I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4196 

To authorize the conveyance of certain environmentally sensitive land at 

former Fort Sheridan, Illinois, for the purpose of ensuring the permanent 

protection of the lands. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 22, 2004 

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

on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To authorize the conveyance of certain environmentally sensitive land at former Fort Sheridan, Illinois, for the 

purpose of ensuring the permanent protection of the 

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. LAND CONVEYANCE, NAVY PROPERTY, FORMER 

4 FORT SHERIDAN, ILLINOIS. 

5 (a) CONVEYANCE AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of 

6 the Navy may convey, without consideration, to the State 

7 of Illinois, a political subdivision of the State, or a non8 profit land conservation organization (in this section col-
2 

•HR 4196 IH 

1 lectively referred to as the ‘‘grantee’’), all right, title, and 

2 interest of the United States in and to certain environ3 mentally sensitive land at the former Fort Sheridan, Illi4 nois, consisting of mostly bluffs and ravines, for the pur5 pose of ensuring the permanent protection of the lands. 

6 (b) REVERSIONARY INTEREST.—If the Secretary de7 termines at any time that the real property conveyed 

8 under subsection (a) is not being used or maintained in 

9 accordance with the purpose of the conveyance specified 

10 in such subsection, all right, title, and interest in and to 

11 all or any portion of the property shall revert, at the option 

12 of the Secretary, to the United States, and the United 

13 States shall have the right of immediate entry onto the 

14 property. Any determination of the Secretary under this 

15 subsection shall be made on the record after an oppor16 tunity for a hearing. 

17 (c) RECONVEYANCE AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary 

18 may permit the grantee to convey the real property con19 veyed under subsection (a) to another eligible entity de20 scribed in such subsection, subject to the same covenants 

21 and terms and conditions as provided in the deed from 

22 the United States. 

23 (d) PAYMENT OF COSTS OF CONVEYANCE.—(1) The 

24 Secretary shall require the grantee to cover costs to be 

25 incurred by the Secretary, or to reimburse the Secretary 
3 

•HR 4196 IH 

1 for costs incurred by the Secretary, to carry out the con2 veyance under subsection (a), including survey costs, costs 

3 related to environmental documentation, and other admin4 istrative costs related to the conveyance. If amounts are 

5 collected from the grantee in advance of the Secretary in6 curring the actual costs, and the amount collected exceeds 

7 the costs actually incurred by the Secretary to carry out 

8 the conveyance, the Secretary shall refund the excess 

9 amount to the grantee. 

10 (2) Amounts received as reimbursement under para11 graph (1) shall be credited to the fund or account that 

12 was used to cover the costs incurred by the Secretary in 

13 carrying out the conveyance. Amounts so credited shall be 

14 merged with amounts in such fund or account, and shall 

15 be available for the same purposes, and subject to the 

16 same conditions and limitations, as amounts in such fund 

17 or account. 

18 (e) EXEMPTION FROM FEDERAL SCREENING.—The 

19 conveyance authorized by subsection (a) is exempt from 

20 the requirement to screen the property for other Federal 

21 use pursuant to sections 2693 and 2696 of title 10, United 

22 States Code. 

23 (f) DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY.—The exact acreage 

24 and legal description of the real property to be conveyed 
4 

•HR 4196 IH 

1 under subsection (a) shall be determined by a survey satis2 factory to the Secretary. 

3 (g) ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The 

4 Secretary may require such additional terms and condi5 tions in connection with the conveyance under subsection 

6 (a) as the Secretary considers appropriate to protect the 

7 interests of the United States. 

8 (h) USE OF ALTERNATE CONVEYANCE AUTHOR9 ITY.—In lieu of using the authority provided by this sec10 tion to convey the real property described in subsection 

11 (a), the Secretary may elect to include the property in a 

12 conveyance authorized by section 2878 of title 10, United 

13 States Code, subject to such terms, reservations, restric14 tions, and conditions as may be necessary to ensure the 

15 permanent protection of the property, if the Secretary de16 termines that a conveyance under such section is advan17 tageous to the interests of the United States. 

Æ