the exist15 ence and availability of potentially responsible par16 ties for the removal or amelioration of the effects

17 of such contaminants;

18 ‘‘(3) identification of existing remedies; and

19 ‘‘(4) recommendations for any additional legis20 lation that the Secretary concludes is necessary to

21 remedy the problem of contaminants on the lands.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE

2 PURPOSES OF IMPLEMENTING REQUIRED

3 RECONVEYANCES.

4 Section 14(c) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement

5 Act (43 U.S.C. 1613(c)) is amended by adding at the end

6 the following:

7 ‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated such sums

8 as may be necessary for the purpose of providing technical

9 assistance to Village Corporations established pursuant to

10 this Act in order that they may fulfill the reconveyance

11 requirements of section 14(c) of this Act. The Secretary

12 may make funds available as grants to ANCSA or non13 profit corporations that maintain in-house land planning

14 and management capabilities.’’.

15 SEC. 5. NATIVE ALLOTMENTS.

16 Section 1431(o) of the Alaska National Interest

17 Lands Conservation Act (94 Stat. 2542) is amended by

18 adding at the end the following:

19 ‘‘(5) Following the exercise by Arctic Slope Re20 gional Corporation of its option under paragraph (1)

21 to acquire the subsurface estate beneath lands with22 in the National Petroleum Reserve—Alaska selected

23 by Kuukpik Corporation, where such subsurface es24 tate entirely surrounds lands subject to a Native al25 lotment application approved under 905 of this Act,

26 and the oil and gas in such lands have been reserved
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1 to the United States, Arctic Slope Regional Corpora2 tion, at its further option and subject to the concur3 rence of Kuukpik Corporation, shall be entitled to

4 receive a conveyance of the reserved oil and gas, in5 cluding all rights and privileges therein reserved to

6 the United States, in such lands. Upon the receipt

7 of a conveyance of such oil and gas interests, the en8 titlement of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation to in9 lieu subsurface lands under section 12(a)(1) of the

10 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C.

11 1611(a)(1)) shall be reduced by the amount of acre12 age determined by the Secretary to be conveyed to

13 Arctic Slope Regional Corporation pursuant to this

14 paragraph.’’.

15 SEC. 6. REPORT CONCERNING OPEN SEASON FOR CERTAIN

16 NATIVE ALASKA VETERANS FOR ALLOT17 MENTS.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—No later than 6 months after the

19 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Inte20 rior, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, the

21 State of Alaska and appropriate Native corporations and

22 organizations, shall submit to the Committee on Resources

23 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on

24 Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report

25 which shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
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1 (1) The number of Vietnam era veterans, as de2 fined in section 101 of title 38, United States Code,

3 who were eligible for but did not apply for an allot4 ment of not to exceed 160 acres under the Act of

5 May 17, 1906 (chapter 2469, 34 Stat. 197), as the

6 Act was in effect before December 18, 1971.

7 (2) An assessment of the potential impacts of

8 additional allotments on conservation system units

9 as that term is defined in section 102(4) of the Alas10 ka National Interest Lands Conservation Act (94

11 Stat. 2375).

12 (3) Recommendations for any additional legisla13 tion that the Secretary concludes is necessary.

14 (b) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary of Veterans Af15 fairs shall release to the Secretary of the Interior informa16 tion relevant to the report required under subsection (a).

17 SEC. 7. TRANSFER OF WRANGELL INSTITUTE.

18 (a) PROPERTY TRANSFER.—Cook Inlet Region, In19 corporated, is authorized to transfer to the United States

20 and the General Services Administration shall accept an

21 approximately 10-acre site of the Wrangell Institute in

22 Wrangell, Alaska, and the structures contained thereon.

23 (b) RESTORATION OF PROPERTY CREDITS.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—In exchange for the land

25 and structures transferred under subsection (a),
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1 property bidding credits in the total amount of

2 $382,305, shall be restored to the Cook Inlet Re3 gion, Incorporated, property account in the Treasury

4 established under section 12(b) of the Act of Janu5 ary 2, 1976 (Public Law 94–204; 43 U.S.C. 1611

6 note), referred to in such section as the ‘‘Cook Inlet

7 Region, Incorporated, property account’’. Such prop8 erty bidding credits shall be used in the same fiscal

9 year as they are received by Cook Inlet Region, In10 corporated.

11 (2) HOLD HARMLESS.—The United States shall

12 defend and hold harmless Cook Inlet Region, Incor13 porated, and its subsidiaries in any and all claims

14 arising from Federal or Cook Inlet Region, Incor15 porated, ownership of the land and structures prior

16 to their return to the United States.

17 SEC. 8. SHISHMAREF AIRPORT AMENDMENT.

18 The Shishmaref Airport, conveyed to the State of

19 Alaska on January 5, 1967, in Patent No. 1240529, is

20 subject to reversion to the United States, pursuant to the

21 terms of that patent for nonuse as an airport. The Sec22 retary is authorized to reacquire the interests originally

23 conveyed pursuant to Patent No. 1240529, and, notwith24 standing any other provision of law, shall immediately

25 thereafter transfer all right, title, and interest of the Unit-
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1 ed States in the subject lands to the Shishmaref Native

2 Corporation. Nothing in this section shall relieve the

3 State, the United States, or any other potentially respon4 sible party of liability, if any, under existing law for the

5 cleanup of hazardous or solid wastes on the property, nor

6 shall the United States or Shishmaref Native Corporation

7 become liable for the cleanup of the property solely by vir8 tue of acquiring title from the State of Alaska or from

9 the United States.

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