Union Calendar No. 141

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 901

[Report No. 105–245]

A BILL

To preserve the sovereignty of the United States

quired lands.eral lands surrounding those public lands and acereignty and private property rights in non-Fedthe United States, and to preserve State sovover public lands and acquired lands owned by

SEPTEMBER 5, 1997

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commitordered to be printed tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
IB

Union Calendar No. 141

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 901

[Report No. 105–245]

To preserve the sovereignty of the United States over public lands and

acquired lands owned by the United States, and to preserve State sovereignty and private property rights in non-Federal lands surrounding

those public lands and acquired lands.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 27, 1997

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska (for himself, Mr. CONDIT, Mr. SOLOMON, Mr. PICKETT,

Mr. COBURN, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr. POMBO, Mr. STENHOLM, Mr.

HILLEARY, Ms. DANNER, Mrs. CHENOWETH, Mr. ORTIZ, Mrs. CUBIN,

Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr.

NETHERCUTT, Ms. DUNN, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mr. HERGER, Mr. STUMP,

Mr. BONO, Mr. SMITH of Oregon, Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, Mr.

DOOLITTLE, Mr. DICKEY, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. HAYWORTH,

Mr. MCINTOSH, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. BARR of Georgia, Mr. SKEEN,

Mr. WELDON of Florida, Mr. CANADY of Florida, Mr. COMBEST, Mr.

SENSENBRENNER, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. LEWIS of California, Mr. MCKEON,

Mr. GEKAS, Mrs. SMITH of Washington, Mr. COLLINS, Mr. STEARNS,

Mr. LARGENT, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mr. KIM, Mr.

CALVERT, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. METCALF, Mr. TAUZIN, Mr. TALENT, Mr. CRANE, Mr. BRYANT, Mr. ARCHER, Mr. BILBRAY,

Mr. BLILEY, Mr. HILL, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. RADANOVICH, Mr.

GOODLATTE, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. SPENCE, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, and Mr. HULSHOF) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Resources

SEPTEMBER 5, 1997

Additional sponsors: Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. JOHN, Mr. JONES, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky, Mr.

MCHUGH, Mr. CANNON, Mr. ISTOOK, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. BLUNT, Mr.

CHAMBLISS, Mr. LUCAS of Oklahoma, Mr. MCINNIS, Mr. WATKINS, Mr.

PAXON, Mr. BONILLA, Mr. GOODE, Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. COOK, Mr. LIVINGSTON, Mr. HYDE, Mr. EVER-
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ETT, Mr. THORNBERRY, Mr. COOKSEY, Mr. MICA, Mr. BISHOP, Mrs.

NORTHUP, Mr. LATHAM, Mr. NEUMANN, Mr. HASTERT, Mr. WELLER,

Mr. SOUDER, Mr. TURNER, Mr. HALL of Texas, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr.

MCCOLLUM, Mr. BAKER, Mr. BURR of North Carolina, Mr. HOBSON, Mr.

ROGERS, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. MCCRERY, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. SMITH

of Texas, Mr. DEAL of Georgia, Mr. BOB SCHAFFER of Colorado, Mr.

MORAN of Kansas, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. NEY, Mr.

SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. DREIER, Mr. GANSKE,

Mr. LINDER, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. CAMP, Mr. KING, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. SESSIONS, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. DAN SCHAEFER of Colorado, Mr. PACKARD,

Mr. ROYCE, Mr. PITTS, Mr. SALMON, Mr. WAMP, Mr. GOODLING, Mr.

JENKINS, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. KINGSTON, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas,

Mr. CALLAHAN, Mr. BARCIA, Mr. KOLBE, Mrs. FOWLER, Mr. UPTON,

Mr. FOLEY, Mr. RIGGS, Mr. BRADY, Mr. SCARBOROUGH, Mr. DELAY,

Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi, Mr. PICKERING, Mr. BASS, Mr. THUNE, Mr.

SISISKY, Mr. REDMOND, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina, Mr.

ENSIGN, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. THOMAS, Mr. OXLEY, Mr. SNOWBARGER,

Mr. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. RILEY, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. PAUL,

Mr. EHRLICH, Mr. NUSSLE, Mr. HOEKSTRA, and Mr. WICKER

SEPTEMBER 5, 1997

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 27, 1997]

A BILL

To preserve the sovereignty of the United States over public

lands and acquired lands owned by the United States,

and to preserve State sovereignty and private property

rights in non-Federal lands surrounding those public

lands and acquired lands.

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 ‘‘American Land Sov5 ereignty Protection Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

3 (1) The power to dispose of and make all needful

4 rules and regulations governing lands belonging to the

5 United States is vested in the Congress under article

6 IV, section 3, of the Constitution.

7 (2) Some Federal land designations made pursu8 ant to international agreements concern land use

9 policies and regulations for lands belonging to the

10 United States which under article IV, section 3, of the

11 Constitution can only be implemented through laws

12 enacted by the Congress.

13 (3) Some international land designations, such

14 as those under the United States Biosphere Reserve

15 Program and the Man and Biosphere Program of the

16 United Nations Scientific, Educational, and Cultural

17 Organization, operate under independent national

18 committees, such as the United States National Man

19 and Biosphere Committee, which have no legislative

20 directives or authorization from the Congress.

21 (4) Actions by the United States in making such

22 designations may affect the use and value of nearby

23 or intermixed non-Federal lands.

24 (5) The sovereignty of the States is a critical

25 component of our Federal system of government and

26 a bulwark against the unwise concentration of power.
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1 (6) Private property rights are essential for the

2 protection of freedom.

3 (7) Actions by the United States to designate

4 lands belonging to the United States pursuant to

5 international agreements in some cases conflict with

6 congressional constitutional responsibilities and State

7 sovereign capabilities.

8 (8) Actions by the President in applying certain

9 international agreements to lands owned by the Unit10 ed States diminishes the authority of the Congress to

11 make rules and regulations respecting these lands.

12 (b) PURPOSE.—The purposes of this Act are the follow13 ing:

14 (1) To reaffirm the power of the Congress under

15 article IV, section 3, of the Constitution over inter16 national agreements which concern disposal, manage17 ment, and use of lands belonging to the United States.

18 (2) To protect State powers not reserved to the

19 Federal Government under the Constitution from Fed20 eral actions designating lands pursuant to inter21 national agreements.

22 (3) To ensure that no United States citizen suf23 fers any diminishment or loss of individual rights as

24 a result of Federal actions designating lands pursu-
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1 ant to international agreements for purposes of im2 posing restrictions on use of those lands.

3 (4) To protect private interests in real property

4 from diminishment as a result of Federal actions des5 ignating lands pursuant to international agreements.

6 (5) To provide a process under which the

7 United States may, when desirable, designate lands

8 pursuant to international agreements.

9 SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF CONGRESSIONAL ROLE IN

10 WORLD HERITAGE SITE LISTING.

11 Section 401 of the National Historic Preservation Act

12 Amendments of 1980 (Public Law 96–515; 94 Stat. 2987)

13 is amended—

14 (1) in subsection (a) in the first sentence, by—

15 (A) striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting

16 ‘‘Subject to subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e), the

17 Secretary’’; and

18 (B) inserting ‘‘(in this section referred to as

19 the ‘Convention’)’’ after ‘‘1973’’; and

20 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub21 sections:

22 ‘‘(d)(1) The Secretary of the Interior may not nomi23 nate any lands owned by the United States for inclusion

24 on the World Heritage List pursuant to the Convention, un25 less—
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1 ‘‘(A) the Secretary finds with reasonable basis

2 that commercially viable uses of the nominated lands,

3 and commercially viable uses of other lands located

4 within 10 miles of the nominated lands, in existence

5 on the date of the nomination will not be adversely

6 affected by inclusion of the lands on the World Herit7 age List, and publishes that finding;

8 ‘‘(B) the Secretary has submitted to the Congress

9 a report describing—

10 ‘‘(i) natural resources associated with the

11 lands referred to in subparagraph (A); and

12 ‘‘(ii) the impacts that inclusion of the nomi13 nated lands on the World Heritage List would

14 have on existing and future uses of the nomi15 nated lands or other lands located within 10

16 miles of the nominated lands; and

17 ‘‘(C) the nomination is specifically authorized by

18 a law enacted after the date of enactment of the

19 American Land Sovereignty Protection Act and after

20 the date of publication of a finding under subpara21 graph (A) for the nomination.

22 ‘‘(2) The President may submit to the Speaker of the

23 House of Representatives and the President of the Senate

24 a proposal for legislation authorizing such a nomination
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1 after publication of a finding under paragraph (1)(A) for

2 the nomination.

3 ‘‘(e) The Secretary of the Interior shall object to the

4 inclusion of any property in the United States on the list

5 of World Heritage in Danger established under Article 11.4

6 of the Convention, unless—

7 ‘‘(1) the Secretary has submitted to the Speaker

8 of the House of Representatives and the President of

9 the Senate a report describing—

10 ‘‘(A) the necessity for including that prop11 erty on the list;

12 ‘‘(B) the natural resources associated with

13 the property; and

14 ‘‘(C) the impacts that inclusion of the prop15 erty on the list would have on existing and fu16 ture uses of the property and other property lo17 cated within 10 miles of the property proposed

18 for inclusion; and

19 ‘‘(2) the Secretary is specifically authorized to

20 assent to the inclusion of the property on the list, by

21 a joint resolution of the Congress after the date of sub22 mittal of the report required by paragraph (1).’’.

23 ‘‘(f) The Secretary of the Interior shall submit an an24 nual report on each World Heritage Site within the United

25 States to the Chairman and Ranking Minority member of
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1 the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives

2 and of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

3 of the Senate, that contains for the year covered by the re4 port the following information for the site:

5 ‘‘(1) An accounting of all money expended to

6 manage the site.

7 ‘‘(2) A summary of Federal full time equivalent

8 hours related to management of the site.

9 ‘‘(3) A list and explanation of all nongovern10 mental organizations that contributed to the manage11 ment of the site.

12 ‘‘(4) A summary and account of the disposition

13 of complaints received by the Secretary related to

14 management of the site.’’.

15 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION AND TERMINATION OF UNAUTHOR16 IZED UNITED NATIONS BIOSPHERE RE17 SERVES.

18 Title IV of the National Historic Preservation Act

19 Amendments of 1980 (16 U.S.C. 470a–1 et seq.) is amended

20 by adding at the end the following new section:

21 ‘‘SEC. 403. (a) No Federal official may nominate any

22 lands in the United States for designation as a Biosphere

23 Reserve under the Man and Biosphere Program of the Unit24 ed Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organiza25 tion.
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1 ‘‘(b) Any designation on or before the date of enact2 ment of the American Land Sovereignty Protection Act of

3 an area in the United States as a Biosphere Reserve under

4 the Man and Biosphere Program of the United Nations

5 Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization shall

6 not have, and shall not be given, any force or effect, unless

7 the Biosphere Reserve—

8 ‘‘(1) is specifically authorized by a law enacted

9 after that date of enactment and before December 31,

10 2000;

11 ‘‘(2) consists solely of lands that on that date of

12 enactment are owned by the United States; and

13 ‘‘(3) is subject to a management plan that spe14 cifically ensures that the use of intermixed or adja15 cent non-Federal property is not limited or restricted

16 as a result of that designation.

17 ‘‘(c) The Secretary of State shall submit an annual

18 report on each Biosphere Reserve within the United States

19 to the Chairman and Ranking Minority member of the

20 Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives

21 and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of

22 the Senate, that contains for the year covered by the report

23 the following information for the reserve:

24 ‘‘(1) An accounting of all money expended to

25 manage the reserve.
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1 ‘‘(2) A summary of Federal full time equivalent

2 hours related to management of the reserve.

3 ‘‘(3) A list and explanation of all nongovern4 mental organizations that contributed to the manage5 ment of the reserve.

6 ‘‘(4) A summary and account of the disposition

7 of the complaints received by the Secretary related to

8 management of the reserve.’’.

9 SEC. 5. INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS IN GENERAL.

10 Title IV of the National Historic Preservation Act

11 Amendments of 1980 (16 U.S.C. 470a–1 et seq.) is further

12 amended by adding at the end the following new section:

13 ‘‘SEC. 404. (a) No Federal official may nominate, clas14 sify, or designate any lands owned by the United States

15 and located within the United States for a special or re16 stricted use under any international agreement unless such

17 nomination, classification, or designation is specifically au18 thorized by law. The President may from time to time sub19 mit to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the

20 President of the Senate proposals for legislation authorizing

21 such a nomination, classification, or designation.

22 ‘‘(b) A nomination, classification, or designation,

23 under any international agreement, of lands owned by a

24 State or local government shall have no force or effect unless

25 the nomination, classification, or designation is specifically
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1 authorized by a law enacted by the State or local govern2 ment, respectively.

3 ‘‘(c) A nomination, classification, or designation,

4 under any international agreement, of privately owned

5 lands shall have no force or effect without the written con6 sent of the owner of the lands.

7 ‘‘(d) This section shall not apply to—

8 ‘‘(1) agreements established under section 16(a)

9 of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (16

10 U.S.C. 4413); and

11 ‘‘(2) conventions referred to in section 3(h)(3) of

12 the Fish and Wildlife Improvement Act of 1978 (16

13 U.S.C. 712(2)).

14 ‘‘(e) In this section, the term ‘international agreement’

15 means any treaty, compact, executive agreement, conven16 tion, bilateral agreement, or multilateral agreement between

17 the United States or any agency of the United States and

18 any foreign entity or agency of any foreign entity, having

19 a primary purpose of conserving, preserving, or protecting

20 the terrestrial or marine environment, flora, or fauna.’’.

21 SEC. 6. CLERICAL AMENDMENT.

22 Section 401(b) of the National Historic Preservation

23 Act Amendments of 1980 (16 U.S.C. 470a–1(b)) is amended

24 by striking ‘‘Committee on Natural Resources’’ and insert25 ing ‘‘Committee on Resources’’.