[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1167 Engrossed in Senate (ES)]

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1167

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
To resolve boundary conflicts in Barry and Stone Counties in the State 
                              of Missouri.

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

SECTION 1. 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 Federal 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 for Table Rock Reservoir.
            (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 land 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 Federal land surveys, and as a result of 
        such reliance, has occupied or improved Federal lands 
        administered by the appropriate Secretary.
            (7) The term ``subsequent Federal land surveys'' means any 
        Federal land surveys made after the original land surveys that 
        are inconsistent with the Public Land Survey System.
    (b) Resolution of Boundary Conflicts.--The Secretary of the Army 
and the Secretary of Agriculture shall cooperatively undertake actions 
to rectify boundary conflicts and landownership claims against Federal 
lands resulting from subsequent Federal land surveys and correctly 
reestablish the corners of the Public Land Survey System in Barry and 
Stone Counties, Missouri, and shall attempt to do so in a manner which 
imposes the least cost and inconvenience to affected private 
landowners.
    (c) 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 
        (e)(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 that the landowner relied on a 
                subsequent Federal 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 and 
        information required by paragraph (1) within 15 years after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act.
    (d) Resolution Authorities.--In addition to using existing 
authorities, the appropriate Secretary is authorized to take any of the 
following actions in order to resolve boundary conflicts with 
qualifying claimants involving lands under the administrative 
jurisdiction of the appropriate Secretary:
            (1) Convey by quitclaim deed right, title, and interest in 
        land of the United States subject to a boundary conflict 
        consistent with the rights, title, and interest associated with 
        the privately-owned land from which a qualifying claimant has 
        based a claim.
            (2) Confirm Federal title to, and retain in Federal 
        management, any land subject to a boundary conflict, if the 
        appropriate Secretary determines that 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 or interests 
        in 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).
    (e) Consideration and Cost.--
            (1) Conveyance without consideration.--The conveyance of 
        land under subsection (d)(1) shall be made without 
        consideration.
            (2) Costs.--The appropriate Secretary shall--
                    (A) pay administrative, personnel, and any other 
                costs associated with the implementation of this 
                section by his or her Department, 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 (d)(3) for land retained in Federal 
        ownership pursuant to subsection (d)(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. 
        The appropriate Secretary shall be responsible for compensation 
        provided as a result of subsequent Federal land surveys 
        conducted or commissioned by the appropriate Secretary's 
        Department.
    (f) 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 (d)(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 (d)(1).
            (4) Future reservations.--The appropriate Secretary may 
        reserve rights for future public uses in a conveyance made 
        pursuant to subsection (d)(1) if the qualifying claimant is 
        compensated for the reservation in cash or in land of equal 
        value.
            (5) Hazardous substances.--The requirements of section 
        120(h) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
        Compensation, and Liability Act (42 U.S.C. 9620(h)) shall not 
        apply to conveyances or transfers of jurisdiction pursuant to 
        subsection (d), but the United States shall continue to be 
        liable for the cleanup costs of any hazardous substances on the 
        lands so conveyed or transferred if the contamination by 
        hazardous substances is caused by actions of the United States 
        or its agents.
    (g) 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.
    (h) Additional Terms and Conditions.--The appropriate Secretary may 
require such additional terms and conditions in connection with a 
conveyance under subsection (d)(1) as the Secretary considers 
appropriate to protect the interests of the United States.
    (i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out the purposes of 
this Act.

            Passed the Senate May 19, 2004.

            Attest:

                                                             Secretary.
108th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                S. 1167

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

To resolve boundary conflicts in Barry and Stone Counties in the State 
                              of Missouri.