I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 153

To establish certain requirements relating to the transfer or disposal of

public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, and for

other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 6, 1999

Mr. HEFLEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Resources

A BILL

To establish certain requirements relating to the transfer

or disposal of public lands managed by the Bureau of

Land Management, 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. FINDINGS.

4 The Congress finds that—

5 (1) the Bureau of Land Management presently

6 holds title to 1,800,000,000 acres of public land;

7 (2) much of this land is marginal in value and

8 left over from the 19th century;
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1 (3) in many cases, the costs of maintaining and

2 surveying this land far exceed the actual value of

3 these parcels;

4 (4) the agency is presently facing a sizable

5 budget backlog which is hampering its ability to

6 properly manage all of this property;

7 (5) under the Federal Land Policy and Man8 agement Act of 1976, the Bureau is required to

9 identify public lands suitable for sale, exchange, or

10 transfer; and

11 (6) the transfer of some of these parcels could

12 effect budget savings and greater management effi13 ciencies for the Bureau.

14 SEC. 2. ACQUISITION OF LANDS BY THE BUREAU OF LAND

15 MANAGEMENT.

16 (a) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided by section 3,

17 amounts appropriated or otherwise made available after

18 the date of the enactment of this Act may not be obligated

19 or expended by the Secretary of the Interior (hereafter in

20 this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) for the acquisition

21 of any lands or interests therein which are to be adminis22 tered by the Bureau of Land Management.

23 (b) ACQUISITION WITH DONATED FUNDS OR PRO24 CEEDS FROM THE SALE OF CERTAIN LANDS OR BY EX25 CHANGE.—After the date of the enactment of this Act,
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1 the Secretary may only acquire lands or interests therein

2 for administration by the Bureau of Land Management

3 by exchange, donation, or from amounts made available

4 from the Fund pursuant to section 3.

5 SEC. 3. BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT LAND SALE AND

6 ACQUISITION FUND.

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Bu8 reau of Land Management Land Sale and Acquisition

9 Fund (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Fund’’).

10 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—The Fund shall be adminis11 tered by the Secretary.

12 (c) DEPOSITS INTO FUND.—There shall be deposited

13 into the Fund—

14 (1) all amounts received by the Secretary from

15 the disposal of any lands or interests therein admin16 istered by the Bureau of Land Management; and

17 (2) all amounts received by the United States

18 by gift for acquisition of lands to be administered by

19 the Bureau of Land Management.

20 (d) EXPENDITURES FROM FUND.—Amounts may be

21 made available from the Fund for the acquisition of lands

22 or interests therein to be administered by the Bureau of

23 Land Management.
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1 SEC. 4. INFORMATION REQUIRED TO BE INCLUDED IN AN2 NUAL BUDGET REQUESTS RELATING TO THE

3 TRANSFER OR DISPOSAL OF PUBLIC LANDS.

4 Annual budget requests submitted by the Secretary

5 shall be accompanied by information as to whether the Bu6 reau of Land Management, through preparation of land7 use plans pursuant to the Federal Land Policy and Man8 agement Act of 1976, has identified public lands which

9 are suitable for transfer to other management or for dis10 posal through exchange or otherwise, the transfer or dis11 posal of which have been delayed because of incomplete

12 surveys or other reasons. If enactment of additional legis13 lation would be desirable in order to facilitate the transfer

14 or disposal of public lands described in the request, the

15 Secretary may include a proposal for such additional legis16 lation in such request.

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