[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 765 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
H.R.765
One Hundred Third Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the fifth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-three
An Act
To resolve the status of certain lands relinquished to the United
States under
the Act of June 4, 1897 (30 Stat. 11, 36), and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Pursuant to the invitation and requirements contained in the
15th paragraph under the heading ``Surveying the Public Lands'' in
the Act of June 4, 1897 (30 Stat. 11, 36), as amended or
supplemented by the Acts of June 6, 1900 (31 Stat. 588, 614), March
4, 1901 (31 Stat. 1010, 1037), and September 22, 1922 (42 Stat.
1067), certain landowners or entrymen within forest reserves acted
to transfer their lands to the United States as the basis for an in
lieu selection of other Federal lands (hereafter in this Act
referred to as ``lieu lands'') in exchange for such lands within
such reserves (hereafter in this Act referred to as ``base lands'').
(2) By the Act of March 3, 1905 (33 Stat. 1264), Congress
repealed the in lieu selection provisions of the Act of June 4,
1897, as amended, and terminated the right to select lieu lands, but
expressly preserved the rights of land owners who had valid pending
applications for in lieu selections, most of which have subsequently
been granted.
(3) Other persons affected by the Acts cited in paragraphs (1)
and (2) who acted to transfer base lands, or their successors in
interest, have never obtained either (A) a patent to the lieu lands
or any other consideration for their relinquishment, or (B) a
quitclaim of their base lands, notwithstanding relief legislation
enacted in 1922 and 1930.
(4) By the Act of July 6, 1960 (74 Stat. 334), Congress
established a procedure to compensate persons affected by the Acts
cited in paragraphs (1) and (2) who had not received appropriate
relief under prior legislation. However, no payments of such
compensation were made under that Act.
(5) Section 4 of the Act of July 6, 1960, further provided that
lands with respect to which compensation under that Act were or
could have been made, and not previously disposed of by the United
States, shall be a part of any national forest, national park, or
other area withdrawn from the public domain wherein they are
located.
(6) Absent further legislation, lengthy and expensive litigation
will be required to resolve existing questions about the title to
lands covered by section 4 of the 1960 Act.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to resolve the status of
the title to base lands affected by the past legislation cited in
subsection (a).
SEC. 2. IDENTIFICATION AND QUITCLAIM OF FEDERAL INTEREST IN BASE LANDS.
(a) Quitclaim.--Except as otherwise provided by this Act, and
subject to valid existing rights, but notwithstanding any other
provision of law, the United States hereby quitclaims to the listed
owner or entryman, his heirs, devisees, successors, and assigns, all
right, title, and interest of the United States in and to the base lands
described on a final list published pursuant to subsection (d)(1),
effective on the date of publication of such list.
(b) Preparation of Initial Lists.--(1) Not later than 6 months after
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior, with
respect to lands under such Secretary's jurisdiction, and the Secretary
of Agriculture with respect to National Forest System lands, shall each
prepare an initial list of all parcels of base lands that were
relinquished to the United States pursuant to the Act of June 4, 1897
(as amended), and for which selection or other rights under that Act or
supplemental legislation were not realized or exercised.
(2) The initial lists prepared under paragraph (1) shall be based on
information in the actual possession of the Secretaries of the Interior
and Agriculture on the date of enactment of this Act, including
information submitted to Congress pursuant to the directive contained in
Senate Report No. 98-578, issued for the Fiscal Year 1985 Interior and
Related Agencies Appropriation, as revised and updated. The initial
lists shall be published and distributed for public review in accordance
with procedures adopted by the Secretary concerned.
(3) For a period of 180 days after publication of a list pursuant to
paragraph (2), persons asserting that particular parcels omitted from
such a list should have been included may request the Secretary
concerned to add such parcels to the appropriate list. The Secretary
concerned shall add to the list any such parcels which the Secretary
determines meet the conditions specified in paragraph (1).
(c) Nationally Significant Lands.--(1) During preparation or
revision of an initial list under subsection (b), the Secretary
concerned shall identify those listed lands which are located wholly or
partially within any conservation system unit and all other listed lands
which Congress has designated for specific management or which the
Secretary concerned decides, in the concerned Secretary's sole
discretion, should be retained in order to meet public, resource
protection, or administrative needs. For purposes of this paragraph, the
term ``conservation system unit'' means any unit of the National Park
System, National Wildlife Refuge System, National Wild and Scenic Rivers
System, National Trails System, or National Wilderness Preservation
System, a national forest monument, or a national conservation area, a
national recreation area, or any lands being studied for possible
designation as part of such a system or unit.
(2) The provisions of subsection (a) shall not apply to any lands
identified by the Secretary concerned pursuant to paragraph (1). The
Secretary concerned shall not include any such lands on any list
prepared pursuant to subsection (d). Subject to valid existing rights
arising from factors other than those described in subsection (b)(1),
any right, title, and interest in and to lands identified pursuant to
paragraph (1) and not previously vested in the United States is hereby
vested and confirmed in the United States.
(3) In the same manner as the initial list was published and
distributed pursuant to subsection (b)(2), the Secretary concerned shall
publish and distribute an identification of all lands in which right,
title, and interest is vested and confirmed in the United States by
paragraph (2).
(d) Final Lists.--(1) As soon as possible after considering any
requests made pursuant to subsection (b)(3) and the identification of
lands pursuant to subsection (c), the Secretary of the Interior and the
Secretary of Agriculture shall each publish a final list, consisting of
lands included on each Secretary's initial list not identified pursuant
to subsection (c)(1). Unless a Secretary has published a final list on
or before the date 24 months after the date of publication, pursuant to
subsection (b)(2), of such Secretary's initial list, the initial list
prepared by such Secretary shall be deemed on such date to be the final
list required to be published by such Secretary, and thereafter no lands
included on such initial list shall be excluded from operation of
subsection (a) except lands located wholly or partially within a
conservation system unit or any other area which Congress has designated
for specific management.
(2) If after publication of a final list a court makes a final
decision that a parcel of land was arbitrarily and capriciously excluded
from an initial list as provided by subsection (b), such parcel shall be
deemed to have been included on a final list published pursuant to
paragraph (1), unless such parcel is located wholly or partially inside
a conservation system unit or any other area which Congress has
designated for specific management, in which case such parcel shall be
subject to the provisions of subsection (c)(2).
(e) Issuance of Instruments.--(1) Except as otherwise provided in
this Act, no later than 6 months after the date on which the Secretary
concerned publishes a final list of lands pursuant to subsection (d),
the Secretary concerned shall issue documents of disclaimer of interest
confirming the quitclaim made by subsection (a) of this section of all
right, title, and interest of the United States in and to the lands
included on such final list, subject to valid existing rights arising
from factors other than a relinquishment to the United States of the
type described in subsection (b). Each such confirmatory document of
disclaimer of interest shall operate to estop the United States from
making any claim of right, title, or interest of the United States in
and to the base lands described in the document of disclaimer of
interest, shall be made in the name of the listed owner or entryman, his
heirs, devisees, successors, and assigns, and shall be in a form
suitable for recordation and shall be filed and recorded by the United
States with the recorder of deeds or other like official of the county
or counties within which the lands covered by such confirmatory document
of disclaimer of interest are located so that the title to such lands
may be determined in accordance with applicable State law.
(2) The United States shall not adjudicate and, notwithstanding any
provision of law to the contrary, does not consent to be sued in any
suit instituted to adjudicate the ownership of, or to quiet title to,
any base land included in a final list and described in a confirmatory
document of disclaimer of interest.
(3) Neither the Secretary of the Interior nor the Secretary of
Agriculture shall be required to inspect any lands included on a final
list nor to inform any member of the public regarding the condition of
such lands prior to the issuance of any confirmatory document of
disclaimer of interest required by this subsection, and nothing in this
Act shall be construed as affecting any valid rights with respect to
lands covered by a confirmatory document of disclaimer of interest
issued pursuant to this subsection that were in existence on the date of
issuance of such confirmatory document of disclaimer of interest.
(4) For purposes of this Act, the term ``document of disclaimer of
interest'' means a memorandum or other document, however styled or
described, that references the quitclaim made by subsection (a) of this
section and that meets the requirements for recordation established by
applicable laws of the State in which the lands to which such document
refers are located.
(f) Waiver of Certain Claims Against the United States.--Any person
or entity accepting the benefits of this Act or failing to act to seek
such benefits within the time allotted by this Act with respect to any
base or other lands shall be deemed to have waived any claims against
the United States, its agents or contractors, with respect to such
lands, or with respect to any revenues received by the United States
from such lands prior to the date of enactment of this Act. All non-
Federal, third party rights granted by the United States with respect to
base lands shall remain effective subject to the terms and conditions of
the authorizing document. The United States may reserve any rights-of-
way currently occupied or used for Government purposes.
SEC. 3. OTHER CLAIMS.
(a) Jurisdiction and Deadline.--(1) Subject to the requirements and
limitations of this section, a party claiming right, title, or interest
in or to land vested in the United States by section 2(c)(2) of this Act
may file in the United States Claims Court a claim against the United
States seeking compensation based on such vesting. Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, the Claims Court shall have exclusive
jurisdiction over such claim.
(2) A claim described in paragraph (1) shall be barred unless the
petition thereon is filed within 1 year after the date of publication of
a final list pursuant to section 2(d) of this Act.
(3) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as authorizing any claim
to be brought in any court other than a claim brought in the United
States Claims Court based upon the vesting of right, title, and interest
in and to the United States made by section 2(c)(2) of this Act.
(b) Limitations, Defenses, and Awards.--(1) Nothing in this Act
shall be construed as diminishing any existing right, title, or interest
of the United States in any lands covered by section 2(c), including but
not limited to any such right, title, or interest established by the Act
of July 6, 1960 (74 Stat. 334).
(2) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as precluding or limiting
any defenses or claims (including but not limited to defenses based on
applicable statutes of limitations, affirmative defenses relating to
fraud or speculative practices, or claims by the United States based on
adverse possession) otherwise available to the United States.
(3) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as entitling any party to
compensation from the United States. However, in the event of a final
judgment of the United States Claims Court in favor of a party seeking
such compensation, or in the event of a negotiated settlement agreement
made between such a party and the Attorney General of the United States,
the United States shall pay such compensation from the permanent
judgment appropriation established pursuant to section 1304 of title 31,
United States Code.
(c) Savings Clause.--This Act does not include within its scope
selection rights required to be recorded under the Act of August 5, 1955
(69 Stat. 534), regardless of whether compensation authorized by the Act
of August 31, 1964 (78 Stat. 751) was or was not received.
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be
necessary to carry out this Act.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.