[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 924 Reported in Senate (RS)]






                                                       Calendar No. 205
108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 924

                          [Report No. 108-97]

  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

                             July 11, 2003

              Reported by Mr. Domenici, with an amendment
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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,

<DELETED>SECTION 1. FINDINGS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    Congress finds that:</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) The continued existence of the village of 
        Newtok, Alaska is threatened by the eroding banks of the 
        Ninglick River.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) A relocation of the village will become 
        necessary for the health and safety of the residents of Newtok 
        within the next 8 years.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) Lands previously conveyed to the Newtok Native 
        Corporation contain habitat of high value for 
        waterfowl.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (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.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (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.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    For the purposes of this Act, the term--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) ``ANCSA'' means the Alaska Native Claims 
        Settlement Act of 1971 (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.);</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (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.);</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) ``Calista'' means the Calista Corporation, an 
        Alaska Native Regional Corporation established pursuant to 
        ANCSA;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (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;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (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;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (6) ``Newtok'' means the Newtok Native 
        Corporation, an Alaska Native Village Corporation established 
        pursuant to ANCSA;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (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</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (8) ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the 
        Interior.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 3. LANDS TO BE EXCHANGED.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (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.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (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.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 4. CONVEYANCE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (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).</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (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.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (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.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (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).</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (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.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (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.</DELETED>

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.




                                                       Calendar No. 205

108th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                                 S. 924

                          [Report No. 108-97]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

  To authorize the exchange of lands between an Alaska Native Village 
Corporation and the Department of the Interior, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                             July 11, 2003

                       Reported with an amendment