[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3090 Reported in House (RH)]





                                                 Union Calendar No. 261

106th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                               H. R. 3090

                          [Report No. 106-452]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

  To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to restore certain 
     lands to the Elim Native Corporation, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                            November 5, 1999

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed





                                                 Union Calendar No. 261
106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3090

                          [Report No. 106-452]

  To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to restore certain 
     lands to the Elim Native Corporation, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 18, 1999

 Mr. Young of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                     to the Committee on Resources

                            November 5, 1999

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on October 
                               18, 1999]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to restore certain 
     lands to the Elim Native Corporation, 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. ELIM NATIVE CORPORATION LAND RESTORATION.

    The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:

               ``elim native corporation land restoration

    ``Sec. 42. (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
            ``(1) approximately 350,000 acres of land were withdrawn by 
        Executive Orders in 1917 for the use of the United States 
        Bureau of Education and of the Natives of Indigenous Alaskan 
        race;
            ``(2) these lands comprised the Norton Bay Reservation 
        (later referred to as Norton Bay Native Reserve) and were set 
        aside for the benefit of the Native inhabitants of the Eskimo 
        Village of Elim, Alaska;
            ``(3) in 1929, an Executive Order deleted 50,000 acres of 
        land from the Norton Bay Reservation;
            ``(4) the lands were deleted from the Reservation for the 
        benefit of others;
            ``(5) the deleted lands were not available to the Native 
        inhabitants of Elim under section 19(b) of this Act at the time 
        of passage of this Act;
            ``(6) the deletion of these lands has been and continues to 
        be a source of deep concern to the indigenous people of Elim; 
        and
            ``(7) until this matter is dealt with, it will continue to 
        be a source of great frustration and sense of loss among the 
        shareholders of the Elim Native Corporation and their 
        descendants.
    ``(b) Withdrawal and Availability for Selection.--The lands 
described in subsection (c) are withdrawn, subject to valid existing 
rights, from all forms of appropriation or disposition under the public 
land laws, including the mining and mineral leasing laws, for a period 
of 2 years from the date of enactment of this section, for selection by 
the Elim Native Corporation.
    ``(c) Lands Described.--The lands described in this section are 
within the boundary of a parcel of land in the vicinity of Elim, 
Alaska, more particularly depicted and designated `Temporary Withdrawal 
Area' on the map dated October 19, 1999, on file with the Bureau of 
Land Management, and entitled Land Withdrawal Elim Native Corporation.
    ``(d) Authorization To Select and Receive Title to Lands; 
Reservation of Easements.--The Elim Native Corporation is authorized to 
select and receive title to 50,000 acres of lands within the boundary 
of the lands described in subsection (c). The Secretary is authorized 
and directed to receive and adjudicate a selection application filed by 
the Elim Native Corporation, and to convey the surface and subsurface 
estate in the selected lands to the Elim Native Corporation subject to 
the following rules, conditions, and limitations:
            ``(1) The Elim Native Corporation shall have 2 years from 
        the date of the enactment of this section in which to file its 
selection of no more than 60,000 acres of land from the area described 
in subsection (c). The selection application shall be filed with the 
Bureau of Land Management, shall describe a single tract adjacent to 
U.S. Survey No. 2548, Alaska, and shall be reasonably compact, 
contiguous, and in whole sections except when separated by unavailable 
land or when the remaining entitlement is less than a whole section. 
The Elim Native Corporation shall prioritize its selections made 
pursuant to this section at the time such selections are filed, and 
such prioritization shall be irrevocable. Any lands selected shall 
remain withdrawn until conveyed or full entitlement has been achieved.
            ``(2)(A) The selection filed by the Elim Native Corporation 
        pursuant to this section shall be subject to valid existing 
        rights and may not supercede prior selections of the State of 
        Alaska, any Native corporation, or valid entries of any private 
        individual unless such selection or entry is relinquished prior 
        to any selection by the Elim Native Corporation. Any lands held 
        within the exterior boundaries of lands conveyed to the Elim 
        Native Corporation shall have all rights of ingress and egress 
        to be vested in the inholder and the inholder's agents, 
        employees, co-venturers, licensees, or subsequent grantees, and 
        such easements shall be reserved in the conveyance to the Elim 
        Native Corporation. Public Land Order 5563 of December 16, 
        1975, is hereby modified to extend to the lands withdrawn 
        pursuant to this section and the Secretary is authorized, at 
        the Secretary's discretion, to permit selections and 
        conveyances of hot or medicinal springs (referred to herein as 
        `hot springs') pursuant to this section.
            ``(B) If any lands are conveyed to Elim Native Corporation 
        which are also subject to withdrawal for hot springs under this 
        section, there shall be in the conveyance the following rights 
        reserved to the United States, covenants, and conditions:
                    ``(i) The right of ingress and egress over 
                easements under 17(b) of this Act for the public to 
                visit the hot springs for noncommercial purposes and to 
                use any part of the hot springs that is not 
                commercially developed.
                    ``(ii) The right of the United States to enter upon 
                the lands for the purpose of conducting scientific 
                research and to use the results of such research 
                without compensation to Elim Native Corporation.
                    ``(iii) A covenant running with the land that 
                commercial development of the hot springs by Elim 
                Native Corporation or its successors, assigns, or 
                grantees shall include the right to develop a maximum 
                of 15 percent of the land upon which the hot springs 
                are located and the land within \1/4\ mile of the land 
                upon which the hot springs are located. Such commercial 
                development shall not alter the natural hydrologic or 
                thermal system associated with the hot springs and not 
                less than 85 percent of the lands within \1/4\ mile of 
                the hot springs shall be left in its natural state.
            ``(C) Elim Native Corporation shall have the right to 
        conduct scientific research on the conveyance lands, including 
        the hot springs, and to use the results of such research 
        without compensation to the United States.
            ``(D) The Secretary is authorized to negotiate with Elim 
        Native Corporation a memorandum of understanding to implement 
        the provisions of this paragraph.
            ``(E) The following covenants, terms, and conditions with 
        respect to the conveyance lands shall be incorporated into the 
        interim conveyance and patent, if any, conveying the lands to 
        Elim Native Corporation:
                    ``(i) Upon receipt of the conveyance lands, Elim 
                shall have all legal rights and privileges as 
                landowner, other than reservations, covenants, and 
                conditions specified in this subsection and in the 
                Memorandum of Understanding.
                    ``(ii) Elim Native Corporation shall not engage in 
                or allow Commercial Timber Harvesting on the conveyance 
                lands. `Commercial Timber Harvesting' means--
                            ``(I) cutting and removing from the Elim 
                        Native Corporation lands Merchantable Timber 
                        for sale; and
                            ``(II) constructing roads and related 
                        infrastructure for the support thereof. 
                        `Merchantable Timber' means timber that can be 
                        harvested and marketed by a prudent operator.
                    ``(iii) To accomplish the purpose of this 
                subsection, the following rights are retained by the 
                United States:
                            ``(I) To enter upon the conveyance lands, 
                        after providing reasonable advance notice in 
                        writing to Elim Native Corporation, and after 
                        providing Elim Native Corporation with a 
                        reasonable opportunity to have a representative 
                        present upon such entry in order to achieve the 
                        purpose and enforce the terms of this 
                        subsection.
                            ``(II) To have all rights and remedies 
                        available against persons who cut or remove 
                        Merchantable Timber with no lawful right to do 
                        so in addition to any such rights held by Elim 
                        Native Corporation.
                            ``(III) In cooperation with Elim Native 
                        Corporation, the right, but not the obligation, 
                        to reforest in the event then-existing 
                        Merchantable Timber is destroyed by fire, wind, 
                        insects, disease, or other similar manmade or 
                        natural occurrence (excluding manmade 
                        occurrences resulting from the exercise by Elim 
                        Native Corporation of its lawful rights to use 
                        the conveyance lands).
                    ``(iv) The foregoing provisions are covenants 
                running with the land.
                    ``(v) Elim Native Corporation shall incorporate the 
                terms of this subsection in any deed or other legal 
                instrument by which it divests itself of any interest 
                in all or a portion of the conveyance lands, including 
                without limitation a leasehold interest.
                    ``(vi) The covenants, terms, conditions, and 
                restrictions of this subsection are covenants running 
                with the land and shall be binding upon Elim Native 
                Corporation and the United States, their successors and 
                assigns.
                    ``(vii) Appropriate administration and enforcement 
                provisions shall be incorporated into the Memorandum of 
                Understanding authorized by this subsection.
                    ``(viii) The United States shall retain the right 
                of prosecutorial discretion without waiver of any such 
                reservations, covenants, or conditions, in the 
                enforcement of any reservation, covenant, or condition.
            ``(3) The Bureau of Land Management shall reserve easements 
        to the United States for the benefit of the public pursuant to 
        section 17(b) of this Act in the conveyance to the Elim Native 
        Corporation.
            ``(4) The Bureau of Land Management may reserve an easement 
        for the Iditarod National Historic Trail in the conveyance to 
        the Elim Native Corporation.
    ``(e) Finality of Selections.--Selection by the Elim Native 
Corporation of lands under subsection (d) and final conveyance of those 
lands to Elim Native Corporation shall constitute full satisfaction of 
any claim of entitlement of the Elim Native Corporation with respect to 
its land entitlements under section 19(b).
    ``(f) Implementation.--There are authorized to be appropriated such 
sums as may be necessary to implement this section.''.

SEC. 2. COMMON STOCK TO ADOPTED-OUT DESCENDANTS.

    Section 7(h)(1)(C)(iii) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 
(43 U.S.C. 1606(h)(1)(C)(iii)) is amended by inserting before the 
period at the end the following: ``, notwithstanding an adoption, 
relinquishment, or termination of parental rights that may have altered 
or severed the legal relationship between the gift donor and 
recipient''.

SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF SETTLEMENT TRUST.

    Section 3(t)(2) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 
U.S.C. 1602(t)(2)) is amended by striking ``sole'' and all that follows 
through ``Stock'' and inserting ``benefit of shareholders, Natives, and 
descendants of Natives,''.