[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2304 Engrossed in House (EH)]
1st Session
H. R. 2304
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To resolve boundary conflicts in the vicinity of the Mark Twain
National Forest in Barry and Stone Counties, Missouri, that resulted
from private landowner reliance on a subsequent Federal survey, and for
other purposes.
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2304
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To resolve boundary conflicts in the vicinity of the Mark Twain
National Forest in Barry and Stone Counties, Missouri, that resulted
from private landowner reliance on a subsequent Federal survey, 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 AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Certain landowners in Barry and Stone Counties,
Missouri, innocently and in good faith relied on subsequent
land surveys, which they believed to be correct, and occupied,
improved, or claimed portions of adjoining Federal lands based
on such survey information.
(2) The appropriate Federal agencies should undertake
actions to correctly reestablish the corners of the Public Land
Survey System in Barry and Stone Counties, Missouri, and
rectify boundary conflicts and landownership claims against
Federal lands resulting from subsequent land surveys, and do so
in a manner which imposes the least cost and inconvenience to
affected private landowners.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to resolve boundary conflicts in Barry and Stone
Counties, Missouri, arising from subsequent land surveys; and
(2) to minimize costs and inconvenience to the affected
private property owners in Barry and Stone Counties, Missouri.
SEC. 2. RESOLUTION OF BOUNDARY CONFLICTS, VICINITY OF MARK TWAIN
NATIONAL FOREST, BARRY AND STONE COUNTIES, MISSOURI.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``appropriate Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Army or the Secretary of Agriculture.
(2) The term ``boundary conflict'' means the situation in
which the private claim of ownership to certain lands, based on
subsequent land surveys, overlaps or conflicts with Federal
ownership of the same lands.
(3) The term ``Federal land surveys'' means any land survey
made by any agency or department of the Federal Government
using Federal employees, or by Federal contract with State-
licensed private land surveyors or corporations and businesses
licensed to provide professional land surveying services in the
State of Missouri.
(4) The term ``original land surveys'' means the land
surveys made by the United States General Land Office as part
of the Public Land Survey System in the State of Missouri, and
upon which Government land patents were issued conveying the
land.
(5) The term ``Public Land Survey System'' means the
rectangular system of original Government lands surveys made by
the United States General Land Office and its successor, the
Bureau of Land Management, under Federal laws providing for the
survey of the public lands upon which the original land patents
were issued.
(6) The term ``qualifying claimant'' means a private owner
of real property in Barry or Stone County, Missouri, who has a
boundary conflict as a result of good faith and innocent
reliance on subsequent land surveys, and as a result of such
reliance, has occupied, improved, or made ownership claims to
Federal lands.
(7) The term ``subsequent land surveys'' mean any land
surveys made after the original land surveys.
(b) Notice of Boundary Conflict.--
(1) Submission and contents.--A qualifying claimant shall
notify the appropriate Secretary in writing of a claim that a
boundary conflict exists with Federal land administered by the
appropriate Secretary. The notice shall be accompanied by the
following information, which, except as provided in subsection
(d)(2)(B), shall be provided without cost to the United States:
(A) A land survey plat and legal description of the
affected Federal lands, which are based upon a land
survey completed and certified by a Missouri State-
licensed professional land surveyor, and done in
conformity with the Public Land Survey System and in
compliance with the applicable State and Federal land
surveying laws.
(B) Information relating to the claim of ownership
of the Federal lands, including supporting
documentation showing the landowner relied on a
subsequent land survey due to actions by the Federal
Government in making or approving surveys for the Table
Rock Reservoir.
(2) Deadline for submission.--To obtain relief under this
section, a qualifying claimant shall submit the notice required
by paragraph (1) within 15 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(3) Responsibilities of claimants.--The qualifying claimant
shall have the responsibility for establishing that the
qualifying claimant qualifies for the remedies provided in
subsection (c).
(c) Resolution Authorities.--The appropriate Secretary may take any
of the following actions, or combination of actions, in order to
resolve boundary conflicts with qualifying claimants involving lands
under the administrative jurisdiction of the appropriate Secretary:
(1) Convey and quitclaim all right, title, and interest of
the United States in land subject to a boundary conflict.
(2) Confirm Federal title to, and retain in Federal
management, any land subject to a boundary conflict, if the
appropriate Secretary determines there are Federal interests,
including improvements, authorized uses, easements, hazardous
materials, or historical and cultural resources, on the land
that necessitates retention of the land.
(3) Compensate the qualifying claimant for the value of the
overlapping property for which title is confirmed and retained
in Federal management pursuant to paragraph (2).
(d) Consideration and Cost.--
(1) Conveyance without consideration.--The conveyance of
land under subsection (c)(1) shall be made without
consideration if the appropriate Secretary determines that the
boundary conflict was the result of the innocent detrimental
reliance by the qualifying claimant on a subsequent land
survey.
(2) Costs.--The appropriate Secretary shall--
(A) pay administrative, personnel, and any other
costs associated with the implementation of this
section, including the costs of survey, marking, and
monumenting property lines and corners; and
(B) reimburse the qualifying claimant for
reasonable out-of-pocket survey costs necessary to
establish a claim under this section.
(3) Valuation.--Compensation paid to a qualifying claimant
pursuant to subsection (c)(3) for land retained in Federal
ownership pursuant to subsection (c)(2) shall be valued on the
basis of the contributory value of the tract of land to the
larger adjoining private parcel and not on the basis of the
land being a separate tract. The appropriate Secretary shall
not consider the value of any Federal improvements to the land.
(e) Preexisting Conditions; Reservations; Existing Rights and
Uses.--
(1) Preexisting conditions.--The appropriate Secretary
shall not compensate a qualifying claimant or any other person
for any preexisting condition or reduction in value of any land
subject to a boundary conflict because of any existing or
outstanding permits, use authorizations, reservations, timber
removal, or other land use or condition.
(2) Existing reservations and rights and uses.--Any
conveyance pursuant to subsection (c)(1) shall be subject to--
(A) reservations for existing public uses for
roads, utilities, and facilities; and
(B) permits, rights-of-way, contracts and any other
authorization to use the property.
(3) Treatment of land subject to special use authorization
or permit.--For any land subject to a special use authorization
or permit for access or utilities, the appropriate Secretary
may convert, at the request of the holder, such authorization
to a permanent easement prior to any conveyance pursuant to
subsection (c)(1).
(4) Future reservations.--The appropriate Secretary may
reserve rights for future public uses in a conveyance made
pursuant to subsection (c)(1) if the qualifying claimant is
compensated for the reservation in cash or in land of equal
value.
(f) Relation to Other Conveyance Authority.--Nothing in this
section affects the Quiet Title Act (28 U.S.C. 2409a) or other
applicable law, or affects the exchange and disposal authorities of the
Secretary of Agriculture, including the Small Tracts Act (16 U.S.C.
521c), or the exchange and disposal authorities of the Secretary of the
Army.
(g) Additional Terms and Conditions.--The appropriate Secretary may
require such additional terms and conditions in connection with a
conveyance under subsection (c)(1) as the Secretary considers
appropriate to protect the interests of the United States.
Passed the House of Representatives November 17, 2003.
Attest:
Clerk.