IIA
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 440
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY 2 (legislative day, JANUARY 30), 1995
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources
AN ACT
To provide for the conveyance of lands to certain individuals
in Butte County, California.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds and declares
that—
(1) certain landowners in Butte County, Cali-
fornia who own property adjacent to the Plumas Na-
tional Forest have been adversely affected by certain
erroneous surveys;
(2) these landowners have occupied or improved
their property in good faith and in reliance on erro-
neous surveys of their properties that they believed
were accurate; and
(3) the 1992 Bureau of Land Management de-
pendent resurvey of the Plumas National Forest will
correctly establish accurate boundaries between such
forest and private lands.
(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to au-
thorize and direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey,
without consideration, certain lands in Butte County, Cali-
fornia, to persons claiming to have been deprived of title
to such lands.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
For the purpose of this Act—
(1) the term ‘‘affected lands’’ means those Fed-
eral lands located in the Plumas National Forest in
Butte County, California, in sections 11, 12, 13, and
14, township 21 north, range 5 East, Mount Diablo
Meridian, as described by the dependent resurvey by
the Bureau of Land Management conducted in
1992, and subsequent Forest Service land line loca-
tion surveys, including all adjoining parcels where
the property line as identified by the 1992 BLM de-
pendent resurvey and National Forest boundary
lines before such dependent resurvey are not coinci-
dent;
(2) the term ‘‘claimant’’ means an owner of real
property in Butte County, California, whose real
property adjoins Plumas National Forest lands de-
scribed in subsection (a), who claims to have been
deprived by the United States of title to property as
a result of previous erroneous surveys; and
(3) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary
of Agriculture.
SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF LANDS.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Sec-
retary is authorized and directed to convey, without con-
sideration, all right, title, and interest of the United States
in and to affected lands as described in section 2(1), to
any claimant or claimants, upon proper application from
such claimant or claimants, as provided in section 4.
SEC. 4. TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF CONVEYANCE.
(a) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 2 years after the
date of enactment of this Act, claimants shall notify the
Secretary, through the Forest Supervisor of the Plumas
National Forest, in writing of their claim to affected lands.
Such claim shall be accompanied by—
(1) a description of the affected lands claimed;
(2) information relating to the claim of owner-
ship of such lands; and
(3) such other information as the Secretary
may require.
(b) ISSUANCE OF DEED.—(1) Upon a determination
by the Secretary that issuance of a deed for affected lands
is consistent with the purpose and requirements of this
Act, the Secretary shall issue a quitclaim deed to such
claimant for the parcel to be conveyed.
(2) Prior to the issuance of any such deed as provided
in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall ensure that—
(A) the parcel or parcels to be conveyed have
been surveyed in accordance with the Memorandum
of Understanding between the Forest Service and
the Bureau of Land Management, dated November
11, 1989;
(B) all new property lines established by such
surveys have been monumented and marked; and
(C) all terms and conditions necessary to pro-
tect third party and Government Rights-of-Way or
other interests are included in the deed.
(3) The Federal Government shall be responsible for
all surveys and property line markings necessary to imple-
ment this subsection.
(c) NOTIFICATION TO BLM.—The Secretary shall
submit to the Secretary of the Interior an authenticated
copy of each deed issued pursuant to this Act no later
than 30 days after the date such deed is issued.
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums
as necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.
Passed the House of Representatives February 1,
1995.
Attest:
ROBIN H. CARLE,
Clerk.