[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1325 Engrossed in Senate (ES)]
107th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 1325
_______________________________________________________________________
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withdrawn for use by the United States Navy for military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 U.S. 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 the 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 U.S. 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.
Passed the Senate August 1, 2002.
Attest:
Secretary.
107th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 1325
_______________________________________________________________________
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.