I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2300
To direct the Secretary of the Army to convey lands acquired for the Sallisaw
Creek project, Sequoyah County, Oklahoma.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 30, 1997
Mr. COBURN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of the Army to convey lands acquired
for the Sallisaw Creek project, Sequoyah County, Oklahoma.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. LAND CONVEYANCES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Army,
through the Real Estate Division of the Tulsa District,
United States Army Corps of Engineers, shall convey all
right, title, and interest of the United States in and to
land acquired by the United States for the Sallisaw Creek
project in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, in accordance
with this Act.
(b) QUALIFIED PREVIOUS OWNERS OF LAND.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall give
qualified previous owners of land first option to pur-
chase the land which they previously owned.
(2) APPLICATION.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to pur-
chase land under this subsection, a qualified
previous owner of land shall file an application
to purchase such land with the Secretary not
later than 180 days after receiving notice pur-
suant to section 2.
(B) FIRST TO FILE HAS FIRST OPTION.—
If more than one application is filed for a parcel
of land, the first option to purchase such parcel
of land shall be allotted in the order in which
the applications for such parcel of land were
filed.
(3) IDENTIFICATION OF PREVIOUS OWNERS.—
As soon as practicable after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary shall, to the extent
practicable, identify each previous owner of land.
(4) CONSIDERATION.—Consideration for land
conveyed under this subsection shall be the fair mar-
ket value of that land.
(c) PUBLIC AUCTION.—Any parcel of land for which
an application has not been filed pursuant to subsection
(b)(2) within the applicable time period shall be sold at
public auction.
SEC. 2. NOTICE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall notify—
(1) each individual identified as a previous
owner of land pursuant to section 1(b)(3), not later
than 30 days after identification, by United States
mail; and
(2) the general public, not later than 30 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act, by publi-
cation in the Federal Register.
(b) CONTENT OF NOTICE.—Notice under this section
shall include—
(1) a copy of the provisions of this Act;
(2) information sufficient to separately identify
each parcel of land subject to this Act; and
(3) the fair market value of each parcel of land
subject to this Act.
(c) OFFICIAL DATE OF NOTICE.—The official date
of notice under this section shall be the later of—
(1) the date upon which actual notice is mailed;
or
(2) the date of publication of the notice in the
Federal Register.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act, the following definitions apply:
(1) FAIR
MARKET
VALUE.—The term ‘‘fair
market value’’ means the amount for which a willing
buyer would purchase and a willing seller would sell
such land, as determined by a qualified, independent
land appraiser.
(2) PREVIOUS
OWNER
OF
LAND.—The term
‘‘previous owner of land’’ means a person who con-
veyed, and in the case of an individual, a person
whose parent conveyed, such land to the United
States for use in the Sallisaw Creek project in
Sequoyah County, Oklahoma.
(3) QUALIFIED PREVIOUS OWNER OF LAND.—
The term ‘‘qualified previous owner of land’’ means
a previous owner of land who demonstrates a will-
ingness and ability to pay fair market value for the
land which was previously owned.
(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of the Army.
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