[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4579 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.4579

                       One Hundred Sixth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

           Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,
             the twenty-fourth day of January, two thousand


                                 An Act


 
 To provide for the exchange of certain lands within the State of Utah.

    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 ``Utah West Desert Land Exchange Act 
of 2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
        (1) The State of Utah owns approximately 95,095.19 acres of 
    land, as well as approximately 11,187.60 acres of mineral 
    interests, located in the West Desert region of Utah and contained 
    wholly or partially within certain wilderness study areas created 
    pursuant to section 603 of the Federal Lands Policy and Management 
    Act of 1976, or proposed by the Bureau of Land Management for 
    wilderness study area status pursuant to section 202 of that Act. 
    These lands were granted by the Congress to the State of Utah 
    pursuant to the Utah Enabling Act of 1894 (chapter 138; 23 Stat. 
    107), to be held in trust for the benefit of the State's public 
    school system and other public institutions. The lands are largely 
    scattered in checkerboard fashion amidst the Federal lands 
    comprising the remainder of such existing and proposed wilderness 
    study areas.
        (2) Development of surface and mineral resources on State trust 
    lands within existing or proposed wilderness study areas, or the 
    sale of such lands into private ownership, could be incompatible 
    with management of such lands for nonimpairment of their wilderness 
    characteristics pursuant to section 603(c) of the Federal Land 
    Policy and Management Act of 1976 or with future congressional 
    designation of the lands as wilderness.
        (3) The United States owns lands and interests in lands outside 
    of existing and proposed wilderness study areas that can be 
    transferred to the State of Utah in exchange for the West Desert 
    wilderness inholdings without jeopardizing Federal management 
    objectives or needs.
        (4) The large presence of State trust land inholdings in 
    existing and proposed wilderness study areas in the West Desert 
    region makes land and resource management in these areas difficult, 
    costly, and controversial for both the State of Utah and the United 
    States.
        (5) It is in the public interest to reach agreement on exchange 
    of such inholdings, on terms fair to both the State of Utah and the 
    United States. Such an agreement, subject to ratification by the 
    Congress, would save much time and delay in meeting the legitimate 
    expectations of the State school and institutional trusts, in 
    simplifying management of Federal lands, and in avoiding the 
    significant time and expense associated with administrative land 
    exchanges.
        (6) The State of Utah and the United States have reached an 
    agreement under which the State would exchange certain State trust 
    lands within specified wilderness study areas and areas identified 
    as having wilderness characteristics in the West Desert region for 
    various Federal lands and interests in lands outside of those areas 
    but in the same region of Utah. The agreement also provides for the 
    State to convey to the United States approximately 483 acres of 
    land in Washington County, Utah, that has been designated as 
    critical habitat for the Desert Tortoise, a threatened species, for 
    inclusion in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve.
        (7) Because the inholdings to be acquired by the Federal 
    Government include properties within some of the most spectacular 
    wild areas in the western United States, and because a mission of 
    the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration is to 
    produce economic benefits for Utah's public schools and other 
    beneficiary institutions, the exchange of lands called for in this 
    agreement will resolve longstanding environmental conflicts with 
    respect to the existing and proposed wilderness study areas, place 
    important natural lands into public ownership, and further the 
    interests of the State trust lands, the school children of Utah, 
    and these conservation resources.
        (8) Under this agreement taken as a whole, the State interests 
    to be conveyed to the United States by the State of Utah, and the 
    Federal interests to be conveyed to the State of Utah by the United 
    States, will be approximately equal in value.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to enact into law and 
direct prompt implementation of this agreement, and thereby to further 
the public interest by consolidating State and Federal lands into 
manageable units while facilitating the protection of lands with 
significant scientific, cultural, and natural resources.

SEC. 3. RATIFICATION OF THE AGREED EXCHANGE BETWEEN THE STATE OF UTAH 
              AND THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR.

    (a) Agreement.--The State of Utah and the Department of the 
Interior have agreed to exchange certain Federal lands and mineral 
interests in the State of Utah for lands and mineral interests of 
approximately equal value managed by the Utah School and Institutional 
Trust Lands Administration wholly or partially within certain existing 
and proposed wilderness study areas in the West Desert region of Utah.
    (b) Ratification.--All terms, conditions, procedures, covenants, 
reservations, and other provisions set forth in the document entitled 
``Agreement for Exchange of Lands--West Desert State-Federal Land 
Consolidation'', dated May 30, 2000 (in this Act referred to as ``the 
Agreement''), are hereby incorporated in this Act, are ratified and 
confirmed, and set forth the obligations of the United States, the 
State of Utah, and the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands 
Administration, as a matter of Federal law.
    (c) Condition.--Before exchanging any lands under this Act, the 
Secretary of the Interior and the State of Utah shall each document in 
a statement of value how the determination of approximately equal value 
was made in accordance with section 206(h) of the Federal Land Policy 
and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716(h)), provided that the 
provisions of paragraph (1)(A) of section 206(h) of such Act shall not 
apply. In addition, the Secretary and the State shall select an 
independent qualified appraiser who shall review the statements of 
value as prepared by the Secretary and the State of Utah and all 
documentation and determine if the lands are of approximately equal 
value. If there is a finding of a difference in value, then the 
Secretary and the State shall adjust the exchange to achieve 
approximately equal value.

SEC. 4. CONVEYANCES.

    (a) Conveyances.--All conveyances under sections 2 and 3 of the 
Agreement shall be completed within 70 days after the date on which the 
condition set forth in section 3(c) is met.
    (b) Maps and Legal Descriptions.--
        (1) In general.--The maps and legal descriptions referred to in 
    the Agreement depict the lands subject to the conveyances under the 
    Agreement.
        (2) Public availability.--The maps and descriptions referred to 
    in the Agreement shall be on file and available for public 
    inspection in the offices of the Secretary of the Interior and the 
    Utah State Director of the Bureau of Land Management.
        (3) Conflict.--In case of any conflict between the maps and the 
    legal descriptions in the Agreement, the legal descriptions shall 
    control.

SEC. 5. COSTS.

    The United States and the State of Utah shall each bear its own 
respective costs incurred in the implementation of this Act.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

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