A bill to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to release on behalf of the United States a reversionary interest in certain land previously conveyed to the State of Connecticut.
PL 97-311 (H.R.6422), enacted 10/14/1982

PUBLIC LAW 97-311—OCT. 14, 1982 
96 STAT. 1459 
Public Law 97-311 
97th Congress 
An Act 
Connecticut, 
release of U.S. 
interest in 
certain land. 
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to release on behalf of the United States a 
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reversionary interest in certain land previously conveyed to the State of 
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Connecticut. 
[HR. 6422] 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled. 
SECTION 1. (a)(1) Subject to subsection (b), the Secretary of Agricul-
ture shall release on behalf of the United States, with respect to the 
land— 
(A) described in section 2 of this Act, and 
(B) conveyed, along with certain other parcels of land situated 
within the town of Sterling, county of Windham, State of Con-
necticut, to the State of Connecticut by a quitclaim deed dated 
November 18, 1954, 
the condition in such deed which requires that such lands be used 
for public purposes, and if not so used, that the lands revert to and 
revest in the United States: Provided, That such release shall in no 
way affect the interests of the United States in coal, oil, gas, and 
other minerals (not outstanding or reserved in third parties) 
reserved by the United States in the described lands: Provided 
further, That such release shall be applicable so long as the de-
scribed lands are used exclusively for cemetery purposes. 
(2) Section 32(c) of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act (7 U.S.C. 
1011(c)) shall not apply to the release authorized in paragraph (1) of 
this subsection. 
(b) The Secretary of Agriculture shall not execute the release 
authorized in subsection (a)(1) until the State of Connecticut, in 
consideration of such release, enters into an agreement satisfactory 
to the Secretary of Agriculture which provides that the State will 
not sell, lease, exchange, or otherwise dispose of the lands to which 
the release applies— 
(1) except to the Ekonk Cemetery, Incorporated, of Sterling, 
Connecticut, exclusively for the expansion of its existing ceme-
tery; and 
(2) unless the proceeds from such disposal are— 
(A) deposited and held in an account open to inspection 
by the Secretary of Agriculture, and 
(B) used, if withdrawn from such account, exclusively for 
public purposes. 
SEC. 2. The land referred to in section 1(a)(1) is the certain parcel 
of land formerly vested in the United States (a portion of the land 
designated as the J. E. Tanner tract 6b) and situated in the town of 
Sterling, county of Windham, State of Connecticut, containing 0.93 
acres of land, more or less, bounded and described as follows: 
Beginning at a stonewall corner located in the southerly line 
of the Cedar Swamp Road, so-called, being the northeast corner 
of the herein described premises and the northwest corner of 
the existing Ekonk Cemetery, Incorporated; thence south 14 
degrees, 49 minutes east, 152.1 feet, more or less, along a 
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96 STAT. 1460 
PUBLIC LAW 97-311—OCT. 14, 1982 
stonewall to a wall corner; thence north 64 degrees, 50 minutes 
east, 145.7 feet, more or less, along a stonewall to a wall corner, 
the last two courses bounding easterly and northerly on the 
aforesaid Ekonk Cemetery, Incorporated; thence south 14 
degrees, 53 minutes east, 50 feet, more or less, to an iron pin; 
thence south 64 degrees, 50 minutes west, 308 feet, more or less, 
to an iron pin; thence north 14 degrees, 49 minutes west, 204 
feet, more or less, to an iron pin set in the southerly line of the 
aforesaid Cedar Swamp Road, the last three courses bounding 
easterly, southerly, and westerly on remaining land of the State 
of Connecticut; thence north 66 degrees, 26 minutes east, 162.9 
feet, more or less, to a wall corner the place of beginning, 
bounding northerly on the said Cedar Swamp Road. 
Approved October 14, 1982. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 6422: 
HOUSE REPORT No. 97-773 (Comm. on Agriculture). 
SENATE REPORT No. 97-571 (Comm. on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 128 (1982): 
Sept. 13, considered and passed House. 
Sept. 29, considered and passed Senate.