II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 604

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to complete a land exchange with

Georgia Power Company.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 15, 1999

Mr. COVERDELL (for himself and Mr. CLELAND) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to complete a land

exchange with Georgia Power Company.

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 ‘‘Lake Oconee Land

5 Exchange Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. LAKE OCONEE LAND EXCHANGE.

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

8 (1) DESCRIPTION OF THE BOUNDARY.—The

9 term ‘‘description of the boundary’’ means the docu10 ments entitled ‘‘Description of the Boundary’’ dated
2

•S 604 IS

1 September 6, 1996, prepared by the Forest Service

2 and on file with the Secretary.

3 (2) EXCHANGE AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘ex4 change agreement’’ means the agreement between

5 Georgia Power Company and the Forest Service

6 dated December 26, 1996, as amended on August

7 17, 1998, on file with the Secretary.

8 (3) GEORGIA POWER COMPANY.—The term

9 ‘‘Georgia Power Company’’ means Georgia Power

10 Company, a division of the Southern Company, a

11 Georgia corporation, or its successors or assigns.

12 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

13 the Secretary of Agriculture.

14 (b) LAND EXCHANGE.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Simultaneously with convey16 ance by Georgia Power Company to the Secretary of

17 all right, title, and interest in and to the land de18 scribed in paragraph (2), the Secretary shall—

19 (A) convey to Georgia Power Company all

20 right, title, and interest in and to the land de21 scribed in paragraph (3), except as provided in

22 the exchange agreement; and

23 (B) make a value equalization payment of

24 $23,250 to Georgia Power Company.
3

•S 604 IS

1 (2) LAND TO BE CONVEYED TO THE SEC2 RETARY.—The land described in this paragraph is

3 the land within or near the Chattahoochee National

4 Forest and Oconee National Forest in the State of

5 Georgia, comprising approximately 1,175.46 acres,

6 described in the exchange agreement and the de7 scription of the boundary.

8 (3) LAND TO BE CONVEYED TO GEORGIA

9 POWER COMPANY.—The land described in this para10 graph is the land in the State of Georgia, comprising

11 approximately 1,275.80 acres, described in the ex12 change agreement and the description of the bound13 ary.

14 (c) PARTIAL REVOCATION OF WITHDRAWALS.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The orders issued by the

16 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under sec17 tion 24 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 818),

18 authorizing Power Project Numbers 2413 and 2354,

19 issued August 6, 1969, and October 1, 1996, respec20 tively, are revoked insofar as the orders affect the

21 land described in subsection (b)(3).

22 (2) NO ANNUAL CHARGE.—No interest con23 veyed to Georgia Power Company or easement right

24 retained by Georgia Power Company under this sec25 tion shall be subject to an annual charge for the
4

•S 604 IS

1 purpose of compensating the United States for the

2 use of its land for power purposes.

Æ