[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2079 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.2079

                       One Hundred Sixth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

         Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
   the sixth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine


                                 An Act


 
To provide for the conveyance of certain National Forest System lands in 
                       the State of South Dakota.

    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 ``Terry Peak Land Transfer Act of 
1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
        (1) Certain National Forest System land located in the Black 
    Hills National Forest in Lawrence County, South Dakota, is 
    currently permitted to the Terry Peak Ski Area by the Secretary of 
    Agriculture pursuant to section 3 of the National Forest Ski Area 
    Permit Act of 1986 (16 U.S.C. 497b).
        (2) The National Forest System land comprises only 10 percent 
    of the land at the Ski Area, with the remaining 90 percent located 
    on private land owned by the Ski Area operator.
        (3) As the fractional Forest Service land holding at the Ski 
    Area is also encumbered by ski lifts, ski trails, a base lodge 
    parking lot and other privately owned improvements, it serves 
    little purpose in continued public ownership, and can more 
    logically be conveyed to the Ski Area to unify land management and 
    eliminate permitting and other administrative costs to the United 
    States.
        (4) The Ski Area is interested in acquiring the land from the 
    United States, but the Secretary does not have administrative 
    authority to convey such land in a nonsimultaneous land exchange 
    absent specific authorization from Congress.
        (5) The Black Hills National Forest contains several small 
    inholdings of undeveloped private land with multiple landowners 
    which complicate National Forest land management and which can be 
    acquired by the United States from willing sellers if acquisition 
    funds are made available to the Secretary.
        (6) The proceeds from the Terry Peak conveyance can provide a 
    modest, but readily available and flexible, funding source for the 
    Secretary to acquire certain inholdings in the Black Hills National 
    Forest from willing sellers, and given the small and scattered 
    nature of such inholdings, and number of potential sellers 
    involved, can do so more efficiently and quickly than through 
    administrative land exchanges.
        (7) It is, therefore, in the public interest to convey the 
    National Forest System land at Terry Peak to the Ski Area at fair 
    market value and to utilize the proceeds to acquire more desirable 
    lands for addition to the Black Hills National Forest for permanent 
    public use and enjoyment.
    (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to require the 
conveyance of certain National Forest System lands at the Terry Peak 
Ski Area to the Ski Area and to utilize the proceeds to acquire more 
desirable lands for the United States for permanent public use and 
enjoyment.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act:
        (1) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Agriculture, 
    unless otherwise specified.
        (2) The term ``selected land'' means land comprising 
    approximately 41.42 acres and generally depicted as Government lots 
    6 and 11, section 2, township 4 north, range 2 east, Black Hills 
    meridian, on a map entitled ``Terry Peak Land Conveyance'', dated 
    March 1999.
        (3) The terms ``Terry Peak Ski Area'' and ``Ski Area'' mean the 
    Black Hills Chairlift Company, a South Dakota Corporation, or its 
    successors, heirs and assigns.

SEC. 4. LAND CONVEYANCE AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.

    (a) Conveyance Required.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall convey 
the selected land to the Terry Peak Ski Area at fair market value, as 
determined by the Secretary.
    (b) Appraisal.--The value of the selected land shall be determined 
by the Secretary utilizing nationally recognized appraisal standards, 
including to the extent appropriate, the Uniform Appraisal Standards 
For Federal Land Acquisitions (1992), the Uniform Standards of 
Professional Appraisal Practice, and other applicable law. The costs of 
the appraisal shall be paid for by the Ski Area.
    (c) Completion of Conveyance.--It is the sense of the Congress that 
the conveyance to the Ski Area required by this Act be consummated no 
later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, unless 
the Secretary and the Ski Area mutually agree to extend the 
consummation date. Prior to conveying the selected land to the Ski 
Area, the Secretary shall complete standard pre-disposal analyses and 
clearances pertaining to threatened and endangered species, cultural 
and historic resources, wetlands and floodplains, and hazardous 
materials.
    (d) Use of Proceeds by the Secretary.--All monies received by the 
Secretary pursuant to this Act shall be considered monies received and 
deposited pursuant to Public Law 90-171 (16 U.S.C. 484a; commonly known 
as the Sisk Act) and shall be utilized by the Secretary to acquire 
replacement land from willing sellers for addition to the Black Hills 
National Forest in South Dakota. Any lands so acquired shall be added 
to and administered as part of the Black Hills National Forest and, if 
any such land lies outside the exterior boundaries of the Forest, the 
Secretary may modify the boundary of the Forest to include such land. 
Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of 
the Secretary to adjust the boundaries of the Forest pursuant to 
section 11 of the Act of March 1, 1911 (16 U.S.C. 521; commonly known 
as the Weeks Act).
    (e) Conveyance Subject to Valid Existing Rights, Easements.--The 
conveyance to the Ski Area required by this Act shall be subject to 
valid existing rights and to existing easements, rights-of-way, utility 
lines and any other right, title or interest of record on the selected 
land as of the date of transfer of the selected land to the Terry Peak 
Ski Area.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

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