I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1961 

To provide for the conveyance of certain land to Washington County, Utah, 

to authorize the exchange of Federal land and non-Federal land in 

the State of Utah, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 5, 2017 

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

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for the conveyance of certain land to Washington 

County, Utah, to authorize the exchange of Federal land 

and non-Federal land in the State of Utah, 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 ‘‘Southern Utah Open 

5 OHV Areas Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) COUNTY.—The term ‘‘County’’ means 

2 Washington County, Utah. 

3 (2) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 

4 means land owned and managed by the Bureau of 

5 Land Management in the County that is identified 

6 on the map as ‘‘Federal Lands Proposed to Transfer 

7 to SITLA’’. 

8 (3) MAP.—The term ‘‘map’’ means the map 

9 prepared by the State of Utah School and Institu10 tional Trust Lands Administration entitled ‘‘Sand 

11 Mountain Exchange Washington County, Utah’’ and 

12 dated June 19, 2015. 

13 (4) NON-FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘non-Fed14 eral land’’ means the State land identified on the 

15 map as ‘‘SITLA Lands Proposed to Transfer to 

16 Federal’’. 

17 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

18 the Secretary of the Interior. 

19 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

20 of Utah. 

21 SEC. 3. EXCHANGE OF FEDERAL LAND AND NON-FEDERAL 

22 LAND. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—If the State offers to convey to 

24 the United States title to the non-Federal land, the Sec25 retary shall— 


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1 (1) accept the offer; and 

2 (2) on receipt of all right, title, and interest in 

3 and to the non-Federal land, convey to the State all 

4 right, title, and interest of the United States in and 

5 to the Federal land. 

6 (b) VALID EXISTING RIGHTS.—The exchange author7 ized under subsection (a) shall be subject to valid existing 

8 rights. 

9 (c) TITLE APPROVAL.—Title to the Federal land and 

10 non-Federal land to be exchanged under this section shall 

11 be in a format acceptable to the Secretary and the State. 

12 (d) APPRAISALS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The value of the Federal 

14 land and the non-Federal land to be exchanged 

15 under this section shall be determined by appraisals 

16 conducted by one or more independent appraisers re17 tained by the State, with the consent of the Sec18 retary. 

19 (2) APPLICABLE LAW.—The appraisals under 

20 paragraph (1) shall be conducted in accordance with 

21 nationally recognized appraisal standards, including, 

22 as appropriate, the Uniform Appraisal Standards for 

23 Federal Land Acquisitions. 


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1 (3) APPROVAL.—The appraisals conducted 

2 under paragraph (1) shall be submitted to the Sec3 retary and the State for approval. 

4 (4) REIMBURSEMENT OF STATE COSTS.—The 

5 Secretary shall reimburse the State in an amount 

6 equal to 50 percent of the costs incurred by the 

7 State in retaining independent appraisers under 

8 paragraph (1). 

9 (e) EQUAL VALUE EXCHANGE.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The value of the Federal 

11 land and non-Federal land to be exchanged under 

12 this section— 

13 (A) shall be equal; or 

14 (B) shall be made equal in accordance with 

15 paragraph (2). 

16 (2) EQUALIZATION.— 

17 (A) SURPLUS OF FEDERAL LAND.—If the 

18 value of the Federal land exceeds the value of 

19 the non-Federal land, the value of the Federal 

20 land and non-Federal land shall be equalized, 

21 as determined to be appropriate and acceptable 

22 by the Secretary and the State— 

23 (i) by reducing the acreage of the 

24 Federal land to be conveyed; 


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1 (ii) by adding additional State land to 

2 the non-Federal land to be conveyed; or 

3 (iii) by the State making a cash pay4 ment to the United States. 

5 (B) SURPLUS OF NON-FEDERAL LAND.—If 

6 the value of the non-Federal land exceeds the 

7 value of the Federal land, the value of the Fed8 eral land and non-Federal land shall be equal9 ized, as determined to be appropriate and ac10 ceptable by the Secretary and the State— 

11 (i) by reducing the acreage of the 

12 non-Federal land to be conveyed; or 

13 (ii) by the United States making a 

14 cash payment to the State. 

15 (f) USE OF NON-FEDERAL LAND.—On the convey16 ance of the non-Federal land to the Secretary under this 

17 section, the non-Federal land shall be used only— 

18 (1) as an open riding area for the use of off19 highway vehicles; or 

20 (2) for any other public purpose consistent with 

21 uses allowed under the Act of June 14, 1926 (com22 monly known as the ‘‘Recreation and Public Pur23 poses Act’’) (43 U.S.C. 869 et seq.). 


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1 SEC. 4. CONVEYANCE OF LAND TO WASHINGTON COUNTY, 

2 UTAH. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after noti4 fication by the County and subject to valid existing rights, 

5 the Secretary shall convey to the County, without consid6 eration, all right, title, and interest of the United States 

7 in and to the land described in subsection (b). 

8 (b) DESCRIPTION OF LAND.—The land referred to in 

9 subsection (a) consists of the land managed by the Bureau 

10 of Land Management that is generally depicted on the 

11 map as ‘‘Hurricane Sand Dunes (NRA)’’. 

12 (c) MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIPTION.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 

14 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

15 shall finalize the legal description of the land to be 

16 conveyed to the County under this section. 

17 (2) MINOR ERRORS.—The Secretary may cor18 rect any minor error in— 

19 (A) the map; or 

20 (B) the legal description. 

21 (3) AVAILABILITY.—The map and legal descrip22 tion shall be on file and available for public inspec23 tion in the appropriate offices of the Bureau of 

24 Land Management. 

25 (d) USE OF CONVEYED LAND.—The land conveyed 

26 under this section shall be used only— 


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1 (1) as an open riding area for the use of off2 highway vehicles; or 

3 (2) for any other public purpose consistent with 

4 uses allowed under the Act of June 14, 1926 (com5 monly known as the ‘‘Recreation and Public Pur6 poses Act’’) (43 U.S.C. 869 et seq.). 

7 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The Secretary shall 

8 require the County to pay all survey costs and other ad9 ministrative costs necessary for the preparation and com10 pletion of any patents for, and transfers of title to, the 

11 land described in subsection (b). 

12 (f) CONDITIONS.—As a condition of the conveyance 

13 under subsection (a), the County shall agree— 

14 (1) to pay any administrative costs associated 

15 with the conveyance including the costs of any envi16 ronmental, wildlife, cultural, or historical resources 

17 studies; 

18 (2) to release and indemnify the United States 

19 from any claims or liabilities that may arise from 

20 uses carried out on the land described in subsection 

21 (b) on or before the date of enactment of this Act 

22 by the United States or any person; and 

23 (3) to accept such reasonable terms and condi24 tions as the Secretary determines necessary. 


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1 (g) REVERSION.—If the land conveyed under this sec2 tion ceases to be used for a public purpose in accordance 

3 with subsection (d), the land shall, at the discretion of the 

4 Secretary, revert to the United States. 

Æ 


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