I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5687
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain parcels of land
acquired for the Blunt Reservoir and Pierre Canal features of the Oahe
Unit, James Division, South Dakota, to the State of South Dakota
for the purpose of mitigating lost wildlife habitat, on the condition
that the current preferential leaseholders shall have an option to purchase
the parcels, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 16, 2002
Mr. THUNE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Resources
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain
parcels of land acquired for the Blunt Reservoir and
Pierre Canal features of the Oahe Unit, James Division,
South Dakota, to the State of South Dakota for the
purpose of mitigating lost wildlife habitat, on the condi-
tion that the current preferential leaseholders shall have
an option to purchase the parcels, and for other pur-
poses.
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 ‘‘Blunt Reservoir and
Pierre Canal Land Conveyance Act of 2002’’.
SEC. 2. BLUNT RESERVOIR AND PIERRE CANAL.
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
(1) BLUNT
RESERVOIR
FEATURE.—The term
‘‘Blunt Reservoir feature’’ means the Blunt Res-
ervoir feature of the Oahe Unit, James Division, au-
thorized by the Act of August 3, 1968 (82 Stat.
624), as part of the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin
Program.
(2) GOVERNOR.—The term ‘‘Governor’’ means
the Governor of the State, or a designee of such
Governor.
(3) NONPREFERENTIAL
LEASE
PARCEL.—The
term ‘‘nonpreferential lease parcel’’ means a parcel
of land that—
(A) was purchased by the Secretary for use
in connection with the Blunt Reservoir feature
or the Pierre Canal feature; and
(B) was considered to be a nonpreferential
lease parcel by the Secretary as of January 1,
2001, and is reflected as such on the roster of
leases of the Bureau of Reclamation for 2001.
(4) 
PIERRE
CANAL
FEATURE.—The 
term
‘‘Pierre Canal feature’’ means the Pierre Canal fea-
ture of the Oahe Unit, James Division, authorized
by the Act of August 3, 1968 (82 Stat. 624), as
part of the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin Pro-
gram.
(5) PREFERENTIAL LEASEHOLDER.—The term
‘‘preferential leaseholder’’ means a person or de-
scendant of a person that held a lease on a pref-
erential lease parcel as of January 1, 2001, and is
reflected as such on the roster of leases of the Bu-
reau of Reclamation for 2001.
(6) PREFERENTIAL LEASE PARCEL.—The term
‘‘preferential lease parcel’’ means a parcel of land
that—
(A) was purchased by the Secretary for use
in connection with the Blunt Reservoir feature
or the Pierre Canal feature; and
(B) was considered to be a preferential
lease parcel by the Secretary as of January 1,
2001, and is reflected as such on the roster of
leases of the Bureau of Reclamation for 2001.
(7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the
Commissioner of Reclamation.
(8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State
of South Dakota, including a successor in interest of
the State.
(9) UNLEASED PARCEL.—The term ‘‘unleased
parcel’’ means a parcel of land that—
(A) was purchased by the Secretary for use
in connection with the Blunt Reservoir feature
or the Pierre Canal feature; and
(B) is not under lease as of the date of en-
actment of this Act.
(b) DEAUTHORIZATION.—The Blunt Reservoir fea-
ture is deauthorized.
(c) ACCEPTANCE OF LAND AND OBLIGATIONS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of each con-
veyance under subsections (d)(5) and (e), respec-
tively, the Governor shall agree—
(A) that the State shall accept in ‘‘as is’’
condition, the portions of the Blunt Reservoir
feature and the Pierre Canal feature that pass
into State ownership;
(B) that the State shall assume any liabil-
ity accruing after the date of conveyance as a
result of the ownership, operation, or mainte-
nance of the features referred to in subpara-
graph (A), including liability associated with
(4) ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS OF CONVEYANCE
TO STATE.—A conveyance to the State under sub-
section (d)(5) or (e) shall be subject to the reserva-
tions by the United States and the conditions speci-
fied in section 1 of the Act of May 19, 1948 (chap-
ter 310; 62 Stat. 240; 16 U.S.C. 667b), for the
transfer of property to State agencies for wildlife
conservation purposes.
(d) PURCHASE OPTION.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—A preferential leaseholder
shall have an option to purchase from the Governor,
acting as an agent for the Secretary, the preferential
lease parcel that is the subject of the lease.
(2) TERMS.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), a preferential leaseholder
may elect to purchase a parcel on 1 of the fol-
lowing terms:
(i) Cash purchase for the amount that
is equal to—
(I) the value of the parcel deter-
mined under paragraph (4); minus
(II) 10 percent of that value.
(ii) Installment purchase, with 10 per-
cent of the value of the parcel determined
under paragraph (4) to be paid on the date
of purchase and the remainder to be paid
over not more than 30 years at 3 percent
annual interest.
(B) VALUE UNDER $10,000.—If the value
of the parcel is under $10,000, the purchase
shall be made on a cash basis in accordance
with subparagraph (A)(i).
(3) OPTION EXERCISE PERIOD.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—A preferential lease-
holder shall have until the date that is 5 years
after enactment of this Act to exercise the op-
tion under paragraph (1).
(B) CONTINUATION OF LEASES.—Until the
date specified in subparagraph (A), a pref-
erential leaseholder shall be entitled to continue
to lease from the Secretary the parcel leased by
the preferential leaseholder under the same
terms and conditions as under the lease, as in
effect as of the date of enactment of this Act.
(4) VALUATION.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The value of a pref-
erential lease parcel shall be its fair market
value for agricultural purposes determined by
an independent appraisal, exclusive of the value
of private improvements made by the lease-
holders while the land was federally owned be-
fore the date of the enactment of this Act, in
conformance 
with 
the 
Uniform 
Appraisal
Standards for Federal Land Acquisition.
(B) FAIR
MARKET
VALUE.—Any dispute
over the fair market value of a property under
subparagraph (A) shall be resolved in accord-
ance with section 2201.4 of title 43, Code of
Federal Regulations.
(5) CONVEYANCE TO THE STATE.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—If a preferential lease-
holder fails to purchase a parcel within the pe-
riod specified in paragraph (3)(A), the Sec-
retary shall convey the parcel to the State of
South Dakota Department of Game, Fish, and
Parks.
(B) WILDLIFE
HABITAT
MITIGATION.—
Land conveyed under subparagraph (A) shall be
used by the South Dakota Department of
Game, Fish, and Parks for the purpose of miti-
gating the wildlife habitat that was lost as a re-
sult of the development of the Pick-Sloan
project.
(6) USE OF PROCEEDS.—Proceeds of sales of
land under this Act shall be deposited as miscella-
neous funds in the Treasury and such funds shall be
made available, subject to appropriations, to the
State for the establishment of a trust fund to pay
the county taxes on the lands received by the State
Department of Game, Fish, and Parks under this
Act.
(e) CONVEYANCE
OF NONPREFERENTIAL LEASE
PARCELS AND UNLEASED PARCELS.—
(1) CONVEYANCE BY SECRETARY TO STATE.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary shall convey to the South Dakota De-
partment of Game, Fish, and Parks the non-
preferential lease parcels and unleased parcels
of the Blunt Reservoir and Pierre Canal.
(B) WILDLIFE
HABITAT
MITIGATION.—
Land conveyed under subparagraph (A) shall be
used by the South Dakota Department of
Game, Fish, and Parks for the purpose of miti-
gating the wildlife habitat that was lost as a re-
sult of the development of the Pick-Sloan
project.
(2) LAND EXCHANGES FOR NONPREFERENTIAL
LEASE PARCELS AND UNLEASED PARCELS.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Governor may
allow a person to exchange land that the person
owns elsewhere in the State for a nonpref-
erential lease parcel or unleased parcel at Blunt
Reservoir or Pierre Canal, as the case may be.
(B) PRIORITY.—The right to exchange
nonpreferential lease parcels or unleased parcels
shall be granted in the following order or pri-
ority:
(i) Exchanges with current lessees for
nonpreferential lease parcels.
(ii) Exchanges with adjoining and ad-
jacent landowners for unleased parcels and
nonpreferential lease parcels not exchanged
by current lessees.
(C) EASEMENT FOR WATER CONVEYANCE
STRUCTURE.—As a condition of the exchange of
land of the Pierre Canal feature under this
paragraph, the United States reserves a per-
petual easement to the land to allow for the
right to design, construct, operate, maintain,
repair, and replace a pipeline or other water
conveyance structure over, under, across, or
through the Pierre Canal feature.
(f) RELEASE FROM LIABILITY.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Effective on the date of con-
veyance of any parcel under this Act, the United
States shall not be held liable by any court for dam-
ages of any kind arising out of any act, omission, or
occurrence relating to the parcel, except for damages
for acts of negligence committed by the United
States or by an employee, agent, or contractor of the
United States, before the date of conveyance.
(2) NO
ADDITIONAL
LIABILITY.—Nothing in
this section adds to any liability that the United
States may have under chapter 171 of title 28,
United States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Fed-
eral Tort Claims Act’’).
(g) REQUIREMENTS CONCERNING CONVEYANCE OF
LEASE PARCELS.—
(1) INTERIM REQUIREMENTS.—During the pe-
riod beginning on the date of enactment of this Act
and ending on the date of conveyance of the parcel,
the Secretary shall continue to lease each pref-
erential lease parcel or nonpreferential lease parcel
to be conveyed under this section under the terms