[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1233 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.1233

                       One Hundred Third Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
 the twenty-fifth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-
                                  four


                                 An Act

  
 
  To resolve the status of certain lands in Arizona that are subject to 
a claim as a grant of public lands for railroad purposes, 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Arizona Wilderness Land Title 
Resolution Act of 1994''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
        (1) the Act entitled ``An Act granting Lands to aid in the 
    Construction of a Railroad and Telegraph Line from the States of 
    Missouri and Arkansas to the Pacific Coast'', approved July 27, 
    1866 (14 Stat. 292), granted a right-of-way in Arizona to the 
    Atlantic and Pacific Railroad Company, together with certain 
    alternate sections of public lands on both sides of the right-of-
    way;
        (2) patents were not issued to some of the lands in the grant 
    described in paragraph (1);
        (3) as successors in interest to the Atlantic and Pacific 
    Railroad Company, the Santa Fe Pacific Railroad, and Perrin 
    Properties, Inc., a California corporation--
            (A) claim rights to approximately 14,632.72 acres of the 
        lands described in paragraph (1); and
            (B) applied to the Secretary of the Interior for a patent 
        to the lands;
        (4) the Secretary of the Interior denied the application for 
    the patent, which was filed in the name of the Santa Fe Railroad 
    Company for the benefit of Perrin Properties, Inc., on the ground 
    that the claim had been extinguished by failure to record the claim 
    in accordance with the Act entitled ``An Act to require the 
    recordation of scrip, lieu selection, and similar rights'', 
    approved August 5, 1955 (69 Stat. 534; 43 U.S.C. 274 note) 
    (commonly known as the ``Recordation Act'');
        (5) on appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the 
    District of Columbia Circuit ruled in Santa Fe Pacific Railroad 
    Company, et al. v. Secretary of the Interior, 830 F.2d 1168 (D.C. 
    Cir. 1987), that such Act was not applicable and did not bar the 
    issuance of a patent;
        (6) ultimate resolution of the question of the title to the 
    14,632.72 acres may require years of additional litigation;
        (7) the Arizona Wilderness Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-406) 
    designated certain lands in the Prescott National Forest in Arizona 
    as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System 
    established by the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), 
    including the Apache Creek Wilderness and the Juniper Mesa 
    Wilderness;
        (8) the 14,632.72 acres are in the Prescott National Forest and 
    comprise large portions of the Apache Creek and Juniper Mesa 
    Wilderness areas; and
        (9) if the 14,632.72 acres are patented to private owners, the 
    creation of a checkerboard ownership pattern over the wilderness 
    areas will effectively preclude management of the areas as 
    wilderness.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
        (1) to resolve the status of the title to the approximately 
    14,632.72 acres in the Prescott National Forest described in 
    section 3(c);
        (2) to ensure that the lands are permanently retained in 
    Federal ownership; and
        (3) to preserve the integrity of the Apache Creek and Juniper 
    Mesa Wilderness areas consistent with the Arizona Wilderness Act of 
    1984 (Public Law 98-406).

SEC. 3. RESOLUTION OF STATUS OF LANDS.

    (a) Payment by the Secretary of the Treasury.--
        (1) Payment.--Subject to subsection (b), the Secretary of the 
    Treasury shall pay to Perrin Properties, Inc., the sum of 
    $3,854,000 from the permanent judgment appropriation established 
    pursuant to section 1304 of title 31, United States Code.
        (2) Interest.--No funds shall be made available for the payment 
    of interest on the amounts payable under paragraph (1).
    (b) Conditions of Payment.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall 
make the payment described in subsection (a) if the Attorney General of 
the United States notifies the Secretary of the Treasury that the 
appellants in Santa Fe Pacific Railroad Company, et al. v. Secretary of 
the Interior, 830 F.2d 1168 (1987), and Perrin Properties, Inc., have 
executed in forms satisfactory to the Attorney General all documents 
necessary--
        (1) to dismiss with prejudice all litigation involving the 
    title to the lands described in subsection (c); and
        (2) to release and quitclaim to the United States all right, 
    title, and interest of the appellants and of Perrin Properties, 
    Inc., arising out of the Act entitled ``An Act granting Lands to 
    aid in the Construction of a Railroad and Telegraph Line from the 
    States of Missouri and Arkansas to the Pacific Coast'', approved 
    July 27, 1866 (14 Stat. 292), in and to lands in the Prescott 
    National Forest.
    (c) Description of Lands.--The lands described in this subsection 
are the approximately 14,632.72 acres of land in the Prescott National 
Forest in Arizona described in the decision by the Interior Board of 
Land Appeals, Santa Fe Pacific Railroad Co., No. 82-449, 72 IBLA 197 
(April 19, 1983).
    (d) Management of Lands.--Upon the execution of documents and 
dismissal of the litigation as described in subsection (b), the lands 
described in subsection (c) shall be managed in accordance with the 
laws, rules, and regulations pertaining to the National Forest System. 
Lands described in subsection (c) that lie within the boundaries of a 
wilderness area, as designated on or before the date of enactment of 
this Act, shall also be managed in accordance with the applicable 
provisions of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.).







                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.







                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.