I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 482

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to sell or exchange certain land 

in the State of Florida, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 29, 2003

Mr. MILLER of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to sell or exchange 

certain land in the State of Florida, 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 ‘‘Florida National For5 est Land Management Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

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

9 the Secretary of Agriculture. 
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1 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

2 of Florida. 

3 SEC. 3. SALE OR EXCHANGE OF LAND. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may, under such 

5 terms and conditions as the Secretary may prescribe, sell 

6 or exchange any right, title, and interest of the United 

7 States in and to the parcels of Federal land in the State 

8 described in subsection (b). 

9 (b) DESCRIPTION OF LAND.—The parcels of Federal 

10 land in the State referred to in subsection (a) consist of—

11 (1) tract A–942a, East Bay, Santa Rosa Coun12 ty, consisting of approximately 61 acres, and more 

13 particularly described as T. 1 S., R. 27 W., sec. 31, 

14 W1/2 of SW1/4; 

15 (2) tract A–942b, East Bay, Santa Rosa Coun16 ty, consisting of approximately 40 acres, and more 

17 particularly described as T. 1 S., R. 27 W., sec. 38; 

18 (3) tract A–942c, Ft. Walton, Okaloosa County, 

19 located southeast of the intersection of and adjacent 

20 to State Road 86 and Mooney Road, consisting of 

21 approximately 0.59 acres, and more particularly de22 scribed as T. 1 S., R. 24 W., sec. 26; 

23 (4) tract A–942d, located southeast of 

24 Crestview, Okaloosa County, consisting of approxi25 mately 79.90 acres, and more particularly described 
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1 as T. 2 N., R. 23 W., sec. 2, NW1/4 NE1/4 and 

2 NE1/4 NW1/4; 

3 (5) tract A–943, Okaloosa County Fairgrounds, 

4 Ft. Walton, Okaloosa County, consisting of approxi5 mately 30.14 acres, and more particularly described 

6 as T. 1 S., R. 24 W., sec. 26, S1/2; 

7 (6) tract A–944, City Ball Park—Ft. Walton, 

8 Okaloosa County, consisting of approximately 12.43 

9 acres, and more particularly described as T. 1 S., R. 

10 24 W., sec. 26, S1/2; 

11 (7) tract A–945, Landfill-Golf Course Driving 

12 Range, located southeast of Crestview, Okaloosa 

13 County, consisting of approximately 40.85 acres, 

14 and more particularly described as T. 2 N., R. 23 

15 W., sec. 4, NW1/4 NE1/4; 

16 (8) tract A–959, 2 vacant lots on the north side 

17 of Micheaux Road in Bristol, Liberty County, con18 sisting of approximately 0.5 acres, and more particu19 larly described as T. 1 S., R. 7 W., sec. 6; 

20 (9) tract C–3m–d, located southwest of Astor in 

21 Lake County, consisting of approximately 15.0 

22 acres, and more particularly described as T. 15 S., 

23 R. 28 E., sec. 37; 

24 (10) tract C–691, Lake County, consisting of 

25 the subsurface rights to approximately 40.76 acres 
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1 of land, and more particularly described as T. 17 S., 

2 R. 29 E., sec. 25, SE1/4 NW1/4; 

3 (11) tract C–2208b, Lake County, consisting of 

4 approximately 39.99 acres, and more particularly de5 scribed as T. 17 S., R. 28 E., sec. 28, NW1/4 SE1/

6 4; 

7 (12) tract C–2209, Lake County, consisting of 

8 approximately 127.2 acres, as depicted on the map, 

9 and more particularly described as T. 17 S., R. 28 

10 E., sec. 21, NE1/4 SW1/4, SE1/4 NW1/4, and SE1/

11 4 NE1/4; 

12 (13) tract C–2209b, Lake County, consisting of 

13 approximately 39.41 acres, and more particularly de14 scribed as T. 17 S., R. 29 E., sec. 32, NE1/4 SE1/

15 4; 

16 (14) tract C–2209c, Lake County, consisting of 

17 approximately 40.09 acres, and more particularly de18 scribed as T. 18 S., R. 28 E., sec. 14, SE1/4 SW1/

19 4; 

20 (15) tract C–2209d, Lake County, consisting of 

21 approximately 79.58 acres, and more particularly de22 scribed as T. 18 S., R. 29 E., sec. 5, SE1/4 NW1/

23 4, NE1/4 SW1/4; 

24 (16) tract C–2210, government lot 1, 20 rec25 reational residential lots, and adjacent land on Lake 
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1 Kerr, Marion County, consisting of approximately 30 

2 acres, and more particularly described as T. 13 S., 

3 R. 25 E., sec. 22; 

4 (17) tract C–2213, located in the F.M. 

5 Arrendondo grant, East of Ocala, Marion County, 

6 and including a portion of the land located east of 

7 the western right-of-way of State Highway 19, con8 sisting of approximately 15.0 acres, and more par9 ticularly described as T. 14 and 15 S., R. 26 E., sec. 

10 36, 38, and 40; and 

11 (18) all improvements on the parcels described 

12 in paragraphs (1) through (17). 

13 (c) LEGAL DESCRIPTION MODIFICATION.—The Sec14 retary may, for the purposes of soliciting offers for the 

15 sale or exchange of land under subsection (d), modify the 

16 descriptions of land specified in subsection (b) based on—

17 (1) a survey; or 

18 (2) a determination by the Secretary that the 

19 modification would be in the best interest of the 

20 public. 

21 (d) SOLICITATIONS OF OFFERS.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to such terms and 

23 conditions as the Secretary may prescribe, the Sec24 retary may solicit offers for the sale or exchange of 

25 land described in subsection (b). 
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1 (2) REJECTION OF OFFERS.—The Secretary 

2 may reject any offer received under this section if 

3 the Secretary determines that the offer—

4 (A) is not adequate; or 

5 (B) is not in the public interest. 

6 (e) METHODS OF SALE.—The Secretary may sell the 

7 land described in subsection (b) at public or private sale 

8 (including at auction), in accordance with any terms, con9 ditions, and procedures that the Secretary determines to 

10 be appropriate. 

11 (f) BROKERS.—In any sale or exchange of land de12 scribed in subsection (b), the Secretary may—

13 (1) use a real estate broker; and 

14 (2) pay the real estate broker a commission in 

15 an amount that is comparable to the amounts of 

16 commission generally paid for real estate trans17 actions in the area. 

18 (g) CONCURRENCE OF THE SECRETARY OF THE AIR

19 FORCE.—A parcel of land described in paragraphs (1) 

20 through (7) of subsection (b) shall not be sold or ex21 changed by the Secretary without the concurrence of the 

22 Secretary of the Air Force. 

23 (h) CASH EQUALIZATION.—Notwithstanding section 

24 206(b) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 

25 of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716(b)), if the value of non-Federal 
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1 land for which Federal land is exchanged under this sec2 tion is less than the value of the Federal land exchanged, 

3 the Secretary may accept a cash equalization payment in 

4 excess of 25 percent of the value of the Federal land. 

5 (i) DISPOSITION OF PROCEEDS.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The net proceeds derived 

7 from any sale or exchange under this Act shall be 

8 deposited in the fund established by Public Law 90–

9 171 (commonly known as the ‘‘Sisk Act’’) (16 

10 U.S.C. 484a). 

11 (2) USE.—Amounts deposited under paragraph 

12 (1) shall be available to the Secretary for expendi13 ture, without further appropriation, for—

14 (A) acquisition of land and interests in 

15 land for inclusion as units of the National For16 est System in the State; and 

17 (B) reimbursement of costs incurred by the 

18 Secretary in carrying out land sales and ex19 changes under this Act, including the payment 

20 of real estate broker commissions under sub21 section (f). 

22 SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATION. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Land acquired by the United 

24 States under this Act shall be—
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1 (1) subject to the Act of March 1, 1911 (com2 monly known as the ‘‘Weeks Act’’) (16 U.S.C. 480 

3 et seq.); and 

4 (2) administered in accordance with laws (in5 cluding regulations) applicable to the National For6 est System. 

7 (b) APPLICABLE LAW.—The land described in section 

8 3(b) shall not be subject to the Federal Property and Ad9 ministrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 471 et seq.). 

10 (c) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, 

11 the land described in section 3(b) is withdrawn from loca12 tion, entry, and patent under the public land laws, mining 

13 laws, and mineral leasing laws (including geothermal leas14 ing laws).

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