[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5330 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5330

   To authorize and direct the exchange of lands in Grand and Uintah 
                Counties, Utah, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 8, 2004

  Mr. Matheson (for himself and Mr. Cannon) introduced the following 
         bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To authorize and direct the exchange of lands in Grand and Uintah 
                Counties, Utah, 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Utah Recreational Lands Exchange 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds and declares that--
            (1) Areas surrounding the Colorado River in Grand County, 
        Utah, Dinosaur National Monument in Uintah County, Utah, and 
        the Book Cliffs area of Uintah County, Utah, contain nationally 
        recognized scenic values, significant archaeological and 
        historic resources, valuable wildlife habitat, and outstanding 
        opportunities for public recreation that are enjoyed by 
        hundreds of thousands of people annually.
            (2) In these areas, the State of Utah owns multiple parcels 
        of lands granted by Congress to the State pursuant to the Utah 
        Enabling Act of 1894 (chapter 138; 23 Stat. 107), to be held in 
        trust for the benefit of the State's public school system and 
        other public institutions. The lands are largely scattered in 
        checkerboard fashion amid the Federal lands comprising the 
        remainder of the Colorado River corridor, Dinosaur National 
        Monument and Book Cliffs areas.
            (3) These State trust lands were granted for the purpose of 
        generating financial support for Utah's public schools through 
        sale or development of natural resources, and the lands are 
        held in trust under State and Federal law for the benefit of 
        the public school system of the State and other beneficiary 
        institutions.
            (4) State trust lands in the Colorado River corridor, 
        Dinosaur National Monument, and Book Cliffs areas contain 
        significant natural and recreational values, including portions 
        of Westwater Canyon of the Colorado River, the nationally-
        recognized Kokopelli and Slickrock trails, several of the 
        largest natural rock arches in the United States, multiple 
        wilderness study areas and proposed wilderness areas, and 
        viewsheds for Arches National Park and Dinosaur National 
        Monument.
            (5) The large presence of State trust lands located within 
        the Colorado River corridor, Dinosaur National Monument, and 
        Book Cliffs areas make land and resource management in the 
        areas more difficult, costly, and controversial for both the 
        State of Utah and the United States.
            (6) Development of Utah State trust lands in these areas in 
        accordance with the purpose for which the lands were granted 
        could be incompatible with management of such areas for 
        recreational, natural, and scenic values.
            (7) The United States owns lands and interests in lands 
        elsewhere in Utah that can be transferred to the State of Utah 
        in exchange without jeopardizing Federal management objectives 
        or needs.
            (8) It is in the public interest to enact legislation 
        authorizing an exchange of other federally owned lands in Utah 
        for the Utah State trust lands located within the Colorado 
        River corridor, Dinosaur National Monument and Book Cliffs 
        areas, on terms fair to the State of Utah and the United 
        States.
    (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to authorize, direct, 
facilitate and expedite the land exchange described herein in order to 
further the public interest by disposing of Federal lands with limited 
recreational and conservation values and acquiring in exchange 
therefore State trust lands with important recreational, scenic, and 
conservation values for permanent public management and use.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Offered lands.--The term ``Offered Lands'' means the 
        Utah State school trust lands described in section 4(b) to be 
        conveyed to the United States under this Act.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
            (3) Selected lands.--The term ``Selected Lands'' means the 
        public lands described in section 4(c) to be conveyed to the 
        State under this Act.
            (4) State.--The term ``State'' means the State of Utah.

SEC. 4. LAND EXCHANGE.

    (a) Condition.--The exchange directed by this section shall be 
consummated if, not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the State offers to transfer to the United States the Offered 
Lands.
    (b) Conveyance of Offered Lands by State.--In accordance with this 
Act, the State shall convey to the United States by State patent 
acceptable to the Secretary, subject to valid existing rights, all 
right, title, and interest of the State in and to the following Offered 
Lands:
            (1) Certain land comprising approximately ____ acres and 
        located in the Colorado River corridor in Grand County, Utah, 
        as generally depicted on a map entitled ``Utah Recreational 
        Land Exchange Offered Lands'', dated October 2004.
            (2) Certain land comprising approximately ____ acres and 
        located in the vicinity of Dinosaur National Monument in Uintah 
        County, Utah, also as generally depicted on the map entitled 
        ``Utah Recreational Land Exchange Offered Lands'', dated 
        October 2004.
            (3) Certain land comprising approximately ____ acres and 
        located in the Book Cliffs area of Uintah County, Utah, also as 
        generally depicted on the map entitled ``Utah Recreational Land 
        Exchange Offered Lands'', dated October 2004.
    (c) Conveyance of Selected Land by the United States.--At the time 
of receipt of title to the Offered Lands, the Secretary shall 
simultaneously convey to the State all right, title, and interest of 
the United States, subject to valid existing rights, in and to certain 
land comprising approximately ______ acres and located in Grand and 
Uintah Counties, Utah, as generally depicted on a map entitled ``Utah 
Recreational Land Exchange Selected Lands'', dated October 2004.

SEC. 5. EXCHANGE VALUATION, APPRAISALS, AND EQUALIZATION.

    (a) Equal Value Exchange.--The values of the Offered Lands and 
Selected Lands--
            (1) shall be approximately equal; or
            (2) if the values are not approximately equal, values shall 
        be made approximately equal in accordance with subsection (e) 
        or (f).
    (b) Appraisals.--The values of the Offered Lands and Selected Lands 
shall be determined by appraisals using comparable sales of surface and 
subsurface property and nationally recognized appraisal standards, 
including, to the extent appropriate, the Uniform Appraisal Standards 
for Federal Land Acquisitions (1992), the Uniform Standards of 
Professional Appraisal Practice, and section 206(d) of the Federal Land 
Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716(d)) and its 
implementing regulations. The appraisals of the Offered Lands and the 
Selected Lands shall consider all otherwise comparable public and 
private sales without regard to whether such lands were acquired for 
conservation or preservation purposes, or the governmental or non-
profit status of the entity making the acquisition. If value is 
attributed to minerals subject to lease under Federal mineral leasing 
laws, then such value shall be proportionately adjusted to reflect 
Federal mineral revenue sharing, upon the condition that the Utah 
School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration shall assume the 
revenue sharing obligation of the United States with respect to that 
land.
    (c) Appraisals; Review by Secretary and State.--The State shall 
contract for appraisals of the Offered Lands and the Selected Lands 
with an independent third-party appraiser or appraisers jointly 
selected from a list approved by both the State and the Secretary. The 
list shall be approved not later than 30 days after the State offers 
the Offered Lands in accordance with subsection (a). Completed 
appraisals shall be submitted to the Secretary and the State for review 
not later than 120 days after selection of the appraisers.
    (d) Resolution of Disagreement.--The Secretary and the State shall 
independently review and approve or disapprove appraisals submitted 
pursuant to subsection (c) not later than 90 days after receipt of such 
appraisals. If the Secretary and the State are unable to agree on the 
value of a parcel of land, the value may, by mutual agreement, be 
determined in accordance with the methods set forth in sections 
206(d)(2) and 206(d)(4) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716(d)(2), (4)). If, one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the parties have not agreed upon the value of 
any parcel or parcels involved in the exchange, any appropriate United 
States District Court, including the United States District Court for 
the District of Utah, Central Division, shall have jurisdiction to 
hear, determine, and render judgment on the value of such lands. No 
action provided for in this subsection may be filed with the Court 
sooner than 1 year or later than 3 years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
    (e) Equalization If Surplus of Offered Lands.--In general if, after 
the completion of the appraisal and dispute resolution process set 
forth in subsections (b), (c), and (d), the final value of the Offered 
Lands exceeds the final value of the Selected Lands the Secretary shall 
delete Offered Lands from the exchange until the values are 
approximately equal.
    (f) Equalization If Surplus of Selected Land.--In general if, after 
the completion of the appraisal and dispute resolution process set 
forth in subsections (b), (c), and (d), the final value of the Selected 
Lands exceeds the final value of the Offered Lands--
            (1) the State and the Secretary may mutually agree to 
        delete lands from the Selected Lands until the values are 
        approximately equal; or
            (2) the State and the Secretary may mutually agree to add 
        additional State trust lands to the Offered Lands, provided the 
        additional lands have been previously appraised pursuant to an 
        ongoing Federal acquisition process or program and the 
        appraised value has been accepted by the Secretary.

SEC. 6. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.

    (a) Land Status.--
            (1) Administration of lands acquired by united states.--In 
        accordance with the provisions of section 206(c) of the Federal 
        Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716(c)), all 
        lands acquired by the United States pursuant to this Act shall 
        upon acceptance of title by the United States and without 
        further action by the Secretary become part of and be managed 
        as part of the administrative unit or area within which they 
        are located. The payment of mineral revenues from the acquired 
        lands shall be subject to the provisions of section 35 of the 
        Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 2191).
            (2) Withdrawal of selected land.--Subject to valid existing 
        rights, the Federal lands described in subsection (c)(2) are 
        hereby withdrawn from disposition under the public land laws 
        and from location, entry, and patent under the mining laws of 
        the United States, from the operation of the mineral leasing 
        laws of the United States, from operation of the Geothermal 
        Steam Act of 1970, and from the operation of the Act of July 
        31, 1947, commonly known as the Materials Act of 1947 (30 
        U.S.C. 601 and following).
    (b) Grazing Permits.--
            (1) In general.--On all lands exchanged under this Act, the 
        party acquiring title to such lands shall honor, for the 
        remainder of the applicable term, all leases, permits, and 
        contracts for the grazing of domestic livestock, and the 
        related terms and conditions of user agreements on exchanged 
        lands, including permitted stocking rates, grazing fee levels, 
        access rights, and ownership and use of range improvements. 
        Upon expiration of any lease or permit, the holder shall be 
        entitled to a preference right to renew such lease or permit to 
        the extent provided by Federal or State law. Nothing in this 
        Act shall prevent the State from canceling any grazing permit 
        when the underlying land is sold, conveyed, transferred, or 
        leased for nongrazing purposes by the State.
            (2) Base properties.--In any instance where lands conveyed 
        by the State under this Act are used by a grazing permittee or 
        lessee to meet the base property requirements for a Federal 
        grazing permit or lease, such lands shall continue to qualify 
        as base properties for the remaining term of the lease or 
        permit and any renewal or extensions thereof.
    (c) Hazardous Materials.--The Secretary and, as a condition of the 
exchange, the State shall make available for review and inspection all 
pertinent records relating to hazardous materials (if any) on the lands 
to be exchanged pursuant to this Act. The responsibility for costs of 
remedial action related to such materials shall be borne by those 
entities responsible under existing law.
    (d) Timing.--The land exchange authorized under this Act shall be 
complete not later than 330 days after the date on which the State 
makes the Secretary an offer to exchange under section 4(a), unless the 
Secretary and the State agree to extend the date of the completion of 
the land exchange.
    (e) Provisions Relating to Federal Lands.--The enactment of this 
Act shall be construed as satisfying the provisions of section 206(a) 
of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 
1716(a)) requiring that exchanges of lands be in the public interest.
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