I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2825
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to dispose of all public lands adminis-
tered by the Bureau of Land Management that have been identified
for disposal under the Federal land use planning process.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEPTEMBER 9, 1999
Mr. DUNCAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Resources
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to dispose of all
public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Man-
agement that have been identified for disposal under
the Federal land use planning process.
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 ‘‘Federal Lands Im-
provement Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. PUBLIC LANDS DISPOSAL REQUIREMENT.
(a) DISPOSAL REQUIREMENT.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 7 years after
the date of the enactment of this Act, and subject
to paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), the Secretary of the
Interior shall dispose of all right, title, and interest
of the United States in and to all public lands ad-
ministered by the Bureau of Land Management
that, as of the date of the enactment of this Act,
have been identified for disposal under the land use
planning process under section 203 of the Federal
Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43
U.S.C. 1713).
(2) MILESTONES.—Of the lands referred to in
paragraph (1), the Secretary shall dispose of—
(A) at least 1⁄3 before the end of the 3-year
period beginning on the date of the enactment
of this Act; and
(B) at least 2⁄3 before the end of the 5-year
period beginning on such date.
(3) RETENTION OF WILDERNESS LANDS.—The
Secretary shall not under this section dispose of any
lands located in any wilderness area or wilderness
study area.
(4) NET
COST
LIMITATION.—The Secretary
shall not under this section dispose of a parcel of
land if cost to the United States of the disposal ex-
ceeds the amount that would be received by the
United States for the parcel.
(b) MANNER OF DISPOSAL.—The Secretary shall dis-
pose of public lands under this section—
(1) in accordance with the procedures that
apply under subsection (f) of section 203 of the Fed-
eral Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43
U.S.C. 1713(f)) to sales of public lands under that
section; and
(2) in parcels of 160 acres or less.
(c) DETERMINATION OF LANDS FOR DISPOSAL.—
The Secretary may determine the public lands to be dis-
posed of under this section.
(d) USE OF PROCEEDS.—Of amounts received by the
United States as proceeds of disposals of public lands
under this section—
(1) 1⁄3 shall be deposited in the account estab-
lished by subsection (e);
(2) 1⁄3 shall be paid to the county in which the
lands are located for use by the county for any pur-
pose, which may include education, transportation
and infrastructure, or preservation of open spaces;
and
(3) 1⁄3 shall be deposited in the general fund of
the Treasury and utilized to reduce the public debt.
(e) SPECIAL ACCOUNT.—
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in
the Treasury of the United States a separate ac-
count to be used in carrying out this section.
(2) CONTENTS.—The account shall consist of—
(A) amounts deposited in the account
under subsection (d); and
(B) interest added to the account under
paragraph (4) of this subsection.
(3) USE.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Amounts in the ac-
count shall be available to the Secretary until
expended, without further appropriation, to
pay—
(i) subject to subparagraph (B), costs
incurred by the Bureau of Land Manage-
ment in arranging disposals of public lands
under this section, including the costs of
land boundary surveys, compliance with
the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), appraisals,
environmental and cultural clearances, and
public notice;
(ii) the cost of acquisition from a will-
ing seller of environmentally sensitive land
or interests in such land in States in which
are located public lands disposed of under
this section;
(iii) the cost of carrying out any nec-
essary revision or amendment of a current
land use plan of the Bureau of Land Man-
agement that relates to public lands dis-
posed of under this section;
(iv) the cost of projects or programs
to restore or protect wetlands, riparian
areas, or cultural, historic, prehistoric, or
paleontological resources on public lands,
including petroglyphs; and
(v) the cost of projects, programs, or
land acquisition to stabilize or restore
water quality for water located or used on
public lands.
(B) LIMITATIONS.—
(i) COSTS IN ARRANGING LAND DIS-
POSALS.—Costs charged against the ac-
count for the purposes described in sub-
paragraph (A)(i) shall not exceed the min-
imum amount practicable in view of the
fair market value of the public lands dis-
posed of.
(ii) ACQUISITION.—Not more than 50
percent of the amounts deposited in the ac-
count in any fiscal year may be used in
that fiscal year or any subsequent fiscal
year for the purpose described in subpara-
graph (A)(ii).
(C) 
PLAN
REVISIONS
AND
AMEND-
MENTS.—The process of revising or amending a
land use plan shall not cause delay or postpone-
ment in the implementation of this section.
(f) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than October 31 of
each year, the Secretary shall report to the Congress de-
scribing in detail the use under subsection (d) during the
preceding fiscal year of proceeds of disposals of public
lands under this section, including the expenditures in
that fiscal year of amounts made available under sub-
section (e).
(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
(1) PUBLIC LANDS.—The term ‘‘public lands’’
has the meaning that term has under section 103(e)
of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of
1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702(e)).
(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of the Interior.
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