I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5513 

To provide for an exchange of lands with San Bernardino County, California, 

to enhance management of lands within the San Bernardino National 

Forest, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 13, 2018 

Mr. COOK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for an exchange of lands with San Bernardino 

County, California, to enhance management of lands 

within the San Bernardino National Forest, 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 ‘‘Big Bear Land Ex5 change Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) COUNTY.—The term ‘‘County’’ means the 

2 County of San Bernardino, California. 

3 (2) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 

4 means the approximately 73 acres of Federal land 

5 administered by the Forest Service generally de6 picted as ‘‘Federal Land’’ on the Map. 

7 (3) NON-FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘non-Fed8 eral land’’ means the approximately 71 acres owned 

9 by the County generally depicted as ‘‘Non-Federal 

10 Land’’ on the Map. 

11 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

12 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

13 (5) MAP.—The term ‘‘Map’’ means the map ti14 tled ‘‘Big Bear Land Exchange’’ and dated August 

15 10, 2017. 

16 SEC. 3. EXCHANGE OF LAND; EQUALIZATION OF VALUE. 

17 (a) EXCHANGE AUTHORIZED.—Notwithstanding the 

18 land use planning requirements of sections 202, 210, and 

19 211 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 

20 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712, 1720–21), subject to valid existing 

21 rights, and conditioned upon any equalization payment 

22 necessary under section 206(b) of the Federal Land Policy 

23 and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716(b)), and 

24 subsection (b) of this Act, as soon as practicable, but not 

25 later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this 


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1 Act, if the County offers to convey the non-Federal land 

2 to the United States, the Secretary shall— 

3 (1) convey to the County all right, title, and in4 terest of the United States in and to the Federal 

5 land; and 

6 (2) accept from the County a conveyance of all 

7 right, title, and interest of the County in and to the 

8 non-Federal land. 

9 (b) EQUAL VALUE AND CASH EQUALIZATION.— 

10 (1) EQUAL VALUE EXCHANGE.—The land ex11 change under this section shall be for equal value, 

12 or the values shall be equalized by a cash payment 

13 as provided for under this subsection. 

14 (2) CASH EQUALIZATION PAYMENT.—The 

15 County or the Secretary, as appropriate, may equal16 ize the values of the lands to be exchanged under 

17 this section by cash payment without regard to any 

18 statutory limit on the amount of such a cash equali19 zation payment. 

20 (3) DEPOSIT AND USE OF FUNDS RECEIVED

21 FROM COUNTY.—Any cash equalization payment re22 ceived by the Secretary under this subsection shall 

23 be deposited in the fund established under Public 

24 Law 90–171 (16 U.S.C. 484a; commonly known as 

25 the Sisk Act). The funds so deposited shall remain 


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1 available to the Secretary, until expended, for the 

2 acquisition of lands, waters, and interests in land for 

3 the San Bernardino National Forest. 

4 (4) SOURCE OF FUNDS FOR PAYMENT BY SEC5 RETARY.—If the Secretary will make a cash equali6 zation payment to the County under this subsection, 

7 the Secretary may use funds available from the 

8 Land and Water Conservation Fund, the Act of 

9 June 15, 1938 (Chapter 438; 52 Stat. 699, com10 monly known as the Receipts Act of 1938), or cap11 ital improvement funds. 

12 (c) APPRAISALS.—The value of the land to be ex13 changed under this Act shall be determined by appraisals 

14 conducted— 

15 (1) by one or more independent and qualified 

16 appraisers; and 

17 (2) in accordance with nationally recognized ap18 praisal standards, including, as appropriate, the 

19 Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Ac20 quisitions and the Uniform Standards of Profes21 sional Appraisal Practice. 

22 (d) TITLE APPROVAL.—Title to the land to be ex23 changed under this Act shall be in a format acceptable 

24 to the Secretary and the County. 


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1 (e) SURVEY OF NON-FEDERAL LANDS.—Before com2 pleting the exchange under this Act, the Secretary shall 

3 inspect the non-Federal lands to ensure that the land 

4 meets Federal standards, including hazardous materials 

5 and land line surveys. 

6 (f) COSTS OF CONVEYANCE.—As a condition of con7 veyance, any costs related to the exchange under this sec8 tion shall be paid by the County. 

9 (g) MANAGEMENT OF ACQUIRED LANDS.—The Sec10 retary shall manage the non-Federal land acquired under 

11 this section in accordance with the Act of March 1, 1911 

12 (16 U.S.C. 480 et seq.; commonly known as the Weeks 

13 Act), and other laws and regulations pertaining to Na14 tional Forest System lands. 

15 (h) PACIFIC CREST NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL RELO16 CATION.—Before completing the land exchange under this 

17 section, the Secretary shall relocate the portion of the Pa18 cific Crest National Scenic Trail located on the Federal 

19 land to adjacent National Forest System land. The trail 

20 relocation shall be conducted without further environ21 mental analysis. 

22 (i) MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.—As soon as 

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

24 the Secretary shall finalize a map and legal descriptions 

25 of all land to be conveyed under this Act. The Secretary 


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1 may correct any minor errors in the map or in the legal 

2 descriptions. The map and legal descriptions shall be on 

3 file and available for public inspection in appropriate of4 fices of the Forest Service. 

Æ 


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