[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3958 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3958

  To provide a mechanism for the settlement of claims of the State of 
Utah regarding portions of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge located 
               on the shore of the Great Salt Lake, Utah.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 13, 2002

  Mr. Hansen introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide a mechanism for the settlement of claims of the State of 
Utah regarding portions of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge located 
               on the shore of the Great Salt Lake, 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 ``Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge 
Settlement Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Secretary of the Interior and the State of Utah 
        have negotiated a preliminary agreement concerning the 
        ownership of lands within the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge 
        located in Bear River Bay of the Great Salt Lake, Utah.
            (2) The State is entitled to ownership of those sovereign 
        lands constituting the bed of the Great Salt Lake, and, 
        generally, the location of the sovereign lands boundary was set 
        by an official survey of the Great Salt Lake meander line.
            (3) The establishment of the Refuge in 1928 along the shore 
        of the Great Salt Lake, and lack of a meander line survey 
        within the Refuge, has led to uncertainty of ownership of some 
        those sovereign lands.
            (4) In order to settle the uncertainty concerning the 
        sovereign land boundary caused by the gap in the surveyed Great 
        Salt Lake meander line within the Refuge, the Secretary and the 
        State have agreed to the establishment of a fixed sovereign 
        land boundary along the southern boundary of the Refuge and the 
        State has agreed to release any claim to the lake bed above 
        such boundary line.
            (5) The Secretary and the State have expressed their 
        intentions to establish a mutually agreed upon procedure to 
        address the conflicting claims to ownership of the lands and 
        interests in land within the Refuge.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
            (2) Refuge.--The term ``Refuge'' means the Bear River 
        Migratory Bird Refuge located in Bear River Bay of the Great 
        Salt Lake, Utah.
            (3) Agreement.--The term ``agreement'' means the agreement 
        to be signed by the Secretary and the State to establish a 
        mutually agreeable procedure for addressing the conflicting 
        claims to ownership of the lands and interests in land within 
        the Refuge.
            (4) State.--The term ``State'' means the State of Utah.

SEC. 4. REQUIRED TERMS OF LAND CLAIMS SETTLEMENT, BEAR RIVER MIGRATORY 
              BIRD REFUGE, UTAH.

    (a) Specific Terms Required in Agreement.--The Secretary shall not 
enter into an agreement with the State for the quitclaim or other 
transfer of lands or interests in lands within the Refuge unless the 
terms of the agreement include each of the following provisions:
            (1) Nothing in the agreement shall be construed to impose 
        upon the State or any of agency of the State any obligation to 
        convey to the United States any interest in water owned or 
        controlled by the State, except upon appropriate terms and for 
        adequate consideration.
            (2) Nothing in the agreement shall constitute admission or 
        denial of the United States claim to a Federal reserved water 
        right.
            (3) The State shall support the United States application 
        to add an enlarged Hyrum Reservoir, or another storage 
        facility, as an alternate place of storage under the Refuge's 
        existing 1000 cubic feet per second State certified water 
        right. Such support shall be contingent upon demonstration by 
        the United States that no injury to water rights shall occur as 
        a result of the addition.
            (4) Nothing in the agreement shall affect jurisdiction by 
        the State or the United States Fish and Wildlife Service over 
        wildlife resources management, including fishing, hunting and 
        trapping, within the Refuge.
            (5) If the State elects to bring suit against the United 
        States challenging the validity of the deed issued pursuant to 
        the agreement, and if such suit is successful in invalidating 
        such deed, the State will--
                    (A) pay the United States for the fair market value 
                of all real property improvements on the property at 
                the time of invalidation, such as dikes, water control 
                structures and buildings;
                    (B) repay any amounts paid by the United States 
                because of ownership of the land by the United States 
                from the date of establishment of the Refuge, such as 
                payments in lieu of taxes; and
                    (C) repay any amounts paid to the State pursuant to 
                the agreement.
            (6) Subject to the availability of funds for this purpose, 
        the Secretary shall agree to pay $15,000,000 to the State upon 
        delivery by the State of a quitclaim deed that meets all 
        applicable standards of the Department of Justice and covers 
        all lands and interests in lands claimed by the State within 
        the Refuge. Such payment shall be subject to the condition that 
        the State use the payment for the purposes, and in the amounts, 
        specified in subsections (b) and (c).
    (b) Wetlands and Wildlife Protection Programs.--
            (1) Deposit.--The State shall deposit $10,000,000 of the 
        amount paid pursuant to the agreement, as required by 
        subsection (a)(6), in a restricted account, known as the 
        Wetlands and Habitat Protection Account, to be used as provided 
        in paragraph (2).
            (2) Authorized uses.--The Director of the Utah Department 
        of Natural Resources may withdraw from the Wetlands and Habitat 
        Protection Account, on an annual basis, amounts equal to the 
        interest earned on the amount deposited under paragraph (1) for 
        the following purposes:
                    (A) Wetland or open space protection in and near 
                the Great Salt Lake.
                    (B) Enhancement and acquisition of wildlife habitat 
                in and near the Great Salt Lake.
    (c) Recreational Trails and Streams Development and Expansion.--The 
Utah Department of Natural Resources shall use $5,000,000 of the amount 
paid pursuant to the agreement, as required by subsection (a)(6), for 
the following purposes:
            (1) Development, improvement, and expansion of motorized 
        and non-motorized recreational trails on public and private 
        lands in the State, with priority given to providing trail 
        access to the Great Salt Lake as part of the proposed Shoshone 
        and Ogden-Weber trail systems.
            (2) Preservation, reclamation, enhancement, and 
        conservation of streams in the State.
    (d) Coordination of Projects.--The Director of the Utah Department 
of Natural Resources shall seek to maximize the use of funds under 
subsections (b) and (c) through coordination with nonprofit 
organizations, Federal agencies, other agencies of the State, and local 
governments, and shall give priority to those projects under such 
subsections that include Federal, State, or private matching funds.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated $15,000,000 for the payment required by subsection (a)(6) 
to be included as a term of the agreement.
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