I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1659
To provide for the expeditious completion of the acquisition of private mineral
interests within the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument man-
dated by the 1982 Act that established the Monument and for other
purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 16, 1997
Mrs. LINDA SMITH of Washington (for herself, Mr. DICKS, Ms. DUNN, Mr.
HASTINGS of Washington, and Mr. METCALF) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources
A BILL
To provide for the expeditious completion of the acquisition
of private mineral interests within the Mount St. Helens
National Volcanic Monument mandated by the 1982 Act
that established the Monument 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 ‘‘Mount St. Helens Na-
tional Volcanic Monument Completion Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
HR 1659 IH
(1) the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to designate the
Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument in
the State of Washington, and for other purposes’’,
approved August 26, 1982 (96 Stat. 301; 16 U.S.C.
431 note), required the United States to acquire all
land and interests in land in the Mount St. Helens
National Volcanic Monument;
(2) the Act directed the Secretary of Agri-
culture to acquire the surface interests and the min-
eral and geothermal interests by separate exchanges
and expressed the sense of Congress that the ex-
changes be completed by November 24, 1982, and
August 26, 1983, respectively; and
(3) the surface interests exchange was con-
summated timely, but the exchange of all mineral
and geothermal interests has not yet been completed
a decade and a half after the Act’s enactment.
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide
for the expeditious completion of the previously mandated
Federal acquisition of private mineral and geothermal in-
terests within the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic
Monument.
HR 1659 IH
‘‘(A) ISSUANCE.—In exchange for the min-
eral and geothermal interests acquired by the
Secretary of the Interior from a holder under
paragraph (2), the Secretary of the Interior
shall issue to the holder monetary credits that
may be exercised by the holder for payment
of—
‘‘(i) not more than 50 percent of the
bonus or other payments made by success-
ful bidders in any sales of mineral, oil, gas,
or geothermal leases under the Mineral
Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), the
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43
U.S.C. 1331 et seq.), or the Geothermal
Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et
seq.); or
‘‘(ii) not more than 50 percent of any
royalty, rental, or advance royalty payment
made to the United States to maintain any
mineral, oil or gas, or geothermal lease is-
sued under the Acts listed in clause (i).
‘‘(B) VALUE OF CREDITS.—The credits is-
sued under subparagraph (A) shall equal the
fair market value of all mineral and geothermal
HR 1659 IH
interests conveyed in the exchange as deter-
mined under paragraph (4).
‘‘(C) ACCEPTANCE OF CREDITS.—The Sec-
retary of the Interior shall accept credits issued
under subparagraph (A) in the same manner as
cash for the payments described in subpara-
graph (A). The use and exercise of the credits
shall be subject to the laws (including regula-
tions) governing such payments, to the extent
the laws are consistent with this subsection.
‘‘(4) VALUATION OF INTERESTS.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 120
days after the date of enactment of this sub-
section, the mineral and geothermal interests to
be conveyed by each holder in the exchanges re-
quired by paragraph (2) shall be valued by one
of the following methods, as selected by the
Secretary of the Interior:
‘‘(i) USE
OF
APPRAISAL
REPORT.—
The 1982 value established by the report
of the third party appraisal completed on
September 11, 1991, shall be adjusted to
reflect changes in the consumer price index
for all urban consumers published by the
Department of Labor as of the date on
HR 1659 IH
which the exchange is to be consummated
pursuant to paragraph (7), or such other
value as shall be mutually agreed to by the
Secretary of the Interior and the holders
not later than 30 days after the date of en-
actment of this subsection.
‘‘(ii) NEW APPRAISAL.—
‘‘(I) 
SELECTION
OF
AP-
PRAISER.—Not later than 30 days
after the date of enactment of this
subsection, the Secretary of the Inte-
rior and the holders shall mutually
agree on the selection of a qualified
appraiser to conduct an appraisal of
the mineral and geothermal interests.
‘‘(II) NO
AGREEMENT
ON
AP-
PRAISER.—If no appraiser is mutually
agreed to under subclause (I), not
later than 60 days after the date of
enactment of this subsection—
‘‘(aa) the Secretary of the
Interior and the holders shall
each designate a qualified ap-
praiser; and
HR 1659 IH
‘‘(bb) the two designated ap-
praisers shall select a third quali-
fied appraiser to perform the ap-
praisal with the advice and as-
sistance of the designated ap-
praisers and in accordance with
the instructions that were mutu-
ally agreed on for the September
11, 1991, third part appraisal.
‘‘(III) DATE
OF
VALUATION.—
The value of the mineral and geo-
thermal interests to be conveyed by
each holder shall be calculated as of
August 26, 1982, adjusted to reflect
changes in the consumer price index
for all urban consumers published by
the Department of Labor as of the
date on which the exchange is to be
consummated pursuant to paragraph
(7).
‘‘(IV) COSTS.—The Secretary of
the Interior shall bear the costs of the
process established by this clause.
‘‘(B) TIMELY
APPRAISAL
REPORT.—The
appraisal report resulting from subparagraph
HR 1659 IH
(A) shall be presented to the Secretary of the
Interior timely to permit the Secretary of the
Interior to determine the value of the mineral
and geothermal interests to be conveyed by each
holder. Not later than the date that is 120 days
after the date of enactment of this subsection,
the Secretary of the Interior shall notify each
holder of the determination.
‘‘(C) FAILURE OF PROCESS.—If the Sec-
retary of the Interior fails to make a determina-
tion under subparagraph (B) by the date that
is 120 days after the date of enactment of this
subsection or if any holder does not agree with
the value determined by the Secretary of the
Interior under subparagraph (B), one or more
of the holders may petition the United States
Court of Federal Claims for a determination of
the value of the mineral and geothermal inter-
ests to be conveyed by the holders in accordance
with this subsection. Subject to the right of ap-
peal, a determination by the Court shall be
binding for purposes of this subsection on all
parties.
‘‘(5) EXCHANGE ACCOUNT.—
HR 1659 IH
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, not later than 30 days
after the completion of each exchange with a
holder required by this subsection, the Sec-
retary of the Treasury in consultation with the
Secretary of the Interior, shall establish an ex-
change account for the holder for monetary
credits described in paragraph (3).
‘‘(B) INITIAL BALANCE.—The initial bal-
ance of credits in each holder’s account shall be
equal to the value as determined under para-
graph (4) of the mineral and geothermal inter-
ests conveyed by the holder in the exchange.
‘‘(C) USE OF CREDITS.—The balance of
credits in a holder’s account shall be available
to the holder or its assigns for the purposes of
paragraph (3). The Secretary of the Treasury
shall adjust the balance of credits in the ac-
count to reflect payments made pursuant to
paragraph (3).
‘‘(D) TRANSFER OF CREDITS.—
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—A holder may
transfer or sell any credits in the holder’s
account to another person.
HR 1659 IH
‘‘(ii) USE
OF
TRANSFERRED
CRED-
ITS.—Credits transferred under clause (i)
may be used in accordance with this sub-
section only by a person that is qualified to
bid on, or that holds, a mineral, oil, or gas
lease under the Mineral Leasing Act (30
U.S.C. 181 et seq.), the Outer Continental
Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.),
or the Geothermal Stream Act of 1970 (30
U.S.C. 1001 et seq.).
‘‘(iii) NOTIFICATION.—A holder shall
notify the Secretary of the Interior and the
Secretary of the Treasury of any transfer
or sale under this subparagraph promptly
after the transfer or sale.
‘‘(E) TIME LIMIT ON USE OF CREDITS.—
On the date that is 5 years after an account is
created under subparagraph (A), the Secretary
of the Treasury shall terminate the account and
any remaining credits in the account shall be-
come unusable.
‘‘(6) TITLE TO INTERESTS.—On the date of the
establishment of an exchange account for a holder
under paragraph (5)(A), title to any mineral and
geothermal interests that are held by the holder and
HR 1659 IH
are to be acquired by the Secretary under paragraph
(2) shall transfer to the United States.
‘‘(7) COMPLETION OF EXCHANGES.—The Sec-
retary of the interior shall complete the exchanges
under paragraph (2) not later than 180 days after
the date of enactment of this subsection or as soon
as practicable after completion of the process de-
scribed in paragraph (4)(C).’’.
Æ