I

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1092

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 21, 1998

Referred to the Committee on Resources

AN ACT

To provide for a transfer of land interests in order to facilitate surface transportation between the cities of Cold

Bay, Alaska, and King Cove, Alaska, 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 ‘‘King Cove Health and

5 Safety Act of 1998’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds that—

3 (1) King Cove, Alaska is a community in the

4 westernmost region of the Alaska Peninsula with a

5 population of roughly 800 full-time residents and an

6 additional 400 to 600 workers who are transported

7 in and out of the community a number of times a

8 year to work in the local fish processing plant and

9 on fishing vessels;

10 (2) the majority of the full-time residents are

11 indigenous Native peoples of Aleut ancestry that

12 have resided in the region for over 5,000 years;

13 (3) the only mode of access to or from King

14 Cove is via small aircraft or fishing boat, and the

15 weather patterns are so severe and unpredictable

16 that King Cove is one of the worst places in all of

17 the United States to access by either of these modes

18 of transportation;

19 (4) the State of Alaska has initiated the King

20 Cove to Cold Bay Transportation Improvement As21 sessment to confirm the need for transportation im22 provements for King Cove and to identify alternative

23 methods of improving transportation access with

24 comprehensive environmental and economic review of

25 each alternative;
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1 (5) the State of Alaska has identified a road be2 tween King Cove and Cold Bay as one of the alter3 natives to be evaluated in the transportation plan4 ning process but for a road to be a viable option for

5 the State of Alaska, the Congress must grant a leg6 islative easement within the Izembek National Wild7 life Refuge (‘‘Refuge’’) across approximately seven

8 miles of wilderness land owned by the Federal Gov9 ernment;

10 (6) there are fourteen miles of roads within the

11 wilderness boundary of the Refuge which are cur12 rently traveled by vehicles;

13 (7) any road constructed in accordance with

14 such easement would be an unpaved, one-lane road

15 sufficient in width to satisfy State law; and

16 (8) the combined communities of King Cove

17 and Cold Bay have approximately 250 vehicles.

18 SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

19 The purpose of this Act is to establish a surface

20 transportation easement across Federal lands within the

21 Refuge and to transfer 664 acres of high value habitat

22 lands adjacent to the Refuge in fee simple from the King

23 Cove Corporation to the Federal Government as new wil24 derness lands within the Refuge in exchange for redesig-
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1 nating a narrow corridor of land within the Refuge as non2 wilderness lands.

3 SEC. 4. LAND EXCHANGE.

4 If the King Cove Corporation offers to transfer to the

5 United States all right, title, and interest of the Corpora6 tion in and to all land owned by the Corporation in Sec7 tions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of T 57 S, R 88 W, Seward

8 Meridian, Alaska, and any improvements thereon, the Sec9 retary of the Interior (‘‘Secretary’’) shall, not later than

10 30 days after such offer, grant the Aleutians East Bor11 ough a perpetual right-of-way of 60 feet in width through

12 the lands described in sections 6 and 7 of this Act for

13 the construction, operation and maintenance of certain

14 utility-related fixtures and of a public road between the

15 city of Cold Bay, Alaska, and the city of King Cove, Alas16 ka and accept the transfer of the offered lands. Upon

17 transfer to the United States, such lands shall be managed

18 in accordance with section 1302(i) of the Alaska National

19 Interest Lands Conservation Act, shall be included within

20 the Refuge, and shall be managed as wilderness.

21 SEC. 5. RIGHT-OF-WAY.

22 Unless otherwise agreed to by the Secretary and the

23 Aleutians East Borough, the right-of-way granted under

24 section 4 shall—
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1 (1) include sufficient lands for logistical staging

2 areas and construction material sites used for the

3 construction and maintenance of an unpaved, one4 lane public road sufficient in width to meet the mini5 mum requirements necessary to satisfy State law;

6 (2) meet all requirements for a public highway

7 right-of-way under the laws of the State of Alaska;

8 and

9 (3) include the right for the Aleutians East

10 Borough, or its assignees, to construct, operate, and

11 maintain electrical, telephone, or other utility facili12 ties and structures within the right-of-way.

13 SEC. 6. CONFORMING CHANGE.

14 Upon the offer of Corporation lands under section 4,

15 the boundaries of the wilderness area within the Refuge

16 are modified to exclude from wilderness designation a 100

17 foot wide corridor to accommodate the right-of-way within

18 the following land sections:

19 (1) Sections 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27,

20 28, 29, 30, 35, and 36 of T 56 S, R 87 W, Seward

21 Meridian, Alaska.

22 (2) Sections 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 34, 35, and 36

23 of T 56 S, R 88 W, Seward Meridian, Alaska.

24 (3) Sections 1, 2, 11, and 12 of T 57 S, R 89

25 W, Seward Meridian, Alaska.
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1 SEC. 7. RIGHT-OF-WAY LOCATION.

2 Unless otherwise agreed to by the Secretary and the

3 Aleutians East Borough, the right-of-way granted under

4 section 4 shall be located within—

5 (1) sections 2, 3, 10, and 11 of T 59 S, R 86

6 W, Seward Meridian, Alaska;

7 (2) sections 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, and

8 35 of T 59 S, R 86 W, Seward Meridian, Alaska;

9 (3) sections 3, 4, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 23, 24,

10 25, 26, and 36 of T 58 S, R 87 W, Seward Merid11 ian, Alaska;

12 (4) sections 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 16, 17, 20, 21, 27,

13 28, 29, 32, 33, and 34 of T 57 S, R 87 W, Seward

14 Meridian, Alaska;

15 (5) sections 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27,

16 28, 29, 30, 35, and 36 of T 56 S, R 87 W, Seward

17 Meridian, Alaska;

18 (6) sections 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 34, 35, and 36

19 of T 56 S, R 88 W, Seward Meridian, Alaska;

20 (7) section 6 of T 57 S, R 88 W, Seward Me21 ridian, Alaska; and

22 (8) sections 1, 2, 11, and 12 of T 57 S, R 89

23 W, Seward Meridian, Alaska.
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1 SEC. 8. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.

2 The following provisions of law shall not be applicable

3 to any right-of-way granted under section 4 of this Act

4 or to any road constructed on such right-of-way—

5 (1) section 22(g) of the Alaska Native Claims

6 Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1621(g));

7 (2) title XI of the Alaska National Interest

8 Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3161 et seq.),

9 except as specified in this section; and

10 (3) section 303(c) of title 49, United States

11 Code.

12 SEC. 9. JOINT PLAN.

13 The Secretary and the Aleutians East Borough shall

14 jointly prepare a plan setting forth—

15 (1) the times of the year a road may reasonably

16 be constructed when there are not high concentra17 tions of migratory birds in Kinzarof Lagoon; and

18 (2) limitations on nonemergency road traffic

19 during periods of the year when there are high con20 centrations of migratory birds in Kinzarof Lagoon.

21 SEC. 10. TRANSFER.

22 If within 24 months of the date the King Cove Cor23 poration offers to transfer to the United States all right,

24 title, and interest of the Corporation lands set forth in

25 section 4 of this Act, the Secretary and the Aleutians East

26 Borough fail to mutually agree on the following—
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1 (1) a final land exchange and a grant of a

2 right-of-way pursuant to section 4; and

3 (2) the right-of-way specifications, and terms

4 and conditions of use set forth in sections 5, 6, 7

5 and 8 of this Act;

6 then the Aleutians East Borough shall have the right to

7 select a 60 foot right-of-way for the construction, oper8 ation, and maintenance of certain utility-related fixtures

9 and of a public road from lands described in section 7

10 of this Act, and to identify logistical staging areas and

11 construction material sites within the right-of-way. If an

12 agreement is not reached within 6 months after the Aleu13 tians East Borough notifies the Secretary of its selection,

14 then the right-of-way is hereby granted to the Borough.

Passed the Senate October 1 (legislative day, September 29), 1998.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.