H. R. 3830
One Hundred Fifth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the twenty-seventh day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight
An Act
To provide for the exchange of certain lands within the State of Utah.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Utah Schools and Lands Exchange
Act of 1998’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The State of Utah owns approximately 176,600 acres
of land, as well as approximately 24,165 acres of mineral
interests, administered by the Utah School and Institutional
Trust Lands Administration, within the exterior boundaries
of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, estab-
lished by Presidential proclamation on September 18, 1996,
pursuant to section 2 of the Antiquities Act of 1906 (16 U.S.C.
431). The State of Utah also owns approximately 200,000 acres
of land, and 76,000 acres of mineral interests, administered
by the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administra-
tion, within the exterior boundaries of several units of the
National Park System and the National Forest System, and
within certain Indian reservations in Utah. These lands were
granted by Congress to the State of Utah pursuant to the
Utah Enabling Act (chap. 138, 28 Stat. 107 (1894)), to be
held in trust for the benefit of the State’s public school system
and other public institutions.
(2) Many of the State school trust lands within the monu-
ment may contain significant economic quantities of mineral
resources, including coal, oil, and gas, tar sands, coalbed meth-
ane, titanium, uranium, and other energy and metalliferous
minerals. Certain State school trust lands within the Monu-
ment, like the Federal lands comprising the Monument, have
substantial noneconomic scientific, historic, cultural, scenic, rec-
reational, and natural resources, including ancient Native
American archeological sites and rare plant and animal commu-
nities.
(3) Development of surface and mineral resources on State
school trust lands within the Monument could be incompatible
with the preservation of these scientific and historic resources
for which the Monument was established. Federal acquisition
of State school trust lands within the Monument would elimi-
nate this potential incompatibility, and would enhance manage-
ment of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
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(4) The United States owns lands and interest in lands
outside of the Monument that can be transferred to the State
of Utah in exchange for the Monument inholdings without
jeopardizing Federal management objectives or needs.
(5) In 1993, Congress passed and the President signed
Public Law 103–93, which contained a process for exchanging
State of Utah school trust inholdings in the National Park
System, the National Forest System, and certain Indian res-
ervations in Utah. Among other things, it identified various
Federal lands and interests in land that were available to
exchange for these State inholdings.
(6) Although Public Law 103–93 offered the hope of a
prompt, orderly exchange of State inholdings for Federal lands
elsewhere, implementation of the legislation has been very
slow. Completion of this process is realistically estimated to
be many years away, at great expense to both the State and
the United States in the form of expert witnesses, lawyers,
appraisers, and other litigation costs.
(7) The State also owns approximately 2,560 acres of land
in or near the Alton coal field which has been declared an
area unsuitable for coal mining under the terms of the Surface
Mining Control and Reclamation Act. This land is also adminis-
tered by the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands
Administration, but its use is limited given this declaration.
(8) The large presence of State school trust land inholdings
in the Monument, national parks, national forests, and Indian
reservations make land and resource management in these
areas difficult, costly, and controversial for both the State of
Utah and the United States.
(9) It is in the public interest to reach agreement on
exchange of inholdings, on terms fair to both the State and
the United States. Agreement saves much time and delay in
meeting the expectations of the State school and institutional
trusts, in simplifying management of Federal and Indian lands
and resources, and in avoiding expensive, protracted litigation
under Public Law 103–93.
(10) The State of Utah and the United States have reached
an agreement under which the State would exchange all its
State school trust lands within the Monument, and specified
inholdings in national parks, forests, and Indian reservations
that are subject to Public Law 103–93, for various Federal
lands and interests in lands located outside the Monument,
including Federal lands and interests identified as available
for exchange in Public Law 103–93 and additional Federal
lands and interests in lands.
(11) The State school trust lands to be conveyed to the
Federal Government include properties within units of the
National Park System, the National Forest System, and the
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The Federal
assets made available for exchange with the State were selected
with a great sensitivity to environmental concerns and a belief
and expectation by both parties that Federal assets to be con-
veyed to the State would be unlikely to trigger significant
environmental controversy.
(12) The parties agreed at the outset of negotiations to
avoid identifying Federal assets for conveyance to the State
where any of the following was known to exist or likely to
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be an issue as a result of foreseeable future uses of the land:
significant wildlife resources, endangered species habitat,
significant archaeological resources, areas of critical environ-
mental concern, coal resources requiring surface mining to
extract the mineral deposits, wilderness study areas, significant
recreational areas, or any other lands known to raise significant
environmental concerns of any kind.
(13) The parties further agreed that the use of any mineral
interests obtained by the State of Utah where the Federal
Government retains surface and other interest, will not conflict
with established Federal land and environmental management
objectives, and shall be fully subject to all environmental regu-
lations applicable to development of non-Federal mineral
interest on Federal lands.
(14) Because the inholdings to be acquired by the Federal
Government include properties within the boundaries of some
of the most renowned conservation land units in the United
States, and because a mission of the Utah School and Institu-
tional Trust Lands Administration is to produce economic bene-
fits for Utah’s public schools and other beneficiary institutions,
the exchange of lands called for in this agreement will resolve
many longstanding environmental conflicts and further the
interest of the State trust lands, the school children of Utah,
and these conservation resources.
(15) The Congress finds that, under this Agreement taken
as a whole, the State interests to be conveyed to the United
States by the State of Utah, and the Federal interests and
payments to be conveyed to the State of Utah by the United
States, are approximately equal in value.
(16) The purpose of this legislation is to enact into law
and direct prompt implementation of this historic agreement.
SEC. 3. RATIFICATION OF AGREED EXCHANGE BETWEEN THE STATE
OF UTAH AND THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR.
(a) AGREEMENT.—The State of Utah and the Department of
the Interior have agreed to exchange certain Federal lands, Federal
mineral interests, and payment of money for lands and mineral
interests managed by the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands
Administration, lands and mineral interests of approximately equal
value inheld within the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monu-
ment the Goshute and Navajo Indian Reservations, units of the
National Park System, the National Forest System, and the Alton
coal fields.
(b) RATIFICATION.—All terms, conditions, procedures, covenants,
reservations, and other provisions set forth in the document entitled
‘‘Agreement to Exchange Utah School Trust Lands Between the
State of Utah and the United States of America’’ (herein referred
to as ‘‘the Agreement’’) are hereby incorporated in this title, are
ratified and confirmed, and set forth the obligations and commit-
ments of the United States, the State of Utah, and Utah School
and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (herein referred to
as ‘‘SITLA’’), as a matter of Federal law.
SEC. 4. LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The maps and legal descriptions referred
to in the Agreement depict the lands subject to the conveyances.
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(b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The maps and descriptions referred
to in the Agreement shall be on file and available for public inspec-
tion in the offices of the Secretary of the Interior and the Utah
State Director of the Bureau of Land Management.
(c) CONFLICT.—In case of conflict between the maps and the
legal descriptions, the legal descriptions shall control.
SEC. 5. COSTS.
The United States and the State of Utah shall each bear
its own respective costs incurred in the implementation of this
Act.
SEC. 6. REPEAL OF PUBLIC LAW 103–93 AND PUBLIC LAW 104–211.
The provisions of Public Law 103–93 (107 Stat. 995), other
than section 7(b)(1), section 7(b)(3), and section 10(b) thereof, are
hereby repealed. Public Law 104–211 (110 Stat. 3013) is hereby
repealed.
SEC. 7. CASH PAYMENT PREVIOUSLY AUTHORIZED.
As previously authorized and made available by section 7(b)(1)
and (b)(3) of Public Law 103–93, upon completion of all conveyances
described in the Agreement, the United States shall pay $50,000,000
to the State of Utah from funds not otherwise appropriated from
the Treasury.
SEC. 8. SCHEDULE FOR CONVEYANCES.
All conveyances under sections 2 and 3 of the agreement shall
be completed within 70 days after the enactment of this Act.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.