[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2438 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2438

   To provide for the conveyance of lands to certain individuals in 
           Gunnison County, Colorado, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 29, 1995

 Mr. McInnis introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide for the conveyance of lands to certain individuals in 
           Gunnison County, Colorado, 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.--The Congress finds and declares that--
            (1) certain landowners in Gunnison County, Colorado, who 
        own property adjacent to the Raggeds Wilderness Area, White 
        River National Forest;
            (2) these landowners have occupied or improved their 
        property in good faith and in reliance on the erroneous surveys 
        of their properties that they believed were accurate; and
            (3) the 1993 Forest Service resurvey of the Raggeds 
        Wilderness Area, White River National Forest, correctly 
        established accurate boundaries between such forest and private 
        lands.
    (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to authorize and direct 
the Secretary of Agriculture to convey, without consideration, certain 
lands in Gunnison County, Colorado, to landowners determined by the 
Secretary to have been adversely affected by the erroneous private land 
surveys.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act--
            (1) the term ``affected lands'' means those Federal lands 
        located in the Raggeds Wilderness Area, White River National 
        Forest in Gunnison County, Colorado, situated in the SW\1/4\ of 
        the NE\1/4\ of Section 28, Township 11 South, Range 88 West of 
        the 6th Principal Meridian described as follows:
                    Beginning at the Northeast One-Sixteenth section 
                corner of said Section 28 monumented with an aluminum 
                cap on pipe, thence N. 89 deg. 59' W. along the 
                latitudinal center line of the Northeast Quarter of 
                Section 28 a distance of 75 feet; thence S. 0 deg. 46' 
                E. a distance of 500 feet more or less to a point on 
                the extension of the south line of Lot 1, Crystal 
                Meadows Subdivision; thence S. 89 deg. 59' E. 75 feet 
                to the intersection of the longitudinal centerline of 
                the Northeast \1/4\ of Section 28 with the south line 
                of said Lot 1 of the subdivision; thence N. 0 deg. 46' 
                W. 500 feet more or less to the Northeast One-Sixteenth 
                section corner of Section 28, being the point of 
                beginning, containing 0.86 acres, more or less;
            (2) the term ``affected landowner'' means an owner of real 
        property in Gunnison County, Colorado, whose real property 
        adjoins the White River National Forest lands described in 
        subsection 2(a), who claims to have been deprived by the United 
        States of title to property as a result of previous erroneous 
        surveys which were not performed by the United States; and
            (3) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
        Agriculture.

SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF LANDS.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary is 
authorized and directed to convey, without consideration, all right, 
title, and interest of the United States in and to affected lands as 
described in section 2(a), to any affected landowner pursuant to the 
provisions of section 4.

SEC. 4. TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF CONVEYANCE.

    (a) Notification.--Not later than three years after the date of 
enactment of this Act, affected landowners shall notify the Secretary, 
through the Forest Supervisor of the White River National Forest, in 
writing, of any claim to affected lands. Such claim shall be 
accompanied by--
            (1) a description of the affected lands claimed;
            (2) information relating to the claim of ownership of such 
        lands; and
            (3) such other information as the Secretary may require.
    (b) Issuance of Deed.--(1) Upon a determination by the Secretary 
that issuance of a deed for affected lands is consistent with the 
purpose and requirements of this Act, the Secretary shall issue a 
quitclaim deed to such affected landowner for the parcel to be 
conveyed.
    (2) Prior to the issuance of any such deed as provided in paragraph 
(1), the Secretary shall ensure that--
            (A) the parcel or parcels to be conveyed have been surveyed 
        in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding between the 
        Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, dated 
        November 11, 1989;
            (B) all new Federal property lines established by such 
        surveys have been monumented and marked;
            (C) the proportionate costs of the survey have been paid by 
        the affected landowner; and
            (D) all terms and conditions necessary to protect third 
        party and Government Rights-of-Way or other interests are 
        included in the deed.
    (3) The Federal Government shall survey Federal property lines and 
mark and post the boundaries necessary to implement this subsection. 
The costs of such surveys shall be shared equally by the affected 
landowners to whom a deed is issued pursuant to this section.
    (c) Notification to BLM.--The Secretary shall submit to the 
Secretary of the Interior a copy of the survey plat and an 
authenticated copy of each deed issued pursuant to this Act no later 
than thirty days after the date such deed is issued.
    (d) Release.--Notwithstanding section 120(h) of the Comprehensive 
Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, the 
affected landowners, upon transfer of the property described in section 
2(a), shall agree in writing to hold the United States harmless from 
any and all claims resulting from hazardous material on the conveyed 
land.

SEC. 5. WILDERNESS MODIFICATION.

    The Congress hereby determines and directs that the boundary of the 
Raggeds Wilderness, Colorado, as designated by Public Law 96-560, is 
hereby modified to exclude from the wilderness a parcel of land 
approximately 1-acre in size situated in the SW\1/4\ of the NE\1/4\ of 
Section 28, Township 11 South, Range 88 West of the 6th Principal 
Meridian described as follows:
            Beginning at the Northeast One-Sixteenth section corner of 
        said Section 28 monumented with an aluminum cap on pipe, thence 
        N. 89 deg. 59' W. along the latitudinal center line of the 
        Northeast Quarter of Section 28 a distance of 75 feet; thence 
        S. 0 deg. 46' E. a distance of 500 feet more or less to a point 
        on the extension of the south line of Lot 1, Crystal Meadows 
        Subdivision; thence S. 89 deg. 59' E. 75 feet to the 
        intersection of the longitudinal centerline of the Northeast 
        \1/4\ of Section 28 with the south line of said Lot 1 of the 
        subdivision; thence N. 0 deg. 46' W. 500 feet more or less to 
        the Northeast One-Sixteenth section corner of Section 28, being 
        the point of beginning, containing 0.86 acres, more or less.
            The Secretary may correct clerical and typographical errors 
        in such legal description.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.
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