[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 924 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 924
To authorize the exchange of lands between an Alaska Native Village
Corporation and the Department of the Interior, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 11, 2003
Ms. Murkowski introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the exchange of lands between an Alaska Native Village
Corporation and the Department of the Interior, 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.
Congress finds that:
(1) The continued existence of the village of Newtok,
Alaska is threatened by the eroding banks of the Ninglick
River.
(2) A relocation of the village will become necessary for
the health and safety of the residents of Newtok within the
next 8 years.
(3) Lands previously conveyed to the Newtok Native
Corporation contain habitat of high value for waterfowl.
(4) An opportunity exists for an exchange of lands between
the Newtok Native Corporation and the Yukon Delta National
Wildlife Refuge that would address the relocation needs of the
village while enhancing the quality of waterfowl habitat within
the boundaries of the Refuge.
(5) An exchange of lands between Newtok and the United
States on an other than equal value basis pursuant to the terms
of this Act is in the public interest.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
For the purposes of this Act, the term--
(1) ``ANCSA'' means the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
of 1971 (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.);
(2) ``ANILCA'' means the Alaska National Interest Lands
Conservation Act of 1980 (16 U.S.C. 410hh-3233, 43 U.S.C. 1602
et seq.);
(3) ``Calista'' means the Calista Corporation, an Alaska
Native Regional Corporation established pursuant to ANCSA;
(4) ``Identified Lands'' means approximately 10,943 acres
of lands (including surface and subsurface) designated as
``Proposed Village Site'' upon a map entitled ``Proposed Newtok
Exchange,'' dated September, 2002, and available for inspection
in the Anchorage office of the United States Fish and Wildlife
Service;
(5) ``limited warranty deed'' means a warranty deed which
is, with respect to its warranties, limited to that portion of
the chain of title from the moment of conveyance from the
United States to Newtok to and including the moment at which
such title is validly reconveyed to the United States of
America and its assigns;
(6) ``Newtok'' means the Newtok Native Corporation, an
Alaska Native Village Corporation established pursuant to
ANCSA;
(7) ``Newtok lands'' means approximately 12,101 acres of
surface estate comprising conveyed lands and selected lands
identified as Aknerkochik on the map referred to in paragraph
(4) and that surface estate selected by Newtok on Baird Inlet
Island as shown on said map; and
(8) ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the Interior.
SEC. 3. LANDS TO BE EXCHANGED.
(a) Lands Exchanged to the United States.--If, within 180 days
after the date of enactment of this Act, Newtok expresses to the
Secretary in writing its intent to enter into a land exchange with the
United States, the Secretary shall accept from Newtok a valid,
unencumbered conveyance, by limited warranty deed, of the Newtok lands
previously conveyed to Newtok. The Secretary shall also accept from
Newtok a relinquishment of irrevocable prioritized selections for
approximately 4,956 acres for those validly selected lands not yet
conveyed to Newtok. The reconveyance of lands by Newtok to the United
States and the prioritized, relinquished selections shall be 1.1 times
the number of acres conveyed to Newtok under this Act. The number of
acres reconveyed to the United States and the prioritized, relinquished
selections shall be charged to the entitlement of Newtok.
(b) Lands Exchanged to Newtok.--In exchange for the Newtok lands
conveyed and selections relinquished under subsection (a), the
Secretary shall, subject to valid existing rights and notwithstanding
section 14(f) of ANCSA, convey to Newtok the surface and subsurface
estate of the Identified Lands. The conveyance shall be by interim
conveyance. Subsequent to the interim conveyance, the Secretary shall
survey the Identified Lands at no cost to Newtok and issue a patent to
the Identified Lands subject to the provisions of ANCSA and this Act.
At the time of survey the charge against Newtok's entitlement for acres
conveyed or irrevocable priorities relinquished by Newtok may be
adjusted to conform to the standard of 1.1 acres relinquished by Newtok
for each one acre received.
SEC. 4. CONVEYANCE.
(a) Timing.--The Secretary shall issue interim conveyances pursuant
to subsection 3(b) at the earliest possible time after acceptance of
the Newtok conveyance and relinquishment of selections under subsection
3(a).
(b) Relationship to ANCSA.--Lands conveyed to Newtok under this Act
shall be deemed to have been conveyed under the provisions of ANCSA,
except that the provisions of 14(c) of ANCSA shall not apply to these
lands, and to the extent that section 22(g) of ANCSA would otherwise be
applicable to these lands, the provisions of 22(g) of ANCSA shall also
not apply to these lands. Consistent with section 103(c) of ANILCA,
these lands shall not be deemed to be included as a portion of the
Yukon National Wildlife Refuge and shall not be subject to regulations
applicable solely to public lands within this Conservation System Unit.
(c) Effect on Entitlement.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed
to change the total acreage of land to which Newtok is entitled under
ANCSA.
(d) Effect on Newtok Lands.--The Newtok Lands shall be included in
the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge as of the date of acceptance
of the conveyance of those lands from Newtok, except that residents of
the Village of Newtok, Alaska, shall retain access rights to
subsistence resources on those public lands as guaranteed under ANILCA
section 811 (16 U.S.C. 3121), and to subsistence uses, such as
traditional subsistence fishing, hunting and gathering, consistent with
ANILCA section 803 (16 U.S.C. 3113).
(e) Adjustment to Calista Corporation ANCSA Entitlement for
Relinquished Newtok Selections.--To the extent that Calista subsurface
rights are affected by this Act, Calista shall be entitled to an
equivalent acreage of in-lieu subsurface entitlement for the Newtok
selections relinquished in the exchange as set forth in subsection 3(a)
of this Act. This additional entitlement shall come from subsurface
lands already selected by Calista, but which have not been conveyed. If
Calista does not have sufficient subsurface selections to accommodate
this additional entitlement, Calista Corporation is hereby authorized
to make an additional in lieu selection for the deficient acreage.
(f) Adjustment to Exchange.--If requested by Newtok, the Secretary
is authorized to consider and make adjustments to the original exchange
to meet the purposes of this Act, subject to all the same terms and
conditions of this Act.
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