105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 901

AN ACT

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
105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 901

AN ACT

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.
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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’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

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

8 (1) The power to dispose of and make all need9 ful rules and regulations governing lands belonging

10 to the United States is vested in the Congress under

11 article IV, section 3, of the Constitution.

12 (2) Some Federal land designations made pur13 suant to international agreements concern land use

14 policies and regulations for lands belonging to the

15 United States which under article IV, section 3, of

16 the Constitution can only be implemented through

17 laws enacted by the Congress.

18 (3) Some international land designations, such

19 as those under the United States Biosphere Reserve

20 Program and the Man and Biosphere Program of

21 the United Nations Scientific, Educational, and Cul22 tural Organization, operate under independent na23 tional committees, such as the United States Na24 tional Man and Biosphere Committee, which have no
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1 legislative directives or authorization from the Con2 gress.

3 (4) Actions by the United States in making

4 such designations may affect the use and value of

5 nearby or intermixed non-Federal lands.

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

7 component of our Federal system of government and

8 a bulwark against the unwise concentration of

9 power.

10 (6) Private property rights are essential for the

11 protection of freedom.

12 (7) Actions by the United States to designate

13 lands belonging to the United States pursuant to

14 international agreements in some cases conflict with

15 congressional constitutional responsibilities and

16 State sovereign capabilities.

17 (8) Actions by the President in applying certain

18 international agreements to lands owned by the

19 United States diminishes the authority of the Con20 gress to make rules and regulations respecting these

21 lands.

22 (b) PURPOSE.—The purposes of this Act are the fol23 lowing:

24 (1) To reaffirm the power of the Congress

25 under article IV, section 3, of the Constitution over
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1 international agreements which concern disposal,

2 management, and use of lands belonging to the

3 United States.

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

5 Federal Government under the Constitution from

6 Federal actions designating lands pursuant to inter7 national agreements.

8 (3) To ensure that no United States citizen suf9 fers any diminishment or loss of individual rights as

10 a result of Federal actions designating lands pursu11 ant to international agreements for purposes of im12 posing restrictions on use of those lands.

13 (4) To protect private interests in real property

14 from diminishment as a result of Federal actions

15 designating lands pursuant to international agree16 ments.

17 (5) To provide a process under which the

18 United States may, when desirable, designate lands

19 pursuant to international agreements.

20 SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF CONGRESSIONAL ROLE IN

21 WORLD HERITAGE SITE LISTING.

22 Section 401 of the National Historic Preservation Act

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

24 is amended—

25 (1) in subsection (a) in the first sentence, by—
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1 (A) striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting

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

3 the Secretary’’; and

4 (B) inserting ‘‘(in this section referred to

5 as the ‘Convention’)’’ after ‘‘1973’’; and

6 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub7 sections:

8 ‘‘(d)(1) The Secretary of the Interior may not nomi9 nate any lands owned by the United States for inclusion

10 on the World Heritage List pursuant to the Convention,

11 unless—

12 ‘‘(A) the Secretary finds with reasonable basis

13 that commercially viable uses of the nominated

14 lands, and commercially viable uses of other lands

15 located within 10 miles of the nominated lands, in

16 existence on the date of the nomination will not be

17 adversely affected by inclusion of the lands on the

18 World Heritage List, and publishes that finding;

19 ‘‘(B) the Secretary has submitted to the Con20 gress a report describing—

21 ‘‘(i) natural resources associated with the

22 lands referred to in subparagraph (A); and

23 ‘‘(ii) the impacts that inclusion of the nom24 inated lands on the World Heritage List would

25 have on existing and future uses of the nomi-
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1 nated lands or other lands located within 10

2 miles of the nominated lands; and

3 ‘‘(C) the nomination is specifically authorized

4 by a law enacted after the date of enactment of the

5 American Land Sovereignty Protection Act and after

6 the date of publication of a finding under subpara7 graph (A) for the nomination.

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

9 House of Representatives and the President of the Senate

10 a proposal for legislation authorizing such a nomination

11 after publication of a finding under paragraph (1)(A) for

12 the nomination.

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

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

15 of World Heritage in Danger established under Article

16 11.4 of the Convention, unless—

17 ‘‘(1) the Secretary has submitted to the Speak18 er of the House of Representatives and the Presi19 dent of the Senate a report describing—

20 ‘‘(A) the necessity for including that prop21 erty on the list;

22 ‘‘(B) the natural resources associated with

23 the property; and

24 ‘‘(C) the impacts that inclusion of the

25 property on the list would have on existing and
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1 future uses of the property and other property

2 located within 10 miles of the property pro3 posed for inclusion; and

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

5 assent to the inclusion of the property on the list,

6 by a joint resolution of the Congress after the date

7 of submittal of the report required by paragraph

8 (1).’’.

9 ‘‘(f) The Secretary of the Interior shall submit an an10 nual report on each World Heritage Site within the United

11 States to the Chairman and Ranking Minority member of

12 the Committee on Resources of the House of Representa13 tives and of the Committee on Energy and Natural Re14 sources of the Senate, that contains for the year covered

15 by the report the following information for the site:

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

17 manage the site.

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

19 hours related to management of the site.

20 ‘‘(3) A list and explanation of all nongovern21 mental organizations that contributed to the man22 agement of the site.

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

24 of complaints received by the Secretary related to

25 management of the site.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION AND TERMINATION OF UNAUTHOR2 IZED UNITED NATIONS BIOSPHERE RE3 SERVES.

4 Title IV of the National Historic Preservation Act

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

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

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

8 lands in the United States for designation as a Biosphere

9 Reserve under the Man and Biosphere Program of the

10 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Or11 ganization.

12 ‘‘(b) Any designation on or before the date of enact13 ment of the American Land Sovereignty Protection Act

14 of an area in the United States as a Biosphere Reserve

15 under the Man and Biosphere Program of the United Na16 tions Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization

17 shall not have, and shall not be given, any force or effect,

18 unless the Biosphere Reserve—

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

20 after that date of enactment and before December

21 31, 2000;

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

23 of enactment are owned by the United States; and

24 ‘‘(3) is subject to a management plan that spe25 cifically ensures that the use of intermixed or adja-
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1 cent non-Federal property is not limited or restricted

2 as a result of that designation.

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

4 report on each Biosphere Reserve within the United States

5 to the Chairman and Ranking Minority member of the

6 Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives

7 and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of

8 the Senate, that contains for the year covered by the re9 port the following information for the reserve:

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

11 manage the reserve.

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

13 hours related to management of the reserve.

14 ‘‘(3) A list and explanation of all nongovern15 mental organizations that contributed to the man16 agement of the reserve.

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

18 of the complaints received by the Secretary related

19 to management of the reserve.’’.

20 SEC. 5. INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS IN GENERAL.

21 Title IV of the National Historic Preservation Act

22 Amendments of 1980 (16 U.S.C. 470a–1 et seq.) is fur23 ther amended by adding at the end the following new sec24 tion:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 404. (a) No Federal official may nominate,

2 classify, or designate any lands owned by the United

3 States and located within the United States for a special,

4 including commercial, or restricted use under any inter5 national agreement unless such nomination, classification,

6 or designation is specifically authorized by law. The Presi7 dent may from time to time submit to the Speaker of the

8 House of Representatives and the President of the Senate

9 proposals for legislation authorizing such a nomination,

10 classification, or designation.

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

12 under any international agreement, of lands owned by a

13 State or local government shall have no force or effect un14 less the nomination, classification, or designation is spe15 cifically authorized by a law enacted by the State or local

16 government, respectively.

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

18 under any international agreement, of privately owned

19 lands shall have no force or effect without the written con20 sent of the owner of the lands.

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

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

23 of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act

24 (16 U.S.C. 4413); and
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1 ‘‘(2) conventions referred to in section 3(h)(3)

2 of the Fish and Wildlife Improvement Act of 1978

3 (16 U.S.C. 712(2)).

4 ‘‘(e) In this section, the term ‘international agree5 ment’ means any treaty, compact, executive agreement,

6 convention, bilateral agreement, or multilateral agreement

7 between the United States or any agency of the United

8 States and any foreign entity or agency of any foreign en9 tity, having a primary purpose of conserving, preserving,

10 or protecting the terrestrial or marine environment, flora,

11 or fauna.’’.

12 SEC. 6. CLERICAL AMENDMENT.

13 Section 401(b) of the National Historic Preservation

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

15 amended by striking ‘‘Committee on Natural Resources’’

16 and inserting ‘‘Committee on Resources’’.

Passed the House of Representatives October 8,

1997.

Attest:

Clerk.