IB 
Union Calendar No. 339 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4301 
[Report No. 109–588] 
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain parcels of land 
acquired for the Blunt Reservoir and Pierre Canal features of the initial 
stage of the Oahe Unit, James Division, South Dakota, to the Commis-
sion of Schools and Public Lands and the Department of Game, Fish, 
and Parks of the State of South Dakota for the purpose of mitigating 
lost wildlife habitat, on the condition that the current preferential lease-
holders shall have an option to purchase the parcels from the Commis-
sion, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 10, 2005 
Ms. HERSETH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Resources 
JULY 20, 2006 
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 
and ordered to be printed 
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 initial stage of the Oahe 
Unit, James Division, South Dakota, to the Commission 
of Schools and Public Lands and the Department of 
Game, Fish, and Parks of the State of South Dakota 
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for the purpose of mitigating lost wildlife habitat, on 
the condition that the current preferential leaseholders 
shall have an option to purchase the parcels from the 
Commission, 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. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Blunt Reservoir and 
Pierre Canal Land Conveyance Act of 2005’’. 
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) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 
means the Commission of Schools and Public Lands 
of the State. 
(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 
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(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, 
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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 State shall agree to accept— 
(A) in ‘‘as is’’ condition, the portions of 
the Blunt Reservoir Feature and the Pierre 
Canal Feature that pass into State ownership; 
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(B) any liability accruing after the date of 
conveyance as a result of the ownership, oper-
ation, or maintenance of the features referred 
to in subparagraph (A), including liability asso-
ciated with certain outstanding obligations asso-
ciated with expired easements, or any other 
right granted in, on, over, or across either fea-
ture; and 
(C) the responsibility that the Commission 
will act as the agent for the Secretary in ad-
ministering the purchase option extended to 
preferential leaseholders under subsection (d). 
(2) RESPONSIBILITIES
OF
THE
STATE.—An 
outstanding obligation described in paragraph (1)(B) 
shall inure to the benefit of, and be binding upon, 
the State. 
(3) OIL, GAS, MINERAL
AND
OTHER
OUT-
STANDING
RIGHTS.—A conveyance to the State 
under subsection (d)(5) or (e) or a sale to a pref-
erential leaseholder under subsection (d) shall be 
made subject to— 
(A) oil, gas, and other mineral rights re-
served of record, as of the date of enactment of 
this Act, by or in favor of a third party; and 
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(B) any permit, license, lease, right-of-use, 
or right-of-way of record in, on, over, or across 
a feature referred to in paragraph (1)(A) that 
is outstanding as to a third party as of the date 
of enactment of this Act. 
(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), as amended (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 Commis-
sion, acting as an agent for the Secretary, the pref-
erential 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 one of the 
following terms: 
(i) Cash purchase for the amount that 
is equal to— 
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(I) the value of the parcel deter-
mined under paragraph (4); minus 
(II) ten 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. 
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(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 
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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 the 
bill. 
(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-
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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.—With the concurrence 
of the South Dakota Department of Game, 
Fish, and Parks, the South Dakota Commission 
of Schools and Public Lands may allow a per-
son to exchange land that the person owns else-
where in the State for a nonpreferential 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 
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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 
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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 
and conditions applicable to the parcel on the date 
of enactment of this Act. 
(2) PROVISION
OF
PARCEL
DESCRIPTIONS.— 
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary shall provide the State a 
full legal description of all preferential lease parcels 
and nonpreferential lease parcels that may be con-
veyed under this section. 
(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 
$750,000 to reimburse the Secretary for expenses in-
curred in implementing this Act, and such sums as are 
necessary to reimburse the Commission for expenses in-
curred implementing this Act, not to exceed 10 percent 
of the cost of each transaction conducted under this Act. 
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Union Calendar No. 339 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4301 
[Report No. 109–588] 
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 initial 
stage of the Oahe Unit, James Division, South 
Dakota, to the Commission of Schools and Public 
Lands and the Department of Game, Fish, and 
Parks of the State of South Dakota for the pur-
pose of mitigating lost wildlife habitat, on the 
condition that the current preferential lease-
holders shall have an option to purchase the par-
cels from the Commission, and for other pur-
poses. 
JULY 20, 2006 
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
State of the Union and ordered to be printed 
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