[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3047 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3047

 To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to sell or exchange all or 
part of certain parcels of National Forest System land in the State of 
   Idaho and use the proceeds derived from the sale or exchange for 
                    National Forest System purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 3, 2002

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to sell or exchange all or 
part of certain parcels of National Forest System land in the State of 
   Idaho and use the proceeds derived from the sale or exchange for 
                    National Forest System purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Idaho Panhandle National Forest 
Improvement Act of 2002''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY.

    In this Act, the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
Agriculture.

SEC. 3. SALE OR EXCHANGE OF ADMINISTRATIVE SITES.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary may, under such terms and conditions 
as the Secretary may prescribe, sell or exchange any or all right, 
title, and interest of the United States in and to the following 
National Forest System land and improvements:
            (1) Granite/Reeder Bay, Priest Lake Parcel, T. 61 N., R. 4 
        E., B.M., sec. 17, S\1/2\NE\1/4\ (80 acres, more or less).
            (2) North South Ski area, T. 43 N., R. 3 W., B.M., sec. 13, 
        SE\1/4\SE\1/4\SW\1/4\, S\1/2\SW\1/4\SE\1/4\, NE\1/4\SW\1/
        4\SE\1/4\, and SW\1/4\SE\1/4\SE\1/4\ (50 acres more or less).
            (3) Shoshone work camp (including easements for utilities), 
        T. 50 N., R. 4 E., B.M., sec. 5, a portion of the S\1/2\SE\1/
        4\.
    (b) Descriptions.--The Secretary may modify the descriptions in 
subsection (a) to correct errors or to reconfigure the properties in 
order to facilitate conveyance.
    (c) Consideration.--Consideration for a sale or exchange of land 
under subsection (a)--
            (1) shall be equal to the market value of the land; and
            (2) may include--
                    (A) cash; or
                    (B) the acquisition of improved or unimproved land 
                or land with improvements constructed to the 
                specifications of the Secretary.
    (d) Applicable Law.--Except as otherwise provided in this Act, any 
sale or exchange of National Forest System land under subsection (a) 
shall be subject to the laws (including regulations) applicable to the 
conveyance and acquisition of land for the National Forest System.
    (e) Valuation.--The market value of the land and the improvements 
to be exchanged or sold or constructed under this Act shall be 
determined by an appraisal that is acceptable to the Secretary and 
conforms with the Federal appraisal standards, as defined in the 
document entitled ``Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land 
Acquisitions''.
    (f) Cash Equalization.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
the Secretary may accept a cash equalization payment in excess of 25 
percent of the value of land exchanged under subsection (a).
    (g) Solicitations of Offers.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary may solicit offers for sale 
        or exchange of land under this section on such terms and 
        conditions as the Secretary may prescribe.
            (2) Rejection of offers.--The Secretary may reject any 
        offer made under this section if the Secretary determines that 
        the offer is not adequate or not in the public interest.
    (h) Methods of Sale.--The Secretary may sell land under subsection 
(a) at public or private sale, including at auction, in accordance with 
such terms, conditions, and procedures as the Secretary determines to 
be in the best interests of the United States.

SEC. 4. DISPOSITION OF FUNDS.

    (a) Deposit of Proceeds.--The Secretary shall deposit the proceeds 
of a sale or exchange under section 3(a) in the fund established under 
Public Law 90-171 (commonly known as the ``Sisk Act'') (16 U.S.C. 
484a).
    (b) Use of Proceeds.--Funds deposited under subsection (a) shall be 
available to the Secretary, without further appropriation--
            (1) for the acquisition of, construction of, or 
        rehabilitation of existing facilities for, a new ranger station 
        in the Silver Valley portion of the Panhandle National Forest; 
        or
            (2) to the extent that the amount of funds deposited 
        exceeds the amount needed for the purpose described in 
        paragraph (1), for the acquisition, construction, or 
        rehabilitation of other facilities in the Panhandle National 
        Forest.

SEC. 5. CONSTRUCTION OF NEW ADMINISTRATIVE FACILITIES.

    The Secretary may acquire, construct, or rehabilitate the ranger 
station described in section 4(b)(1) and acquire associated land by 
using--
            (1) funds made available under section 4(b); and
            (2) to the extent the funds are insufficient to carry out 
        the acquisition, construction, or improvement, funds 
        subsequently made available for the acquisition, construction, 
        or improvement.

SEC. 6. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.

    (a) Nondistribution of Proceeds.--Proceeds from the sale or 
exchange of land under this Act shall not be paid or distributed to 
States or counties under any provision of law, or otherwise treated as 
money received from a national forest, for purposes of--
            (1) the Act of May 23, 1908, or the Act of March 1, 1911 
        (16 U.S.C. 500); or
            (2) the Act of March 4, 1913 (16 U.S.C. 501).
    (b) Departmental Regulations.--The Agriculture Property Management 
Regulations shall not apply to--
            (1) any disposition of National Forest System land under 
        this Act; or
            (2) any other action taken under this Act.
    (c) Administration of Lands Acquired by the United States.--Land 
transferred or otherwise acquired by the Secretary under this Act shall 
be managed in accordance with the Act of March 1, 1911 (commonly known 
as the ``Weeks Law'') (16 U.S.C. 480 et seq.) and in accordance with 
the other laws (including regulations) pertaining to the National 
Forest System.
    (d) Withdrawals and Revocations.--
            (1) Public land orders.--As of the date of this Act, any 
        public land order withdrawing land described in section 3(a) 
        from all forms of appropriation under the public land laws is 
        revoked with respect to any portion of the land conveyed by the 
        Secretary under this section.
            (2) Withdrawal.--Subject to valid existing rights, all land 
        described in section 3(a) is withdrawn from location, entry, 
        and patent under the mining laws of the United States.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary 
to carry out this Act.
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