[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1325 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1325

  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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 2, 2001

 Mr. Murkowski introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  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) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 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.
                                 <all>