H. R. 4874
One Hundred Seventh Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the twenty-third day of January, two thousand and two
An Act
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to disclaim any Federal interest in lands
adjacent to Spirit Lake and Twin Lakes in the State of Idaho resulting from
possible omission of lands from an 1880 survey.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
(1) The meander lines in the original surveys by John
B. David, deputy surveyor, of two lakes in the State of Idaho,
Spirit Lake, formerly known as Lake Tesemini, located in T.
53 N., R. 4 W., Boise Meridian, and Twin Lakes, formerly
known as Fish Lake, located in T. 52 N. and T. 53 N., R.
4 W., Boise Meridian, do not reflect the current line of ordinary
high water conditions.
(2) All lands adjacent to the original meander lines have
been patented.
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to direct the Secretary
of the Interior to issue a recordable disclaimer of interest by the
United States to any omitted lands or lands lying outside the
record meander lines in the vicinity of the lakes referred to in
subsection (a).
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) RECORDABLE
DISCLAIMER
OF
INTEREST.—The term
‘‘recordable disclaimer of interest’’ means a document recorded
in the county clerk’s office or other such local office where
real property documents are recorded, in which the United
States disclaims any right, title, or interest to those lands
found lying outside the recorded meander lines of the lakes
referred to in section 1(a)(1), including omitted lands, if any.
(2) OMITTED
LANDS.—The term ‘‘omitted lands’’ means
those lands that were in place on the date of the original
surveys referred to in section 1(a)(1) but were not included
in the survey of the township and the meander lines of the
water body due to gross error or fraud by the original surveyor.
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary
of the Interior.
SEC. 3. SURVEYS.
The Secretary shall—
H. R. 4874—2
(1) conduct a survey investigation of the conditions along
the lakeshores of Spirit Lake and Twin Lakes in the townships
referenced in section 1(a); and
(2) after the completion of the survey investigation,
resurvey the original meander lines along the lakeshores, using
the results of the survey investigation.
SEC. 4. DISCLAIMER OF INTEREST IN LANDS ADJACENT TO SPIRIT
LAKE AND TWIN LAKES, IDAHO.
Upon acceptance and approval of the surveys under section
3 by the Secretary, the Secretary shall—
(1) prepare a recordable disclaimer of interest with land
descriptions, using the lot or tract numbers of the omitted
lands, if any, and lands lying outside the record meander lines,
as shown on the survey plats; and
(2) record such recordable disclaimer of interest simulta-
neously with the filing of the surveys.
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary
$400,000 to carry out this Act. Funds appropriated to carry out
the purposes of this Act may be available without fiscal year limita-
tion.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.