[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1659 Engrossed in House (EH)]


  2d Session

                               H. R. 1659

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

To provide for the expeditious completion of the acquisition of private 
    mineral interests within the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic 
 Monument mandated by the 1982 Act that established the Monument, and 
                          for other purposes.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 1659

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
To provide for the expeditious completion of the acquisition of private 
    mineral interests within the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic 
 Monument mandated by the 1982 Act that established the Monument, 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 ``Mount St. Helens National Volcanic 
Monument Completion Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Act entitled ``An Act to designate the Mount St. 
        Helens National Volcanic Monument in the State of Washington, 
        and for other purposes'', approved August 26, 1982 (96 Stat. 
        301; 16 U.S.C. 431 note), required the United States to acquire 
        all land and interests in land in the Mount St. Helens National 
        Volcanic Monument.
            (2) The Act directed the Secretary of Agriculture to 
        acquire the surface interests and the mineral and geothermal 
        interests by separate exchanges and expressed the sense of 
        Congress that the exchanges be completed by November 24, 1982, 
        and August 26, 1983, respectively.
            (3) The surface interests exchange was consummated timely, 
        but the exchange of all mineral and geothermal interests has 
        not yet been completed a decade and a half after the enactment 
        of the Act.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to facilitate and 
otherwise provide for the expeditious completion of the previously 
mandated Federal acquisition of private mineral and geothermal 
interests within the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.

SEC. 3. ACQUISITION OF MINERAL AND GEOTHERMAL INTERESTS WITHIN MOUNT 
              ST. HELENS NATIONAL VOLCANIC MONUMENT.

    Section 3 of the Act entitled ``An Act to designate the Mount St. 
Helens National Volcanic Monument in the State of Washington, and for 
other purposes'', approved August 26, 1982 (Public Law 97-243; 96 Stat. 
302; 16 U.S.C. 431 note), is amended by adding at the end the following 
new subsections:
    ``(g) Exchanges For Mineral and Geothermal Interests Held by 
Certain Companies.--
            ``(1) Definition of company.--In this subsection, the term 
        `company' means a company referred to in subsection (c) or its 
        assigns or successors.
            ``(2) Exchange required.--Within 60 days after the date of 
        enactment of this subsection, the Secretary of the Interior 
        shall acquire by exchange the mineral and geothermal interests 
        in the Monument of each company.
            ``(3) Monetary credits.--
                    ``(A) Issuance.--In exchange for all mineral and 
                geothermal interests acquired by the Secretary of the 
                Interior from each company under paragraph (2), the 
                Secretary of the Interior shall issue to each such 
                company monetary credits with a value of $2,100,000 
                that may be used for the payment of--
                            ``(i) not more than 50 percent of the bonus 
                        or other payments made by successful bidders in 
                        any sales of mineral, oil, gas, or geothermal 
                        leases under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 
                        181 et seq.), the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 
                        Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.), or the Geothermal 
                        Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) in 
                        the contiguous 48 States;
                            ``(ii) not more than 10 percent of the 
                        bonus or other payments made by successful 
                        bidders in any sales of mineral, oil, gas, or 
                        geothermal leases in Alaska under the laws 
                        specified in clause (i);
                            ``(iii) not more than 50 percent of any 
                        royalty, rental, or advance royalty payment 
                        made to the United States to maintain any 
                        mineral, oil or gas, or geothermal lease in the 
                        contiguous 48 States issued under the laws 
                        specified in clause (i); or
                            ``(iv) not more than 10 percent of any 
                        royalty, rental, or advance royalty payment 
                        made to the United States to maintain any 
                        mineral, oil or gas, or geothermal lease in 
                        Alaska issued under the laws specified in 
                        clause (i).
                    ``(B) Value of credits.--The total credits of 
                $4,200,000 in value issued under subparagraph (A) are 
                deemed to equal the fair market value of all mineral 
                and geothermal interests to be conveyed by exchange 
                under paragraph (2).
            ``(4) Acceptance of credits.--The Secretary of the Interior 
        shall accept credits issued under paragraph (3)(A) in the same 
        manner as cash for the payments described in such paragraph. 
        The use of the credits shall be subject to the laws (including 
        regulations) governing such payments, to the extent the laws 
        are consistent with this subsection.
            ``(5) Treatment of credits for distribution to states.--All 
        amounts in the form of credits accepted by the Secretary of the 
        Interior under paragraph (4) for the payments described in 
        paragraph (3)(A) shall be considered to be money received for 
        the purpose of section 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 
        191) and section 20 of the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 
        U.S.C. 1019).
            ``(6) Exchange account.--
                    ``(A) Establishment.--Notwithstanding any other 
                provision of law, not later than 30 days after the 
                completion of the exchange with a company required by 
                paragraph (2), the Secretary of the Interior shall 
                establish an exchange account for that company for the 
                monetary credits issued to that company under paragraph 
                (3). The account for a company shall be established 
                with the Minerals Management Service of the Department 
                of the Interior and have an initial balance of credits 
                equal to $2,100,000.
                    ``(B) Use of credits.--The credits in a company's 
                account shall be available to the company for the 
                purposes specified in paragraph (3)(A). The Secretary 
                of the Interior shall adjust the balance of credits in 
                the account to reflect credits accepted by the 
                Secretary of the Interior pursuant to paragraph (4).
                    ``(C) Transfer or sale of credits.--
                            ``(i) Transfer or sale authorized.--A 
                        company may transfer or sell any credits in the 
                        company's account to another person.
                            ``(ii) Use of transferred credits.--Credits 
                        transferred or sold under clause (i) may be 
                        used in accordance with this subsection only by 
                        a person that is qualified to bid on, or that 
                        holds, a mineral, oil, or gas lease under the 
                        Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), 
                        the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 
                        U.S.C. 1331 et seq.), or the Geothermal Steam 
                        Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.).
                            ``(iii) Notification.--Within 30 days after 
                        the transfer or sale of any credits by a 
                        company, that company shall notify the 
                        Secretary of the Interior of the transfer or 
                        sale. The transfer or sale of any credit shall 
                        not be considered valid until the Secretary of 
                        the Interior has received the notification 
                        required under this clause.
                    ``(D) Time limit on use of credits.--On the date 
                that is 5 years after the date on which an account is 
                created under subparagraph (A) for a company, the 
                Secretary of the Interior shall terminate that 
                company's account. Any credits that originated in the 
                terminated account and have not been used as of the 
                termination date, including any credits transferred or 
                sold under subparagraph (C), shall become unusable.
            ``(7) Title to interests.--On the date of the establishment 
        of an exchange account for a company under paragraph (6)(A), 
        title to any mineral and geothermal interests that are held by 
        the company and are to be acquired by the Secretary of the 
        Interior under paragraph (2) shall transfer to the United 
        States.
    ``(h) Other Mineral and Geothermal Interests.--Within 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall 
submit to the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives 
and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a 
report--
            ``(1) identifying all remaining privately held mineral 
        interests within the boundaries of the Monument referred to in 
        section 1(a); and
            ``(2) setting forth a plan and a timetable by which the 
        Secretary would propose to complete the acquisition of such 
        interests.''.

            Passed the House of Representatives September 23, 1998.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.