I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3839 
To transfer administrative jurisdiction over certain Bureau of Land Manage-
ment land from the Secretary of the Interior to the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs for inclusion in the Black Hills National Cemetery, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 27, 2015 
Mrs. NOEM introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans’ Af-
fairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 
case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To transfer administrative jurisdiction over certain Bureau 
of Land Management land from the Secretary of the 
Interior to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for inclusion 
in the Black Hills National Cemetery, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
The Act may be cited as the ‘‘Black Hills National 
Cemetery Boundary Expansion Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. WITHDRAWAL AND TRANSFER OF PUBLIC LAND 
FOR CEMETERY USE. 
(a) WITHDRAWAL AND TRANSFER.—Subject to valid 
existing rights, the public lands described in subsection (b) 
are hereby— 
(1) withdrawn from all forms of appropriation 
under the public land laws, including the mining 
laws, the mineral leasing laws, and the geothermal 
leasing laws, for as long as the lands remain under 
the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs; 
(2) deemed property as defined in section 
102(9) of title 40, United States Code, for as long 
as the lands remain under the administrative juris-
diction of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and 
(3) transferred to the administrative jurisdic-
tion of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for use as 
national cemeteries under chapter 24 of title 38, 
United States Code. 
(b) LAND DESCRIPTION.—The public lands with-
drawn, deemed property, and transferred under subsection 
(a) are the approximately 200 acres of land adjacent to 
Black Hills National Cemetery, South Dakota, generally 
depicted as ‘‘Proposed National Cemetery Expansion’’ on 
the map entitled ‘‘Proposed Expansion of Black Hills Na-
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tional Cemetery – South Dakota’’ and dated September 
28, 2015. 
(c) BOUNDARY MODIFICATION.—The boundary of 
the Black Hills National Cemetery is hereby modified to 
include the public lands identified in subsection (b). 
(d) MODIFICATION OF PUBLIC LAND ORDER.—Pub-
lic Land Order 2112, dated June 6, 1960 (25 Fed. Reg. 
5243), is modified to exclude the lands identified in sub-
section (b). 
SEC. 3. LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS. 
(a) PREPARATION
OF LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.—As 
soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall publish in the Fed-
eral Register a notice containing the legal descriptions of 
the public lands withdrawn, deemed property, and trans-
ferred under section 2(a). 
(b) LEGAL EFFECT.—The legal descriptions pre-
pared under subsection (a) shall have the same force and 
effect as if the legal descriptions were included in this Act, 
except that the Secretary of the Interior may correct any 
clerical and typographical errors in the legal descriptions. 
(c) CONFLICT BETWEEN MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIP-
TION.—In the case of a conflict between the map referred 
to in section 1(b) and the legal descriptions prepared 
under subsection (a), the map shall control. 
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(d) AVAILABILITY.—Copies of the map referred to in 
section 2(b) and the legal descriptions prepared under 
subsection (a) shall be available for public inspection in 
the appropriate offices of— 
(1) the Bureau of Land Management; and 
(2) the National Cemetery Administration. 
(e) COSTS.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
reimburse the Secretary of the Interior for reasonable 
costs incurred by the Secretary of the Interior in imple-
menting this section, including the costs of any surveys. 
SEC. 4. RESTORATION TO PUBLIC LANDS FOR NON-CEME-
TERY USE. 
(a) NOTICE AND EFFECT.—Upon a determination by 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs that all or a portion of 
the lands withdrawn, deemed property, and transferred 
under section 2 shall not be used for cemetery purposes, 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall notify the Sec-
retary of the Interior of such determination. Subject to 
subsections (b) and (c), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall transfer administrative jurisdiction of the lands sub-
ject to such notice to the Secretary of the Interior. 
(b) DECONTAMINATION.—The Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs shall be responsible for costs of any decontamina-
tion of the lands subject to a notice under subsection (a) 
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determined by the Secretary of the Interior to be nec-
essary for the lands to be restored to the public lands. 
(c) RESTORATION
TO
THE PUBLIC LANDS.—The 
lands subject to a notice under subsection (a) shall only 
be restored to the public lands upon acceptance by the 
Secretary of the Interior and a determination by the Sec-
retary of the Interior that such lands are suitable for res-
toration to the public lands and operation of one or more 
of the public land laws. 
(d) OPENING ORDER.—If the Secretary of the Inte-
rior accepts the lands subject to such a notice and deter-
mines that the lands are suitable for restoration, in whole 
or in part, the Secretary of the Interior may open the 
lands to operation of one or more of the public land laws 
and may issue an order to that effect. 
Æ 
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