H. R. 1134
One Hundred Third Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the twenty-fifth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-four
An Act
To provide for the transfer of certain public lands located in Clear Creek County,
Colorado, to the Forest Service, the State of Colorado, and certain local govern-
ments in the State of Colorado, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Clear Creek County, Colorado,
Public Lands Transfer Act of 1993’’.
SEC. 2. TRANSFER OF PUBLIC LANDS.
The Secretary of the Interior (hereinafter in this Act referred
to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall transfer in accordance with this Act
the approximately 14,000 acres of public lands generally depicted
on a map entitled ‘‘Clear Creek County, Colorado, Public Lands
Transfer—Proposed’’, and dated May 1993, to the Secretary of Agri-
culture, the State of Colorado, and certain political subdivisions
of the State of Colorado, as indicated in sections 3, 4, and 5.
Conveyances made pursuant to this Act shall be made without
conducting new surveys.
SEC. 3. LAND TRANSFER TO FOREST SERVICE.
(a) TRANSFER.—Subject to valid existing rights, administrative
jurisdiction to the approximately 3,400 acres of the public lands
described as ‘‘Part I Lands’’ on the map referred to in section
2 is hereby transferred to the Secretary of Agriculture. Such lands
are added to and shall be administered as part of the Arapaho
National Forest in accordance with the laws and regulations
pertaining to the National Forest System and the Arapaho National
Forest.
(b) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.—(1) The boundaries of the
Arapaho National Forest are hereby modified as shown on the
map referred to in section 2. For the purpose of section 7 of the
Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (78 Stat. 903,
as amended; 16 U.S.C. 460l–9) the boundaries of the Arapaho
National Forest as modified by this section shall be treated as
if they were the boundaries of such forest on January 1, 1965.
(2) Nothing in this section shall affect valid existing rights,
or interests in existing land use authorizations, except that any
such right or authorization shall be administered by the Forest
Service in accordance with this section and other applicable laws.
Reissuance of any such authorization shall be in accordance with
laws applicable to the National Forest System and regulations
of the Secretary of Agriculture, except that the change in adminis-
H. R. 1134—2
trative jurisdiction shall not constitute in itself a ground to deny
renewal or reissuance of any such authorization.
SEC. 4. LAND TRANSFERS TO STATE OF COLORADO AND TO CLEAR
CREEK COUNTY AND TOWNS OF SILVER PLUME AND
GEORGETOWN, COLORADO.
(a) TRANSFER.—Subject to section 6 and valid existing rights,
the Secretary shall transfer, without consideration, all right, title,
and interest, both surface and subsurface, of the United States
in and to the approximately 3,200 acres of public lands described
as ‘‘Part II Lands’’ on the map referred to in section 2, excluding
any such lands within the corporate boundaries of the towns of
Georgetown or Silver Plume, Colorado, as of January 1, 1993,
as follows:
(1) Approximately 600 acres of such lands to the town
of Silver Plume, Colorado, as so indicated on such map.
(2) Approximately 800 acres of such lands to the town
of Georgetown, Colorado, as so indicated on such map.
(3) Approximately 600 acres of such lands to the County
of Clear Creek, Colorado, as so indicated on such map.
(4) Approximately 1,200 acres of such lands to the State
of Colorado, as so indicated on such map.
(b) MANAGEMENT AND REVERSION.—
(1) The lands transferred under this section shall be man-
aged in accordance with the cooperative management agree-
ment among the Colorado Division of Wildlife, the Colorado
State Historical Society, the town of Silver Plume, the town
of Georgetown, and the County of Clear Creek, which is dated
January 1989; the stipulations related to the preservation of
artifacts contained in the Bureau of Land Management’s cul-
tural resource survey pertaining to such lands; and the terms
of the applications filed with the Secretary for the disposal
of such lands under the Act of June 14, 1926 (43 U.S.C. 869
et seq.; hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Recreation
and Public Purposes Act’’), except that other uses of the lands
may be made with the approval of the Secretary.
(2)(A) Title to lands conveyed by the Secretary under this
section may not be transferred by the grantee or its successor
except, with the consent of the Secretary, to a transferee which
would be a qualified grantee under section 2 (a) or (c) of
the Recreation and Public Purposes Act (43 U.S.C. 869–1 (a),
(c)).
(B) The provisions of paragraph (3) of this subsection shall
apply if at any time after such conveyance—
(i) the grantee or its successor attempts to transfer
to any other party title to or control over any portion
of the lands conveyed to such grantee under this section,
except as provided in subparagraph (A), or
(ii) such lands or any portion thereof are devoted to
a use inconsistent with this subsection.
(3) In case of occurrence of an event described in paragraph
(2)(B) of this subsection, the grantee of the relevant lands
shall be liable to pay to the Secretary of the Interior, on
behalf of the United States, the fair market value of all lands
conveyed to such grantee under this section, together with
any improvements thereon, as of the date of such occurrence.
All sums paid to the Secretary of the Interior under this para-
graph shall be retained by the Secretary and subject to appro-
H. R. 1134—3
priation, used for management of the public lands pursuant
to the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976.
SEC. 5. LAND TRANSFER TO CLEAR CREEK COUNTY, COLORADO.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), section 6, and valid
existing rights, the Secretary shall transfer, without consideration,
all right, title, and interest, both surface and subsurface, of the
United States in and to the approximately 7,400 acres of public
lands described as ‘‘Parts III Lands’’ on the map referred to in
section 2, along with any public lands on that map within the
corporate boundaries of the towns of Georgetown or Silver Plume,
Colorado as of January 1, 1993 to Clear Creek County, Colorado
(hereinafter in this section referred to as the ‘‘County’’).
(b) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The lands referred to in sub-
section (a) may not be transferred to the County until—
(1) it is shown to the satisfaction of the Secretary that
the county has adopted comprehensive land use plans and
zoning regulations applicable to the area in which the lands
are located;
(2) the Secretary finds that such plans and regulations
are consistent with proper management of any adjacent lands
owned by the United States; and
(3)(A) the Secretary and the County have reached an
agreement—
(i) concerning the steps, including but not limited to
the use of appraisals (and the methodology thereof) and
the use of competitive bids or other sales methods, that
the County will take to ensure that so far as possible
any sales of the lands by the County will be for fair market
value; and
(ii) under which the County will provide the Secretary
with an annual accounting of all receipts and expenditures
with regard to such lands after their transfer to the County,
and that on the date that is 10 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, or at such earlier date as the County
may elect, the County will pay to the United States an
amount the Secretary determines to be equal to the
County’s total net receipts from the sale of some or all
of such lands;
and, in addition,
(B) the Secretary has also agreed that in determining the
amounts to be paid by the County pursuant to this paragraph,
the Secretary will allow the County to deduct from the gross
receipts from the sale of the lands all ordinary and necessary
costs incurred by the County, including—
(i) expenses for necessary surveying, mapping, and
other site characterization, and appraisals;
(ii) historical preservation and environmental protec-
tion; and
(iii) reasonable overhead, including staffing and
administrative costs.
(c) UNSOLD LANDS.—(1) The County may transfer some or
all of the lands referred to in subsection (a) to an entity that
would be a qualified grantee under section 2(a) or 2(c) of the
Recreation and Public Purposes Act (43 U.S.C. 869–1 (a), (c)). Any
lands so transferred shall be held by the recipient thereof under
the same terms and conditions as if transferred by the United
H. R. 1134—4
States under such Act, except that such terms and conditions shall
also apply to the mineral estate in such lands.
(2) Any of the lands referred to in subsection (a) which remain
in County ownership on the date 10 years after the date of enact-
ment of this Act, or regarding which the County has prior to
such date notified the Secretary that the County intends to retain
ownership, shall be retained by the County under the same terms
and conditions as if transferred to the County on such date or
on the date of such notification (whichever first occurs) by the
United States under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act, except
that such terms and conditions shall also apply to the mineral
estate in such lands.
SEC. 6. MINERALS.
(a) WITHDRAWAL FROM MINERAL ENTRY.—Subject to valid exist-
ing rights, the public lands referred to in sections 4 and 5 are
hereby withdrawn from all forms of entry under the general mining
laws and mineral leasing laws of the United States and shall
not be—
(1) open to the location of mining and mill site claims
under the general mining laws of the United States;
(2) subject to any lease under the Mineral Leasing Act
(30 U.S.C. 181 and following) or the Geothermal Steam Act
of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 100 and following); or
(3) available for disposal of mineral materials under the
Act of July 31, 1947, commonly known as the Materials Act
of 1947 (30 U.S.C. 601 and following).
(b) LIMITATION ON PATENT ISSUANCE.—Subject to valid existing
rights, no patent shall be issued after the date of enactment of
this Act for any mining or mill site claim located under the gen-
eral mining laws within the public lands referred to in sections
4 and 5.
SEC. 7. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.
(a) INSPECTIONS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
neither the Secretary nor any other officer or agent of the United
States shall be required to inspect any of the public lands described
in this Act or to inform Clear Creek County or any member of
the public regarding the condition of such lands with regard to
the presence or absence of any hazardous substances or otherwise.
(b) LIABILITY.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
the United States shall have no responsibility or liability with
respect to any hazardous wastes or other substances placed on
any of the lands covered by this Act after their transfer to the
ownership of another party, but nothing in this Act shall be con-
strued as either diminishing or increasing any responsibility or
liability of the United States based on the condition of such lands
on the date of their transfer to the ownership of another party.
H. R. 1134—5
(c) ACCOUNTING.—For purposes of the distribution of receipts,
any funds paid to the United States by the County pursuant to
an agreement described in section 5(b)(3) shall be deemed to be
receipts from the sale of public lands, but shall be specifically
accounted for in documents submitted to justify proposed appropria-
tions for the Bureau of Land Management.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.