I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 523 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain public land located 

wholly or partially within the boundaries of the Wells Hydroelectric 

Project of Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County, Washington, 

to the utility district. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 17, 2007 

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain 

public land located wholly or partially within the boundaries of the Wells Hydroelectric Project of Public Utility 

District No. 1 of Douglas County, Washington, to the 

utility district. 

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 ‘‘Douglas County, 

5 Washington, PUD Conveyance Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) PUBLIC LAND.—The term ‘‘public land’’ 

2 means the approximately 622 acres of Federal land 

3 managed by the Bureau of Land Management and 

4 identified for conveyance on the map prepared by 

5 the Bureau of Land Management entitled ‘‘Douglas 

6 County Public Utility District Proposal’’ and dated 

7 March 2, 2006. 

8 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

9 the Secretary of the Interior. 

10 (3) PUD.—The term ‘‘PUD’’ means the Public 

11 Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County, Wash12 ington. 

13 SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF PUBLIC LAND, WELLS HYDRO14 ELECTRIC PROJECT, PUBLIC UTILITY DIS15 TRICT NO. 1 OF DOUGLAS COUNTY, WASH16 INGTON. 

17 (a) CONVEYANCE REQUIRED.—Notwithstanding the 

18 land use planning requirements of sections 202 and 203 

19 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 

20 (43 U.S.C. 1712, 1713), and notwithstanding section 24 

21 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 818) and Federal 

22 Power Order for Project 2149, and subject to valid exist23 ing rights, if not later than 45 days after the date of com24 pletion of the appraisal required under subsection (b), the 

25 Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County, WashVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:05 Jan 18, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H523.IH H523

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1 ington, submits to the Secretary of the Interior an offer 

2 to acquire the public land for the appraised value, the Sec3 retary shall convey, not later than 30 days after the date 

4 of the offer, to the PUD all right, title, and interest of 

5 the United States in and to the public land. 

6 (b) APPRAISAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 

7 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall complete 

8 an appraisal of the public land. The appraisal shall be con9 ducted in accordance with the ‘‘Uniform Appraisal Stand10 ards for Federal Land Acquisitions’’ and the ‘‘Uniform 

11 Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice’’. 

12 (c) PAYMENT.—Not later than 30 days after the date 

13 on which the public land is conveyed under this section, 

14 the PUD shall pay to the Secretary an amount equal to 

15 the appraised value of the public land as determined under 

16 subsection (b). 

17 (d) MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.—As soon as 

18 practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

19 Secretary shall finalize legal descriptions of the public land 

20 to be conveyed under this section. The Secretary may cor21 rect any minor errors in the map referred to in section 

22 2 or in the legal descriptions. The map and legal descrip23 tions shall be on file and available for public inspection 

24 in appropriate offices of the Bureau of Land Management. 


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1 (e) COSTS OF CONVEYANCE.—As a condition of con2 veyance, any costs related to the conveyance under this 

3 section shall be paid by the PUD. 

4 (f) DISPOSITION OF PROCEEDS.—The Secretary shall 

5 deposit the proceeds from the sale in the working capital 

6 fund of the Bureau of Land Management established by 

7 section 306 of the Federal Land Policy and Management 

8 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1736). 

9 SEC. 4. SEGREGATION OF LANDS. 

10 (a) WITHDRAWAL.—Except as provided in section 

11 3(a), effective immediately upon enactment of this Act, 

12 and subject to valid existing rights, the public land is with13 drawn from— 

14 (1) all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal 

15 under the public land laws, and all amendments 

16 thereto; 

17 (2) location, entry, and patenting under the 

18 mining laws, and all amendments thereto; and 

19 (3) operation of the mineral leasing, mineral 

20 materials, and geothermal leasing laws, and all 

21 amendments thereto. 

22 (b) DURATION.—This section expires two years after 

23 the date of enactment of this Act or on the date of the 


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1 completion of the conveyance under section 3, whichever 

2 is earlier. 

Æ 


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