[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1196 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1196

   To transfer certain National Forest System lands adjacent to the 
                       Townsite of Cuprum, Idaho.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

               August 11 (legislative day, July 10), 1995

   Mr. Craig introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To transfer certain National Forest System lands adjacent to the 
                       Townsite of Cuprum, Idaho.
    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 ``Cuprum Townsite Relief Act of 
1995''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds and declares that:
            (1) In 1899, the citizens of Cuprum, Idaho, commissioned 
        E.S. Hesse to conduct a survey describing those lands occupied 
        by their community. The purpose of this survey was to provide a 
        basis for their application for townsite a patent.
            (2) In 1909, the Cuprum Townsite patent (Number 52817) was 
        granted, based on an aliquot parts description which was 
        intended to circumscribe the Hesse survey.
            (3) Since the date of patent, the Hesse survey has been 
        used continuously by the community of Cuprum and by Adams 
        County, Idaho, as the official townsite plat and basis for 
        conveyance of title within the townsite.
            (4) Recent boundary surveys conducted by the United States 
        Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, and United States 
        Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, 
        discovered inconsistencies between the official aliquot parts 
        description of the patented Cuprum Townsite and the Hesse 
        survey. Many lots along the south and east boundaries of the 
        townsite are now known to extend onto National Forest System 
        lands outside the townsite.
            (5) It is the determination of Congress that the original 
        intent of the Cuprum Townsite application was to include all 
        the lands described by the Hesse survey.
    (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to amend the 1909 
Cuprum Townsite patent to include those additional lands described by 
the Hesse survey in addition to other lands necessary to provide an 
administratively acceptable boundary to the National Forest System.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENT OF PATENT.

    (a) The 1909 Cuprum Townsite patent is hereby amended to include 
parcels 1 and 2, identified on the plat, marked as ``Township 20 North, 
Range 3 West, Boise Meridian, Idaho, Section 10: Proposed Patent 
Adjustment, Cuprum Townsite, Idaho'' prepared by Payette N.F.--Land 
Survey Unit, drawn and approved by Tom Betzold, Forest Land Surveyor, 
on April 25, 1995. Such additional lands are hereby conveyed to the 
original patentee, Pitts Ellis, trustee, and Probate Judge of 
Washington County, Idaho, or any successors or assigns in interest in 
accordance with State law. The Secretary of Agriculture may correct 
clerical and typographical errors in such plat.
    (b) The Federal Government shall survey the Federal property lines 
and mark and post the boundaries necessary to implement this section.

SEC. 4. RELEASE.

    Notwithstanding section 120 of the Comprehensive Environmental 
Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended (42 U.S.C. 
9620), the United States shall not be liable and shall be held harmless 
from any and all claims resulting from substances or petroleum products 
or any other hazardous materials on the conveyed land.
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