[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5923 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5923

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to exchange certain public lands 
          in Ouachita National Forest, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 22, 2018

Mr. Westerman introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to exchange certain public lands 
          in Ouachita National Forest, 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 ``Walnut Grove Land Exchange Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Church.--The term ``Church'' means the Walnut Grove 
        Church.
            (2) Offered tract.--The term ``Offered Tract'' means all 
        right, title, and interest of the Church in and to 
        approximately 6.3 acres of non-Federal land identified as 
        ``Offered Tract 5742''on the Detail Map of the Walnut Grove 
        Exchange, Ouachita National Forest Map.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture.
            (4) Selected tract.--The term ``Selected Tract'' means all 
        right, title, and interest of the United States in and to 
        approximately 4 acres identified as ``Selected Tract 5743'' on 
        the Detail Map of the Walnut Grove Exchange, Ouachita National 
        Forest Map.
            (5) Service.--The term ``Service'' means the United States 
        Forest Service.

SEC. 3. EXCHANGE OF LAND; EQUALIZATION OF VALUE.

    (a) Exchange Authorized.--Subject to the provisions of this Act, 
not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, if 
the Church offers to convey the Offered Tract to the United States, the 
Secretary shall--
            (1) convey to the Church all right, title, and interest of 
        the United States in and to the Selected Tract; and
            (2) accept from the Church a conveyance of all right, 
        title, and interest of the Church in and to the Offered Tract.
    (b) Requirements.--The exchange under subsection (a) shall be--
            (1) subject to valid existing rights;
            (2) conditioned on an equalization payment made by the 
        Church in accordance with subsection (c); and
            (3) conditioned on the payment of the costs described in 
        subsection (g).
    (c) Equal Value and Cash Equalization.--
            (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
        exchange under subsection (a) shall be for equal value or the 
        values shall be equalized by a cash payment.
            (2) Exception.--If the value of the Offered Tract exceeds 
        the Selected Tract, an equalization payment shall not be 
        required.
    (d) Appraisals.--
            (1) In general.--The value of the land to be exchanged 
        under this Act shall be determined by appraisals conducted by 
        one or more independent and qualified appraisers.
            (2) Appraisal standards.--The appraisals required under 
        paragraph (1) shall be conducted in accordance with nationally 
        recognized appraisal standards, including, as determined 
        appropriate by the Church and Secretary, the Uniform Appraisal 
        Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions and the Uniform 
        Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice.
    (e) Format.--Title and valuation to the land to be exchanged under 
this Act shall be in a format acceptable to the Secretary and the 
Church.
    (f) Map and Legal Descriptions.----
            (1) In general.--As soon as practicable after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall finalize a map 
        and legal descriptions of all land to be conveyed under this 
        Act.
            (2) Corrections.--The Secretary may correct any minor 
        errors in the map or in the legal descriptions.
            (3) Map on file.--The map and legal descriptions shall be 
        on file and available for public inspection in appropriate 
        offices of the United States Forest Service.
    (g) Costs of Conveyance.--As a condition of conveyance, any costs 
related to the conveyance under this section shall be paid by the 
Church.
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