I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4721
To provide for all right, title, and interest in and to certain property in
Washington County, Utah, to be vested in the United States.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 22, 2000
Mr. HANSEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Resources
A BILL
To provide for all right, title, and interest in and to certain
property in Washington County, Utah, to be vested in
the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) In 1983, Environmental Land Technology,
Ltd. (hereafter in this Act referred to as ‘‘ELT’’)
acquired from the State of Utah 2,440 acres of
school trust lands in Washington County, Utah,
north of the city of St. George, for residential and
recreational development purposes and over the next
several years completed appraisals, cost estimates,
engineering studies, site plans, surveys, utility lay-
outs, and right-of-way negotiations with the city,
and obtained water rights for the land.
(2) With the issuance by the United States
Fish and Wildlife Service of a permit under section
10 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to Wash-
ington County, Utah, and the adoption of the Habi-
tat Conservation Plan and Implementation Agree-
ment of February of 1996 (hereafter in the Act re-
ferred to as ‘‘HCP and Agreement’’), the Bureau of
Land Management assumed an obligation to acquire
from willing sellers approximately 12,600 acres of
non-Federal land, including the ELT development
land, to create the Red Cliffs Reserve for the protec-
tion of the desert tortoise.
(3) Since 1996, the Bureau of Land Manage-
ment has acquired, through exchange or purchase,
nearly all of the privately owned property within the
Federal portion of the Reserve, except for 1,516
acres of the ELT development land.
(4) With the creation of the Grand Staircase
National Monument in 1996 in the State of Utah
and the subsequent land exchanges for the consoli-
dation of lands necessary for the Monument, there
are no longer sufficient comparable lands within the
State of Utah to conduct intrastate exchanges for
the remaining desert tortoise lands.
(5) Under the Uniform Appraisal Standards for
Federal Land Acquisitions, ELT is entitled to have
its lands appraised at fair market value, highest and
best use.
(6) The United States Fish and Wildlife Service
is charged with protecting endangered species and
administering the cooperative Endangered Species
Conservation Fund which may be used for the acqui-
sition of private lands, and the Bureau of Land
Management is responsible for acquiring the private
lands within the Red Cliffs Reserve.
(7) The bifurcation of responsibility between
the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the
Bureau of Land Management has relegated ELT to
a bureaucratic ‘‘no-man’s-land’’.
(8) The Secretary of the Interior and other de-
partment officials have characterized the acquisition
of the ELT lands to be administered under the HCP
and Agreement as a high priority.
(9) The Department of the Interior did not re-
quest any funds in the budget for fiscal year 2001
to purchase the remaining privately held lands with-
in the boundaries of the land to be administered by
the Bureau of Land Management under the HCP
and Agreement.
(10) The adoption of the HCP and Agreement
and the failure of the Department of the Interior to
identify comparable land suitable for exchange with-
in the State of Utah or to fund the purchase of the
ELT development land have effectively taken this
property from the remaining private land owner, de-
nying it the right to develop or otherwise dispose of
the property.
(11) With the creation of the Red Cliffs Re-
serve, ELT has been unable to develop its property,
which has resulted in extreme financial hardship to
the owner, requiring the liquidation of substantial
ELT assets.
(12) It is in the public interest to complete this
land acquisition at the earliest practicable date so
that the desert tortoise habitat lands can be ac-
quired and preserved by the United States for per-
manent public management, use, and enjoyment and
the private land owner may be fairly compensated
for its lands.
SEC. 2. ACQUISITION OF CERTAIN PROPERTY IN WASH-
INGTON COUNTY, UTAH.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, effective on the date of the enactment of this
Act, all right, title, and interest in and to, and the right
to immediate possession of, the 1,516 acres of real prop-
erty owned by ELT, within the Red Cliffs Reserve in
Washington County, Utah, and the 34 acres of real prop-
erty owned by ELT which is adjacent to the land within
the Reserve but is landlocked as a result of the creation
of the Reserve, is hereby vested in the United States.
(b) COMPENSATION FOR PROPERTY.—Subject to sec-
tion 309(f) of the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Man-
agement Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–333), the United
States shall pay just compensation to the owners of any
real property taken pursuant to this section, determined
as of the date of taking. An initial payment of
$15,000,000 shall be made to the owners of such real
property not later than 30 days after the date of taking.
The remainder shall be paid in cash or, at the option of
the land owner, as provided in subsection (e). The full
faith and credit of the United States is hereby pledged
to the payment of any judgment entered against the
United States with respect to the taking of such property.
Payment shall be in the amount of the agreed appraised
value of such real property plus interest and reasonable
costs and expenses of holding such property from Feb-
ruary 1996 to the date of final payment or the valuation
of such real property awarded by judgment plus interest,
reasonable costs and expenses of holding such property
from February 1996 to the date of final payment, and
reasonable costs and attorney fees. Payment shall be made
from the permanent judgment appropriation established
pursuant to section 1304 of title 31, United States Code,
or from another appropriate Federal Government fund.
Interest shall accrue from the date of taking to the date
of payment. Interest shall be compounded quarterly and
computed at the rate applicable for the period involved,
as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury on the
basis of the current average market yield on outstanding
marketable obligations of the United States of comparable
maturities from the date of enactment of this section to
the last day of the month preceding the date on which
payment is made.
(c) DETERMINATION BY COURT IN LIEU OF NEGO-
TIATED SETTLEMENT.—In the absence of a negotiated
settlement, or an action by the owner, within 90 days after
the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary of the
Interior shall initiate a proceeding in the United States
Federal District Court for the District of Utah, seeking
a determination, subject to section 309(f) of the Omnibus
Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996 (Public
Law 104–333), of just compensation with respect to the
taking of such property.
(d) UNAUTHORIZED USE OF LANDS PROHIBITED.—
The Secretary of the Interior shall not allow any unau-
thorized use of the lands to be acquired under this sub-
section, except that the Secretary of the Interior shall per-
mit the orderly termination of all current activities and
the removal of any equipment, facilities, or personal prop-
erty.
(e) SURPLUS PROPERTY ACCOUNT.—If requested by
the land owner, the Secretary of the Interior shall credit
a surplus property account, to be established in the name
of the land owner, in the amount of (1) the agreed ap-
praised value of such real property plus interest and rea-
sonable costs and expenses of holding such property from
February 1996 to the date that surplus property credits
become available for use under this subsection, or (2) the
valuation of such real property awarded by judgment plus
interest, reasonable costs and expenses of holding such
property from February 1996 to the date that surplus
property credits become available for use under this sub-
section, and reasonable costs and attorney fees. The land
owner may, using the credit in the surplus property ac-
count established pursuant to this section, bid, as any
other bidder for surplus property, wherever located, in ac-
cordance with the Federal Property and Administrative
Act of 1949. The Administrator of General Services shall
establish the land owner’s surplus property account and
shall adjust the credit in the account to reflect successful
bids under this subsection. Credit in the surplus property
account may be transferred or sold in whole or in part
at any time by the land owner to any other party, thereby
vesting such party with all the rights of the land owner,
and not later than 60 days after such transfer, the land
owner shall notify the Administrator of the transfer.
Æ