[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1325 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
S.1325
One Hundred Seventh Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the twenty-third day of January, two thousand and two
An Act
To ratify an agreement between The Aleut Corporation and the United
States of America to exchange land rights received under the Alaska
Native Claims Settlement Act for certain land interests on Adak Island,
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. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that:
(1) Adak Island is an isolated island located 1,200 miles
southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, between the Pacific Ocean and the
Bering Sea. The Island, with its unique physical and biological
features, including a deep water harbor and abundant marine-
associated wildlife, was recognized early for both its natural and
military values. In 1913, Adak Island was reserved and set aside as
a Preserve because of its value to seabirds, marine mammals, and
fisheries. Withdrawals of portions of Adak Island for various
military purposes date back to 1901 and culminated in the 1959
withdrawal of approximately half of the Island for use by the
Department of the Navy for military purposes.
(2) By 1990, military development on Adak Island supported a
community of 6,000 residents. Outside of the Adak Naval Complex,
there was no independent community on Adak Island.
(3) As a result of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act
of 1990 (104 Stat. 1808), as amended, the Adak Naval Complex has
been closed by the Department of Defense.
(4) The Aleut Corporation is an Alaskan Native Regional
Corporation incorporated in the State of Alaska pursuant to the
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), as amended (43 U.S.C.
1601, et seq.). The Aleut Corporation represents the indigenous
people of the Aleutian Islands who prior to the Russian exploration
and settlement of the Aleutian Islands were found throughout the
Aleutian Islands which includes Adak Island.
(5) None of Adak Island was available for selection by The
Aleut Corporation under section 14(h)(8) of ANCSA (43 U.S.C.
1613(h)(8)) because it was part of a National Wildlife Refuge and
because the portion comprising the Adak Naval Complex was withdrawn
for use by the United States Navy for military purposes prior to
the passage of ANCSA in December 1971.
(6) The Aleut Corporation is attempting to establish a
community on Adak and has offered to exchange ANCSA land selections
and entitlements for conveyance of certain lands and interests
therein on a portion of Adak formerly occupied by the Navy.
(7) Removal of a portion of the Adak Island land from refuge
status will be offset by the acquisition of high quality wildlife
habitat in other Aleut Corporation selections within the Alaska
Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, maintaining a resident human
population on Adak to control caribou, and making possible a
continued United States Fish and Wildlife Service presence in that
remote location to protect the natural resources of the Aleutian
Islands Unit of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.
(8) It is in the public interest to promote reuse of the Adak
Island lands by exchanging certain lands for lands selected by The
Aleut Corporation elsewhere in the Alaska Maritime National
Wildlife Refuge. Experience with environmental problems associated
with formerly used defense sites in the State of Alaska suggests
that the most effective and efficient way to avoid future
environmental problems on Adak is to support and encourage active
reuse of Adak.
SEC. 2. RATIFICATION OF AGREEMENT.
The document entitled the ``Agreement Concerning the Conveyance of
Property at the Adak Naval Complex'' (hereinafter ``the Agreement''),
and dated September 20, 2000, executed by The Aleut Corporation, the
Department of the Interior and the Department of the Navy, together
with any technical amendments or modifications to the boundaries that
may be agreed to by the parties is hereby ratified, confirmed, and
approved and the terms, conditions, procedures, covenants,
reservations, indemnities and other provisions set forth in the
Agreement are declared to be obligations and commitments of the United
States and The Aleut Corporation: Provided, That modifications to the
maps and legal descriptions of lands to be removed from the National
Wildlife Refuge System within the military withdrawal on Adak Island
set forth in Public Land Order 1949 may be made only upon agreement of
all Parties to the Agreement and notification given to the Committee on
Resources of the United States House of Representatives and the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United States Senate:
Provided further, That the acreage conveyed to the United States by The
Aleut Corporation under the Agreement, as modified, shall be at least
36,000 acres.
SEC. 3. REMOVAL OF LANDS FROM REFUGE.
Effective on the date of conveyance to The Aleut Corporation of the
Adak Exchange Lands as described in the Agreement, all such lands shall
be removed from the National Wildlife Refuge System and shall neither
be considered as part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge
nor be subject to any laws pertaining to lands within the boundaries of
the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, including the conveyance
restrictions imposed by section 22(g) of ANCSA (43 U.S.C. 1621(g)), for
land in the National Wildlife Refuge System. The Secretary shall adjust
the boundaries of the Refuge so as to exclude all interests in lands
and land rights, surface and subsurface, received by The Aleut
Corporation in accordance with this Act and the Agreement.
SEC. 4. ALASKA NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT.
Lands and interests therein exchanged and conveyed by the United
States pursuant to this Act shall be considered and treated as
conveyances of lands or interests therein under the Alaska Native
Claims Settlement Act, except that receipt of such lands and interests
therein shall not constitute a sale or disposition of land or interests
received pursuant to such Act. The public easements for access to
public lands and waters reserved pursuant to the Agreement are deemed
to satisfy the requirements and purposes of section 17(b) of the Alaska
Native Claims Settlement Act.
SEC. 5. REACQUISITION OF LANDS.
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to acquire by purchase
or exchange, on a willing seller basis only, any land conveyed to The
Aleut Corporation under the Agreement and this Act. In the event any of
the lands are subsequently acquired by the United States, they shall be
automatically included in the Refuge System. The laws and regulations
applicable to Refuge lands shall then apply to these lands and the
Secretary shall then adjust the boundaries accordingly.
SEC. 6. GENERAL.
(a) Nothwithstanding the Federal Property and Administrative
Services Act of 1949, as amended (40 U.S.C. 483-484) and the Defense
Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990, as amended (10 U.S.C. 2687),
and for the purposes of the transfer of property authorized by this
Act, Department of Navy personal property that remains on Adak Island
is deemed related to the real property and shall be conveyed by the
Department of the Navy to The Aleut Corporation at no additional cost
when the related real property is conveyed by the Department of the
Interior.
(b) The Secretary of the Interior shall convey to The Aleut
Corporation those lands identified in the Agreement as the former
landfill sites without charge to The Aleut Corporation's entitlement
under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
(c) Any property, including, but not limited to, appurtenances and
improvements, received pursuant to this Act shall, for purposes of
section 21(d) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, as amended,
and section 907(d) of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation
Act, as amended, be treated as not developed until such property is
actually occupied, leased (other than leases for nominal consideration
to public entities) or sold by The Aleut Corporation, or, in the case
of a lease or other transfer by The Aleut Corporation to a wholly owned
development subsidiary, actually occupied, leased, or sold by the
subsidiary.
(d) Upon conveyance to The Aleut Corporation of the lands described
in Appendix A of the Agreement, the lands described in Appendix C of
the Agreement will become unavailable for selection under ANCSA.
(e) The maps included as part of Appendix A to the Agreement depict
the lands to be conveyed to The Aleut Corporation. The maps shall be
left on file at the Region 7 Office of the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service and the offices of Alaska Maritime National Wildlife
Refuge in Homer, Alaska. The written legal descriptions of the lands to
be conveyed to The Aleut Corporation are also part of Appendix A. In
case of any discrepancies, the maps shall be controlling.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.