II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1985 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 5, 2015 

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

to the Committee on Energy and 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 July 29, 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) PUBLIC WATER AGENCY.—The term ‘‘public 

18 water agency’’ means the Washington County Water 

19 Conservancy District. 

20 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

21 the Secretary of the Interior. 

22 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

23 of Utah. 


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

2 LAND. 

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

4 the United States title to the non-Federal land, the Sec5 retary shall— 

6 (1) accept the offer; and 

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

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

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

10 to the Federal land. 

11 (b) VALID EXISTING RIGHTS.—The exchange author12 ized under subsection (a) shall be subject to valid existing 

13 rights. 

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

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

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

17 (d) APPRAISALS.— 

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

19 land and the non-Federal land to be exchanged 

20 under this section shall be determined by appraisals 

21 conducted by 1 or more independent appraisers re22 tained by the State, with the consent of the Sec23 retary. 

24 (2) APPLICABLE LAW.—The appraisals under 

25 paragraph (1) shall be conducted in accordance with 

26 nationally recognized appraisal standards, including, 


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1 as appropriate, the Uniform Appraisal Standards for 

2 Federal Land Acquisitions. 

3 (3) APPROVAL.—The appraisals conducted 

4 under paragraph (1) shall be submitted to the Sec5 retary and the State for approval. 

6 (4) REIMBURSEMENT OF STATE COSTS.—The 

7 Secretary shall reimburse the State in an amount 

8 equal to 50 percent of the costs incurred by the 

9 State in retaining independent appraisers under 

10 paragraph (1). 

11 (e) EQUAL VALUE EXCHANGE.— 

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

13 land and non-Federal land to be exchanged under 

14 this section— 

15 (A) shall be equal; or 

16 (B) shall be made equal in accordance with 

17 paragraph (2). 

18 (2) EQUALIZATION.— 

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

20 value of the Federal land exceeds the value of 

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

22 land and non-Federal land shall be equalized, 

23 as determined to be appropriate and acceptable 

24 by the Secretary and the State— 


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1 (i) by reducing the acreage of the 

2 Federal land to be conveyed; 

3 (ii) by adding additional State land to 

4 the non-Federal land to be conveyed; or 

5 (iii) by the State making a cash pay6 ment to the United States. 

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

8 the value of the non-Federal land exceeds the 

9 value of the Federal land, the value of the Fed10 eral land and non-Federal land shall be equal11 ized, as determined to be appropriate and ac12 ceptable by the Secretary and the State— 

13 (i) by reducing the acreage of the 

14 non-Federal land to be conveyed; or 

15 (ii) by the United States making a 

16 cash payment to the State. 

17 (f) USE OF NON-FEDERAL LAND.—On the convey18 ance of the non-Federal land to the Secretary under this 

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

20 (1) as an open riding area for the use of off21 highway vehicles; or 

22 (2) for any other recreational use that does not 

23 significantly impact the open use of off-highway ve24 hicles. 


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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 ‘‘Open OHV Areas’’. 

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— 


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1 (1) primarily as an open riding area for the use 

2 of off-highway vehicles; or 

3 (2) for the construction, maintenance, replace4 ment, or operation of— 

5 (A) water storage or conveyance facilities; 

6 (B) subsurface water recharge facilities; or 

7 (C) solar or hydroelectric generation or 

8 transmission facilities. 

9 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The Secretary shall 

10 require the County to pay all survey costs and other ad11 ministrative costs necessary for the preparation and com12 pletion of any patents for, and transfers of title to, the 

13 land described in subsection (b). 

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

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

16 (1) to pay any administrative costs associated 

17 with the conveyance including the costs of any envi18 ronmental, wildlife, cultural, or historical resources 

19 studies; 

20 (2) to release and indemnify the United States 

21 from any claims or liabilities that may arise from 

22 uses carried out on the land described in subsection 

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

24 by the United States or any person; and 


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1 (3) to accept such reasonable terms and condi2 tions as the Secretary determines necessary. 

3 (g) WATER CONVEYANCE, RECHARGE, AND RENEW4 ABLE ENERGY CORRIDOR.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in accord6 ance with applicable laws (including the National 

7 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 

8 et seq.) and title V of the Federal Land Policy and 

9 Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1761 et seq.)), 

10 shall, prior to making the conveyance described in 

11 subsection (a), issue to the public water agency or 

12 the State— 

13 (A) a 250-foot right-of-way for the con14 struction, maintenance, repair, and replacement 

15 of a buried water conveyance pipeline and the 

16 associated construction, operation, and mainte17 nance of subsurface water recharge facilities, as 

18 depicted on the map as ‘‘Pipe Line 1’’; and 

19 (B) a 150-foot right-of-way for the con20 struction and maintenance of solar and hydro21 electric generation and transmission facilities, 

22 as depicted on the map as ‘‘Transmission 

23 Line’’. 

24 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—The water conveyance 

25 and renewable energy facilities shall employ best 


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1 management practices to limit, to the extent prac2 ticable, the impacts of the water conveyance facilities 

3 on off-highway vehicle activities. 

4 (h) WATER STORAGE FACILITIES.—The Secretary, 

5 in accordance with applicable laws (including the National 

6 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

7 seq.) and title V of the Federal Land Policy and Manage8 ment Act 5 of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1761 et seq.)), shall convey 

9 to the public water agency or the State 214.8 acres of 

10 the land described in subsection (b) for the construction, 

11 operation, maintenance, and repair of a water storage fa12 cility and associated facilities as depicted on the map as 

13 ‘‘Hurricane Cliffs Afterbay’’. 

14 (i) SAND HOLLOW REGIONAL PIPELINE COR15 RIDOR.—The Secretary, in accordance with applicable 

16 laws (including the National Environmental Policy Act of 

17 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and title V of the Federal 

18 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 

19 1761 et seq.)), shall, prior to making the conveyance de20 scribed in subsection (a), issue to the public water agency 

21 a 200-foot right-of-way for the construction, maintenance, 

22 repair, and replacement of a buried water conveyance 

23 pipeline, as depicted on the map as ‘‘Pipe Line 2’’. 

24 (j) REVERSION.—If the land conveyed under this sec25 tion ceases to be used for a public purpose in accordance 


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

2 Secretary, revert to the United States. 

Æ 


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