[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2016 Reported in Senate (RS)]






                                                       Calendar No. 643
107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2016

  To authorize the exchange of lands between an Alaska Native Village 
Corporation and the Department of the Interior, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 14, 2002

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

                            October 8, 2002

              Reported by Mr. Bingaman, with an amendment
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To authorize the exchange of lands between an Alaska Native Village 
Corporation and the Department of the Interior, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

<DELETED>SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    For the purposes of this Act, the term--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) ``Identified lands'' means approximately 5,580 
        acres of lands (including surface and subsurface) designated as 
        ``FWS West'' upon a map entitled ``Proposed Newtok Exchange,'' 
        dated March 17, 2000, and available for inspection in the 
        Anchorage office of the United States Fish and Wildlife 
        Service;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) ``Newtok'' means Newtok Native Corporation, an 
        Alaska Native Corporation established pursuant to the Alaska 
        Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1971 (85 Stat. 688), as 
        amended;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) ``Newtok lands'' means approximately 11,105 
        acres of lands (including conveyed lands and land selections) 
        identified as ``Aknerkochik'' on the map referred to in 
        paragraph (1);</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) ``limited general warranty deed'' means a 
        general warranty deed which is, with respect to its warranties, 
        limited to that portion of the chain of title from the moment 
        of conveyance from the United States to Newtok to and including 
        the moment at which such title is validly reconveyed to the 
        United States of America and its assigns; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (5) ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the 
        Interior.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 2. LANDS TO BE EXCHANGED.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) Lands Exchanged to the United States.--(1) If, after a 
final value is assigned to the Identified lands and to the Newtok 
lands, Newtok expresses to the Secretary in writing an intent to enter 
into a land exchange with the United States, the Secretary shall accept 
from Newtok a conveyance by limited general warranty deed of those 
tracts of the Newtok lands necessary to equalize the value of the 
Identified lands.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (2) A value shall be a final value for purposes of 
paragraph (1) if--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (A) the Secretary has assigned a value to tracts 
        within the Identified lands and the Newtok lands in accordance 
        with section 3 and if all rights to appeal the determination, 
        or to request a review, rehearing, or redetermination of the 
        matter that is the subject of the determination, have been 
        exhausted, have lapsed or have been expressly waived by Newtok; 
        or</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (B) the value is determined by binding arbitration 
        under section 3.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (3) The Newtok lands shall be included in the Yukon Delta 
National Wildlife Refuge as of the date of the acceptance of the 
conveyance of those lands from Newtok, except that residents of the 
Village of Newtok, Alaska shall retain access rights guaranteed under 
the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) section 
811 (16 U.S.C. 3121) for subsistence fishing, hunting and gathering as 
defined in ANILCA section 803 (16 U.S.C. 3113).</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Lands Exchanged to Newtok.--In exchange for the Newtok 
lands conveyed under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary shall, subject to 
valid existing rights and notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
convey to Newtok surface and subsurface rights to the Identified lands. 
Such conveyance shall be by quitclaim deed, based upon a metes and 
bounds description of the land to be conveyed. Identified lands shall 
not be subject to section 22(g) of ANCSA.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 3. APPRAISALS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary and Newtok shall meet to determine the 
identity of a qualified appraiser who shall perform an appraisal of the 
Newtok lands and the Identified lands. Such appraiser shall be selected 
by the mutual agreement of the Secretary and Newtok, or if such 
agreement is not reached within 60 days after such initial meeting, 
then the Secretary and Newtok, no later than 90 days after such initial 
meeting, shall each designate an appraiser who is qualified to perform 
the appraisal. The two appraisers so identified shall select a third 
qualified appraiser who shall perform the appraisal. Within 120 days 
after the selection of the third appraiser, a written appraisal report 
setting out the values of the Newtok lands and the Identified lands, 
and the methodology used to arrive at the values, shall be delivered to 
the Secretary and to Newtok.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Appraisals under this subsection shall be performed in 
conformity with the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land 
Acquisitions. Any special instruction regarding the performance of the 
appraisals shall be issued only upon the mutual agreement of Newtok and 
the Secretary.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (c) Within 60 days after the receipt of the appraisal 
report described in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall determine the 
value of the Newtok lands and the Identified lands shall immediately 
notify Newtok of such determination. If Newtok does not agree with the 
value as determined by the Secretary, the Secretary and Newtok shall 
submit the matter to binding arbitration.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 4. CONVEYANCE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) Conveyance by Newtok.--Newtok shall have one hundred 
and eighty (180) days after the date the values are final under section 
2(a)(2) to notify the Secretary of its intent to enter into the 
exchange and convey to the Secretary the appropriate tracts within the 
Newtok Lands. The Secretary may extend such time for good 
cause.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Conveyance by the Secretary.--The Secretary shall 
convey to Newtok the Identified lands pursuant to section 2(b) within 
one hundred and eighty (180) days after the approval of the Newtok 
conveyance pursuant to subsection (a).</DELETED>

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that:
            (1) The continued existence of the village of Newtok, 
        Alaska is threatened by the eroding banks of the Ninglick 
        River.
            (2) A relocation of the village will become necessary for 
        the health and safety of the residents of Newtok within the 
        next 8 years.
            (3) Lands previously conveyed to the Newtok Native 
        Corporation contain habitat of high value for waterfowl.
            (4) An opportunity exists for an exchange of lands between 
        the Newtok Native Corporation and the Yukon Delta National 
        Wildlife Refuge that would address the relocation needs of the 
        village while enhancing the quality of waterfowl habitat within 
        the boundaries of the Refuge.
            (5) An exchange of lands between Newtok and the United 
        States on an other than equal value basis pursuant to the terms 
        of this Act is in the public interest.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act, the term--
            (1) ``ANCSA'' means the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 
        of 1971 (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.);
            (2) ``ANILCA'' means the Alaska National Interest Lands 
        Conservation Act of 1980 (16 USC 410hh-3233, 43 USC 1602 et 
        seq.);
            (3) ``Calista'' means the Calista Corporation, an Alaska 
        Native Regional Corporation established pursuant to ANCSA;
            (4) ``Identified Lands'' means approximately 10,943 acres 
        of lands (including surface and subsurface) designated as 
        ``Proposed Village Site'' upon a map entitled ``Proposed Newtok 
        Exchange,'' dated September, 2002, and available for inspection 
        in the Anchorage office of the United States Fish and Wildlife 
        Service;
            (5) ``limited warranty deed'' means a warranty deed which 
        is, with respect to its warranties, limited to that portion of 
        the chain of title from the moment of conveyance from the 
        United States to Newtok to and including the moment at which 
        such title is validly reconveyed to the United States of 
        America and its assigns;
            (6) ``Newtok'' means the Newtok Native Corporation, an 
        Alaska Native Village Corporation established pursuant to 
        ANCSA;
            (7) ``Newtok lands'' means approximately 12,101 acres of 
        surface estate comprising conveyed lands and selected lands 
        identified as Aknerkochik on the map referred to in paragraph 
        (4) and that surface estate selected by Newtok on Baird Inlet 
        Island as shown on said map; and
            (8) ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the Interior.

SEC. 3. LANDS TO BE EXCHANGED.

    (1) Lands Exchanged to the United States.--If, within 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, Newtok expresses to the 
Secretary in writing its intent to enter into a land exchange with the 
United States, the Secretary shall accept from Newtok a valid, 
unencumbered conveyance, by limited warranty deed, of the Newtok lands 
previously conveyed to Newtok. The Secretary shall also accept from 
Newtok a relinquishment of irrevocable prioritized selections for 
approximately 4,956 acres for those validly selected lands not yet 
conveyed to Newtok. The reconveyance of lands by Newtok to the United 
States and the prioritized, relinquished selections shall be 1.1 times 
the number of acres conveyed to Newtok under this Act. The number of 
acres reconveyed to the United States and the prioritized, relinquished 
selections shall be charged to the entitlement of Newtok.
    (b) Lands Exchanged to Newtok.--In exchange for the Newtok lands 
conveyed and selections relinquished under subsection (a), the 
Secretary shall, subject to valid existing rights and notwithstanding 
section 14(f) of ANCSA, convey to Newtok the surface and subsurface 
estate of the Identified Lands. The conveyance shall be by interim 
conveyance. Subsequent to the interim conveyance, the Secretary shall 
survey the Identified Lands at no cost to Newtok and issue a patent to 
the Identified Lands subject to the provisions of ANCSA and this Act. 
At the time of survey the charge against Newtok's entitlement for acres 
conveyed or irrevocable priorities relinquished by Newtok may be 
adjusted to conform to the standard of 1.1 acres relinquished by Newtok 
for each one acre received.

SEC. 4. CONVEYANCE.

    (a) Timing.--The Secretary shall issue interim conveyances pursuant 
to subsection 3(b) at the earliest possible time after acceptance of 
the Newtok conveyance and relinquishment of selections under subsection 
3(a).
    (b) Relationship to ANCSA.--Lands conveyed to Newtok under this Act 
shall be deemed to have been conveyed under the provisions of ANCSA, 
except that the provisions of 14(c) of ANCSA shall not apply to these 
lands, and to the extent that section 22(g) of ANCSA would otherwise be 
applicable to these lands, the provisions of 22(g) of ANCSA shall also 
not apply to these lands. Consistent with section 103(c) of ANILCA, 
these lands shall not be deemed to be included as a portion of the 
Yukon National Wildlife Refuge and shall not be subject to regulations 
applicable solely to public lands within this Conservation System Unit.
    (c) Effect on Entitlement.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed 
to change the total acreage of land to which Newtok is entitled under 
ANCSA.
    (d) Effect on Newtok Lands.--The Newtok Lands shall be included in 
the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge as of the date of acceptance 
of the conveyance of those lands from Newtok, except that residents of 
the Village of Newtok, Alaska, shall retain access rights to 
subsistence resources on those public lands as guaranteed under ANILCA 
section 811 (16 U.S.C. 3121), and to subsistence uses, such as 
traditional subsistence fishing, hunting and gathering, consistent with 
ANILCA section 803 (16 U.S.C. 3113).
    (3) Adjustment to Calista Corporation ANCSA Entitlement for 
Relinquished Newtok Selections.--To the extent that Calista subsurface 
rights are affected by this Act, Calista shall be entitled to an 
equivalent acreage of in-lieu subsurface entitlement for the Newtok 
selections relinquished in the exchange as set forth in subsection 3(a) 
of this Act. This additional entitlement shall come from subsurface 
lands already selected by Calista, but which have not been conveyed. If 
Calista does not have sufficient subsurface selections to accommodate 
this additional entitlement, Calista Corporation is hereby authorized 
to make an additional in lieu selection for the deficient acreage.
    (f) Adjustment to Exchange.--If requested by Newtok, the Secretary 
is authorized to consider and make adjustments to the original exchange 
to meet the purposes of this Act, subject to all the same terms and 
conditions of this Act.




                                                       Calendar No. 643

107th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                S. 2016

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

  To authorize the exchange of lands between an Alaska Native Village 
Corporation and the Department of the Interior, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                            October 8, 2002

                       Reported with an amendment