Land entitlement

The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

43.

The 13th regional corporation land entitlement

(a)

Entitlement

Not later than 7 years after the date of the enactment of the 13th Regional Corporation Land Entitlement Act, the 13th Regional Corporation may select, subject to subsections (b) and (c), not more than 1,453,388 acres from public lands which were withdrawn by the Secretary for selection, or were otherwise available for selection, but which were not selected by, or if selected not conveyed to, the State of Alaska, another Regional Corporation, a Village Corporation, or a Group Corporation. Any withdrawal eligible for selection under this subsection which will expire prior to the end of the seven-year selection period for the 13th Regional Corporation shall be extended to the end of the selection period provided by this subsection. Prior to making each selection, the 13th Regional Corporation shall consult with and solicit the comments of the Regional Corporation for the geographical region within which the selection is located. (b)

Approval

No selection may be made within the geographical region of any Regional Corporation under subsection (a) without the prior written approval of such Regional Corporation. Approval may be withheld or conditioned in the reasonable judgment of the Regional Corporation, including without limitation because of interest by the Regional Corporation in pursuing a land exchange involving the lands to be selected, the potential for economic harm to the Regional Corporation, its shareholders or Village Corporations or Group Corporations within the geographical region, environmental considerations, impacts on subsistence activities, the presence of Native owned cabins or campsites on or near the lands to be selected, the need for access to or across the lands to be selected for transportation, pipelines or economic activities, or the availability of sand and gravel or other minerals or substances valuable for economic activity within the geographical region. Approval may not be conditioned upon the payment of economic consideration by the 13th Regional Corporation except to the extent of economic harm anticipated in the reasonable judgment of the Regional Corporation to the Regional Corporation, its shareholders or Village Corporations or Group Corporations within the geographical region. (c)

Conveyances; limitations; restrictions

(1)

Conveyances

Subject to the limitations in paragraphs (2) and (3), the Secretary shall convey to the 13th Regional Corporation the surface and subsurface estate of no more than 1,162,710 acres of the lands selected pursuant to subsection (a). (2)

Limitations on conveyances

(A)

Previously selected lands

The 13th Regional Corporation may select, but the Secretary shall not convey, any of the following unless the State of Alaska or any Regional Corporation, Village Corporation, or Group Corporation which made or has the right to make a selection has relinquished its selection or right to make its selection: (i)Lands validly selected by, but not yet conveyed to, the State of Alaska pursuant to the Alaska Statehood Act or any other provision of law. (ii)Lands validly selected by, but not yet conveyed to, another Regional Corporation, a Village Corporation, or a Group Corporation. (B)

Conditions

Any selections made by the 13th Regional Corporation that are subject to such valid selections shall be subordinate to those valid selections. Selections are valid if they are on file with the United States and have not been finally adjudicated or all appeal rights from any final adjudication have not lapsed or been exhausted, whether or not such selections are in compliance with all applicable standards, including without limitation time restrictions. Valid selections also include selections for land in excess of the amount of land to which the selecting entity may be entitled. (C)

Other limitations

The 13th Regional Corporation may not select, and the Secretary shall not convey the following: (i)Any land without the approval of any Native individual or Native owned or public entity that owns a partial interest in that land, which approval may be withheld with or without reason or cause. (ii)Any land that the State of Alaska, a Regional Corporation, a Village Corporation or a Group Corporation could select or acquire through the exercise of statutory or contractual rights of selection or acquisition, whether or not those rights have been exercised or are subject to discretionary actions by governmental entities, without the approval of the State of Alaska, Regional Corporation, Village Corporation or Group Corporation, which approval may be withheld with or without reason or cause. (iii)Any land within any area withdrawn for selection pursuant to sections 11 or 14 of this Act or otherwise withdrawn by the Secretary for selection if a Village Corporation or Regional Corporation has unexercised selection rights or rights to conveyance in that area without the approval of the Village Corporation and Regional Corporation, which approval may be withheld with or without reason or cause. (3)

Restrictions

Selected lands which are eligible for conveyance to the 13th Regional Corporation shall be conveyed subject to valid existing rights, in the same manner and subject to the same reservations and restrictions that are applicable to lands selected by and conveyed to other Regional Corporations pursuant to this Act. The lands conveyed to the 13th Regional Corporation shall, whenever practicable and consistent with safety considerations, remain available for subsistence uses. Additionally, until the lands conveyed to the 13th Regional Corporation are developed, as defined in section 907(d) of Public Law 96–487 (43 U.S.C. 1636(d)), they shall be managed under policies consistent with the land management policies applicable to any adjacent Native Corporation owned lands. (d)

Reserved lands

The 13th Regional Corporation may not select, and the Secretary shall not convey, any of the following: (1)Lands within any conservation system unit as defined in section 102 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.). (2)Acquired lands. (3)Lands immediately surrounding any building, permanent structure, or other development owned or controlled by the United States, another unit of government, or any person, including without limitation Native owned cabins or campsites on public lands with or without the permission of the public land owner. (4)Lands withdrawn or reserved for national defense purposes. (5)Lands within the National Petroleum Reserve, Alaska. (6)Lands within the Tongass and Chugach National Forests. (e)

Right of first refusal

The 13th Regional Corporation shall not transfer all or any portion of lands or interests therein that it acquires pursuant to this section to a third party without first making a written offer to sell that same land or interest therein to the Regional Corporation for the geographical region within which the land or interest therein is located at the amount (or its cash equivalent) offered by the third party who desires to acquire the land or interest therein. The following terms shall govern such transfers and offers: (1)The offer shall be made to the Regional Corporation not less than 30 days before any proposed transfer of such land or interest therein and shall state the price and terms of the proposed sale, and the name and address of both the offerer and offeree. (2)Not later than 20 days after the receipt of the offer, the Regional Corporation may exercise an option to purchase all, but not less than all, of the land or interest therein that is to be transferred on the terms in the offer or their cash equivalent. (3)If the Regional Corporation does not purchase all of the land or interest therein to be transferred within the required time, then the 13th Regional Corporation may transfer all of the land or interest therein offered (but not a lesser or greater amount) to the third party specified in the offer, but not for a price less or on terms different from those originally made by the third party. Any land or interest therein not transferred by the 13th Regional Corporation to the specified third party not later than 60 days after making the offer to the Regional Corporation shall again become subject to the restrictions of this subsection as though it had never been offered. (4)For purposes of this subsection, transfer means the sale, transfer, or exchange of land or interests therein for consideration, but does not include an exchange for other land or an interest therein within the state of Alaska pursuant to section 22(f) of this Act or section 1302(h) of the Alaska National Interest Lands and Conservation Act, mineral or other leasing on commercially reasonable terms, or the pledge, encumbrance or grant of a security interest on commercially reasonable terms.

Revenue sharing

Section 7(i)(1) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1606(i)) is amended to read as follows:

(1)(A)Except as provided by subparagraph (B), 70 percent of all revenues received by each of the 12 Regional Corporations organized under subsection (a) from the timber and subsurface estate patented to it pursuant to this Act, and 15 percent of all revenues received by the 13th Regional Corporation organized under subsection (c) from the timber and subsurface estate patented to it pursuant to the 13th Regional Corporation Land Entitlement Act, shall be divided annually by the Regional Corporation among the 12 Regional Corporations organized pursuant to subsection (a) according to the number of Natives enrolled in each region pursuant to section 5 of this Act. An additional, 10 percent of such revenues received by the 13th Regional Corporation, shall be distributed to the Regional Corporation for the geographical region where the resources giving rise to such revenues are located. If the resources developed are on lands originally withdrawn for selection by a Village Corporation, then one-half of the 10 percent paid to the local Regional Corporation shall be distributed by that corporation to the Village Corporation. Revenues distributed by or received from the 13th Regional Corporation are not subject to the requirements of subsections (j), (k), (l), (m), and (n) of this section. (B)The Regional Corporations, including the 13th Regional Corporation shall determine the revenues required to be distributed pursuant to this subsection in accordance with the section 7(i) Settlement Agreement by and between the 12 Regional Corporations created pursuant to subsection (a), as previously or hereafter amended, and shall be bound by the provisions of that Agreement with respect to the revenues they distribute. The 13th Regional Corporation shall be bound by any amendment to the section 7(i) Settlement Agreement unless the amendment is not of general applicability to the other Regional Corporations. Nothing in this section shall be construed to grant the 13th Regional Corporation any rights with respect to any revenues distributed by the 12 Regional Corporations pursuant to section 7(i), or to grant the 13th Regional Corporation the right or power to approve any amendment to the section 7(i) Settlement Agreement.