[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 924 Referred in House (RFH)]
1st Session
S. 924
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 18, 2003
Referred to the Committee on Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
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. DEFINITIONS.
For the purposes of this Act, the term:
(1) ``ANCSA'' means the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
(43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.);
(2) ``ANILCA'' means the Alaska National Interest Lands
Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3101 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 estates) designated
as ``Proposed Village Site'' on 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;
(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 the map; and
(8) ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the Interior.
SEC. 2. 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.
(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
estates of the Identified Lands. The conveyance shall be by interim
conveyance. Subsequent to the interim conveyance, the Secretary shall
survey identified Lands at no cost to Newtok and issue a patent to the
Identified Lands subject to the provisions of ANCSA and this Act.
SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE.
(a) Timing.--The Secretary shall issue interim conveyances pursuant
to subsection 2(b) at the earliest possible time after acceptance of
the Newtok conveyance and relinquishment of selections under subsection
2(a).
(b) Relationship to ANCSA.--Lands conveyed to Newtok under this Act
shall be treated as having been conveyed under the provisions of ANCSA,
except that the provisions of 14(c) and 22g of ANCSA shall not apply to
these lands. Consistent with section 103(c) of ANILCA, these lands
shall not be included as a portion of the Yukon Delta National Wildlife
Refuge and shall not be subject to regulations applicable solely to
public lands within this Conservation System Unit.
(c) Effect on Entitlement.--Except as otherwise provided, 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 Newtok lands as guaranteed under section
811 of ANILCA (16 U.S.C. 3121), and to subsistence uses, such as
traditional subsistence fishing, hunting and gathering, consistent with
section 803 of ANILCA (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 2(a)
of this Act. This equivalent 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 from
lands within the region but outside any conservation system unit.
(f) Adjustment to Exchange.--If requested by Newtok, the Secretary
may consider and make adjustments to the exchange to meet the purposes
of this Act, subject to all the same terms and conditions of this Act.
Passed the Senate July 17, 2003.
Attest:
EMILY J. REYNOLDS,
Secretary.