La Paz County Land Conveyance Act

Bill: 115-s-1222
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Flake, Jeff [R-AZ]
Introduced: 2017-05-24
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Arizona

Government liability

Hazardous wastes and toxic substances

Land transfers

Pollution liability
Latest action: action_date: 2018-02-07
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 115-502.

Summaries:
action_date: 2017-05-24
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>La Paz County Land Conveyance Act</b></p> <p>This bill directs the Department of the Interior, after receiving a request from La Paz County, Arizona, to convey to the county, without consideration, 8,000 acres of specified federal land. </p> <p>The federal land conveyed under this bill: (1) may be used by the county for any public purposes consistent with the Recreation and Public Purposes Act, and (2) shall not be disposed of by the county.</p> <p>The county shall pay or reimburse Interior, as appropriate, for the reasonable transaction and administrative personnel costs associated with such conveyance. </p> <p>The bill declares that the United States is released from any liability arising from any hazardous substance existing on the federal land before such conveyance. </p>

tv_txt: II 115th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1222 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 24, 2017 Mr. Flake 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 convey certain land to La Paz County, Arizona, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the La Paz County Land Conveyance Act . 2. Definitions In this Act: (1) County The term County means La Paz County, Arizona. (2) Federal land The term Federal land means the approximately 8,000 acres of Federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management and designated as Federal land to be conveyed on the map. (3) Map The term map means the map prepared by the Bureau of Land Management entitled Proposed La Paz County Land Conveyance and dated May 24, 2017. (4) Secretary The term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior. 3. Conveyance to La Paz County, Arizona (a) Conveyance authorized Subject to valid existing rights and notwithstanding the land use planning requirements of sections 202 and 203 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 ( 43 U.S.C. 1712 , 1713), not later than 180 days after the date on which the Secretary receives a request from the County for the conveyance of the Federal land, the Secretary shall convey to the County, without consideration, all right, title, and interest of the United States in and to the Federal land. (b) Use of conveyed land (1) In general The Federal land conveyed under subsection (a)— (A) may be used by the County for any public purposes consistent with the Act of June 14, 1926 (commonly known as the Recreation and Public Purposes Act ) ( 43 U.S.C. 869 et seq.); and (B) shall not be disposed of by the County. (2) Reversion If the County ceases to use a parcel of the Federal land conveyed under subsection (a) in accordance with paragraph (1)— (A) title to the parcel shall revert to the Secretary, at the option of the Secretary; and (B) the County shall be responsible for any reclamation necessary for the parcel to revert to the United States. (c) Availability of map The map shall be on file and available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the Bureau of Land Management. (d) Costs At the closing for the conveyance of Federal land under subsection (a), the County shall pay or reimburse the Secretary, as appropriate, for the reasonable transaction and administrative personnel costs associated with the conveyance authorized under that subsection, including the costs of title searches, maps, and boundary and cadastral surveys. (e) Release of United States On conveyance of the Federal land under subsection (a), notwithstanding any other provision of law, the United States is released from any and all liabilities or claims of any kind or nature arising from the presence, release, or threat of release of any hazardous substance, pollutant, contaminant, petroleum product (or derivative of a petroleum product of any kind), solid waste, mine materials, or mining-related features (including tailings, overburden, waste rock, mill remnants, pits, or other hazards resulting from the presence of mining-related features) on the Federal land in existence before or on the date of the conveyance. (f) Acquisition of federal reversionary interest (1) Request After the date of conveyance of the Federal land under subsection (a), the County may submit to the Secretary a request to acquire the Federal reversionary interest in all or any portion of the Federal land. (2) Appraisal (A) In general Not later than 180 days after the date of receipt of a request under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall complete an appraisal of the Federal reversionary interest in the Federal land requested by the County under that paragraph. (B) Requirement The appraisal under subparagraph (A) shall be completed in accordance with— (i) the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions; and (ii) the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. (3) Conveyance required If, by the date that is 1 year after the date of completion of the appraisal under paragraph (2), the County submits to the Secretary an offer to acquire the Federal reversionary interest requested under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall, not later than the date that is 30 days after the date on which the offer is submitted, convey to the County the reversionary interest covered by the offer. (4) Consideration As consideration for the conveyance of the Federal reversionary interest under paragraph (3), the County shall pay to the Secretary an amount equal to the appraised value of the Federal reversionary interest, as determined under paragraph (2). (5) Costs of conveyance As a condition of the conveyance of the Federal reversionary interest under paragraph (3), all costs associated with the conveyance (including the cost of the appraisal under paragraph (2)), shall be paid by the County. (6) Restrictions on use not applicable On conveyance of the Federal reversionary interest to the County under paragraph (3), the restrictions on the use and disposal of the Federal land under subsection (b) shall not apply to any portion of the Federal land that was subject to the conveyed Federal reversionary interest.