[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 953 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 953

 To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain land in the 
           State of South Dakota to the Terry Peak Ski Area.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 4, 1999

  Mr. Johnson (for himself and Mr. Daschle) introduced the following 
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain land in the 
           State of South Dakota to the Terry Peak Ski Area.

    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 Conveyance Act of 
1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) certain land in the National Forest system located in 
        the Black Hills National Forest in Lawrence County, South 
        Dakota, is permitted to the Terry Peak Ski Area by the 
        Secretary of Agriculture under the National Forest Ski Area 
        Permit Act of 1986 (16 U.S.C. 497b);
            (2) the Forest land comprises only 10 percent of the land 
        at the Ski Area, and the remaining 90 percent of land at the 
        Ski Area is owned by the Ski Area operator;
            (3) the small percentage of Forest land at the Ski Area--
                    (A) is encumbered by ski lifts and trails, a base 
                lodge, a parking lot, and other privately-owned 
                improvements;
                    (B) serves little purpose in continued public 
                ownership; and
                    (C) should be conveyed to the Ski Area to unify 
                land management and eliminate permitting and related 
                administrative costs to the United States;
            (4) the Ski Area is interested in acquiring the land from 
        the United States;
            (5) the Secretary lacks the administrative authority to 
        convey the land in a non-simultaneous land exchange absent 
        specific authorization from Congress;
            (6) the Forest contains several small inholdings of 
        undeveloped private land with multiple landowners that--
                    (A) complicate the management of Forest land; and
                    (B) may be acquired by the United States from 
                willing sellers if funds for the acquisition of the 
                land are made available to the Secretary;
            (7) the proceeds from the Terry Peak conveyance would 
        provide a modest, but readily available and flexible source of 
        funds that may be used by the Secretary to acquire certain 
        inholdings in the Forest from willing sellers;
            (8) due to the small and scattered nature of the inholdings 
        of private land in the Forest and the number of potential 
        sellers involved, the Secretary could acquire the inholdings 
        more quickly and efficiently by purchasing them directly rather 
        than acquiring the inholdings through administrative land 
        exchanges; and
            (9) it is in the public interest to--
                    (A) convey the Forest land at Terry Peak to the Ski 
                Area at fair market value; and
                    (B) use the proceeds of the conveyance to acquire 
                more desirable land for addition to the Forest for 
                permanent public use and enjoyment.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are to--
            (1) authorize and direct the conveyance of certain Forest 
        land at the Ski Area to the Ski Area; and
            (2) to use the proceeds of the conveyance to acquire more 
        desirable land for the United States for permanent public use 
        and enjoyment.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Forest.--The term ``Forest'' means the Black Hills 
        National Forest in the State of South Dakota.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture.
            (3) Selected land.--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 the map entitled ``Terry Peak 
        Land Conveyance'', dated March, 1999.
            (4) Ski area.--The term ``Ski Area'' means--
                    (A) the Terry Peak Ski Area of the Black Hills 
                Chairlift Company, a South Dakota Corporation; or
                    (B) the successors, heirs, and assigns of the 
                entity described in subparagraph (A).

SEC. 4. LAND CONVEYANCE.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall convey the selected land to 
the Ski Area at fair market value as determined by the Secretary under 
subsection (b).
    (b) Appraisal.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall determine the value of 
        the selected land by using nationally recognized appraisal 
        standards, including, to the extent appropriate--
                    (A) the uniform appraisal standards for Federal 
                land acquisitions;
                    (B) the uniform standards of professional appraisal 
                practice; and
                    (C) other applicable law.
            (2) Costs.--As a condition of the conveyance under this 
        section, the Ski Area shall pay all costs of the appraisal.
    (c) Completion.--The conveyance under this section shall be 
completed not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 
Act, unless the Secretary and the Ski Area agree to postpone the 
completion date.
    (d) Other Law.--Prior to completing the conveyance under this 
section, the Secretary shall complete standard pre-disposal analyses 
and obtain necessary permits and clearances pertaining to--
            (1) threatened and endangered species;
            (2) cultural and historic resources;
            (3) wetland and floodplains; and
            (4) hazardous materials.
    (e) Use of Proceeds.--All funds received by the Secretary under 
this Act shall be--
            (1) considered to be funds received and deposited under the 
        Public Law 90-171 (16 U.S.C. 484a); and
            (2) used by the Secretary to acquire replacement land from 
        willing sellers for addition to the Forest.
    (f) Land Acquired.--
            (1) In general.--Any land acquired under subsection (e)(2) 
        shall be added to and administered as part of the Forest.
            (2) Boundary.--
                    (A) In general.--If any land acquired under 
                subsection (e)(2) lies outside the exterior boundary of 
                the Forest, the Secretary may modify the boundary of 
                the Forest to include the acquired land.
                    (B) No effect on other law.--Nothing in this 
                section limits the authority of the Secretary to adjust 
                the boundaries of the Forest in accordance with section 
                11 of the Act of March 1, 1911 (36 Stat. 963, chapter 
                186; 16 U.S.C. 500).
    (g) Valid Existing Rights; Easements.--The conveyance under this 
section shall be subject to valid rights, easements (including utility 
easements), rights-of-way, and any other right, title, or interest of 
record on the selected land existing on the date of the conveyance of 
the selected land to the Ski Area.
                                 <all>