I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 274 

To authorize, direct, expedite, and facilitate a land exchange in Yavapai 

County, Arizona, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 8, 2019 

Mr. GOSAR (for himself, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mrs. LESKO, Mr. SCHWEIKERT, 

Mr. STANTON, Mr. O’HALLERAN, and Mr. GALLEGO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize, direct, expedite, and facilitate a land exchange 

in Yavapai County, Arizona, 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 ‘‘Cottonwood Land Ex5 change Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

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

9 Yavapai County, Arizona. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•HR 274 IH

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

2 means all right, title, and interest of the United 

3 States in and to approximately 80 acres of land 

4 within the Coconino National Forest, in Yavapai 

5 County, Arizona, generally depicted as ‘‘Coconino 

6 National Forest Parcels ‘Federal Land’ ’’ on the 

7 map. 

8 (3) MAP.—The term ‘‘map’’ means the map en9 titled ‘‘Cottonwood Land Exchange’’, with the revi10 sion date July 5, 2018\Version 1. 

11 (4) NON-FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘non-Fed12 eral land’’ means the approximately 369 acres of 

13 land in Yavapai County, Arizona, generally depicted 

14 as ‘‘Yavapai County Parcels ‘Non-Federal Land’ ’’ 

15 on the map. 

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

17 the Secretary of Agriculture, unless otherwise speci18 fied. 

19 SEC. 3. LAND EXCHANGE. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—If the County offers to convey to 

21 the Secretary all right, title, and interest of the County 

22 in and to the non-Federal land, the Secretary shall accept 

23 the offer and simultaneously convey to the County all 

24 right, title, and interest of the United States to the Fed25 eral land. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•HR 274 IH

1 (b) LAND TITLE.—Title to the non-Federal land con2 veyed to the Secretary under this Act shall be acceptable 

3 to the Secretary and shall conform to the title approval 

4 standards of the Attorney General of the United States 

5 applicable to land acquisitions by the Federal Government. 

6 (c) EXCHANGE COSTS.—The County shall pay for all 

7 land survey, appraisal, and other costs to the Secretary 

8 as may be necessary to process and consummate the ex9 change under this Act, including reimbursement to the 

10 Secretary, if the Secretary so requests, for staff time spent 

11 in such processing and consummation. 

12 SEC. 4. EQUAL VALUE EXCHANGE AND APPRAISALS. 

13 (a) APPRAISALS.—The values of the lands to be ex14 changed under this Act shall be determined by the Sec15 retary through appraisals performed— 

16 (1) in accordance with— 

17 (A) the Uniform Appraisal Standards for 

18 Federal Land Acquisitions; 

19 (B) the Uniform Standards of Professional 

20 Appraisal Practice; and 

21 (C) appraisal instructions issued by the 

22 Secretary; and 

23 (2) by an appraiser mutually agreed to by the 

24 Secretary and the County. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•HR 274 IH

1 (b) EQUAL VALUE EXCHANGE.—The values of the 

2 Federal and non-Federal land parcels exchanged shall be 

3 equal, or if they are not equal, shall be equalized as fol4 lows: 

5 (1) SURPLUS OF FEDERAL LAND VALUE.—If 

6 the final appraised value of the Federal land exceeds 

7 the final appraised value of the non-Federal land, 

8 the County shall make a cash equalization payment 

9 to the United States as necessary to achieve equal 

10 value, including, if necessary, an amount in excess of 

11 that authorized pursuant to section 206(b) of the 

12 Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 

13 (43 U.S.C. 1716(b)). 

14 (2) USE OF FUNDS.—Any cash equalization 

15 moneys received by the Secretary under paragraph 

16 (1) shall be— 

17 (A) deposited in the fund established under 

18 Public Law 90–171 (commonly known as the 

19 ‘‘Sisk Act’’; 16 U.S.C. 484a); and 

20 (B) made available to the Secretary for the 

21 acquisition of land or interests in land in Re22 gion 3 of the Forest Service. 

23 (3) SURPLUS OF NON-FEDERAL LAND VALUE.— 

24 If the final appraised value of the non-Federal land 

25 exceeds the final appraised value of the Federal 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•HR 274 IH

1 land, the United States shall not make a cash 

2 equalization payment to the County, and surplus 

3 value of the non-Federal land shall be considered a 

4 donation by the County to the United States for all 

5 purposes of law. 

6 SEC. 5. WITHDRAWAL PROVISIONS. 

7 Lands acquired by the Secretary under this Act are, 

8 upon such acquisition, automatically and permanently 

9 withdrawn from all forms of appropriation and disposal 

10 under the public land laws (including the mining and min11 eral leasing laws) and the Geothermal Steam Act of 1930 

12 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.). 

13 SEC. 6. MANAGEMENT OF LAND. 

14 Land acquired by the Secretary under this Act shall 

15 become part of the Coconino National Forest and be man16 aged in accordance with the laws, rules, and regulations 

17 applicable to the National Forest System. 

18 SEC. 7. MAPS, ESTIMATES, AND DESCRIPTIONS. 

19 (a) MINOR ERRORS.—The Secretary and the County 

20 may, by mutual agreement— 

21 (1) make minor boundary adjustments to the 

22 Federal and non-Federal lands involved in the ex23 change; and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
6 

•HR 274 IH

1 (2) correct any minor errors in any map, acre2 age estimate, or description of any land to be ex3 changed. 

4 (b) CONFLICT.—If there is a conflict between a map, 

5 an acreage estimate, or a description of land under this 

6 Act, the map shall control unless the Secretary and the 

7 County mutually agree otherwise. 

8 (c) AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary shall file and 

9 make available for public inspection in the headquarters 

10 of the Coconino National Forest a copy of all maps re11 ferred to in this Act. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS