A bill to resolve the boundary conflicts in Barry and Stone Counties in the State of Missouri.
PL 108-279 (S.1167), enacted 07/22/2004

118 STAT. 872
PUBLIC LAW 108–279—JULY 22, 2004
Public Law 108–279
108th Congress
An Act
To resolve boundary conflicts in Barry and Stone Counties in the State of Missouri.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. RESOLUTION OF BOUNDARY CONFLICTS, VICINITY OF
MARK TWAIN NATIONAL FOREST, BARRY AND STONE
COUNTIES, MISSOURI.
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
(1) The term ‘‘appropriate Secretary’’ means the Secretary
of the Army or the Secretary of Agriculture.
(2) The term ‘‘boundary conflict’’ means the situation in
which the private claim of ownership to certain lands, based
on subsequent Federal land surveys, overlaps or conflicts with
Federal ownership of the same lands.
(3) The term ‘‘Federal land surveys’’ means any land survey
made by any agency or department of the Federal Government
using Federal employees, or by Federal contract with State-
licensed private land surveyors or corporations and businesses
licensed to provide professional land surveying services in the
State of Missouri for Table Rock Reservoir.
(4) The term ‘‘original land surveys’’ means the land sur-
veys made by the United States General Land Office as part
of the Public Land Survey System in the State of Missouri,
and upon which Government land patents were issued con-
veying the land.
(5) The term ‘‘Public Land Survey System’’ means the
rectangular system of original Government land surveys made
by the United States General Land Office and its successor,
the Bureau of Land Management, under Federal laws providing
for the survey of the public lands upon which the original
land patents were issued.
(6) The term ‘‘qualifying claimant’’ means a private owner
of real property in Barry or Stone County, Missouri, who has
a boundary conflict as a result of good faith and innocent
reliance on subsequent Federal land surveys, and as a result
of such reliance, has occupied or improved Federal lands
administered by the appropriate Secretary.
(7) The term ‘‘subsequent Federal land surveys’’ means
any Federal land surveys made after the original land surveys
that are inconsistent with the Public Land Survey System.
(b) RESOLUTION OF BOUNDARY CONFLICTS.—The Secretary of
the Army and the Secretary of Agriculture shall cooperatively
undertake actions to rectify boundary conflicts and landownership
claims against Federal lands resulting from subsequent Federal
July 22, 2004
[S. 1167]
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118 STAT. 873
PUBLIC LAW 108–279—JULY 22, 2004
land surveys and correctly reestablish the corners of the Public
Land Survey System in Barry and Stone Counties, Missouri, and
shall attempt to do so in a manner which imposes the least cost
and inconvenience to affected private landowners.
(c) NOTICE OF BOUNDARY CONFLICT.—
(1) SUBMISSION
AND
CONTENTS.—A qualifying claimant
shall notify the appropriate Secretary in writing of a claim
that a boundary conflict exists with Federal land administered
by the appropriate Secretary. The notice shall be accompanied
by the following information, which, except as provided in sub-
section (e)(2)(B), shall be provided without cost to the United
States:
(A) A land survey plat and legal description of the
affected Federal lands, which are based upon a land survey
completed and certified by a Missouri State-licensed profes-
sional land surveyor and done in conformity with the Public
Land Survey System and in compliance with the applicable
State and Federal land surveying laws.
(B) Information relating to the claim of ownership of
the Federal lands, including supporting documentation
showing that the landowner relied on a subsequent Federal
land survey due to actions by the Federal Government
in making or approving surveys for the Table Rock Res-
ervoir.
(2) DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION.—To obtain relief under this
section, a qualifying claimant shall submit the notice and
information required by paragraph (1) within 15 years after
the date of the enactment of this Act.
(d) RESOLUTION AUTHORITIES.—In addition to using existing
authorities, the appropriate Secretary is authorized to take any
of the following actions in order to resolve boundary conflicts with
qualifying claimants involving lands under the administrative juris-
diction of the appropriate Secretary:
(1) Convey by quitclaim deed right, title, and interest in
land of the United States subject to a boundary conflict con-
sistent with the rights, title, and interest associated with the
privately-owned land from which a qualifying claimant has
based a claim.
(2) Confirm Federal title to, and retain in Federal manage-
ment, any land subject to a boundary conflict, if the appropriate
Secretary determines that there are Federal interests, including
improvements, authorized uses, easements, hazardous mate-
rials, or historical and cultural resources, on the land that
necessitates retention of the land or interests in land.
(3) Compensate the qualifying claimant for the value of
the overlapping property for which title is confirmed and
retained in Federal management pursuant to paragraph (2).
(e) CONSIDERATION AND COST.—
(1) CONVEYANCE
WITHOUT
CONSIDERATION.—The convey-
ance of land under subsection (d)(1) shall be made without
consideration.
(2) COSTS.—The appropriate Secretary shall—
(A) pay administrative, personnel, and any other costs
associated with the implementation of this section by his
or her Department, including the costs of survey, marking,
and monumenting property lines and corners; and
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118 STAT. 874
PUBLIC LAW 108–279—JULY 22, 2004
(B) reimburse the qualifying claimant for reasonable
out-of-pocket survey costs necessary to establish a claim
under this section.
(3) VALUATION.—Compensation paid to a qualifying claim-
ant pursuant to subsection (d)(3) for land retained in Federal
ownership pursuant to subsection (d)(2) shall be valued on
the basis of the contributory value of the tract of land to
the larger adjoining private parcel and not on the basis of
the land being a separate tract. The appropriate Secretary
shall not consider the value of any Federal improvements to
the land. The appropriate Secretary shall be responsible for
compensation provided as a result of subsequent Federal land
surveys conducted or commissioned by the appropriate Sec-
retary’s Department.
(f) PREEXISTING CONDITIONS; RESERVATIONS; EXISTING RIGHTS
AND USES.—
(1) PREEXISTING CONDITIONS.—The appropriate Secretary
shall not compensate a qualifying claimant or any other person
for any preexisting condition or reduction in value of any land
subject to a boundary conflict because of any existing or out-
standing permits, use authorizations, reservations, timber
removal, or other land use or condition.
(2) EXISTING RESERVATIONS AND RIGHTS AND USES.—Any
conveyance pursuant to subsection (d)(1) shall be subject to—
(A) reservations for existing public uses for roads, utili-
ties, and facilities; and
(B) permits, rights-of-way, contracts and any other
authorization to use the property.
(3) TREATMENT
OF
LAND
SUBJECT
TO
SPECIAL
USE
AUTHORIZATION OR PERMIT.—For any land subject to a special
use authorization or permit for access or utilities, the appro-
priate Secretary may convert, at the request of the holder,
such authorization to a permanent easement prior to any
conveyance pursuant to subsection (d)(1).
(4) FUTURE RESERVATIONS.—The appropriate Secretary may
reserve rights for future public uses in a conveyance made
pursuant to subsection (d)(1) if the qualifying claimant is com-
pensated for the reservation in cash or in land of equal value.
(5) HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES.—The requirements of section
120(h) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Com-
pensation, and Liability Act (42 U.S.C. 9620(h)) shall not apply
to conveyances or transfers of jurisdiction pursuant to sub-
section (d), but the United States shall continue to be liable
for the cleanup costs of any hazardous substances on the lands
so conveyed or transferred if the contamination by hazardous
substances is caused by actions of the United States or its
agents.
(g) RELATION TO OTHER CONVEYANCE AUTHORITY.—Nothing in
this section affects the Quiet Title Act (28 U.S.C. 2409a) or other
applicable law, or affects the exchange and disposal authorities
of the Secretary of Agriculture, including the Small Tracts Act
(16 U.S.C. 521c), or the exchange and disposal authorities of the
Secretary of the Army.
(h) ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The appropriate Sec-
retary may require such additional terms and conditions in connec-
tion with a conveyance under subsection (d)(1) as the Secretary
considers appropriate to protect the interests of the United States.
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118 STAT. 875
PUBLIC LAW 108–279—JULY 22, 2004
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 1167:
SENATE REPORTS: No. 108–234 (Comm. on Energy and Natural Resources).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 150 (2004):
May 19, considered and passed Senate.
July 12, considered and passed House.
(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized
to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out the
purposes of this Act.
Approved July 22, 2004.
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