IB
Union Calendar No. 224
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3958
[Report No. 107–386]
To provide a mechanism for the settlement of claims of the State of Utah
regarding portions of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge located
on the shore of the Great Salt Lake, Utah.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 13, 2002
Mr. HANSEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Resources
APRIL 9, 2002
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 13, 2002]
A BILL
To provide a mechanism for the settlement of claims of
the State of Utah regarding portions of the Bear River
Migratory Bird Refuge located on the shore of the Great
Salt Lake, Utah.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bear River Migratory
Bird Refuge Settlement Act of 2002’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Secretary of the Interior and the State
of Utah have negotiated a preliminary agreement
concerning the ownership of lands within the Bear
River Migratory Bird Refuge located in Bear River
Bay of the Great Salt Lake, Utah.
(2) The State is entitled to ownership of those
sovereign lands constituting the bed of the Great Salt
Lake, and, generally, the location of the sovereign
lands boundary was set by an official survey of the
Great Salt Lake meander line.
(3) The establishment of the Refuge in 1928
along the shore of the Great Salt Lake, and lack of
a meander line survey within the Refuge, has led to
uncertainty of ownership of some of those sovereign
lands.
(4) In order to settle the uncertainty concerning
the sovereign land boundary caused by the gap in the
surveyed Great Salt Lake meander line within the
Refuge, the Secretary and the State have agreed to the
establishment of a fixed sovereign land boundary
along the southern boundary of the Refuge and the
State has agreed to release any claim to the lake bed
above such boundary line.
(5) The Secretary and the State have expressed
their intentions to establish a mutually agreed upon
procedure to address the conflicting claims to owner-
ship of the lands and interests in land within the Ref-
uge.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of the Interior.
(2) REFUGE.—The term ‘‘Refuge’’ means the
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge located in Bear
River Bay of the Great Salt Lake, Utah.
(3) AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘agreement’’ means
the agreement to be signed by the Secretary and the
State to establish a mutually agreeable procedure for
addressing the conflicting claims to ownership of the
lands and interests in land within the Refuge.
(4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State
of Utah.
SEC. 4. REQUIRED TERMS OF LAND CLAIMS SETTLEMENT,
BEAR 
RIVER 
MIGRATORY 
BIRD 
REFUGE,
UTAH.
(a) SPECIFIC TERMS REQUIRED IN AGREEMENT.—The
Secretary shall not enter into an agreement with the State
for the quitclaim or other transfer of lands or interests in
lands within the Refuge unless the terms of the agreement
include each of the following provisions:
(1) Nothing in the agreement shall be construed
to impose upon the State or any of agency of the
State any obligation to convey to the United States
any interest in water owned or controlled by the
State, except upon appropriate terms and for ade-
quate consideration.
(2) Nothing in the agreement shall constitute ad-
mission or denial of the United States claim to a
Federal reserved water right.
(3) The State shall support the United States
application to add an enlarged Hyrum Reservoir, or
another storage facility, as an alternate place of stor-
age under the Refuge’s existing 1000 cubic feet per
second State certified water right. Such support shall
be contingent upon demonstration by the United
States that no injury to water rights shall occur as
a result of the addition.
(4) Nothing in the agreement shall affect juris-
diction by the State or the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service over wildlife resources management,
including fishing, hunting and trapping, within the
Refuge.
(5) If the State elects to bring suit against the
United States challenging the validity of the deed
issued pursuant to the agreement, and if such suit is
successful in invalidating such deed, the State will—
(A) pay the United States for the fair mar-
ket value of all real property improvements on
the property at the time of invalidation, such as
dikes, water control structures and buildings;
(B) repay any amounts paid by the United
States because of ownership of the land by the
United States from the date of establishment of
the Refuge, such as payments in lieu of taxes;
and
(C) repay any amounts paid to the State
pursuant to the agreement.
(6) Subject to the availability of funds for this
purpose, the Secretary shall agree to pay $15,000,000
to the State upon delivery by the State of a quitclaim
deed that meets all applicable standards of the De-
partment of Justice and covers all lands and interests
in lands claimed by the State within the Refuge. Such
payment shall be subject to the condition that the
State use the payment for the purposes, and in the
amounts, specified in subsections (b) and (c).
(b) WETLANDS
AND WILDLIFE PROTECTION PRO-
GRAMS.—
(1) 
DEPOSIT.—The 
State 
shall 
deposit
$10,000,000 of the amount paid pursuant to the
agreement, as required by subsection (a)(6), in a re-
stricted account, known as the Wetlands and Habitat
Protection Account, to be used as provided in para-
graph (2).
(2) AUTHORIZED USES.—The Executive Director
of the Utah Department of Natural Resources may
withdraw from the Wetlands and Habitat Protection
Account, on an annual basis, amounts equal to the
interest earned on the amount deposited under para-
graph (1) for the following purposes:
(A) Wetland or open space protection in
and near the Great Salt Lake.
(B) Enhancement and acquisition of wild-
life habitat in and near the Great Salt Lake.
(c) RECREATIONAL TRAILS AND STREAMS DEVELOP-
MENT AND EXPANSION.—The Utah Department of Natural
Resources shall use $5,000,000 of the amount paid pursuant
to the agreement, as required by subsection (a)(6), for the
following purposes:
(1) Development, improvement, and expansion of
motorized and non-motorized recreational trails on
public and private lands in the State, with priority
given to providing trail access to the Great Salt Lake
as part of the proposed Shoshone and Ogden-Weber
trail systems.
(2) Preservation, reclamation, enhancement, and
conservation of streams in the State.
(d) COORDINATION OF PROJECTS.—The Executive Di-
rector of the Utah Department of Natural Resources shall
seek to maximize the use of funds under subsections (b) and
(c) through coordination with nonprofit organizations, Fed-
eral agencies, other agencies of the State, and local govern-
ments, and shall give priority to those projects under such
subsections that include Federal, State, or private matching
funds.
(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is
authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 for the payment
required by subsection (a)(6) to be included as a term of
the agreement.
Union Calendar No. 224
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3958
[Report No. 107–386]
A BILL
To provide a mechanism for the settlement of
claims of the State of Utah regarding portions of
the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge located on
the shore of the Great Salt Lake, Utah.
APRIL 9, 2002
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union,
and ordered to be printed