[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2413 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2413

    To transfer the Tongass National Forest to the State of Alaska.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 28, 1995

 Mr. Young of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred 
  to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committee on 
Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To transfer the Tongass National Forest to the State of Alaska.

    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 ``Tongass Transfer and Transition 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) It is in the public interest to provide a mechanism to 
        transfer ownership of the Tongass National Forest to the State 
        of Alaska to be managed and operated under the laws of the 
        State of Alaska.
            (2) The State of Alaska is the level of government that is 
        most sensitive to the ecologic and economic needs of the people 
        of the Tongass and other Alaskans.
            (3) The State of Alaska is committed to policies in 
        connection with the Tongass that include informed 
        decisionmaking, prudent management of Tongass resources with 
        sound science, multiple, balanced, and sustainable use of 
        Tongass resources, an inclusive planning process for the 
        diverse interests associated with the Tongass, and planning 
        that fosters consensus.
            (4) It is appropriate for the State level of government to 
        own and manage the land area now comprising Tongass National 
        Forest and to provide the best ecologic and economic balance in 
        the Southeast Alaska area that comprises the Tongass National 
        Forest.
            (5) Without Federal constraints and costs, the State of 
        Alaska is in a better position to balance the diverse needs and 
        interests of those concerned with the future of the Tongass.
            (6) It is necessary to provide a smooth transition between 
        Federal and State ownership and control and to resolve as many 
        issues as possible prior to State ownership and control.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
        Agriculture.
            (2) The term ``Tongass National Forest'' means the Tongass 
        National Forest, as depicted on the map numbered ____ and dated 
        ____.
            (3) The term ``Federal obligation'' means any obligation or 
        duty of the United States Forest Service arising out of any 
        lease, permit, license, contract, and other legal instruments 
        issued by or with the Forest Service relating to the Tongass 
        National Forest. The term ``Federal obligation'' does not 
        include any obligation with respect to a Federal law, 
        regulation, or policy.
            (4) The term ``Tongass National Forest lands'' includes all 
        right, title, and interest of the United States in and to all 
        real property located in the Tongass National Forest, and all 
        structures (permanent and temporary) owned by the United States 
        Forest Service located on such land.
            (5) The term ``transfer-transition period'' means the 
        period beginning when the State of Alaska elects to receive the 
        lands pursuant to this Act and ending one year thereafter.
            (6) The term ``transfer date'' means the date on which the 
        State of Alaska elects to receive the lands pursuant to this 
        Act and notifies the Secretary of such election.
            (7) The term ``patent date'' means the last day of the 
        transfer-transition period.
            (8) Terms used in section 6(c) shall be accorded the 
        meaning given to such terms under the Alaska National Interest 
        Lands Conservation Act.

SEC. 4. TRANSFER OF TONGASS LANDS AND PROPERTY TO THE STATE OF ALASKA.

    (a) Automatic Transfer of Lands.--If, within 10 years after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the State of Alaska elects to 
receive all Tongass National Forest lands in conformance with 
subsection (b), and so notifies the Secretary, all Tongass National 
Forest lands shall be conveyed, by operation of law, to the State of 
Alaska, subject only to valid existing rights. Such transfer shall 
occur in accordance with this Act.
    (b) Form of Election.--The election by the State of Alaska to 
receive lands pursuant to subsection (a) shall be in the form of a bill 
approved by the House and Senate of the Alaska State Legislature and 
signed by the Governor of the State of Alaska. Such law shall state 
that--
            (1) the State of Alaska elects to receive all Tongass 
        National Forest lands;
            (2) the Tongass National Forest lands received shall be 
        received subject to valid existing rights;
            (3) the procedures specified in this Act and the transition 
        provisions of this Act shall apply to the transfer; and
            (4) the rights and obligations of the United States under 
        the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act with respect to lands, 
        rights in lands, and use of lands transferred by the Tongass 
        Transfer and Transition Act shall not be infringed by the State 
        of Alaska.
    (c) Procedure.--Upon receipt by the Secretary of Agriculture of a 
copy of the law specified under subsection (b), the Secretary of 
Agriculture shall prepare a patent conveying all Tongass National 
Forest lands to the State of Alaska and shall deliver such patent to 
the State of Alaska on the patent date. The duty of the Secretary to 
prepare and deliver such patent pursuant to this Act shall be purely 
ministerial and delivery of the patent on the patent date shall not be 
withheld or conditioned. The United States Supreme Court shall have 
exclusive jurisdiction to issue such writs and compel such actions as 
may be necessary to accomplish the conveyance made under this Act.
    (d) Other Property.--Upon the election pursuant to subsection (a) 
and concurrent with the transfer of lands pursuant to this Act, the 
Secretary shall also transfer the right and title to and interest in 
all other types of property (including real and personal property) used 
for purposes of operating, administering, and managing the Tongass 
National Forest. Such property shall be transferred on the patent date 
and include only that which is owned by the United States and used by 
the United States Forest Service within the Tongass National Forest and 
that which is directly associated with the management of such Forest. 
All vehicles transferred shall be painted the official colors of State 
of Alaska vehicles prior to transfer.

SEC. 5. TRANSITION PROVISIONS DURING THE TRANSITION PERIOD.

    (a) Existing Obligations of the United States.--The United States 
shall remain obligated for Federal obligations during the transfer-
transition period.
    (b) Employees.--During the transfer-transition period, to the 
extent practicable, the State of Alaska shall interview each person 
employed on the date of the enactment of this Act in the Tongass 
National Forest by the United States Forest Service for purposes of 
reemployment by the State of Alaska for a comparable function within 
the new State administrative system for the Tongass Forest. Employees 
who do not secure employment with the State of Alaska shall be given 
preferential treatment for purposes of other available positions with 
the United States Government.
    (c) Alaska Pulp Corporation Contract.--The State of Alaska shall 
enter into discussions with the Alaska Pulp Corporation during the 
transition-transfer period and conclude an agreement which reinstates 
the Alaska Pulp Corporation Contract (Contract No. 12-11-010-1545) 
within six months of the patent date. Such agreement shall provide for 
dismissal with prejudice of a lawsuit styled as Alaska Pulp Corporation 
against the United States of America, No. 95-153C. Such reinstatement 
shall include an additional provision which requires sale or assignment 
of such contract to a third party who agrees to construct a 
manufacturing facility in Southeast Alaska that utilizes pulp-grade 
logs. The State of Alaska shall assume the obligations of the Forest 
Service under such reinstated contract, except that the State of Alaska 
shall assume no obligation for any claim relating to such contract 
which arose from an occurrence before the transfer date.
    (d) Timber Road Program Fund.--From amounts remaining after making 
payments for the benefit of public schools and roads under the Act of 
May 23, 1908 (16 U.S.C. 500), the Secretary shall, notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, provide the gross receipts from the Tongass 
National Forest derived from timber sale stumpage fees due during the 
transfer-transition period to the State of Alaska as seed money for 
purposes of establishing a timber roads revolving fund.

SEC. 6. TRANSITION PROVISIONS OUTSIDE THE TRANSITION PERIOD.

    (a) Management of Transferred Lands.--(1) Beginning on the patent 
date, the lands transferred pursuant to this Act shall be administered 
and managed under applicable State of Alaska law, except as otherwise 
provided in this Act for the period provided by this Act.
    (2) During the transfer-transition period and until the patent 
date, the lands subject to transfer pursuant to this Act shall be 
administered and managed under Federal law and the Tongass Land 
Management Plan.
    (b) Land Designations.--Land use designations in effect on the date 
of the enactment of this Act under the Tongass Land Management Plan 
shall continue in effect for a period of up to one year after the 
patent date, but shall cease to be applicable when the State of Alaska 
adopts a land use designation system for the transferred lands during 
such one-year period.
    (c) Subsistence Use After the Patent Date.--The Secretary of the 
Interior shall retain continuing authority to manage subsistence uses 
of fish and wildlife on lands transferred under this Act until such 
time as the State of Alaska law is in compliance with title VIII of the 
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.
    (d) Mining Claims.--(1) For a period of 15 years after the patent 
date, Federal mining claims located before the patent date pursuant to 
the General Mining Law of 1872 (30 U.S.C. 22 and following) in the 
Tongass National Forest shall remain subject to the laws, rules, 
regulations, and policies of the United States, but such laws, rules, 
regulations, and policies shall be administered by the State of Alaska. 
During such period, the right and ability of a claimholder to patent 
such a mining claim shall not be infringed. An application to patent a 
Federal mining claim located in the area comprising the Tongass 
National Forest may be made by the claimholder with the State of Alaska 
and shall constitute an election by the claim holder to be subject to 
Federal mining claim patent procedures administered by the State of 
Alaska.
    (2) At any time during the 15-year period referred to in paragraph 
(1), the holder of a Federal mining claim may elect to convert the 
claim into a mining claim to be administered under the laws of the 
State of Alaska. An election to convert such a claim must be in 
writing, include such information as the Commissioner may request, and 
be sent to the Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources of 
the State of Alaska. The State of Alaska shall convert each Federal 
claim into one or more State claims covering the area of the Federal 
claim.
    (3) Upon the expiration of the 15-year period referred to in 
paragraph (1), each Federal mining claim for which a mining patent 
application has not been filed and which is located within the Tongass 
National Forest shall be converted by operation of law into a mining 
claim or claims to be administered under the laws of the State of 
Alaska.
    (4) During the transfer-transition period the Federal Government 
shall maintain the right to receive fees and revenues, if any, due on 
Federal mining claims. After the patent date, the State of Alaska shall 
have the right to receive any fees or revenues due on Federal claims 
that are not converted under paragraph (2) or (3).
    (e) Land Grants to Native People.--The State of Alaska shall 
negotiate in good faith to obtain an agreement with the native people 
of the communities of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and 
Wrangell, Alaska who did not receive a land claim settlement under the 
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Under such agreement, the State of 
Alaska shall convey not less than 23,040 acres of surface estate and 
not more than 46,080 acres of surface estate to each community within 
the boundary of the land transferred for purposes of historical, 
cultural, economic (including timber, tourism, and recreation) 
development and subsistence use in settlement of such claims. Upon the 
conveyance of such surface estate, the State of Alaska shall convey the 
subsurface estate of such lands to Sealaska Corporation. Unprocessed 
timber (as defined in section 493 of Public Law 101-382) may not be 
exported from Alaska. Negotiations shall conclude as soon as 
practicable after the patent date, but in no case later than two years 
after the transfer date. If an agreement is not reached, then the 
matter shall be submitted to binding arbitration.
    (f) Timber Receipts to Local Governments.--In each year, beginning 
with the fiscal year of the State of Alaska beginning after the 
transfer date and ending with the tenth fiscal year thereafter, the 
State of Alaska shall allocate 25 percent of the net timber stumpage 
receipts for all timber sold on the lands transferred under authority 
of this Act directly to boroughs, municipalities, and local governments 
for purposes of schools, educational materials, and community roads.
    (g) Timber Receipts to the United States.--For a period of 10 
calendar years, beginning with the fiscal year of the State of Alaska 
beginning after the patent date, the State of Alaska shall pay to the 
United States, 25 percent of the net receipts for all timber sold on 
the lands transferred under authority of this Act.
    (h) Ketchikan Pulp Contract.--On the patent date, the State of 
Alaska shall assume all the obligations of the United States and be 
entitled to all the benefits due to the United States under Contract 
No. A10fs-1042 with the Ketchikan Pulp Corporation beginning on the 
patent date.
    (i) Timber Exports.--The State of Alaska shall prohibit by law 
export of unprocessed saw, utility, and pulp logs originating from 
lands transferred under this Act for a minimum period of ten years.
    (j) Existing Obligations After Patent Date.--On the patent date, 
the State of Alaska shall assume all Federal obligations and duties and 
receive all rights of the United States Forest Service, except that the 
State of Alaska shall assume no obligation for any claim for damages or 
specific performance relating to a contract if such claim arose before 
the patent date, unless the State of Alaska receives the benefit from 
such an obligation.

SEC. 7. MISCELLANEOUS DUTIES OF THE PARTIES AND OTHER PROVISIONS 
              RELATING TO THE TRANSFER.

    (a) Map and Legal Description.--The Secretary shall provide the 
State of Alaska with a map and other legal descriptions of the land to 
be transferred under section 4. The map and the legal descriptions 
provided under this subsection shall be on file and available for 
public inspection in the Office of the Secretary in Washington, 
District of Columbia, and in two readily accessible locations in 
Alaska, at least one of which is in Southeast Alaska.
    (b) Hazardous Materials.--As promptly as practicable after the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall make available to the State 
of Alaska for review and inspection, all pertinent records relating to 
hazardous materials, if any, on lands to be transferred under this 
section. The responsibility for costs of remedial action related to 
such materials shall be borne by those entities responsible under 
existing law.
    (c) Judicial Review.--Transfer of land pursuant to this Act shall 
not be subject to judicial review in any court of the United States, 
except--
            (1) to the extent a right of judicial review is conferred 
        specifically by the United States Constitution;
            (2) otherwise conferred by this Act; or
            (3) when sought by the State of Alaska on matters 
        pertaining to rights conferred by this Act.
    (d) Rulemaking.--No formal rules under section 553 of title 5, 
United States Code, are required to implement this Act.
    (e) Survey.--The patent for lands conveyed pursuant to this Act 
shall not be subject to completion of a field survey and may be issued 
based on a protraction survey.
    (f) Repeal.--Sections 503, 508, 703, 704, 705, and 706 of the 
Alaska National Lands Interest Conservation Act are repealed on the 
patent date. Title III of the Tongass Timber Reform Act is repealed on 
the transfer date.
    (g) Encumbrances.--For purposes of an orderly transfer of the 
Tongass National Forest to State ownership and transition to State 
management, the Secretary shall provide a list of encumbrances of 
record and otherwise known in the Tongass National Forest to the 
Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources of the State of 
Alaska during the transfer-transition period. The transfer under this 
Act shall be subject to all existing encumbrances.
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