II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 628 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey a railroad right of 

way between North Pole, Alaska, and Delta Junction, Alaska, to the 

Alaska Railroad Corporation. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 17, 2011 

Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself and Mr. BEGICH) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey a railroad right of way between North Pole, Alaska, and Delta 

Junction, Alaska, to the Alaska Railroad Corporation. 

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 ‘‘Alaska Railroad Right 

5 of Way Extension Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Freight trains provide an efficient, reliable, 

9 all-weather transportation system that produce less 


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1 greenhouse gas emissions and are 70 percent more 

2 fuel efficient than trucks for large loads. The Amer3 ican Association of Railroads reports that a freight 

4 train can carry 457 ton-miles per gallon of diesel 

5 fuel and are substantially more fuel efficient than 

6 other forms of surface transportation. 

7 (2) The Alaska Railroad Act (38 Stat. 305), 

8 which was signed into law on March 12, 1914, au9 thorized the construction of a 1,000-mile rail line in 

10 the Territory of Alaska ‘‘to best aid in the develop11 ment of the agricultural and mineral or other re12 sources of Alaska . . . and so as to provide trans13 portation of coal for the Army and Navy, transpor14 tation of troops, arms, munitions of war, the mails, 

15 and for other governmental and public purposes’’. 

16 (3) The Alaska Railroad, which was constructed 

17 between 1915 and 1923, consists of only 467 miles 

18 of main line tracks. An additional 533 miles of 

19 tracks could be constructed under the original au20 thorization. 

21 (4) An 80-mile rail extension between North 

22 Pole and Delta Junction— 

23 (A) would greatly benefit the Department 

24 of Defense, which has large training areas 


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1 south of the Tanana River between Fairbanks 

2 and Delta Junction; 

3 (B) would provide access to the Joint Pa4 cific Area Range Complex, which is currently 

5 limited to ice roads during winter; 

6 (C) would enable the United States Army 

7 to mobilize military units to a staging area im8 mediately south of the Tanana River; 

9 (D) would enable the United States Air 

10 Force to move large freight to the Fort Greely 

11 missile intercept complete located near Delta 

12 Junction; and 

13 (E) would facilitate the economical move14 ment of commercial freight and passenger 

15 transportation, including tourism. 

16 SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF LAND IN ALASKA FOR RAILROAD 

17 RIGHT OF WAY. 

18 (a) CONVEYANCE AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of 

19 the Interior, and such other Federal officials as may be 

20 necessary and appropriate, shall convey to the Alaska 

21 Railroad Corporation (referred to in this section as the 

22 ‘‘Alaska Railroad’’) all rights, title, and interests held by 

23 the United States to approximately 950 acres of land lo24 cated between North Pole, Alaska, and Delta Junction, 


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1 Alaska, for the purpose of constructing a railroad corridor 

2 and related support areas and structures. 

3 (b) DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY.— 

4 (1) DETERMINATION.—The exact acreage and 

5 final route configuration of the conveyance author6 ized under subsection (a) shall be determined pursu7 ant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 

8 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) process conducted by 

9 the Surface Transportation Board. 

10 (2) SURVEYS.—The legal description of the real 

11 property to be conveyed under subsection (a) shall 

12 be determined by surveys satisfactory to the Sec13 retary of the Interior. The cost of the surveys shall 

14 be borne by the Alaska Railroad. 

15 (c) ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte17 rior, and such other Federal officials as may be nec18 essary and appropriate, may require such additional 

19 terms and conditions in connection with the convey20 ances described in subsection (a) as may be appro21 priate to protect the interests of the United States. 

22 (2) SCOPE OF CONVEYANCE.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The interest conveyed 

24 to the Alaska Railroad by the United States 

25 under subsection (a) shall be a full title interVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:25 Mar 24, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S628.IS S628

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1 est, substantially equivalent to the title interest 

2 received by the Alaska Railroad under the Alas3 ka Railroad Transfer Act of 1982 (45 U.S.C. 

4 1201 et seq.) except as provided in subpara5 graph (B). 

6 (B) EXCLUSIVE USE RIGHT-OF-WAY.—If 

7 the Secretary of the Interior, the Alaska Rail8 road, and such other Federal officials as may 

9 be appropriate concur, the interest conveyed to 

10 the Alaska Railroad in designated areas shall be 

11 an exclusive use right-of-way in perpetuity, to 

12 include the full rail and utility franchise with 

13 reversion to conveyance described in subpara14 graph (A) in the event of future Federal dis15 position of fee title. 

16 (3) CONSTRUCTION.—The railroad extension 

17 shall be constructed in phases after the Surface 

18 Transportation Board has approved the entire route. 

19 (d) CONSIDERATION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Alaska Railroad, shall, 

21 in consideration for the land conveyed by the United 

22 States under this section— 

23 (A) convey, or cause to be conveyed, ex24 change property in accordance with paragraph 

25 (3); 


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1 (B) pay the purchase price for such real 

2 property, in accordance with paragraph (4); or 

3 (C) pay other consideration as may be ne4 gotiated with the Secretary of Interior and 

5 other Federal officials, as appropriate. 

6 (2) NUMBER OF PAYMENTS.—Conveyance and 

7 payment of consideration may be made through a 

8 single payment for the entire route or through sepa9 rate payments for each portion of the route, as se10 lected by the Alaska Railroad. 

11 (3) REPLACEMENT PROPERTY.—If the Alaska 

12 Railroad chooses to provide consideration under 

13 paragraph (1)(A), the Alaska Railroad shall convey 

14 or cause to be conveyed, and pay the cost of con15 veying, to the United States, fee simple title to land 

16 that the Secretary of the Interior determines to be 

17 suitable in exchange for the property being conveyed 

18 to the Alaska Railroad. 

19 (4) PURCHASE PRICE.—If the Alaska Railroad 

20 chooses to provide consideration under paragraph 

21 (1)(B), the Alaska Railroad shall pay the United 

22 States the fair market value of the real property 

23 conveyed by the United States based on its highest 

24 and best use, as determined by an independent apVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:25 Mar 24, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S628.IS S628

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1 praisal commissioned by the Secretary of the Inte2 rior and paid for by the Alaska Railroad. 

3 (5) APPRAISAL.—In carrying out an appraisal 

4 under paragraph (4)— 

5 (A) the appraisal shall be performed by an 

6 appraiser mutually acceptable to the Secretary 

7 of the Interior and the Alaska Railroad; and 

8 (B) the assumptions, scope of work, and 

9 other terms and conditions related to the ap10 praisal assignment shall be mutually acceptable 

11 to the Secretary of the Interior and the Alaska 

12 Railroad. 

13 (6) PAYMENT TERMS.—Payment of the ap14 praised value for any land conveyed to the Alaska 

15 Railroad under this section shall be— 

16 (A) made by the Alaska Railroad to the 

17 United States upon completion of an as-built 

18 survey of the completed construction and re19 ceipt by the Alaska Railroad of formal convey20 ance; and 

21 (B) without interest or any escalation of 

22 the value due to the passage of time or develop23 ment of the real property. 

24 (e) PRE-CONVEYANCE ENTRY.—The Secretary of the 

25 Interior, and other Federal officials as may be necessary 


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1 and appropriate, on such terms and conditions as may be 

2 appropriate, may authorize the Alaska Railroad to enter 

3 upon the land to be conveyed to the Alaska Railroad at 

4 no charge for pre-construction and construction activities. 

5 (f) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this section 

6 may be construed to affect the duties, responsibilities, or 

7 liability of the Federal Government under the Comprehen8 sive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability 

9 Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) concerning any lands 

10 conveyed under this section. 

Æ 


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