[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.