[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1686 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1686

  To provide for the conveyances of land interests to Chugach Alaska 
 Corporation to fulfill the intent, purpose, and promise of the Alaska 
         Native Claims Settlement Act, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 5, 1999

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for the conveyances of land interests to Chugach Alaska 
 Corporation to fulfill the intent, purpose, and promise of the Alaska 
         Native Claims Settlement Act, 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 ``Chugach Alaska Natives Settlement 
Implementation Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions apply:
            (1) The term ``ANCSA'' means the Alaska Native Claims 
        Settlement Act, as amended (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.).
            (2) The term ``ANILCA'' means the Alaska National Interest 
        Lands Conservation Act of 1980, as amended (16 U.S.C. 3101 et 
        seq.).

                      TITLE I--EASEMENT FOR ACCESS

SEC. 101. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) Chugach Alaska Corporation, formerly known as Chugach 
        Natives, Inc., is the Alaska Native Regional Corporation 
        organized under the authority of ANCSA for the Chugach people 
        in the Chugach region;
            (2) ANCSA promised the Chugach people a fair and just 
        settlement of their aboriginal claims to lands and waters in 
        Alaska;
            (3) pursuant to section 1430 of ANILCA, the Secretary of 
        the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the State of 
        Alaska, and Chugach Alaska Corporation were directed to study 
        land ownership in and around the Chugach region for the 
        purposes of--
                    (A) providing a fair and just land settlement for 
                the Chugach people and realizing the intent, purpose, 
                and promise of ANCSA by Chugach Alaska Corporation; and
                    (B) identifying lands that, to the maximum extent 
                possible, are of the like, kind, and character of those 
                traditionally used and occupied by the Chugach people, 
                and, to the maximum extent possible, are coastal 
                accessible and economically viable;
            (4) on September 17, 1982, the aforementioned parties 
        entered into the 1982 Chugach Natives, Inc. Settlement 
        Agreement in order to set forth a fair and just land settlement 
        for the Chugach people pursuant to the study directed by 
        Congress, which among its many provisions--
                    (A) required the United States to convey to Chugach 
                Alaska Corporation not more than 73,308 acres of land 
                in the vicinity of Carbon Mountain, which tract of land 
                contains significant natural resources, but is 
                inaccessible by road;
                    (B) granted Chugach Alaska Corporation rights-of-
                way across Chugach National Forest to such tract of 
                land, and required the United States to grant to 
                Chugach Alaska Corporation an easement for the purpose 
                of constructing, using, and maintaining roads and other 
                facilities necessary for the use and development of 
                that tract of land;
                    (C) required Chugach Alaska Corporation to apply to 
                the Forest Supervisor for Chugach National Forest for 
                conveyance of the easement, and to provide such 
                information as may be prescribed by the Forest 
                Supervisor; and
                    (D) reserved in the United States the right to 
                prepare environmental documents in connection with the 
                easement grant, consistent with the provisions of 
                section 910 of ANILCA, if deemed desirable by the 
                responsible Federal agency;
            (5) on September 11, 1996, the Forest Supervisor deemed 
        preparation of environmental documents for the easement 
        desirable;
            (6) on August 8, 1997, and January 21, 1998, Chugach Alaska 
        Corporation and the United States Forest Service entered into 
        collection agreements, pursuant to which Chugach Alaska 
        Corporation was required to pay to the United States Forest 
        Service the costs of United States Forest Service personnel 
        involvement in the preparation and review of environmental 
        documents and processing of the easement application;
            (7) on March 13, 1998, Chugach Alaska Corporation and the 
        United States Forest Service entered into a Memorandum of 
        Understanding, pursuant to which the parties reached agreement 
        on--
                    (A) the information prescribed by the Forest 
                Supervisor, in a detailed work plan prepared jointly by 
                United States Forest Service and Chugach Alaska 
                Corporation representatives;
                    (B) the process for the preparation and approval of 
                environmental documentation in support of the easement; 
                and
                    (C) the requirement that the United States Forest 
                Service grant an easement to Chugach Alaska Corporation 
                within 45 days after receiving a complete easement 
                application from Chugach Alaska Corporation;
            (8) in furtherance of providing the environmental 
        documentation prescribed by the Forest Supervisor, Chugach 
        Alaska Corporation, at its sole expense--
                    (A) contracted for the performance of field surveys 
                and the preparation of resource reports on the cultural 
                resources, wetlands, threatened, endangered, and 
                sensitive plant and animal species, vegetation, and 
                fish and wildlife in the easement project area, as 
                depicted on the map entitled ``Project Area and 
                Corridor Carbon Mountain Access project 1-14-98'';
                    (B) submitted the resource reports to the United 
                States Forest Service for review and comment, and 
                contracted for further field surveys and reports as and 
                when requested by the United States Forest Service;
                    (C) in conjunction with United States Forest 
                Service biologists, contracted for the performance of 
                field surveys and the preparation of reports for 
                waterfowl, goshawk, and goat kidding areas in the 
                easement project area;
                    (D) contracted for the preparation of bridge 
                designs and hydrological analyses for major crossings 
                within the easement project area, submitted such 
                designs and analyses to the United States Forest 
                Service for review and comment, and modified such 
                designs pursuant to comments received from United 
                States Forest Service specialists;
                    (E) prepared a transportation plan for the easement 
                and road, including maintenance and design standards 
                and an erosion control plan, for review by United 
                States Forest Service engineers and specialists; and
                    (F) contracted for the preparation of a draft road 
                design for field and office review by United States 
                Forest Service engineers and specialists, and for the 
                modification of such design pursuant to comments 
                received by the United States Forest Service;
            (9) in June 1998, an interdisciplinary team of specialists 
        in the fields of fisheries, hydrology, engineering, soils, 
        wildlife, recreation, and visual quality from the United States 
        Forest Service and Chugach Alaska Corporation and its 
        contractors conducted an extensive field review of the easement 
        corridor and road location, the costs of which were borne by 
        Chugach Alaska Corporation, and United States Forest Service 
        specialists concurred with Chugach Alaska Corporation on the 
        location of the easement corridor;
            (10) following the interdisciplinary team review and 
        concurrence, United States Forest Service staff officers, 
        including the Forest Supervisor for the Chugach National 
        Forest, conducted a field review of the road location and 
        affirmed such concurrence;
            (11) on January 12, 1999, the Forest Supervisor determined 
        that Chugach Alaska Corporation had completed all studies and 
        provided adequate documentation to support its easement 
        application;
            (12) on January 19, 1999, Chugach Alaska Corporation 
        submitted the complete easement application, containing all 
        information prescribed by the Forest Supervisor, in a 
        multivolume collection of the extensive field work, reviews, 
        reports, analyses, and modifications performed and relied upon 
        in support of the easement, and entitled ``Documentation in 
        Support of an Easement Application for Road Access Via the 
        Martin River Valley to the Bering River Coal Fields as Granted 
        by the 1982 CNI Settlement Agreement'';
            (13) to date, the United States Forest Service has failed 
        to grant Chugach Alaska Corporation an easement for access to 
        its lands in the vicinity of Carbon Mountain;
            (14) without such easement, the lands conveyed to Chugach 
        Alaska Corporation in the vicinity of Carbon Mountain cannot be 
        utilized or developed in a manner consistent with the intent of 
        Congress as expressed in the ANILCA and ANCSA;
            (15) Chugach Alaska Corporation has incurred considerable 
        expense and delay in its efforts to achieve the fair and just 
        settlement Congress intended and promised to the Chugach people 
        more than 2 decades ago pursuant to ANCSA; and
            (16) the easement requirement under the 1982 Chugach 
        Natives, Inc. Settlement Agreement should be granted without 
        further delay.

SEC. 102. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this title is to provide Chugach Alaska Corporation 
with access to and for the utilization and development of land 
interests in the vicinity of Carbon Mountain that were conveyed to 
Chugach Alaska Corporation pursuant to ANCSA.

SEC. 103. CONVEYANCE.

    Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, as soon as practicable 
but not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 
title, the Secretary of Agriculture shall grant Chugach Alaska 
Corporation a perpetual easement located and having the specifications 
as set forth in the ``Documentation in Support of an Easement 
Application for Road Access Via the Martin River Valley to the Bering 
River Coal Fields as Granted by the 1982 CNI Settlement Agreement'', 
for the purposes of facilities described therein.

SEC. 104. EASEMENT.

    Unless otherwise agreed to by the Secretary of Agriculture and 
Chugach Alaska Corporation, the easement granted under section 103 of 
this title shall--
            (1) include sufficient lands for logistical staging areas 
        and construction material sites used for the construction and 
        maintenance of a single-lane forest road; and
            (2) include the right for Chugach Alaska Corporation, or 
        its assignees to construct, operate, and maintain related 
        facilities and structures within the right-of-way.

SEC. 105. TRANSFER.

    If within 6 months from the date of the enactment of this title the 
Secretary of Agriculture and Chugach Alaska Corporation fail mutually 
to agree on the terms and conditions of the use of the easement, then 
the easement is hereby granted to Chugach Alaska Corporation, and such 
grant shall be deemed as a conveyance pursuant to ANCSA.

              TITLE II--CEMETERY SITES AND HISTORIC PLACES

SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this title, the following definitions apply:
            (1) The term ``Federal Government'' means any Federal 
        agency of the United States .
            (2) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the 
        Interior.

SEC. 202. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Pursuant to section 14(h)(1) of ANCSA, the Secretary 
        has the authority to withdraw and convey to the appropriate 
        regional corporation fee title to existing cemetery sites and 
        historical places.
            (2) Pursuant to section 14(h)(7) of ANCSA, lands located 
        within a National Forest may be conveyed for the purposes set 
        forth in section 14(h)(1) of ANCSA.
            (3) Chugach Alaska Corporation, the Alaska Native Regional 
        Corporation for the Chugach Region, applied to the Secretary 
        for the conveyance of cemetery sites and historical places 
        pursuant to section 14(h)(1) of ANCSA in accordance with the 
        regulations promulgated by the Secretary.
            (4) Pursuant to such regulations, Village Corporation 
        selections were given priority over Regional Corporation 
        selections for the same lands.
            (5) Chugach Alaska Corporation's section 14(h)(1) 
        applications for lands that were selected by and conveyed to 
        Village Corporations in the Chugach Region were either 
        withdrawn by Chugach Alaska Corporation or denied by the 
        Secretary.
            (6) As part of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Restoration 
        Program, the Federal Government has acquired and is in the 
        process of acquiring lands from Village Corporations in the 
        Chugach Region that Chugach Alaska Corporation applied for 
        pursuant to section 14(h)(1) of ANCSA and lands from other 
        private parties in the Chugach Region that contain cemetery 
        sites and historical places.
            (7) The fulfillment of the intent, purpose, and promise of 
        ANCSA requires that lands Chugach Alaska Corporation selected 
        or would have selected under section 14(h)(1) of ANCSA and that 
        were subsequently acquired by the Federal Government should be 
        made available for conveyance to Chugach Alaska Corporation as 
        cemetery sites and historical places pursuant to section 
        14(h)(1) of ANCSA, subject only to a determination that such 
        lands meet the eligibility criteria for historical places or 
        cemetery sites, as appropriate, set forth in the Secretary's 
        regulations.

SEC. 203. WITHDRAWAL OF LANDS.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall 
withdraw from all forms of appropriation--
            (1) all public lands for which Chugach Alaska Corporation 
        filed an application for conveyance pursuant to section 
        14(h)(1) of ANCSA as a cemetery site or an historical place, 
        and such application was denied because the land was selected 
        by and conveyed to a Village Corporation; and
            (2) all lands that the Federal Government acquired or 
        hereafter acquires from Village Corporations or other private 
        parties in the Chugach Region in connection with the Exxon 
        Valdez Oil Spill Restoration Program.

SEC. 204. APPLICATION FOR CONVEYANCE OF WITHDRAWN LANDS.

    Chugach Alaska Corporation shall apply to the Secretary for the 
conveyance of lands as cemetery sites or historical places under 
section 14(h)(1) of ANCSA as follows:
            (1) With respect to lands withdrawn pursuant to subsection 
        203(1) of this title, by filing with the Secretary a request 
        for reinstatement of its original application, together with 
        any amendments authorized under section 205 of this title.
            (2) With respect to lands withdrawn pursuant to subsection 
        203(2) of this title, for which Chugach Alaska Corporation has 
        not filed an application under section 14(h)(1) of ANCSA with 
        the Secretary, by filing with the Secretary an application in 
        accordance with the regulations promulgated by the Secretary as 
        of the date of enactment of this title.
The Secretary shall accept all such requests filed within the periods 
set forth in section 207 of this title.

SEC. 205. AMENDMENTS.

    Chugach Alaska Corporation may amend original applications filed 
with the Secretary for the conveyance of lands pursuant to section 
14(h)(1) of ANCSA--
            (1) to include lands withdrawn pursuant to section 203 of 
        this title which are adjacent to lands Chugach Alaska 
        Corporation selected in its original application and that 
        Chugach Alaska Corporation deems culturally important and 
        potentially eligible as a cemetery site or historical place; 
        and
            (2) to cure technical defects.

SEC. 206. PROCEDURE FOR EVALUATING AND CONVEYING SELECTED LANDS.

    The lands selected by Chugach Alaska Corporation pursuant to 
sections 204 and 205 of this title shall be evaluated for their 
eligibility as cemetery sites and historical places, as appropriate, 
and conveyed to Chugach Alaska Corporation, in accordance with the 
criteria and procedures set forth in the regulations promulgated by the 
Secretary as of the date of the enactment of this title. To the extent 
that such criteria and procedures conflict with any provision of this 
title, the provisions of this title shall control.

SEC. 207. REINSTATEMENT PERIOD.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, Chugach Alaska 
Corporation shall have--
            (1) 1 year from the date of enactment of this title to file 
        a request for reinstement under subsection 204(1) of this 
        title, together with any amendments authorized under section 
        205 of this title; and
            (2) 4 years from the date of recording the conveyance 
        document for any Federal acquisition of lands to file an 
        application under subsection 204(2) of this title.

SEC. 208. APPLICABILITY.

    This title shall apply to all Federal acquisitions of the lands 
described in section 203 of this title, whether occurring prior to or 
after the date of enactment of this title.

                TITLE III--FOREST SYSTEM LAND MANAGEMENT

SEC. 301. DEFINITION.

    For the purposes of this title, the term ``Alaska Native 
Corporation'' means a ``Native Corporation'' as that term is defined in 
section 3(m) of ANCSA, as amended (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.).

SEC. 302. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
    (1) pursuant to ANCSA and ANILCA, Alaska Native Corporations own 
hundreds of thousands of acres of land intermingled with, adjacent to, 
or dependent for access upon National Forest System lands in Alaska;
            (2) the United States Forest Service, in a letter dated 
        June 30, 1998, to Chugach Alaska Corporation, the Alaska Native 
        Regional Corporation for the Chugach Region established under 
        ANCSA, disclaimed any legal obligation to coordinate the 
        revision of the Chugach National Forest land and resource 
        management plan with the plans of Alaska Native Corporations 
        for the utilization of their lands and resources;
            (3) the uncoordinated development, maintenance, or revision 
        of land and resource management plans for units of the National 
        Forest System and Alaska adversely affects the use, 
        development, and value of the lands and resources conveyed to 
        Alaska Native Corporations under ANCSA and ANILCA; and
            (4) the proper management of National Forest System lands 
        in Alaska and the fulfillment of the intent, purpose, and 
        promise of ANCSA require coordination in the development, 
        maintenance, and revision of land and resource management plans 
        for units of the National Forest System in Alaska with the 
        plans of Alaska Native Corporations for the utilization 
of their lands which are intermingled with, adjacent to, or dependent 
upon for access National Forest System lands.

SEC. 303. COORDINATION REQUIRED.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of 
Agriculture shall coordinate the development, maintenance, and revision 
of land and resource management plans for units of the National Forest 
System in Alaska with the plans of Alaska Native Corporations for the 
utilization of their lands which are intermingled with, adjacent to, or 
dependent for access upon National Forest System lands. At a minimum, 
such coordination shall involve--
            (1) notifying Alaska Native Corporations in advance of the 
        development, maintenance, or revision of a land and resource 
        management plan for a unit of the National Forest System in 
        Alaska;
            (2) meeting with Alaska Native Corporations at the 
        beginning of the plan preparation, maintenance, or revision 
        process to develop procedures for coordination;
            (3) reviewing the plans of Alaska Native Corporations for 
        the utilization of their lands and resources;
            (4) assessing the impacts of Alaska Native Corporation land 
        use plans on National Forest land and resource management 
        planning, and determining how to address those impacts; and
            (5) identifying conflicts between National Forest land and 
        resource management plans and the land use plans of Alaska 
        Native Corporations, and considering alternatives for resolving 
        those conflicts.

SEC. 304. APPLICABILITY.

    This title shall apply to all land and resource management plans 
for units of the National Forest System in Alaska--
            (1) in the process of being developed or revised on the 
        date of enactment of this title; and
            (2) developed, maintained, or revised after the date of 
        enactment of this title.
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