Short title

This Act may be cited as the

Alaska Timber Management Areas for Education Land Selection Act

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purposes from the National Forest System by the State of Alaska under section 6(a) of the Statehood Act of 1958 are no longer applicable, and the need for National Forest System lands in Alaska to remain in Federal ownership to assure satisfaction of Federal contractual obligations is no longer valid.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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.