IB 
Union Calendar No. 553 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3839 
[Report No. 114–714, Part I] 
To transfer administrative jurisdiction over certain Bureau of Land Manage-
ment land from the Secretary of the Interior to the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs for inclusion in the Black Hills National Cemetery, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 27, 2015 
Mrs. NOEM introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans’ Af-
fairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 
case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
the committee concerned 
SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 
Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with an amendment 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 
The Committee on Veterans’ Affairs discharged; committed to the Committee 
of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on October 27, 2015] 
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A BILL 
To transfer administrative jurisdiction over certain Bureau 
of Land Management land from the Secretary of the 
Interior to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for inclusion 
in the Black Hills National Cemetery, and for other 
purposes. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
The Act may be cited as the ‘‘Black Hills National 
Cemetery Boundary Expansion Act’’. 
SEC. 2. WITHDRAWAL AND TRANSFER OF PUBLIC LAND FOR 
CEMETERY USE. 
(a) WITHDRAWAL AND TRANSFER.—Subject to valid 
existing rights, the public lands described in subsection (b) 
are hereby— 
(1) withdrawn from all forms of appropriation 
under the public land laws, including the mining 
laws, the mineral leasing laws, and the geothermal 
leasing laws, for as long as the lands remain under 
the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs; 
(2) deemed property as defined in section 102(9) 
of title 40, United States Code, for as long as the 
lands remain under the administrative jurisdiction of 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and 
(3) transferred to the administrative jurisdiction 
of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for use as na-
tional cemeteries under chapter 24 of title 38, United 
States Code. 
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(b) LAND DESCRIPTION.—The public lands with-
drawn, deemed property, and transferred under subsection 
(a) are the approximately 200 acres of land adjacent to 
Black Hills National Cemetery, South Dakota, generally de-
picted as ‘‘Proposed National Cemetery Expansion’’ on the 
map entitled ‘‘Proposed Expansion of Black Hills National 
Cemetery – South Dakota’’ and dated September 28, 2015, 
except the land located within 100 feet of the centerline of 
the Centennial Trail (which runs along the northern bound-
ary of the ‘Proposed National Cemetery Expansion’) and 
which is located south of that Trail. 
(c) BOUNDARY MODIFICATION.—The boundary of the 
Black Hills National Cemetery is hereby modified to in-
clude the public lands identified in subsection (b). 
(d) MODIFICATION OF PUBLIC LAND ORDER.—Public 
Land Order 2112, dated June 6, 1960 (25 Fed. Reg. 5243), 
is modified to exclude the lands identified in subsection (b). 
SEC. 3. LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS. 
(a) PREPARATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.—As soon 
as practicable after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of the Interior shall publish in the Federal 
Register a notice containing the legal descriptions of the 
public lands withdrawn, deemed property, and transferred 
under section 2(a). 
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(b) LEGAL EFFECT.—The legal descriptions prepared 
under subsection (a) shall have the same force and effect 
as if the legal descriptions were included in this Act, except 
that the Secretary of the Interior may correct any clerical 
and typographical errors in the legal descriptions. 
(c) CONFLICT BETWEEN MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIP-
TION.—In the case of a conflict between the map referred 
to in section 2(b) and the legal descriptions prepared under 
subsection (a), the map shall control. 
(d) AVAILABILITY.—Copies of the map referred to in 
section 2(b) and the legal descriptions prepared under sub-
section (a) shall be available for public inspection in the 
appropriate offices of— 
(1) the Bureau of Land Management; and 
(2) the National Cemetery Administration. 
(e) COSTS.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall re-
imburse the Secretary of the Interior for reasonable costs 
incurred by the Secretary of the Interior in implementing 
this section, including the costs of any surveys. 
SEC. 4. RESTORATION TO PUBLIC LANDS FOR NON-CEME-
TERY USE. 
(a) NOTICE AND EFFECT.—Upon a determination by 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs that all or a portion of 
the lands withdrawn, deemed property, and transferred 
under section 2 shall not be used for cemetery purposes, the 
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Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall notify the Secretary of 
the Interior of such determination. Subject to subsections 
(b) and (c), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall transfer 
administrative jurisdiction of the lands subject to such no-
tice to the Secretary of the Interior. 
(b) DECONTAMINATION.—The Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs shall be responsible for costs of any decontamination 
of the lands subject to a notice under subsection (a) deter-
mined by the Secretary of the Interior to be necessary for 
the lands to be restored to the public lands. 
(c) RESTORATION TO THE PUBLIC LANDS.—The lands 
subject to a notice under subsection (a) shall only be re-
stored to the public lands upon acceptance by the Secretary 
of the Interior and a determination by the Secretary of the 
Interior that such lands are suitable for restoration to the 
public lands and operation of one or more of the public 
land laws. 
(d) OPENING ORDER.—If the Secretary of the Interior 
accepts the lands subject to such a notice and determines 
that the lands are suitable for restoration, in whole or in 
part, the Secretary of the Interior may open the lands to 
operation of one or more of the public land laws and may 
issue an order to that effect. 
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