105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3830
AN ACT
To provide for the exchange of certain lands within
the State of Utah.
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3830
AN ACT
To provide for the exchange of certain lands within the
State of Utah.
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 ‘‘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, es-
tablished 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 Ad-
ministration, within the exterior boundaries of sev-
eral units of the National Park System and the Na-
tional Forest System, and within certain Indian res-
ervations in Utah. These lands were granted by Con-
gress to the State of Utah pursuant to the Utah En-
abling 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 monument may contain significant economic
quantities of mineral resources, including coal, oil,
and gas, tar sands, coalbed methane, titanium, ura-
nium, and other energy and metalliferous minerals.
Certain State school trust lands within the Monu-
ment, like the Federal lands comprising the Monu-
ment, have substantial noneconomic scientific, his-
toric, cultural, scenic, recreational, and natural re-
sources, including ancient Native American archeo-
logical sites and rare plant and animal communities.
(3) Development of surface and mineral re-
sources on State school trust lands within the monu-
ment 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
eliminate this potential incompatibility, and would
enhance management of the Grand Staircase-
Escalante National Monument.
(4) The United States owns lands and interest
in lands outside of the monument that can be trans-
ferred 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 proc-
ess for exchanging State of Utah school trust
inholdings in the National Park System, the Na-
tional Forest System, and certain Indian reserva-
tions in Utah. Among other things, it identified var-
ious 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, implementa-
tion of the legislation has been very slow. Comple-
tion 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 wit-
nesses, 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 administered by
the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Ad-
ministration, but its use is limited given this dec-
laration.
(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 agree-
ment on exchange of inholdings, on terms fair to
both the State and the United States. Agreement
saves much time and delay in meeting the expecta-
tions 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 of 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 Fed-
eral 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 con-
veyed to the Federal Government include properties
within units of the National Park System, the Na-
tional Forest System, and the Grand Staircase-
Escalante National Monument. The Federal assets
made available for exchange with the State were se-
lected with a great sensitivity to environmental con-
cerns and a belief and expectation by both parties
that Federal assets to be conveyed to the State
would be unlikely to trigger significant environ-
mental controversy.
(12) The parties agreed at the outset of nego-
tiations to avoid identifying Federal assets for con-
veyance to the State where any of the following was
known to exist or likely to be an issue as a result
of foreseeable future uses of the land: significant
wildlife resources, endangered species habitat, sig-
nificant archaeological resources, areas of critical en-
vironmental concern, coal resources requiring sur-
face mining to extract the mineral deposits, wilder-
ness study areas, significant recreational areas, or
any other lands known to raise significant environ-
mental 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 Fed-
eral 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 con-
servation land units in the United States, and be-
cause a mission of the Utah School and Institutional
Trust Lands Administration is to produce economic
benefits for Utah’s public schools and other bene-
ficiary institutions, the exchange of lands called for
in this agreement will resolve many longstanding en-
vironmental 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 Agree-
ment taken as a whole, the State interests to be con-
veyed to the United States by the State of Utah,
and the Federal interests and payments to be con-
veyed 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 De-
partment 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 Administra-
tion, lands and mineral interests of approximately equal
value inheld within the Grand Staircase-Escalante Na-
tional Monument the Goshute and Navajo Indian Reserva-
tions, units of the national park system, the national for-
est system, and the Alton coal fields.
(b) RATIFICATION.—All terms, conditions, proce-
dures, 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 rati-
fied and confirmed, and set forth the obligations and com-
mitments of the United States, the State of Utah, and
Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administra-
tion (herein referred to as ‘‘SITLA’’), as a matter of Fed-
eral 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.
(b) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The maps and descrip-
tions referred to in the Agreement shall be on file and
available for public inspection in the offices of the Sec-
retary 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 con-
trol.
SEC. 5. COSTS.
The United States and the State of Utah shall each
bear its own respective costs incurred in the implementa-
tion 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 sec-
tion 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 sec-
tion 7(b)(1) and (b)(3) of Public Law 103–93, upon com-
pletion 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 agree-
ment shall be completed within 70 days after the enact-
ment of this Act.
Passed the House of Representatives June 24, 1998.
Attest:
Clerk.