Union Calendar No. 399
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 1659
[Report No. 105–704]
A BILL
To provide for the expeditious completion of the ac-
quisition 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.
SEPTEMBER 11, 1998
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commit-
tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
ordered to be printed
IB
Union Calendar No. 399
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 1659
[Report No. 105–704]
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
SEPTEMBER 11, 1998
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 16, 1997]
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—
(1) the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to designate the
Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument in the
State of Washington, and for other purposes’’, ap-
proved 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 Na-
tional Volcanic Monument;
(2) the Act directed the Secretary of Agriculture
to acquire the surface interests and the mineral and
geothermal interests by separate exchanges and ex-
pressed the sense of Congress that the exchanges 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 dec-
ade 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.
SEC. 3. ACQUISITION OF MINERAL RIGHTS WITHIN THE NA-
TIONAL VOLCANIC MONUMENT.
Section 3 of 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. 302; 16 U.S.C. 431 note), is amended—
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘and except
that the Secretary may acquire mineral and geo-
thermal interests only by exchange. It is the sense of
the Congress that in the case of mineral and geo-
thermal interests such exchanges should be completed
within one year after the date of enactment of this
Act’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(g) EXPEDITIOUS COMPLETION
OF MINERAL
AND
GEOTHERMAL INTERESTS.—
‘‘(1) DEFINITION
OF
HOLDER.—In this sub-
section, the term ‘holder’ means a company, or its
successor, referred to in subsection (c).
‘‘(2) IN GENERAL.—Within the period described
in paragraph (7), the Secretary of the Interior shall
acquire by exchange the mineral and geothermal in-
terests in the Monument of each holder.
‘‘(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 subparagraph
(A). The use and exercise of the credits shall be
subject to the laws (including regulations) gov-
erning such payments, to the extent the laws are
consistent with this subsection.
‘‘(D) TREATMENT
OF
CREDITS
FOR
DIS-
TRIBUTION
TO
STATES.—All amounts in the
form of credits accepted by the Secretary of the
Interior under subparagraph (C) for the pay-
ments described in subparagraph (A) shall be
considered to be money received for the purpose
of section 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30
U.S.C. 191) and section 20 of the Geothermal
Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1019).
‘‘(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 Sec-
retary of the Interior:
‘‘(i) USE OF APPRAISAL REPORT.—The
1982 value established by the report of the
third party appraisal completed on Septem-
ber 11, 1991, shall be adjusted to reflect
changes in the consumer price index for all
urban consumers published by the Depart-
ment of Labor as of the date on 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 enactment of this
subsection.
‘‘(ii) NEW APPRAISAL.—
‘‘(I) SELECTION OF APPRAISER.—
Not later than 30 days after the date
of enactment of this subsection, the
Secretary of the Interior and the hold-
ers shall mutually agree on the selec-
tion of a qualified appraiser to conduct
an appraisal of the mineral and geo-
thermal 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 enact-
ment of this subsection—
‘‘(aa) the Secretary of the In-
terior and the holders shall each
designate a qualified appraiser;
and
‘‘(bb) the two designated ap-
praisers shall select a third quali-
fied appraiser to perform the ap-
praisal with the advice and assist-
ance of the designated appraisers
and in accordance with the in-
structions that were mutually
agreed on for the September 11,
1991, third part appraisal.
‘‘(III) DATE OF VALUATION.—The
value of the mineral and geothermal
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 Depart-
ment 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 ap-
praisal report resulting from subparagraph (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 geo-
thermal interests to be conveyed by each holder.
Not later than the date that is 180 days after the
date of enactment of this subsection, the Sec-
retary 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
180 days after the date of enactment of this sub-
section 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 interests to be
conveyed by the holders in accordance with this
subsection. Subject to the right of appeal, a de-
termination by the Court shall be binding for
purposes of this subsection on all parties.
‘‘(5) EXCHANGE ACCOUNT.—
‘‘(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 Secretary
of the Interior shall establish, with the Minerals
Management Service of the Department of the
Interior, an exchange 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 para-
graph (3). The Secretary of the Interior shall ad-
just the balance of credits in the account to re-
flect 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.
‘‘(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 Steam Act of 1970 (30
U.S.C. 1001 et seq.).
‘‘(iii) NOTIFICATION.—A holder shall
notify the Secretary of the Interior 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 cre-
ated under subparagraph (A), the Secretary of
the Interior shall terminate the account and any
remaining credits in the account shall become
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
are to be acquired by the Secretary of the Interior
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 described
in paragraph (4)(C).’’.