II

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2152

To provide for the transfer of lands contiguous to the Holloman Air Force

Base, New Mexico, by the Secretary of the Interior to the Department

of the Air Force for the construction of evaporation ponds to support

a wastewater treatment facility, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 25 (legislative day, MAY 16), 1994

Mr. DOMENICI (for himself and Mr. BINGAMAN) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To provide for the transfer of lands contiguous to the

Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, by the Secretary

of the Interior to the Department of the Air Force

for the construction of evaporation ponds to support

a wastewater treatment facility, 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. LAND TRANSFER FOR HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE

4 BASE.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsections (c) through

6 (g), not later than 90 days after the date of enactment

7 of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall transfer
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1 to the Department of the Air Force, without reimburse2 ment, jurisdiction and control of approximately 1,262

3 acres of public lands described in subsection (b). Such

4 public lands are located in Otero County, New Mexico, and

5 are contiguous to Holloman Air Force Base.

6 (b) DESCRIPTION OF LANDS TRANSFERRED.—The

7 lands described in this subsection are as follows:

(1) T17S, R8E, Section 21: S1⁄2 N1⁄2: 160 acres

E1⁄2 NW1⁄4 NE1⁄4: 20 acres

NE1⁄4 NE1⁄4: 40 acres

(2) T17S, R8E, Section 22: W1⁄2: 320 acres

W1⁄2 E1⁄2: 160 acres

(3) T17S, R8E, Section 27: All that part north of New Mexico

Highway 70 except for the E1⁄2

E1⁄2:

192 acres

more or

less

(4) T17S, R8E, Section 28: NE1⁄4: 160 acres

N1⁄2 SE1⁄4: 80 acres

SW1⁄4 SE1⁄4: 40 acres

W1⁄2 SE1⁄4 SE1⁄4: 20 acres

(5) T17S, R8E, Section 33: NW1⁄4 NE1⁄4: 40 acres

NW1⁄4 NE1⁄4 NE1⁄4: 10 acres

W1⁄2 SW1⁄4 NE1⁄4: 20 acres

8 (c) USE OF TRANSFERRED LAND.—The lands trans9 ferred to the Department of the Air Force under sub10 section (a) shall be used by the Secretary of the Air Force

11 for the construction of new evaporation ponds to support

12 a wastewater treatment facility that the Secretary shall

13 construct at Holloman Air Force Base.

14 (d) CATTLE GRAZING RIGHTS.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The United States recog16 nizes a grazing preference on the lands transferred

17 to the Department of the Air Force under subsection

18 (a).
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1 (2) ADJUSTMENT OF GRAZING ALLOTMENT.—

2 (A) The Secretary of the Air Force shall take such

3 action as is necessary to ensure that—

4 (i) the boundary of the grazing allotment

5 that contains the lands transferred to the De6 partment of the Air Force is adjusted in such

7 manner as to retain the portion of the allotment

8 located south of United States Highway 70 in

9 New Mexico and remove the portion of the

10 lands that is located north of such highway; and

11 (ii) the grazing preference referred to in

12 paragraph (1) is retained by means of transfer13 ring the preference for the area removed from

14 the allotment under subparagraph (A) to public

15 lands located south of such highway.

16 (B) The Secretary of the Air Force shall offer

17 to enter into an agreement with each person who

18 holds a permit for grazing on the lands transferred

19 to the Department of the Air Force at the time of

20 the transfer to provide for the continued grazing by

21 livestock on the portion of the lands located south of

22 such highway.

23 (e) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—

24 (1) NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT OF

25 1969.—The Secretary of the Air Force shall ensure
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1 that the transfer made pursuant to subsection (a)

2 and the use specified in subsection (c) meet any ap3 plicable requirements of the National Environmental

4 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).

5 (2) ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS.—The Secretary of

6 the Air Force shall use and manage the lands trans7 ferred under the authority in subsection (a) in such

8 manner as to ensure compliance with applicable en9 vironmental laws (including regulations) of the Fed10 eral Government and State of New Mexico, and po11 litical subdivisions thereof.

12 (3) RESPONSIBILITY FOR CLEANUP OF HAZARD13 OUS SUBSTANCES.—Notwithstanding any other pro14 vision of law, the Secretary of the Air Force shall,

15 upon the transfer of the lands under subsection (a),

16 assume any existing or subsequent responsibility and

17 liability for the cleanup of hazardous substances (as

18 defined in section 101(14) of the Comprehensive En19 vironmental Response, Compensation, and Liability

20 Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601(14))) located on or

21 within the lands transferred.

22 (4) MINING.—The transfer of lands under sub23 section (a) shall be made in such manner as to en24 sure the continuation of valid, existing rights under

25 the mining laws and the mineral leasing and geo-
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1 thermal leasing laws of the United States. Subject to

2 the preceding sentence, upon the transfer of the

3 lands, mining and mineral management activities

4 shall be carried out in the lands in a manner consist5 ent with the policies of the Department of Defense

6 concerning mineral exploration and extraction on

7 lands under the jurisdiction of the Department.

8 (f) RIGHTS-OF-WAY.—The transfer of lands under

9 subsection (a) shall not affect the following rights-of-way:

10 (1) The right-of-way granted to the Otero

11 County Electric Cooperative, numbered NMNM

12 58293.

13 (2) The right-of-way granted to U.S. West

14 Corporation, numbered NMNM 59261.

15 (3) The right-of-way granted to the High16 way Department of the State of New Mexico,

17 numbered LC0 54403.

18 (g) PUBLIC ACCESS.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para20 graph (2), the Secretary of the Air Force shall per21 mit public access to the lands transferred under sub22 section (a).

23 (2) CONSTRUCTION SITE.—The Secretary of the

24 Air Force may not permit public access to the imme25 diate area affected by the construction of a
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1 wastewater treatment facility in the area with the

2 legal description of T17S, R8E, Section 22, except

3 that the Secretary of the Air Force shall permit pub4 lic access on an adjoining unfenced parcel of land—

5 (A) located along the west boundary of

6 such area; and

7 (B) that is 50 feet in width.

8 (3) PUBLIC USES.—Except as provided in para9 graph (2), the Secretary of the Air Force shall per10 mit, on the lands transferred under subsection (a),

11 public uses that are consistent with the public uses

12 on adjacent lands under the jurisdiction of the Sec13 retary of the Interior.

14 (4) PERMIT NOT REQUIRED.—The Secretary of

15 the Air Force may not require a permit for access

16 authorized under this subsection to the lands trans17 ferred under subsection (a).

18 (5) ENTRY GATE.—The Secretary of the Air

19 Force shall ensure that the entry gate to the lands

20 transferred under subsection (a) that is located

21 along United States Highway 70 shall be open to

22 the public.

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