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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3294 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3294

  To establish a streamlined process through which a State may claim 
   authority over and responsibility for management of Federal lands 
 located in the State without claiming ownership of the land, and for 
                            other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 15, 2013

 Mr. Young of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee 
   on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
  To establish a streamlined process through which a State may claim 
   authority over and responsibility for management of Federal lands 
 located in the State without claiming ownership of the land, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``State-Run Federal Lands Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Qualifying federal land.--The term ``qualifying Federal 
        land'' means Federal land under the jurisdiction of--
                    (A) the National Park Service, including national 
                monuments and recreation areas;
                    (B) the Bureau of Land Management;
                    (C) the Forest Service; or
                    (D) the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, 
                including wildlife refuges and preserves.
            (2) Secretary concerned.--The term ``Secretary concerned'' 
        means--
                    (A) in the case of land under the jurisdiction of 
                the National Park Service or the United States Fish and 
                Wildlife Service, the Secretary of the Interior; and
                    (B) in the case of land under the jurisdiction of 
                the Forest Service, the Secretary of Agriculture.

SEC. 3. PETITION BY STATES FOR MANAGEMENT OF CERTAIN QUALIFYING FEDERAL 
              LANDS.

    (a) Submission of Petition by State To Manage Federal Lands.--
Beginning 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, a State 
may submit to the Secretary concerned a petition to enter into a 
cooperative agreement with the Secretary concerned for purposes of 
managing certain qualifying Federal lands located in the State.
    (b) Determination.--The Secretary concerned shall approve or deny a 
petition (including a corrected petition that is resubmitted) submitted 
under this section not later than 90 days after the date on which the 
Secretary concerned receives the petition.
    (c) Denial of Petition.--The Secretary concerned shall approve a 
petition submitted under subsection (a) if the Secretary concerned 
determines that--
            (1) the State has demonstrated that it has sufficient funds 
        to meet the cost-sharing requirement under subsection (f)(3) 
        for the duration of the cooperative agreement;
            (2) the petition is complete;
            (3) the proposed cooperative agreement submitted with the 
        petition contains all of the terms required under subsection 
        (f); or
            (4) the petition is from a State that had a previous 
        cooperative agreement terminated and the Secretary determines 
        that the reasons for that termination warrant denial of the new 
        (or corrected) petition.
    (d) Opportunity To Amend Petition.--
            (1) Notice of denial.--If the Secretary concerned denies a 
        petition under subsection (b), the Secretary concerned shall 
        provide to the State that submitted such petition written 
        notice of the denial. Such written notice shall include--
                    (A) a clear and comprehensive statement of the 
                reasons why the petition was denied; and
                    (B) a clear and comprehensive description of any 
                deficiencies in the petition or the related proposed 
                cooperative agreement.
            (2) Resubmission of corrected petition.--After receiving a 
        notice from the Secretary under paragraph (1), a State may 
        amend and resubmit the denied petition.
    (e) Petition and Cooperative Agreement Deemed Approved.--If the 
Secretary concerned does not approve or deny a petition submitted under 
subsection (a) or (d)(2) within the 90 days after receiving the 
petition, the petition and the proposed cooperative agreement submitted 
with the petition shall be deemed approved.
    (f) Petition Contents.--A petition submitted under subsection (a) 
shall include--
            (1) a letter signed by the Governor of the State submitting 
        such petition addressed to the Secretary concerned that 
        contains a description and a corresponding map of the 
        qualifying Federal lands over which the State seeks to manage;
            (2) the proposed cooperative agreement that is the subject 
        of the petition;
            (3) documentation that demonstrates the ability of the 
        State to provide sufficient funds to administer such lands for 
        the duration of the cooperative agreement; and
            (4) any other documentation that the Secretary concerned 
        may require.
    (g) Cooperative Agreement Contents.--A cooperative agreement 
submitted under subsection (e)(2) shall contain--
            (1) a statement that the State shall manage certain 
        qualifying Federal lands located in that State after the 
        effective date of the transfer of management to the State for a 
        specified term of years;
            (2) a cost-sharing requirement stating that the State shall 
        provide a certain amount (equal to not less than 50 percent), 
        in cash or in-kind, of the total amount required for the 
        management of the qualifying Federal lands concerned;
            (3) the amount to be contributed by the State shall be 
        determined by the Governor of the State and the Secretary 
        concerned, only after the Secretary concerned submits to the 
        State a categorical assessment of all costs, in the recent past 
        and anticipated during the duration of the cooperative 
        agreement, of managing the qualifying Federal lands concerned, 
        including employee salary data;
            (4) in the event of a natural disaster, as categorized by 
        the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the State shall assume 
        authority over recovery initiatives (nullifying any existing 
        established Federal response protocol) so that--
                    (A) the cost of damages to any structure on the 
                qualifying Federal lands concerned be shared by both 
                State and Federal entities at a ratio in accordance to 
                the cost-sharing agreement; and
                    (B) the cost and administration of repair of 
                damages resulting from natural disasters, not including 
                structures referred to in subparagraph (A), shall be 
                assumed by the State rather than the Federal 
                Government;
            (5) all revenue accrued from fees, royalties, and other 
        revenues related to the qualifying Federal lands concerned 
        shall be distributed to the State and Federal entities in 
        accordance to the percentages dictated by the cost-sharing 
        agreement and shall be used so that the percentage of funds 
        designated to the Federal entity shall be made available to the 
        Secretary concerned for use at the sole discretion of the 
        Secretary concerned;
            (6) the procedures to be followed for purposes of the 
        transition from Federal to State management of the qualifying 
        Federal lands concerned, including--
                    (A) a guarantee that all Federal employees managing 
                the qualifying Federal lands concerned may remain 
                employed without infringement upon their existing 
                conditions of employment;
                    (B) a guarantee that the State may use its 
                percentage of the amounts required for the management 
                of the qualifying Federal lands concerned to hire 
                additional staff whose terms of employment shall be 
                decided by the petitioning State; and
                    (C) authority over the qualifying Federal lands 
                concerned shall be directed by the State that submitted 
                the petition and a State-appointed manager, but the 
                implementation of its directives may include the 
                existing Federal superintendent concerned and performed 
                in conjunction with State employees;
            (7) the transfer of any special use permits issued to the 
        Secretary concerned with respect to the qualifying Federal 
        lands concerned to the State;
            (8) a provision stating that lands currently open to 
        mineral entry under the Act of May 10, 1872 (commonly referred 
        to as the ``General Mining Act of 1872'' (30 U.S.C. 22 et 
        seq.)), shall remain open to mineral entry under State law 
        unless subsequently changed by a State mineral closing order; 
        and
            (9) if the qualifying Federal lands concerned cross State 
        lines, all States involved shall submit a joint petition or the 
        States must agree to divide the park by State lines to enable 
        State authority in accordance to the cost-sharing agreement.
    (h) Applicability of State Law on Qualifying Federal Lands Under 
Cooperative Agreement.--State environmental, wildlife, and land 
management laws shall supercede Federal environmental, wildlife, and 
land management laws on the qualifying Federal lands administered by a 
State under a cooperative agreement in place under this section to the 
extent that such laws are more restrictive than the corresponding 
Federal laws.
    (i) Ownership.--Notwithstanding a State management of qualified 
Federal lands under a cooperative agreement entered into under this 
section, the United States shall retain all right, title, and interest 
in and to such lands.
    (j) Termination of Cooperative Agreement.--A cooperative agreement 
applicable under this section shall terminate, at the discretion of the 
Secretary concerned, under the following circumstances:
            (1) The State concerned defaults on a payment, thereby 
        requiring Federal entities to assume responsibility for the 
        financial liabilities.
            (2) The State concerned is in substantial breach of the 
        cooperative agreement as determined by the Secretary concerned.
            (3) The cooperative agreement terminates under a term 
        contained in that agreement.
    (k) Intentional Termination of Cooperative Agreement.--
            (1) If the State no longer finds that the cooperative 
        agreement is beneficial or in the best interest of the State, 
        the State must submit a petition to the Secretary concerned 
        exhibiting credible purpose and reason for such intent.
            (2) Not later than 90 days after receiving a petition under 
        paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned shall determine whether 
        to approve or deny the petition.
                                 <all>
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