[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 580 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 580

To amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to improve 
 the transparency and oversight of land conveyances involving disposal 
   or acquisition of National Forest System lands or Bureau of Land 
   Management public lands, to provide protections and certainty for 
 private landowners related to resurveying such public lands, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 15, 2019

  Mr. Tipton (for himself, Mr. Lamborn, and Mr. Young) introduced the 
    following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 
   Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a 
 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to improve 
 the transparency and oversight of land conveyances involving disposal 
   or acquisition of National Forest System lands or Bureau of Land 
   Management public lands, to provide protections and certainty for 
 private landowners related to resurveying such public lands, 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 ``Protection and Transparency for 
Adjacent Landowners Act''.

TITLE I--REQUIREMENTS FOR FOREST SERVICE AND BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT 
                   LAND ACQUISITIONS AND CONVEYANCES

SEC. 101. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR FOREST SERVICE AND BUREAU OF LAND 
              MANAGEMENT LAND ACQUISITIONS AND CONVEYANCES.

    (a) Notice to Adjacent Landowners.--
            (1) Land acquisitions.--Section 205 of the Federal Land 
        Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1715) is amended 
        by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(f) Notice to Adjacent Landowners.--As part of the acquisition of 
a parcel of non-Federal lands under this section, section 206, or other 
applicable law that will become public lands or National Forest System 
lands, the Secretary or the Secretary of Agriculture, as the case may 
be, shall provide advance written notification to each owner of land 
that is adjacent to the parcel of land to be acquired. To assist in 
identifying adjacent landowners, and to meet the requirements of this 
subsection, the Secretary concerned should use the most recently 
available property tax records.''.
            (2) Land conveyances.--Section 208 of the Federal Land 
        Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1718) is amended--
                    (A) by inserting ``(a) Issuance of Patent and Other 
                Conveyance Documents.--'' before the first sentence and 
                ``(b) Other Terms and Conditions.--'' before the second 
                sentence; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                subsection:
    ``(c) Notice to Adjacent Landowners.--As part of the conveyance of 
a parcel of public lands or National Forest System lands by sale, 
exchange, or other disposal method under section 203 or 206 or other 
applicable law, the Secretary or the Secretary of Agriculture, as the 
case may be, shall provide advance written notification to each owner 
of land that is adjacent to the parcel of land to be conveyed. To 
assist in identifying adjacent landowners, and to meet the requirements 
of this subsection, the Secretary concerned should use the most 
recently available property tax records.''.
    (b) Oversight of Use of Third-Party Facilitators.--
            (1) Acquisition.--Section 205 of the Federal Land Policy 
        and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1715) is amended by 
        inserting after subsection (f), as added by subsection (a)(1), 
        the following new subsection:
    ``(g) Oversight of Use of Third-Party Facilitators.--(1) If the 
acquisition process for a parcel of non-Federal lands under this 
section, section 206, or other applicable law that will become public 
lands or National Forest System lands involves the use of a third-party 
facilitator, the Secretary or the Secretary of Agriculture, as the case 
may be, shall require, as a condition of the approval of the 
acquisition--
            ``(A) submission of all purchase contracts and related 
        agreements held by the third-party facilitator related to the 
        parcel to be acquired on written request by the appropriate 
        official;
            ``(B) supervisor review of such purchase contracts and 
        related agreements, the purpose of the acquisition, and other 
        terms and conditions of the acquisition; and
            ``(C) a clear statement to Bureau of Land Management and 
        United States Forest Service employees that the Secretary or 
        the Secretary of Agriculture, as the case may be, has 
        determined that all business information submitted under 
        paragraphs (A), (B), and (C) of subsection (d) is confidential 
        and all information covered by the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 
        U.S.C. 552a) will be protected to the extent allowed by law.
    ``(2) In this subsection, the term `third-party facilitator' means 
any entity (other than an agent of the United States) whose role in a 
real estate transaction is to assist the buyer or seller, or both, in 
reaching agreement in the transaction.''.
            (2) Land conveyances.--Section 208 of the Federal Land 
        Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1718) is amended 
        by inserting after subsection (c), as added by subsection 
        (a)(2), the following new subsection:
    ``(d) Oversight of Use of Third-Party Facilitators.--(1) If the 
process by which a parcel of public lands or National Forest System 
lands will be conveyed by sale, exchange, or other disposal method 
under section 203 or 206 or other applicable law, involves the use of a 
third-party facilitator, the Secretary or the Secretary of Agriculture, 
as the case may be, shall require, as a condition of the approval of 
the conveyance--
            ``(A) submission of all purchase contracts and related 
        agreements held by the third-party facilitator related to the 
        Federal land to be conveyed on written request by the 
        appropriate official;
            ``(B) submission to appraisers of contact information for 
        prospective end owners of the Federal land to be conveyed;
            ``(C) supervisor review of such purchase contracts and 
        related agreements, the purpose of the conveyance, and other 
        terms and conditions of the conveyance; and
            ``(D) a clear statement to Bureau of Land Management and 
        United States Forest Service employees that the Secretary or 
        the Secretary of Agriculture, as the case may be, has 
        determined that all business information submitted under 
        paragraphs (A), (B), and (C) of this subsection is confidential 
        and all information covered by the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 
        U.S.C. 552a) will be protected to the extent allowed by law.
    ``(2) In this subsection, the term `third-party facilitator' means 
any entity (other than an agent of the United States) whose role in a 
real estate transaction is to assist the buyer or seller, or both, in 
reaching agreement in the transaction.''.

       TITLE II--BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT RESURVEY REQUIREMENTS

SEC. 201. BUREAU RESURVEY TRANSPARENCY; NOTICE REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Notice.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 30 days before the 
        commencement of a resurvey of Federal land under the 
        administrative jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management, 
        the Secretary shall notify all property owners with land 
        abutting or adjacent to the Federal land being resurveyed of 
        the pending resurvey. If a resurvey extends the boundaries of 
        Federal land, the Secretary shall notify affected landowners of 
        the results of the resurvey not later than 30 days after the 
        completion of the survey.
            (2) Notification.--The Secretary shall use certified or 
        registered mail to notify landowners under this subsection.
            (3) Identification of landowners.--When identifying 
        affected landowners for the purpose of notification under this 
        subsection, the Secretary shall use the most recently available 
        property tax records.
    (b) Public Comment.--Not later than 30 days after completing a 
resurvey, the Secretary shall publish a notice in the Federal Register. 
Affected landowners may comment to the Secretary and by submitting 
formal comments to the Federal Register notice.

SEC. 202. PROTECTION OF PERSONS.

    If a resurvey results in land previously thought to be privately 
owned to be reclassified as Federal land, the persons thought to be a 
private owner of such land--
            (1) shall--
                    (A) be given the right of first refusal to purchase 
                the land for fair market value minus the value of any 
                significant improvements made to such lands; or
                    (B) be reimbursed for the fair market value of any 
                significant improvements made to such lands; and
            (2) may not be charged with willful trespass onto such land 
        unless the person used such lands with the knowledge that the 
        lands should be classified as Federal land.

SEC. 203. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this title:
            (1) Resurvey.--The term ``resurvey'' means an official 
        rerunning and remarking intended to supersede the records of 
        the original survey.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Bureau of 
        Land Management.
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