IIA
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 401
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
SEPTEMBER 5, 1996
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources
AN ACT
Entitled the ‘‘Kenai Natives Association Equity Act’’.
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 ‘‘Kenai Natives Associa-
tion Equity Act Amendments of 1996’’.
HR 401 RFS
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
(1) The United States Fish and Wildlife Service
and Kenai Natives Association, Inc., have agreed to
transfers of certain land rights, in and near the
Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, negotiated as di-
rected by Public Law 102–458.
(2) The lands to be acquired by the Service are
within the area impacted by the Exxon Valdez oil
spill of 1989, and these lands included important
habitat for various species of fish and wildlife for
which significant injury resulting from the spill has
been documented through the EVOS Trustee Coun-
cil restoration process. This analysis has indicated
that these lands generally have value for the restora-
tion of such injured natural resources as pink salm-
on, dolly varden, bald eagles, river otters, and cul-
tural and archaeological resources. This analysis has
also indicated that these lands generally have high
value for the restoration of injured species that rely
on these natural resources, including wilderness
quality, recreation, tourism, and subsistence.
(3) Restoration of the injured species will bene-
fit from acquisition and the prevention of disturb-
ances which may adversely affect their recovery.
HR 401 RFS
(4) It is in the public interest to complete the
conveyances provided for in this Act.
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to author-
ize and direct the Secretary, at the election of KNA, to
complete the conveyances provided for in this Act.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act, the term—
(1) ‘‘ANCSA’’ means the Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act of 1971 (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.);
(2) ‘‘ANILCA’’ means the Alaska National In-
terest Lands Conservation Act (Public Law 96–487;
94 Stat. 2371 et seq.);
(3) ‘‘conservation system unit’’ has the same
meaning as in section 102(4) of ANILCA (16
U.S.C. 3102(4));
(4) ‘‘CIRI’’ means the Cook Inlet Region, Inc.,
a Native Regional Corporation incorporated in the
State of Alaska pursuant to the terms of ANCSA;
(5) ‘‘EVOS’’ means the Exxon Valdez oil spill;
(6) ‘‘KNA’’ means the Kenai Natives Associa-
tion, Inc., an urban corporation incorporated in the
State of Alaska pursuant to the terms of ANCSA;
(7) ‘‘lands’’ means any lands, waters, or inter-
ests therein;
HR 401 RFS
(8) ‘‘Refuge’’ means the Kenai National Wild-
life Refuge;
(9) ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the In-
terior;
(10) ‘‘Service’’ means the United States Fish
and Wildlife Service; and
(11) ‘‘Terms and Conditions’’ means the Terms
and Conditions for Land Consolidation and Manage-
ment in the Cook Inlet Area, as clarified on August
31, 1976, ratified by section 12 of Public Law 94–
204 (43 U.S.C. 1611 note).
SEC. 4. ACQUISITION OF LANDS.
(a) OFFER TO KNA.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of
the funds identified in subsection (b)(3), no later
than 90 days after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Secretary shall offer to convey to KNA the
interests in land and rights set forth in subsection
(b)(2), subject to valid existing rights, in return for
the conveyance by KNA to the United States of the
interests in land or relinquishment of ANCSA selec-
tions set forth in subsection (b)(1). Payment for the
lands conveyed to the United States by KNA is con-
tingent upon KNA’s acceptance of the entire convey-
ance outlined herein.
HR 401 RFS
(2) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not con-
vey any lands or make payment to KNA under this
section unless title to the lands to be conveyed by
KNA under this Act has been found by the United
States to be sufficient in accordance with the provi-
sions of section 355 of the Revised Statutes (40
U.S.C. 255).
(b) ACQUISITION LANDS.—
(1) LANDS TO BE CONVEYED TO THE UNITED
STATES.—The lands to be conveyed by KNA to the
United States, or the valid selection rights under
ANCSA to be relinquished, all situated within the
boundary of the Refuge, are the following:
(A) The conveyance of approximately 803
acres located along and on islands within the
Kenai River, known as the Stephanka Tract.
(B) The conveyance of approximately
1,243 acres located along the Moose River,
known as the Moose River Patented Lands
Tract.
(C) The relinquishment of KNA’s selection
known as the Moose River Selected Tract, con-
taining approximately 753 acres located along
the Moose River.
HR 401 RFS
(D) The relinquishment of KNA’s remain-
ing ANCSA entitlement of approximately 454
acres.
(E) The relinquishment of all KNA’s re-
maining overselections. Upon completion of all
relinquishments outlined above, all KNA’s enti-
tlement shall be deemed to be extinguished and
the completion of this acquisition will satisfy all
of KNA’s ANCSA entitlement.
(F) The conveyance of an access easement
providing the United States and its assigns ac-
cess across KNA’s surface estate in the SW1⁄4
of section 21, T. 6 N., R. 9 W., Seward Merid-
ian, Alaska.
(G) The conveyance of approximately 100
acres within the Beaver Creek Patented Tract,
which is contiguous to lands being retained by
the United States contiguous to the Beaver
Creek Patented Tract, in exchange for 280
acres of Service lands currently situated within
the Beaver Creek Selected Tract.
(2) LANDS TO BE CONVEYED TO KNA.—The
rights provided or lands to be conveyed by the Unit-
ed States to KNA, are the following:
HR 401 RFS
(A) The surface and subsurface estate to
approximately 5 acres, subject to reservations
of easements for existing roads and utilities, lo-
cated within the city of Kenai, Alaska, identi-
fied as United States Survey 1435, withdrawn
by Executive Order 2934, and known as the old
Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters site.
(B) The remaining subsurface estate held
by the United States to approximately 13,811
acres, including portions of the Beaver Creek
Patented Tract, the Beaver Creek Selected
Tract, and portions of the Swanson River Road
West Tract and the Swanson River Road East
Tract, where the surface was previously or will
be conveyed to KNA pursuant to this Act. The
conveyance of these subsurface interests will be
subject to the rights of CIRI to the coal, oil,
and gas, and to all rights CIRI, its successors,
and assigns would have under paragraph 1(B)
of the Terms and Conditions, including the
right to sand and gravel, to construct facilities,
to have rights-of-way, and to otherwise develop
its subsurface interests.
(C)(i) The nonexclusive right to use sand
and gravel which is reasonably necessary for on-
HR 401 RFS
site development without compensation or per-
mit on those portions of the Swanson River
Road East Tract, comprising approximately
1,738.04 acres; where the entire subsurface of
the land is presently owned by the United
States. The United States shall retain the own-
ership of all other sand and gravel located with-
in the subsurface and KNA shall not sell or dis-
pose of such sand and gravel.
(ii) The right to excavate within the sub-
surface estate as reasonably necessary for
structures, utilities, transportation systems, and
other development of the surface estate.
(D) The nonexclusive right to excavate
within the subsurface estate as reasonably nec-
essary for structures, utilities, transportation
systems, and other development of the surface
estate on the SW1⁄4, section 21, T. 6 N., R. 9
W., Seward Meridian, Alaska, where the entire
subsurface of the land is owned by the United
States and which public lands shall continue to
be withdrawn from mining following their re-
moval from the Refuge boundary under sub-
section (c)(1)(B). The United States shall re-
HR 401 RFS
tain the ownership of all other sand and gravel
located within the subsurface of this parcel.
(E) The surface estate of approximately
280 acres known as the Beaver Creek Selected
Tract. This tract shall be conveyed to KNA in
exchange for lands conveyed to the United
States as described in subsection (b)(1)(B).
(3) PAYMENT.—The United States shall make
a total cash payment to KNA for the above-de-
scribed lands of $4,443,000, contingent upon the ap-
propriate approvals of the Federal or State of Alas-
ka EVOS Trustees (or both) necessary for any ex-
penditure of the EVOS settlement funds.
(4) 
NATIONAL
REGISTER
OF
HISTORIC
PLACES.—Upon completion of the acquisition au-
thorized in subsection (a), the Secretary shall, at no
cost to KNA, in coordination with KNA, promptly
undertake to nominate the Stephanka Tract to the
National Register of Historic Places, in recognition
of the archaeological artifacts from the original
Dena’ina Settlement. If the Department of the Inte-
rior establishes a historical, cultural, or archaeologi-
cal interpretive site, KNA shall have the exclusive
right to operate a Dena’ina interpretive site on the
Stephanka Tract under the regulations and policies
HR 401 RFS
of the department. If KNA declines to operate such
a site, the department may do so under its existing
authorities. Prior to the department undertaking
any archaeological activities whatsoever on the
Stephanka Tract, KNA shall be consulted.
(c) GENERAL PROVISIONS.—
(1) REMOVAL OF KNA LANDS FROM THE NA-
TIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE SYSTEM.—
(A) Effective on the date of closing for the
Acquisition Lands identified in subsection
(b)(2), all lands retained by or conveyed to
KNA pursuant to this Act, and the subsurface
interests of CIRI underlying such lands shall be
automatically removed from the National Wild-
life Refuge System and shall neither be consid-
ered as part of the Refuge nor subject to any
laws pertaining solely to lands within the
boundaries of the Refuge. The conveyance re-
strictions imposed by section 22(g) of ANCSA
(i) shall then be ineffective and cease to apply
to such interests of KNA and CIRI, and (ii)
shall not be applicable to the interests received
by KNA in accordance with subsection (b)(2) or
to the CIRI interests underlying them. The Sec-
retary shall adjust the boundaries of the Refuge
HR 401 RFS
so as to exclude all interests in lands retained
or received in exchange by KNA in accordance
with this Act, including both surface and sub-
surface, and shall also exclude all interests cur-
rently held by CIRI. On lands within the Swan-
son River Road East Tract, the boundary ad-
justment shall only include the surface estate
where the subsurface estate is retained by the
United States.
(B)(i) The Secretary, KNA, and CIRI
shall execute an agreement within 45 days of
the date of enactment of this Act which pre-
serves CIRI’s rights under paragraph 1(B)(1)
of the Terms and Conditions, addresses CIRI’s
obligations under such paragraph, and ade-
quately addresses management issues associated
with the boundary adjustment set forth in this
Act and with the differing interests in land re-
sulting from enactment of this Act.
(ii) In the event that no agreement is exe-
cuted as provided for in clause (i), solely for the
purposes of administering CIRI’s rights under
paragraph 1(B)(1) of the Terms and Condi-
tions, the Secretary and CIRI shall be deemed
to have retained their respective rights and obli-
HR 401 RFS
gations with respect to CIRI’s subsurface inter-
ests under the requirements of the Terms and
Conditions in effect on June 18, 1996. Notwith-
standing the boundary adjustments made pur-
suant to this Act, conveyances to KNA shall be
deemed to remain subject to the Secretary’s
and CIRI’s rights and obligations under para-
graph 1(B)(1) of the Terms and Conditions.
(C) The Secretary is authorized to acquire
by purchase or exchange, on a willing seller
basis only, any lands retained by or conveyed to
KNA. In the event that any lands owned by
KNA are subsequently acquired by the United
States, they shall be automatically included in
the Refuge System. The laws and regulations
applicable to Refuge lands shall then apply to
these lands and the Secretary shall then adjust
the boundaries accordingly.
(D) Nothing in this Act is intended to en-
large or diminish the authorities, rights, duties,
obligations, or the property rights held by CIRI
under the Terms and Conditions, or otherwise
except as set forth in this Act. In the event of
the purchase by the United States of any lands
from KNA in accordance with paragraph