IIB

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1680

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 22, 2000

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural

Resources

AN ACT

To provide for the conveyance of Forest Service property

in Kern County, California, in exchange for county lands

suitable for inclusion in Sequoia National Forest.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Kern County Cali3 fornia Land Exchange Act of 2000’’.

4 SEC. 2. LAND EXCHANGE, CAMP OWEN AND RELATED PAR5 CELS, KERN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

6 (a) EXCHANGE REQUIRED.—In exchange for the

7 non-Federal lands and the additional consideration de8 scribed in subsection (b), the Secretary of Agriculture

9 shall convey to Kern County, California, all right, title,

10 and interest of the United States in and to four parcels

11 of land under the jurisdiction of the Forest Service in

12 Kern County, as follows:

13 (1) Approximately 70 acres known as Camp

14 Owen.

15 (2) Approximately 4 acres known as Wofford

16 Heights Park.

17 (3) Approximately 4 acres known as the French

18 Gulch maintenance yard.

19 (4) Approximately 14 acres known as the

20 Kernville Fish Hatchery.

21 (b) CONSIDERATION.—

22 (1) CONVEYANCE OF NON-FEDERAL LANDS.—

23 As consideration for the conveyance of the Federal

24 lands referred to in subsection (a), Kern County

25 shall convey to the Secretary a parcel of land con26 sisting of approximately 52 acres of Greenhorn
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1 Mountain Park in Kern County, California, which is

2 owned by Kern County within Sequoia National For3 est.

4 (2) REPLACEMENT FACILITY.—As additional

5 consideration for the conveyance of the storage facil6 ity located at the maintenance yard referred to in

7 subsection (a)(3), Kern County shall provide a re8 placement storage facility of comparable size and

9 condition, as acceptable to the Secretary, at the

10 Greenhorn Ranger District Lake Isabella Mainte11 nance Yard property.

12 (3) CASH EQUALIZATION PAYMENT.—As addi13 tional consideration for the conveyance of the Fed14 eral lands referred to in subsection (a), Kern County

15 shall tender a cash equalization payment specified by

16 the Secretary, but not to exceed $100,000. Subject

17 to such limitation, the cash equalization payment

18 shall be based upon an appraisal performed at the

19 option of the Forest Service pursuant to section

20 206(b) of the Federal Land Policy and Management

21 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716(b)).

22 (c) CONDITIONS ON ACCEPTANCE.—Title to the non23 Federal lands to be conveyed under this section must be

24 acceptable to the Secretary, and the conveyance shall be

25 subject to valid existing rights of record. The non-Federal
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1 lands shall conform with the title approval standards ap2 plicable to Federal land acquisitions.

3 (d) TIME FOR CONVEYANCE.—Subject to subsection

4 (c), the Secretary shall complete the conveyance of the

5 Federal lands under subsection (a) within 3 months after

6 Kern County tenders to the Secretary the consideration

7 required by subsection (b).

8 (e) STATUS OF ACQUIRED LANDS.—Upon approval

9 and acceptance of title by the Secretary, the non-Federal

10 lands conveyed to the United States under this section

11 shall become part of Sequoia National Forest, and the

12 boundaries of the national forest shall be adjusted to in13 clude the acquired lands. The Secretary shall manage the

14 acquired lands for recreational purposes in accordance

15 with the laws and regulations pertaining to the National

16 Forest System. For purposes of section 7 of the Land and

17 Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–

18 9), the boundaries of the national forest, as adjusted pur19 suant to this section, shall be considered to be the bound20 aries of the national forest as of January 1, 1965.

21 (f) RELATIONSHIP TO ENVIRONMENTAL LIABIL22 ITY.—In connection with the conveyances under this sec23 tion, the Secretary may require such additional terms and

24 conditions related to environmental liability as the Sec-
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1 retary considers appropriate to protect the interests of the

2 United States.

3 (g) LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.—The exact acreage and

4 legal description of the real property to be exchanged

5 under this section shall be determined by a survey or sur6 veys satisfactory to the Secretary. The costs of any such

7 survey, as well as other administrative costs incurred to

8 execute the land exchange (other than costs incurred by

9 Kern County to comply with subsection (h)), shall be di10 vided equally between the Secretary and Kern County.

11 (h) TREATMENT OF EXISTING UTILITY LINES AT

12 CAMP OWEN.—Upon receipt of the Federal lands de13 scribed in subsection (a)(1), Kern County shall grant an

14 easement, and record the easement in the appropriate of15 fice, for permitted or licensed uses of those lands that are

16 unrecorded as of the date of the conveyance.

17 (i) APPLICABLE LAW.—Except as otherwise provided

18 in this section, any exchange of National Forest System

19 land under this section shall be subject to the laws (includ20 ing regulations) applicable to the conveyance and acquisi21 tion of land for the National Forest System.

Passed the House of Representatives March 21,

2000.

Attest: JEFF TRANDAHL,

Clerk.