I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1134

To provide for the transfer of certain public lands located in Clear Creek

County, Colorado, to the United States Forest Service, the State of

Colorado, and certain local governments in the State of Colorado, and

for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 24, 1993

Mr. SKAGGS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Natural Resources

A BILL

To provide for the transfer of certain public lands located

in Clear Creek County, Colorado, to the United States

Forest Service, the State of Colorado, and certain local

governments in the State of Colorado, 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 ‘‘Clear Creek County,

5 Colorado, Public Lands Transfer Act of 1993’’.
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1 SEC. 2. TRANSFER OF PUBLIC LANDS.

2 The Secretary of the Interior (hereinafter in this Act

3 referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall transfer in accord4 ance with this Act the approximately 14,000 acres of pub5 lic lands generally depicted on a map entitled ‘‘Clear Creek

6 County, Colorado, Public Lands Transfer—Proposed’’,

7 and dated September 1991, to the Secretary of Agri8 culture, the State of Colorado, and certain political sub9 divisions of the State of Colorado, as indicated in sections

10 3, 4, and 5. Conveyances made pursuant to this Act shall

11 be made without conducting new surveys.

12 SEC. 3. LAND TRANSFER TO FOREST SERVICE.

13 (a) TRANSFER.—Subject to valid existing rights, ad14 ministrative jurisdiction to the approximately 3,500 acres

15 of the public lands described as ‘‘Part I Lands’’ on the

16 map referred to in section 2 is hereby transferred to the

17 Secretary of Agriculture. Such lands are added to and

18 shall be administered as part of the Arapaho National

19 Forest in accordance with the laws and regulations per20 taining to the National Forest System and the Arapaho

21 National Forest.

22 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.—(1) For the pur23 pose of section 7 of the Land and Water Conservation

24 Fund Act of 1965 (78 Stat. 903, as amended; 16 U.S.C.

25 4601–9) the boundaries of the Arapaho National Forest
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1 as modified by this section shall be treated as if they were

2 the boundaries of such forest on January 1, 1965.

3 (2) Nothing in this section shall affect valid existing

4 rights, or interests in existing land use authorizations, ex5 cept that any such right or authorization shall be adminis6 tered by the Forest Service in accordance with this section

7 and other applicable laws. Reissuance of any such author8 ization shall be in accordance with laws applicable to the

9 National Forest System and regulations of the Secretary

10 of Agriculture, except that the change in administrative

11 jurisdiction shall not constitute in itself a ground to deny

12 renewal or reissuance of any such authorization.

13 SEC. 4. LAND TRANSFERS TO STATE OF COLORADO AND TO

14 CLEAR CREEK COUNTY AND TOWNS OF SIL15 VER PLUME AND GEORGETOWN, COLORADO.

16 (a) TRANSFER.—Subject to section 6 and valid exist17 ing rights, the Secretary shall transfer, without consider18 ation, all right, title, and interest, both surface and sub19 surface, of the United States in and to the approximately

20 3,200 acres of public lands described as ‘‘Part II Lands’’

21 on the map referred to in section 2, excluding any such

22 lands within the corporate boundaries of the towns of

23 Georgetown or Silver Plume, Colorado, as of January 1,

24 1993, as follows:
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1 (1) Approximately 500 acres of such lands to

2 the town of Silver Plume, Colorado, as so indicated

3 on such map.

4 (2) Approximately 800 acres of such lands to

5 the town of Georgetown, Colorado, as so indicated

6 on such map.

7 (3) Approximately 600 acres of such lands to

8 the County of Clear Creek, Colorado, as so indicated

9 on such map.

10 (4) Approximately 1,300 acres of such lands to

11 the State of Colorado, as so indicated on such map.

12 (b) MANAGEMENT AND REVERSION.—

13 (1) The lands transferred under this section

14 shall be managed in accordance with the cooperative

15 management agreement among the Colorado Divi16 sion of Wildlife, the Colorado State Historical Soci17 ety, the town of Silver Plume, the town of George18 town, and the County of Clear Creek, which is dated

19 January 1989; the stipulations related to the preser20 vation of artifacts contained in the Bureau of Land

21 Management’s cultural resource survey pertaining to

22 such lands; and the terms of the applications filed

23 with the Secretary for the disposal of such lands

24 under the Act of June 14, 1926 (43 U.S.C. 869 et

25 seq.; hereafter in this title referred to as the ‘‘Recre-
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1 ation and Public Purposes Act’’), except that other

2 uses of the lands may be made with the approval of

3 the Secretary.

4 (2)(A) Title to lands conveyed by the Secretary

5 under this section may not be transferred by the

6 grantee or its successor except, with the consent of

7 the Secretary, to a transferee which would be a

8 qualified grantee under section 2(a) or (c) of the

9 Recreation and Public Purposes Act (43 U.S.C.

10 869–1(a), (c)).

11 (B) The provisions of paragraph (3) of this

12 subsection shall apply if at any time after such con13 veyance—

14 (i) the grantee or its successor attempts to

15 transfer to any other party title to or control

16 over any portion of the lands conveyed to such

17 grantee under this section, except as provided

18 in subparagraph (A), or

19 (ii) such lands or any portion thereof are

20 devoted to a use inconsistent with this sub21 section.

22 (3) In case of occurrence of an event described

23 in paragraph (2)(B) of this subsection, the grantee

24 of the relevant lands shall be liable to pay to the

25 Secretary of the Interior, on behalf of the United
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1 States, the fair market value of all lands conveyed

2 to such grantee under this section, together with any

3 improvements thereon, as of the date of such occur4 rence. All sums paid to the Secretary of the Interior

5 under this paragraph shall be retained by the Sec6 retary and subject to appropriation, used for man7 agement of the public lands pursuant to the Federal

8 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976.

9 SEC. 5. LAND TRANSFER TO CLEAR CREEK COUNTY, COLO10 RADO.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), section

12 6, and valid existing rights, the Secretary shall transfer,

13 without consideration, all right, title, and interest, both

14 surface and subsurface, of the United States in and to

15 the approximately 7,300 acres of public lands described

16 as ‘‘Parts III Lands’’ on the map referred to in section

17 202, along with any public lands on that map within the

18 corporate boundaries of the towns of Georgetown or Silver

19 Plume, Colorado as of January 1, 1993 to Clear Creek

20 County, Colorado (hereinafter in this section referred to

21 as the ‘‘County’’).

22 (b) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The lands referred to

23 in subsection (a) may not be transferred to the County

24 until—
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1 (1) it is shown to the satisfaction of the Sec2 retary that the county has adopted comprehensive

3 land use plans and zoning regulations applicable to

4 the area in which the lands are located;

5 (2) the Secretary finds that such plans and reg6 ulations are consistent with proper management of

7 any adjacent lands owned by the United States; and

8 (3) the Secretary and the County have reached

9 an agreement as to what activities must be under10 taken by the County in order to facilitate sale of any

11 portion of such lands and in which the County com12 mits to pay to the United States one-half of the net

13 monetary compensation received by the County

14 (after allowing for the reasonable costs to the Coun15 ty of such activities) from the sale of any such lands

16 and to use one-half of such net compensation solely

17 for—

18 (A) acquisition or maintenance of parks;

19 (B) acquisition or maintenance of open

20 space;

21 (C) historical preservation;

22 (D) historical interpretation; or

23 (E) environmental education.
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1 SEC. 6. MINERALS.

2 (a) WITHDRAWAL FROM MINING ENTRY.—Subject

3 to valid existing rights, the public lands referred to in sec4 tions 4 and 5 are hereby withdrawn from all forms of

5 entry under the general mining laws and mineral leasing

6 laws of the United States and shall not be—

7 (1) open to the location of mining and mill site

8 claims under the general mining laws of the United

9 States;

10 (2) subject to any lease under the Mineral

11 Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 and following) or the

12 Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 100 and

13 following); or

14 (3) available for disposal of mineral materials

15 under the Act of July 31, 1947, commonly know as

16 the Materials Act of 1947 (30 U.S.C. 601 and

17 following).

18 (b) VALID EXISTING RIGHTS.—As used in this sec19 tion, the term ‘‘valid existing rights’’ in reference to the

20 general mining laws means that a mining claim was prop21 erly located and maintained under the general mining laws

22 prior to the date of enactment of this Act, was supported

23 by a discovery of a valuable mineral deposit within the

24 meaning of the general mining law on the date of enact25 ment of this Act, and that such claim continues to be

26 valid.
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1 (c) LIMITATION ON PATENT ISSUANCE.—

2 (1)(A) After the date of enactment of this Act,

3 no patent shall be issued by the United States for

4 any mining claim located under the general mining

5 laws within the public lands referred to in sections

6 4 and 5 unless the Secretary determines that, for

7 the claim concerned—

8 (i) a patent application was filed with the

9 Secretary on or before such date; and

10 (ii) all requirements established under sec11 tions 2325 and 2326 of the Revised Statutes

12 (30 U.S.C. 29 and 30) for vein or lode claims

13 and sections 2329, 2330, 2331, and 2333 of

14 the Revised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 35, 36, 37) for

15 placer claims were fully complied with by that

16 date.

17 (B) If the Secretary makes the determinations

18 referred to in subparagraph (A) for any mining

19 claim, the holder of the claim shall be entitled to the

20 issuance of a patent in the same manner and degree

21 to which such claim holder would have been entitled

22 to prior to the enactment of this Act, unless and

23 until such determinations are withdrawn or invali24 dated by the Secretary or by a court of the United

25 States.
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1 (2)(A) After the date of enactment of this Act,

2 no patent shall be issued by the United States for

3 any mill site claim located under the general mining

4 laws within the public lands referred to in sections

5 4 and 5 unless the Secretary determines that, for

6 the claim concerned—

7 (i) a patent application was filed with the

8 Secretary on or before such date; and

9 (ii) all requirements applicable to such pat10 ent application were fully complied with by that

11 date.

12 (B) If the Secretary makes the determinations

13 referred to in subparagraph (A) for any mill site

14 claim, the holder of the claim shall be entitled to the

15 issuance of a patent in the same manner and degree

16 to which such claim holder would have been entitled

17 to prior to the enactment of this Act, unless and

18 until such determinations are withdrawn or invali19 dated by the Secretary or by a court of the United

20 States.

21 SEC. 7. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.

22 (a) INSPECTIONS.—Notwithstanding any other provi23 sion of law, neither the Secretary nor any other officer

24 or agent of the United States shall be required to inspect

25 any of the public lands described in this title or to inform
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1 Clear Creek County or any member of the public regarding

2 the condition of such lands with regard to the presence

3 or absence of any hazardous substances or otherwise.

4 (b) LIABILITY.—Notwithstanding any other provision

5 of law, the United States shall have no responsibility or

6 liability with respect to any hazardous wastes or other sub7 stances placed on any of the lands covered by this title

8 after their transfer to the ownership of another party, but

9 nothing in this title shall be construed as either diminish10 ing or increasing any responsibility or liability of the Unit11 ed States based on the condition of such lands on the date

12 of enactment of this Act.

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