San Juan County Settlement Implementation Act of 2016

Bill: 114-s-2681
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM]
Introduced: 2016-03-15
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Coal

Indian lands and resources rights

Land transfers

Mining

New Mexico

Wilderness and natural areas, wildlife refuges, wild rivers, habitats
Latest action: action_date: 2016-09-22
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-509.

Summaries:
action_date: 2016-03-15
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>San Juan County Settlement Implementation Act of 2016</b></p> <p>This bill authorizes the Department of the Interior to retire any coal preference right lease application for which it has made an affirmative commercial quantities determination by:</p> <ul> <li>issuing bidding rights in exchange for relinquishment of the application, and</li> <li>making a payment to the relevant state of 50% of the dollar amount of any bidding right subsequently used in lieu of any monetary bonus in a coal lease sale or of rental or royalty under a federal coal lease.</li> </ul> <p> Interior shall make such payments from amounts that would otherwise be deposited in the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts under the Mineral Leasing Act.</p> <p>The bill declares such bidding rights fully transferable to any other person. </p> <p>The bill cancels specified land selections made by the Navajo Nation pursuant to the Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act of 1974. Subject to specified exclusions, the Navajo Nation may make new land selections to replace those canceled.</p> <p>The bill designates approximately 7,242 acres of land as the Ah-shi-sle-pah Wilderness and incorporates approximately 2,250 acres of specified federal land into the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness.</p>

tv_txt: II 114th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 2681 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 15, 2016 Mr. Heinrich (for himself and Mr. Udall ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to retire coal preference right lease applications for which the Secretary has made an affirmative commercial quantities determination, to substitute certain land selections of the Navajo Nation, to designate certain wilderness areas, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the San Juan County Settlement Implementation Act of 2016 . 2. Exchange of coal preference right lease applications (a) Definitions In this section: (1) Bidding right The term bidding right means an appropriate legal instrument or other written documentation, including an entry in an account managed by the Secretary, issued or created under subpart 3435 of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations, that may be used— (A) in lieu of a monetary payment for a bonus bid for a coal lease sale under the Mineral Leasing Act ( 30 U.S.C. 181 et seq. ); or (B) as a monetary credit against any rental or royalty payments due under any Federal coal lease. (2) Secretary The term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior. (b) Authorization The Secretary may retire any coal preference right lease application for which the Secretary has made an affirmative commercial quantities determination— (1) by issuing bidding rights in exchange for relinquishment of the coal preference right lease application; and (2) notwithstanding any other provision of law, by making a payment to the relevant State in an amount equal to 50 percent of the dollar amount of any bidding right subsequently used in lieu of any monetary payment of a bonus in a coal lease sale or of rental or royalty under a Federal coal lease. (c) Source of Payments The Secretary shall make payments under subsection (b) from amounts that would otherwise be deposited in the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts under section 35(a) of the Mineral Leasing Act ( 30 U.S.C. 191(a) ). (d) Treatment of Payments A payment to a State under this section shall be treated as a payment under section 35(a) of the Mineral Leasing Act ( 30 U.S.C. 191(a) ). (e) Transferability; Limitation (1) Transferability A bidding right issued under this section shall be fully transferable to any other person. (2) Notification of Secretary A person who transfers a bidding right shall notify the Secretary of the transfer by any method determined to be appropriate by the Secretary. (3) Effective period (A) In general A bidding right issued under this section shall terminate on the expiration of the 5-year period beginning on the date the bidding right is issued. (B) Tolling of period The 5-year period described in subparagraph (A) shall be tolled during any period in which exercise of the bidding right is precluded by temporary injunctive relief granted under, or administrative, legislative, or judicial suspension of, the Federal coal leasing program. 3. Certain land selections of the Navajo Nation (a) Cancellation of certain selections The land selections made by the Navajo Nation pursuant to Public Law 93–531 (commonly known as the Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act of 1974 ) ( 25 U.S.C. 640d et seq. ) that are depicted on the map entitled Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act Selected Lands and dated April 2, 2015, are canceled. (b) Authorization for new selection (1) In general Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), the Navajo Nation may make new land selections in accordance with the Act referred to in subsection (a) to replace the land selections canceled under that subsection. (2) Exclusions The following land shall not be eligible for selection under paragraph (1): (A) Land within a unit of the National Landscape Conservation System. (B) Land within— (i) the Glade Run Recreation Area; (ii) the Fossil Forest Research Natural Area; (iii) the North Road Area of Critical Environmental Concern; (iv) the Pierre’s Site Area of Critical Environmental Concern; or (v) the Ah-shi-sle-pah Road Area of Critical Environmental Concern. (C) Any land subject to a lease or contract under the Mineral Leasing Act ( 30 U.S.C. 181 et seq. ) or the Act of July 31, 1947 (commonly known as the Materials Act of 1947 ) ( 30 U.S.C. 601 et seq. ), as of the date of the selection. (3) Equal value (A) In general Notwithstanding the acreage limitation in the second proviso of section 11(c) of Public Law 93–531 (commonly known as the Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act of 1974 ) ( 25 U.S.C. 640d–10(c) ), the value of the land selected under paragraph (1) and the land subject to selections cancellation under subsection (a) shall be equal, based on appraisals conducted under subparagraph (B). (B) Appraisal The value of the land selected under paragraph (1) and the land subject to selections canceled under subsection (a) shall be determined by an appraisal conducted in accordance with— (i) the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions; and (ii) the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. (4) Withdrawal Any land selected by the Navajo Nation under paragraph (1) shall be withdrawn from disposal, leasing, and development until the date on which the selected land is placed into trust for the Navajo Nation. (c) Boundary For purposes of this section and the Act referred to in subsection (a), the present boundary of the Navajo Reservation is depicted on the map entitled Navajo Nation Boundary and dated November 16, 2015. 4. Designation of Ah-shi-sle-pah Wilderness (a) In general In accordance with the Wilderness Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq. ), the approximately 7,242 acres of land as generally depicted on the map entitled San Juan County Wilderness Designations and dated April 2, 2015, is designated as wilderness and as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System, which shall be known as the Ah-shi-sle-pah Wilderness (referred to in this section as the Wilderness ). (b) Management (1) In general Subject to valid existing rights, the Wilderness shall be administered by the Director of the Bureau of Land Management in accordance with this section and the Wilderness Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq. ), except that any reference in that Act to the effective date of that Act shall be considered to be a reference to the date of enactment of this Act. (2) Adjacent management (A) In general Congress does not intend for the designation of the Wilderness to create a protective perimeter or buffer zone around the Wilderness. (B) Nonwilderness activities The fact that nonwilderness activities or uses can be seen or heard from areas within the Wilderness shall not preclude the conduct of the activities or uses outside the boundary of the Wilderness. (3) Incorporation of acquired land and interests in land Any land or interest in land that is within the boundary of the Wilderness that is acquired by the United States shall— (A) become part of the Wilderness; and (B) be managed in accordance with— (i) the Wilderness Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq. ); (ii) this section; and (iii) any other applicable laws. (4) Grazing Grazing of livestock in the Wilderness, where established before the date of enactment of this Act, shall be allowed to continue in accordance with— (A) section 4(d)(4) of the Wilderness Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(4) ); and (B) the guidelines set forth in the report of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs of the House of Representatives accompanying H.R. 5487 of the 96th Congress (H. Rept. 96–617). (c) Release of wilderness study areas Congress finds that, for the purposes of section 603(c) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 ( 43 U.S.C. 1782(c) ), the land within the Ah-shi-sle-pah Wilderness Study Area not designated as wilderness by this section has been adequately studied for wilderness designation and is no longer subject to section 603(c) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 ( 43 U.S.C. 1782(c) ). 5. Expansion of Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness (a) In general There is designated as wilderness and as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System certain Federal land comprising approximately 2,250 acres, as generally depicted on the map entitled San Juan County Wilderness Designations and dated April 2, 2015, which is incorporated in and shall be considered to be a part of the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness. (b) Administration Subject to valid existing rights, the land designated as wilderness by subsection (a) shall be administered by the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (referred to in this section as the Director ), in accordance with— (1) the Wilderness Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq. ), except that any reference in that Act to the effective date of that Act shall be considered to be a reference to the date of enactment of this Act; and (2) the San Juan Basin Wilderness Protection Act of 1984 ( Public Law 98–603 ; 98 Stat. 3155; 110 Stat. 4211). (c) Adjacent management (1) In general Congress does not intend for the designation of the land as wilderness by subsection (a) to create a protective perimeter or buffer zone around that land. (2) Nonwilderness activities The fact that nonwilderness activities or uses can be seen or heard from areas within the land designated as wilderness by subsection (a) shall not preclude the conduct of the activities or uses outside the boundary of that land. (d) Incorporation of acquired land and interests in land Any land or interest in land that is within the boundary of the land designated as wilderness by subsection (a) that is acquired by the United States shall— (1) become part of the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness; and (2) be managed in accordance with— (A) the Wilderness Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq. ); (B) the San Juan Basin Wilderness Protection Act of 1984 ( Public Law 98–603 ; 98 Stat. 3155; 110 Stat. 4211); (C) this section; and (D) any other applicable laws. (e) Grazing Grazing of livestock in the land designated as wilderness by subsection (a), where established before the date of enactment of this Act, shall be allowed to continue in accordance with— (1) section 4(d)(4) of the Wilderness Act ( 16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(4) ); and (2) the guidelines set forth in the report of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs of the House of Representatives accompanying H.R. 5487 of the 96th Congress (H. Rept. 96–617).