[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6682 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6682

  To allow the State of Alaska to fulfill a portion of its remaining 
 Statehood land entitlement by selecting certain lands from within the 
Tongass National Forest and for those lands to be managed and operated 
  by the Department of Natural Resources of the State as State Timber 
 Management Areas and for other purposes under the laws of the State, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 30, 2008

 Mr. Young of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                 to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To allow the State of Alaska to fulfill a portion of its remaining 
 Statehood land entitlement by selecting certain lands from within the 
Tongass National Forest and for those lands to be managed and operated 
  by the Department of Natural Resources of the State as State Timber 
 Management Areas and for other purposes under the laws of the State, 
                        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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Alaska Timber Management Areas for 
Education Land Selection Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) It is in the public interest to allow the State of 
        Alaska to fulfill a portion of its remaining Statehood land 
        entitlement by selecting certain lands from within the Tongass 
        National Forest and for those lands to be managed and operated 
        by the Department of Natural Resources of the State as State 
        Timber Management Areas and for other purposes under the laws 
        of the State.
            (2) The reasons for limiting to 400,000 acres the selection 
        and granting of public lands for community development and 
        recreational purposes from the National Forest System by the 
        State of Alaska under section 6(a) of the Statehood Act of 1958 
        are no longer applicable, and the need for National Forest 
        System lands in Alaska to remain in Federal ownership to assure 
        satisfaction of Federal contractual obligations is no longer 
        valid.
            (3) The State of Alaska is the level of government that is 
        most sensitive to the ecological and economic needs of the 
        people of southeast Alaska and other Alaskans.
            (4) The State of Alaska is more capable than the Federal 
        Government to commit to policies, related to the State Timber 
        Management Areas under this Act, to engage in informed 
        decisionmaking, prudent management, and multiple, balanced, and 
        sustainable use, with respect to forest resources.
            (5) The State of Alaska is capable of committing to an 
        endowment using all receipts, net of the cost of land 
        management operations, raised through forest management and 
        other land uses to be used specifically for State education in 
        kindergarten through twelfth grade, with distribution of the 
        funds to be based on the Public Law 60-136, Twenty-Five Percent 
        Fund Act formula.
            (6) It is necessary to provide a smooth transition between 
        Federal and State ownership and control of lands to be conveyed 
        to Alaska under this Act and to resolve as many issues as 
        possible prior to change of ownership and control.
            (7) It is necessary to create a mechanism by which the 
        State of Alaska can make selections of land under this Act, as 
        far as practicable, consistent with past law and decisions 
        which permit the Federal Government to provide the land 
        entitlement of the State under the Alaska Statehood Act.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    (a) In General.--In this Act:
            (1) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the 
        Interior.
            (2) The term ``State'' means the State of Alaska.
            (3) The term ``Commissioner'' means the Commissioner of the 
        Department of Natural Resources of the State.
            (4) The term ``Portions of the Tongass National Forest'' 
        means all right, title, and interest of the United States in 
        and to the surface and subsurface lands and real property 
        (including structures and facilities owned by the United States 
        Forest Service on Federal lands, adjacent tidelands and on 
        submerged lands owned by the State) within the Tongass National 
        Forest, consisting of approximately 1.8 million acres, as 
        described on the map entitled ``Portions of the Tongass 
        National Forest'' and dated July 30, 2008. The term does not 
        include Conservation System Units (as that term is defined in 
        the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act) and areas 
        protected by an Act of Congress.
            (5) The term ``Federal obligation''--
                    (A) means any obligation or duty of the United 
                States Forest Service arising out of any lease, permit, 
                license, contract, and other legal instruments issued 
                by or with the Forest Service relating to the selected 
                portions of the Tongass National Forest; and
                    (B) does not include any obligation with respect to 
                a Federal law, regulation, or policy.
            (6) The term ``State obligation'' means any obligation or 
        duty of the State arising out of any lease, permit, license, 
        contract and other legal instruments issued by or with the 
        State relating to the selected lands under this Act.
            (7) The term ``selection date'' means the date on which the 
        State elects to acquire lands and notifies the Secretary of 
        such election under section 4(a).
            (8) The term ``selection-transition period'' means the 
        period beginning on the selection date and ending no more than 
        one year thereafter, on the patent date.
            (9) The term ``patent date'' means the last day of the 
        selection-transition period.
            (10) The term ``State Timber Management Area'' means all 
        areas described as such in the map under paragraph (4).
            (11) The term ``forest operations'' means the development 
        of forest operating plans for State Timber Management Areas, 
        including the conduct of inventories of timber resources and 
        the engineering of necessary access needed necessary for timber 
        management and related management activities.
    (b) Special Rule.--The terms used in section 6(c) shall be accorded 
the meaning given to such terms in title VIII of the Alaska National 
Interest Lands Conservation Act.

SEC. 4. SELECTION OF TONGASS NATIONAL FOREST LANDS AND PROPERTY BY THE 
              STATE OF ALASKA.

    (a) Automatic Transfer of Lands.--In furtherance and confirmation 
of the entitlement of the State under the Alaska Statehood Act to 
certain public lands within the National Forest System, if within 10 
years after the date of the enactment of this Act the State pursuant to 
subsection (b) elects to select and acquire portions of the Tongass 
National Forest under the terms and conditions of this Act, and so 
notifies the Secretary, then such portions of the Tongass National 
Forest shall be conveyed, by operation of law, to the State of Alaska 
in accordance with subsection (c), subject to valid existing rights.
    (b) Form of Election.--The election by the State of Alaska to 
acquire portions of the Tongass National Forest pursuant to subsection 
(a) shall be in the form of a bill approved by the House and Senate of 
the Alaska State Legislature and signed by the Governor of the State of 
Alaska. Such law shall provide that--
            (1) the State of Alaska elects to acquire the Portions of 
        the Tongass National Forest as partial consideration of land 
        selection rights pursuant to section 6(b) of the Alaska 
        Statehood Act of 1958;
            (2) such Portions of the Tongass National Forest lands 
        shall be acquired subject to valid existing rights;
            (3) the procedures specified in this Act and the transition 
        provisions of this Act shall apply to the acquisition;
            (4) the rights and obligations of the United States under 
        the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act with respect to lands, 
        rights in lands, and use of lands acquired by this Act shall 
        not be infringed by the State of Alaska;
            (5) up to 50 percent of the annual harvest of timber in 
        State Timber Management Areas shall be offered as 10-year 
        contracts and timber sales shall, to the maximum extent 
        practicable, provide sufficient volume to meet the needs of all 
        wood processing operations existing on the Tongass National 
        Forest at the time of passage of this Act, and management shall 
        be performed in compliance with the Alaska State Forest 
        Practices Act;
            (6) all receipts from the State Timber Management Areas 
        acquired by the State under this Act, net of the cost of forest 
        operations, obtained from the sale, lease or disposition of 
        forest resources and any other land management receipts, net of 
        administrative costs, shall be deposited into an account 
        established by the State for kindergarten through twelfth grade 
        education, and the distribution of funds from such account 
        shall be based on the Twenty-Five Percent Fund Act (Public Law 
        60-136); and
            (7) lands currently open to mineral entry under the General 
        Mining Law (as amended) shall remain open to mineral entry 
        under State law unless subsequently changed by a State mineral 
        closing order.
    (c) Procedure.--Beginning on the selection date, the Secretary 
shall prepare patents conveying Portions of the Tongass National Forest 
selected by the State and shall convey such patents to the State on the 
patent date. The duty of the Secretary to prepare and convey such 
patents under this Act shall be purely ministerial and conveyance of 
the patent on the patent date shall not be withheld or conditioned by 
any other provision of law except as provided herein. The United States 
Supreme Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to issue such writs and 
compel such actions as may be necessary to accomplish the conveyance 
made under this Act.
    (d) Other Property.--Beginning on the selection date, in addition 
to other conveyances made under this Act, the Secretary shall convey 
the right and title to and interest of the United States in all other 
types of property (including real and personal property) used for 
purposes of operating, administering, and managing the acquired 
portions of the Tongass National Forest. Such property shall be 
transferred on the patent date and include only that property which is 
owned by the United States and used by the United States Forest Service 
primarily on the Portions of the Tongass National Forest selected by 
the State.
    (e) Other Uses.--Beginning on the selection date and concurrent 
with the selection and conveyance of the Federal lands and property 
under this Act, the Secretary shall transfer all existing special use 
permits on the Portions of the Tongass National Forest to the State.

SEC. 5. TRANSITION PROVISIONS DURING THE EXCHANGE-TRANSITION PERIOD.

    (a) Existing Obligations of the United States.--The United States 
shall remain obligated for all Federal obligations incurred prior to 
the patent date.
    (b) Employees.--During the selection-transition period, to the 
extent practicable, the State of Alaska shall interview each person 
employed by the United States Forest Service on the date of the 
enactment of this Act whose employment is made redundant by this Act 
for purposes of reemployment by the State of Alaska in a comparable job 
within the new State administrative system for the new State Timber 
Management Areas. Employees who do not secure employment with the State 
shall have the option of placement in an equivalent position available 
within the Federal government.
    (c) Management Pending Conveyance.--During the selection-transition 
period and until the patent date, except as provided otherwise under 
this Act, Portions of the Tongass National Forest not yet patented to 
the State under this Act shall be administered and managed under 
applicable Federal law and the Tongass Land Management Plan.
    (d) Treatment of Certain Receipts.--Receipts from all rentals or 
sales occurring on the Portions of the Tongass National Forest selected 
by the State during the selection-transition period shall be kept in 
escrow and transferred to the State on the patent date to be used for 
kindergarten through twelfth grade educational purposes, with 
distribution of the funds to be based on the Twenty-Five Percent Fund 
Act formula (Public Law 60-136).

SEC. 6. TRANSITION PROVISIONS OUTSIDE THE TRANSITION PERIOD.

    (a) Management of Selected Lands.--Beginning on the patent date, 
the portions of the Tongass National Forest conveyed to the State under 
this Act shall be administered and managed primarily for timber 
production as State Timber Management Areas under applicable State of 
Alaska law, except as otherwise provided in this Act for the period 
provided by this Act.
    (b) Funding.--For a period of five years following the patent date, 
the Secretary shall make available to the State the average annual 
planning, operation and maintenance funds allocated for management of 
the Portions of the Tongass National Forest selected by the State 
during the five-year period prior to the selection date. The amount 
shall be calculated as the total budget of the Tongass National Forest, 
excluding funds for management of Conservation System Units and 
legislated LUD II areas (as those terms are used in the Tongass Land 
Management Plan), divided by the total acres of the Tongass National 
Forest, excluding Conservation System Units and legislated LUD II areas 
prior to the selection, multiplied by the total acres selected by the 
State.
    (c) Land Designations.--Land use designations in effect on the 
selected Tongass National Forest lands on the date of the enactment of 
this Act under the Tongass Land Management Plan shall continue in 
effect until the patent date.
    (d) Subsistence Use After the Selection Date.--The Secretary of the 
Interior shall retain continuing authority to manage subsistence uses 
of fish and wildlife on lands conveyed under this Act until the patent 
date.
    (e) Access.--(1) The Secretary, in accordance with the Tongass 
Forest Transportation Plan and the Transportation Plan of the State, 
shall provide access in the form of easements across uplands owned by 
the United States to and from areas of the new State Timber Management 
Areas and other Portions of the Tongass National Forest selected by the 
State. The duty of the Secretary to deliver patents for such easements 
shall be purely ministerial and shall not be withheld or conditioned by 
any other provision of law. The Secretary shall enter into agreements 
with the Commissioner for the purpose of sharing the costs of common 
use roads.
    (2) Following the patent date, the State shall issue easements to 
the United States for reasonable access across the portions of the 
Tongass National Forest in accordance with the Tongass Forest 
Transportation Plan and the Transportation Plan of the State.
    (f) Mining Claims.--(1) Federal mining claims located pursuant to 
the General Mining Law of 1872 (30 U.S.C. 22 and following) on the 
portions of the Tongass National Forest before the selection date shall 
remain subject to the laws, rules, regulations, and policies of the 
United States, but such laws, rules, regulations, and policies shall be 
administered by the State of Alaska. The right and ability of a 
claimholder to patent such a mining claim and enjoy reasonable access 
to the claim shall not be infringed. An application to patent a Federal 
mining claim located on the portions of the Tongass National Forest may 
be made by the claimholder with the State of Alaska and shall 
constitute an election by the claim holder to be subject to Federal 
mining claim patent procedures administered by the State of Alaska.
    (2) During the selection-transition period the Federal Government 
shall escrow all fees and revenues, if any, due on Federal mining 
claims on portions of the Tongass National Forest and on the patent 
date transfer those receipts to the State of Alaska on the patent date 
to the State to be used for kindergarten through twelfth grade 
educational purposes.
    (3) Any mining claims filed on portions of the Tongass National 
Forest after the selection date shall be subject only to the laws of 
the State of Alaska.
    (g) Timber Exports.--The State shall prohibit by law the export of 
unprocessed saw, utility, and pulp logs originating from lands patented 
to the State under this Act except for minor species and products that 
may be permitted for export by the State to promote manufacture of new 
wood products.
    (h) Other Receipts.--Beginning with the fiscal year of the State of 
Alaska after the patent date, escrowed fees and fees from all existing 
and future issued special use permits and all other land management 
receipts on portions of the Tongass National Forest, net of reasonable 
cost of administration, shall be transferred the account established by 
the State for kindergarten through twelfth grade education purposes, 
with distribution to be based on the Twenty-Five Percent Fund Act 
(Public Law 60-136).
    (i) Existing Obligations After Patent Date.--On the patent date, 
the State shall assume all Federal obligations and duties and receive 
all rights of the United States Forest Service, except that the State 
shall assume no obligation for any claim for damages or specific 
performance relating to a contract or permit, if such claim arose 
before the patent date, unless the State receives the benefit from such 
an obligation.

SEC. 7. MISCELLANEOUS DUTIES OF THE PARTIES AND OTHER PROVISIONS 
              RELATING TO THE TRANSFER.

    (a) Map and Legal Description.--The Map referred to in section 
3(a)(4) and the maps and legal descriptions prepared of the Portions of 
the Tongass National Forest selected by the State under this Act shall 
be on file and available for public inspection in the Office of the 
Secretary in Washington, DC, the Office of the Commissioner in Juneau, 
Alaska, and readily accessible in one additional location in the State.
    (b) Hazardous Materials.--As promptly as practicable after the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall make available to the State 
for review and inspection, all pertinent records relating to hazardous 
materials, if any, on lands to be selected under this Act. The 
responsibility for costs of remedial action related to such materials 
shall be borne by those entities responsible under existing law. If no 
party responsible for the hazardous materials can be determined, 
remediation responsibility and all costs shall remain with the 
Secretary and remediation as agreed to by the Commissioner shall be 
initiated as soon as practical after the patent date.
    (c) Judicial Review.--Selection of land pursuant to this Act shall 
not be subject to judicial review in any court of the United States, 
except--
            (1) to the extent a right of judicial review is conferred 
        specifically by the United States Constitution;
            (2) otherwise conferred by this Act; or
            (3) when sought by the State on matters pertaining to 
        rights conferred by this Act.
    (d) Rulemaking.--No formal rules under section 553 of title 5, 
United States Code, are required to implement this Act.
    (e) Survey.--The patent for and use of the lands conveyed to the 
State pursuant to this Act shall not be subject to completion of a 
field survey and may be issued based on a protraction survey. However, 
the Secretary shall complete a field survey following patent.
    (f) Repeal.--With respect to the lands selected by the State under 
this Act, sections 503, 508, 703, 704, 705 and 706 of the Alaska 
National Lands Interest Conservation Act shall not apply effective on 
the patent date and title III of the Tongass Timber Reform Act shall 
not apply effective on the selection date.
    (g) Encumbrances.--For purposes of an orderly transfer of the 
Tongass National Forest lands to State ownership and transition to 
State management, the Secretary shall provide a list of encumbrances 
and uses of record and otherwise known on the selected portions of the 
Tongass National Forest to the Commissioner during the selection-
transition period. The lands selected under this Act shall be subject 
to all existing encumbrances.
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