[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 951 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 951

    To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to provide for 
        equitable allotment of lands to Alaska Native veterans.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 26, 2003

 Mr. Young of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                     to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to provide for 
        equitable allotment of lands to Alaska Native veterans.

    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 ``Alaska Native Veterans Land 
Allotment Equity Act''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO ALLOW CERTAIN ALASKA NATIVE VETERAN LAND 
              ALLOTMENTS.

    Section 41 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 
1629g) is amended as follows:
            (1) Paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) are amended to 
        read as follows: ``(1) The period for filing allotments under 
        this Act shall end 3 years after the Secretary issues final 
        regulations under section 3 of the Alaska Native Veterans Land 
        Allotment Equity Act. A person described in paragraph (1) or 
        (2) of subsection (b) shall be eligible for an allotment of not 
        more than two parcels of Federal land totaling 160 acres or 
        less.
    ``(2)(A) Allotments may be selected from the following:
            ``(i) Vacant lands that are owned by the United States;
            ``(ii) Lands that have been selected or conveyed to the 
        State of Alaska if the State voluntarily relinquishes or 
        conveys to the United States the land for the allotment.
            ``(iii) Lands that have been selected or conveyed to a 
        Native Corporation if the Native Corporation voluntarily 
        relinquishes or conveys to the United States the land for the 
        allotment.
    ``(B) A Native Corporation may select an equal amount of acres of 
appropriate Federal land within the State of Alaska to replace lands 
voluntarily relinquished or conveyed by that Native Corporation under 
subparagraph (A)(iii).
    ``(C) For security reasons, allotments may not be selected from--
            ``(i) lands within the right-of-way granted for the 
        TransAlaska Pipeline; or
            ``(ii) the inner or outer corridor of that right-of-way 
        withdrawal.''.
            (2) Subsection (a)(3) is repealed.
            (3) In subsection (b)(1), strike ``A person'' and insert 
        ``Except as provided in paragraph (3), a person''.
            (4) Subsection (b)(1)(B) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(B) is a veteran who served during the period between 
        August 5, 1964, and May 7, 1975, including such dates.''.
            (5) Subsection (b)(2) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(2) If an individual who would otherwise have been eligible for 
an allotment dies before applying for the allotment, an heir on behalf 
of the estate of the deceased veteran may apply for and receive the 
allotment.''.
            (6) In subsection (b)(3), insert before the period the 
        following: ``, except for an heir who applies and receives an 
        allotment on behalf of the estate of a deceased veteran 
        pursuant to paragraph (2)''.
            (7) Subsection (e) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(e) Regulations.--All regulations in effect immediately before 
the enactment of subsection (f) that were promulgated under the 
authority of this section shall be repealed in accordance with section 
552(a)(1)(E) of the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 
552(a)(1)(E))''.
            (8) Add at the end the following new subsections:
    ``(f) Approval of Allotments.--(1) Subject to valid existing 
rights, and except as otherwise provided in this subsection, not later 
than January 31, 2007, the Secretary shall approve an application for 
allotments filed in accordance with subsection (a) and issue a 
certificate of allotment which shall be subject to the same terms, 
conditions, restrictions, and protections provided for such allotments.
    ``(2) Upon receipt of an allotment application, but in any event 
not later than October 31, 2005, the Secretary shall notify any person 
or entity having an interest in land potentially adverse to the 
applicant of their right to initiate a private contest or file a 
protest under existing Federal regulations.
    ``(3) Not later than January 31, 2007, the Secretary shall--
            ``(A) if no contest or protest is timely filed, approve the 
        application pursuant to paragraph (1); or
            ``(B) if a contest or protest is timely filed, stay the 
        issuance of the certificate of allotment until the contest or 
        protest has been decided.
    ``(g) Reselection.--A person who made an allotment selection under 
this section before the date of the enactment of Alaska Native Veterans 
Land Allotment Equity Act may withdraw that selection and reselect 
lands under this section if the lands originally selected were not 
conveyed to that person before the date of the enactment of Alaska 
Native Veterans Land Allotment Equity Act.''.

SEC. 3. REGULATIONS.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of the Interior shall issue final regulations to 
implement the amendments made by this Act.
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