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Calendar No. 899

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2873

[Report No. 106–453]

To provide for all right, title, and interest in and to certain property in

Washington County, Utah, to be vested in the United States.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 14, 2000

Mr. BENNETT introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

OCTOBER 2 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 22), 2000

Reported by Mr. MURKOWSKI, without amendment

A BILL

To provide for all right, title, and interest in and to certain

property in Washington County, Utah, to be vested in

the United States.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

4 Congress makes the following findings:

5 (1) In 1983, Environmental Land Technology,

6 Ltd. (hereafter in this Act referred to as ‘‘ELT’’)
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1 acquired from the State of Utah 2,440 acres of

2 school trust lands in Washington County, Utah,

3 north of the city of St. George, for residential and

4 recreational development purposes and over the next

5 several years completed appraisals, cost estimates,

6 engineering studies, site plans, surveys, utility lay7 outs, and right-of-way negotiations with the city,

8 and obtained water rights for the land.

9 (2) With the issuance by the United States

10 Fish and Wildlife Service of a permit under section

11 10 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to Wash12 ington County, Utah, and the adoption of the Habi13 tat Conservation Plan and Implementation Agree14 ment of February of 1996 (hereafter in the Act re15 ferred to as ‘‘HCP and Agreement’’), the Bureau of

16 Land Management assumed an obligation to acquire

17 from willing sellers approximately 12,600 acres of

18 non-Federal land, including the ELT development

19 land, to create the Red Cliffs Reserve for the protec20 tion of the desert tortoise.

21 (3) Since 1996, the Bureau of Land Manage22 ment has acquired, through exchange or purchase,

23 nearly all of the privately owned property within the

24 Federal portion of the Reserve, except for 1,516

25 acres of the ELT development land.
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1 (4) With the creation of the Grand Staircase

2 National Monument in 1996 in the State of Utah

3 and the subsequent land exchanges for the consoli4 dation of lands necessary for the Monument, there

5 are no longer sufficient comparable lands within the

6 State of Utah to conduct intrastate exchanges for

7 the remaining desert tortoise lands.

8 (5) Under the Uniform Appraisal Standards for

9 Federal Land Acquisitions, ELT is entitled to have

10 its lands appraised at fair market value, highest and

11 best use.

12 (6) The United States Fish and Wildlife Service

13 is charged with protecting endangered species and

14 administering the cooperative Endangered Species

15 Conservation Fund which may be used for the acqui16 sition of private lands, and the Bureau of Land

17 Management is responsible for acquiring the private

18 lands within the Red Cliffs Reserve.

19 (7) The bifurcation of responsibility between

20 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the

21 Bureau of Land Management has relegated ELT to

22 a bureaucratic ‘‘no-man’s-land’’.

23 (8) The Secretary of the Interior and other de24 partment officials have characterized the acquisition
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1 of the ELT lands to be administered under the HCP

2 and Agreement as a high priority.

3 (9) The Department of the Interior did not re4 quest any funds in the budget for fiscal year 2001

5 to purchase the remaining privately held lands with6 in the boundaries of the land to be administered by

7 the Bureau of Land Management under the HCP

8 and Agreement.

9 (10) The listing of the desert tortoise and the

10 failure of the Department of the Interior to identify

11 comparable land suitable for exchange within the

12 State of Utah or to fund the purchase of the ELT

13 development land have effectively taken this property

14 from the remaining private land owner, denying it

15 the right to develop or otherwise dispose of the prop16 erty.

17 (11) With the creation of the Red Cliffs Re18 serve, ELT has been unable to develop its property,

19 which has resulted in extreme financial hardship to

20 the owner, requiring the liquidation of substantial

21 ELT assets.

22 (12) It is in the public interest to complete this

23 land acquisition at the earliest practicable date so

24 that the desert tortoise habitat lands can be ac25 quired and preserved by the United States for per-
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1 manent public management, use, and enjoyment and

2 the private land owner may be fairly compensated

3 for its lands.

4 SEC. 2. ACQUISITION OF CERTAIN PROPERTY IN WASH5 INGTON COUNTY, UTAH.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi7 sion of law, effective on the date of the enactment of this

8 Act, all right, title, and interest in and to, and the right

9 to immediate possession of, the 1,516 acres of real prop10 erty owned by ELT, within the Red Cliffs Reserve in

11 Washington County, Utah, and the 34 acres of real prop12 erty owned by ELT which is adjacent to the land within

13 the Reserve but is landlocked as a result of the creation

14 of the Reserve, is hereby vested in the United States.

15 (b) COMPENSATION FOR PROPERTY.—Subject to sec16 tion 309(f) of the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Man17 agement Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–333), the United

18 States shall pay just compensation to the owners of any

19 real property taken pursuant to this section, determined

20 as of the date of taking. An initial payment of

21 $15,000,000 shall be made to the owners of such real

22 property not later than 30 days after the date of taking.

23 The remainder shall be paid in cash or, at the option of

24 the land owner, as provided in subsection (e). The full

25 faith and credit of the United States is hereby pledged
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1 to the payment of any judgment entered against the

2 United States with respect to the taking of such property.

3 Payment shall be in the amount of the agreed appraised

4 value of such real property plus interest and reasonable

5 costs and expenses of holding such property from Feb6 ruary 1990 to the date of final payment or the valuation

7 of such real property awarded by judgment plus interest,

8 reasonable costs and expenses of holding such property

9 from February 1990 to the date of final payment, and

10 reasonable costs and attorney fees. Payment shall be made

11 from the permanent judgment appropriation established

12 pursuant to section 1304 of title 31, United States Code,

13 or from another appropriate Federal Government fund.

14 Interest shall accrue from the date of taking to the date

15 of payment. Interest shall be compounded quarterly and

16 computed at the rate applicable for the period involved,

17 as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury on the

18 basis of the current average market yield on outstanding

19 marketable obligations of the United States of comparable

20 maturities from the date of enactment of this section to

21 the last day of the month preceding the date on which

22 payment is made.

23 (c) DETERMINATION BY COURT IN LIEU OF NEGO24 TIATED SETTLEMENT.—In the absence of a negotiated

25 settlement, or an action by the owner, within 90 days after
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1 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary of the

2 Interior shall initiate a proceeding in the United States

3 Federal District Court for the District of Utah, seeking

4 a determination, subject to section 309(f) of the Omnibus

5 Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996 (Public

6 Law 104–333), of just compensation with respect to the

7 taking of such property.

8 (d) UNAUTHORIZED USE OF LANDS PROHIBITED.—

9 The Secretary of the Interior shall not allow any unau10 thorized use of the lands to be acquired under this sub11 section, except that the Secretary of the Interior shall per12 mit the orderly termination of all current activities and

13 the removal of any equipment, facilities, or personal prop14 erty.

15 (e) SURPLUS PROPERTY ACCOUNT.—If requested by

16 the land owner, the Secretary of the Interior shall credit

17 a surplus property account, to be established in the name

18 of the land owner, in the amount of (1) the agreed ap19 praised value of such real property plus interest and rea20 sonable costs and expenses of holding such property from

21 February 1996 to the date that surplus property credits

22 become available for use under this subsection, or (2) the

23 valuation of such real property awarded by judgment plus

24 interest, reasonable costs and expenses of holding such

25 property from February 1996 to the date that surplus
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1 property credits become available for use under this sub2 section, and reasonable costs and attorney fees. The land

3 owner may, using the credit in the surplus property ac4 count established pursuant to this section, bid, as any

5 other bidder for surplus property, wherever located, in ac6 cordance with the Federal Property and Administrative

7 Act of 1949. The Administrator of General Services shall

8 establish the land owner’s surplus property account and

9 shall adjust the credit in the account to reflect successful

10 bids under this subsection. Credit in the surplus property

11 account may be transferred or sold in whole or in part

12 at any time by the land owner to any other party, thereby

13 vesting such party with all the rights of the land owner,

14 and not later than 60 days after such transfer, the land

15 owner shall notify the Administrator of the transfer.

Æ

Calendar No. 899

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2873

[Report No. 106–453]

A BILL

To provide for all right, title, and interest in and

to certain property in Washington County, Utah,to be vested in the United States.

OCTOBER 2 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 22), 2000

Reported without amendment