[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 425 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 425

 To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to sell or exchange certain 
          National Forest System land in the State of Vermont.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 17, 2005

   Mr. Leahy introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to sell or exchange certain 
          National Forest System land in the State of Vermont.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Green Mountain National Forest Land 
Adjustment Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Bromley.--The term ``Bromley'' means Bromley Mountain 
        Ski Resort, Inc.
            (2) Map.--The term ``map'' means the map entitled 
        ``Proposed Bromley Land Sale or Exchange'' and dated April 7, 
        2004.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture.
            (4) State.--The term ``State'' means the State of Vermont.

SEC. 3. SALE OR EXCHANGE OF GREEN MOUNTAIN NATIONAL FOREST LAND.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary may, under any terms and conditions 
that the Secretary may prescribe, sell or exchange any right, title, 
and interest of the United States in and to the parcels of National 
Forest System land described in subsection (b).
    (b) Description of Land.--The parcels of National Forest System 
land referred to in subsection (a) are the 5 parcels of land in 
Bennington County in the State, as generally depicted on the map.
    (c) Map and Legal Descriptions.--
            (1) In general.--The map shall be on file and available for 
        public inspection in--
                    (A) the office of the Chief of the Forest Service; 
                and
                    (B) the office of the Supervisor of the Green 
                Mountain National Forest.
            (2) Modifications.--The Secretary may modify the map and 
        legal descriptions to--
                    (A) correct technical errors; or
                    (B) facilitate the conveyance under subsection (a).
    (d) Consideration.--Consideration for the sale or exchange of land 
described in subsection (b)--
            (1) shall be equal to an amount that is not less than the 
        fair market value of the land sold or exchanged; and
            (2) may be in the form of cash, land, or a combination of 
        cash and land.
    (e) Appraisals.--Any appraisal carried out to facilitate the sale 
or exchange of land under subsection (a) shall conform with the Uniform 
Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions.
    (f) Methods of Sale.--
            (1) Conveyance to bromley.--
                    (A) In general.--Before soliciting offers under 
                paragraph (2), the Secretary shall offer to convey to 
                Bromley the land described in subsection (b).
                    (B) Contract deadline.--If Bromley accepts the 
                offer under subparagraph (A), the Secretary and Bromley 
                shall have not more than 180 days after the date on 
                which any environmental analyses with respect to the 
                land are completed to enter into a contract for the 
                sale or exchange of the land.
            (2) Public or private sale.--If the Secretary and Bromley 
        do not enter into a contract for the sale or exchange of the 
        land by the date specified in paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary 
        may sell or exchange the land at public or private sale 
        (including auction), in accordance with such terms, conditions, 
        and procedures as the Secretary determines to be in the public 
        interest.
            (3) Rejection of offers.--The Secretary may reject any 
        offer received under this subsection if the Secretary 
        determines that the offer is not adequate or is not in the 
        public interest.
            (4) Brokers.--In any sale or exchange of land under this 
        section, the Secretary may--
                    (A) use a real estate broker or other third party; 
                and
                    (B) pay the real estate broker or third party a 
                commission in an amount comparable to the amounts of 
                commission generally paid for real estate transactions 
                in the area.
    (g) Cash Equalization.--Notwithstanding section 206(b) of the 
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716(b)), the 
Secretary may accept a cash equalization payment in excess of 25 
percent of the value of any Federal land exchanged under this Act.

SEC. 4. DISPOSITION OF PROCEEDS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall deposit the net proceeds from 
a sale or exchange under this Act in the fund established under Public 
Law 90-171 (16 U.S.C. 484a) (commonly known as the ``Sisk Act'').
    (b) Use.--Amounts deposited under subsection (a) shall be available 
to the Secretary until expended, without further appropriation, for--
            (1) the location and relocation of the Appalachian National 
        Scenic Trail and the Long National Recreation Trail in the 
        State;
            (2) the acquisition of land and interests in land by the 
        Secretary for National Forest System purposes within the 
        boundary of the Green Mountain National Forest, including land 
        for and adjacent to the Appalachian National Scenic Trail and 
        the Long National Recreation Trail;
            (3) the acquisition of wetland or an interest in wetland 
        within the boundary of the Green Mountain National Forest to 
        offset the loss of wetland from the parcels sold or exchanged; 
        and
            (4) the payment of direct administrative costs incurred in 
        carrying out this Act.
    (c) Limitation.--Amounts deposited under subsection (a) shall not--
            (1) be paid or distributed to the State or counties or 
        towns in the State under any provision of law; or
            (2) be considered to be money received from units of the 
        National Forest System for purposes of--
                    (A) the Act of May 23, 1908 (16 U.S.C. 500); or
                    (B) the Act of March 4, 1913 (16 U.S.C. 501).
    (d) Prohibition of Transfer or Reprogramming.--Amounts deposited 
under subsection (a) shall not be subject to transfer or reprogramming 
for wildfire management or any other emergency purposes.

SEC. 5. ACQUISITION OF LAND.

    The Secretary may acquire, using funds made available under section 
4 or otherwise made available for acquisition, land or an interest in 
land for National Forest System purposes within the boundary of the 
Green Mountain National Forest.

SEC. 6. EXEMPTION FROM CERTAIN LAWS.

    Subtitle I of title 40, United States Code, shall not apply to any 
sale or exchange of National Forest System land under this Act.
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