[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 128 (Wednesday, September 23, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H8473-H8474]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MOUNT ST. HELENS NATIONAL VOLCANIC MONUMENT COMPLETION ACT
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 1659) to provide for the expeditious completion of the
acquisition of private mineral interests within the Mount St. Helens
National Volcanic Monument mandated by the 1982 Act that established
the Monument, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 1659
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 ``Mount St. Helens National
Volcanic Monument Completion Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) The Act entitled ``An Act to designate the Mount St.
Helens National Volcanic Monument in the State of Washington,
and for other purposes'', approved August 26, 1982 (96 Stat.
301; 16 U.S.C. 431 note), required the United States to
acquire all land and interests in land in the Mount St.
Helens National Volcanic Monument.
(2) The Act directed the Secretary of Agriculture to
acquire the surface interests and the mineral and geothermal
interests by separate exchanges and expressed the sense of
Congress that the exchanges be completed by November 24,
1982, and August 26, 1983, respectively.
(3) The surface interests exchange was consummated timely,
but the exchange of all mineral and geothermal interests has
not yet been completed a decade and a half after the
enactment of the Act.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to facilitate and
otherwise provide for the expeditious completion of the
previously mandated Federal acquisition of private mineral
and geothermal interests within the Mount St. Helens National
Volcanic Monument.
SEC. 3. ACQUISITION OF MINERAL AND GEOTHERMAL INTERESTS
WITHIN MOUNT ST. HELENS NATIONAL VOLCANIC
MONUMENT.
Section 3 of the Act entitled ``An Act to designate the
Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument in the State of
Washington, and for other purposes'', approved August 26,
1982 (Public Law 97-243; 96 Stat. 302; 16 U.S.C. 431 note),
is amended by adding at the end the following new
subsections:
``(g) Exchanges For Mineral and Geothermal Interests Held
by Certain Companies.--
``(1) Definition of company.--In this subsection, the term
`company' means a company referred to in subsection (c) or
its assigns or successors.
``(2) Exchange required.--Within 60 days after the date of
enactment of this subsection, the Secretary of the Interior
shall acquire by exchange the mineral and geothermal
interests in the Monument of each company.
``(3) Monetary credits.--
``(A) Issuance.--In exchange for all mineral and geothermal
interests acquired by the Secretary of the Interior from each
company under paragraph (2), the Secretary of the Interior
shall issue to each such company monetary credits with a
value of $2,100,000 that may be used for the payment of--
``(i) not more than 50 percent of the bonus or other
payments made by successful bidders in any sales of mineral,
oil, gas, or geothermal leases under the Mineral Leasing Act
(30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), the Outer Continental Shelf Lands
Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.), or the Geothermal Steam Act of
1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) in the contiguous 48 States;
``(ii) not more than 10 percent of the bonus or other
payments made by successful bidders in any sales of mineral,
oil, gas, or geothermal leases in Alaska under the laws
specified in clause (i);
``(iii) not more than 50 percent of any royalty, rental, or
advance royalty payment made to the United States to maintain
any mineral, oil or gas, or geothermal lease in the
contiguous 48 States issued under the laws specified in
clause (i); or
``(iv) not more than 10 percent of any royalty, rental, or
advance royalty payment made to the United States to maintain
any mineral, oil or gas, or geothermal lease in Alaska issued
under the laws specified in clause (i).
``(B) Value of credits.--The total credits of $4,200,000 in
value issued under subparagraph (A) are deemed to equal the
fair market value of all mineral and geothermal interests to
be conveyed by exchange under paragraph (2).
``(4) Acceptance of credits.--The Secretary of the Interior
shall accept credits issued under paragraph (3)(A) in the
same manner as cash for the payments described in such
paragraph. The use of the credits shall be subject to the
laws (including regulations) governing such payments, to the
extent the laws are consistent with this subsection.
``(5) Treatment of credits for distribution to states.--All
amounts in the form of credits accepted by the Secretary of
the Interior under paragraph (4) for the payments described
in paragraph (3)(A) shall be considered to be money received
for the purpose of section 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30
U.S.C. 191) and section 20 of the Geothermal Steam Act of
1970 (30 U.S.C. 1019).
``(6) Exchange account.--
``(A) Establishment.--Notwithstanding any other provision
of law, not later than 30 days after the completion of the
exchange with a company required by paragraph (2), the
Secretary of the Interior shall establish an exchange account
for that company for the monetary credits issued to that
company under paragraph (3). The account for a company shall
be established with the Minerals Management Service of the
Department of the Interior and have an initial balance of
credits equal to $2,100,000.
``(B) Use of credits.--The credits in a company's account
shall be available to the company for the purposes specified
in paragraph (3)(A). The Secretary of the Interior shall
adjust the balance of credits in the account to reflect
credits accepted by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to
paragraph (4).
``(C) Transfer or sale of credits.--
``(i) Transfer or sale authorized.--A company may transfer
or sell any credits in the company's account to another
person.
``(ii) Use of transferred credits.--Credits transferred or
sold under clause (i) may be used in accordance with this
subsection only by a person that is qualified to bid on, or
that holds, a mineral, oil, or gas lease under the Mineral
Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), the Outer Continental
Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.), or the Geothermal
Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.).
``(iii) Notification.--Within 30 days after the transfer or
sale of any credits by a company, that company shall notify
the Secretary of the Interior of the transfer or sale. The
transfer or sale of any credit shall not be considered valid
until the Secretary of the Interior has received the
notification required under this clause.
``(D) Time limit on use of credits.--On the date that is 5
years after the date on which an account is created under
subparagraph (A) for a company, the Secretary of the Interior
shall terminate that company's account. Any credits that
originated in the terminated account and have not been used
as of the termination date, including any credits transferred
or sold under subparagraph (C), shall become unusable.
``(7) Title to interests.--On the date of the establishment
of an exchange account for a company under paragraph (6)(A),
title to any mineral and geothermal interests that are held
by the company and are to be acquired by the Secretary of the
Interior under paragraph (2) shall transfer to the United
States.
``(h) Other Mineral and Geothermal Interests.--Within 180
days after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the
Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Resources of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources of the Senate a report--
``(1) identifying all remaining privately held mineral
interests within the boundaries of the Monument referred to
in section 1(a); and
``(2) setting forth a plan and a timetable by which the
Secretary would propose to complete the acquisition of such
interests.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Idaho (Mrs. Chenoweth) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Miller)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Idaho (Mrs. Chenoweth).
(Mrs. CHENOWETH asked and was given permission to revise and extend
her remarks.)
[[Page H8474]]
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1659, introduced by the gentlewoman from Washington
(Mrs. Smith) directs the Secretary of the Interior to fulfill a 1982
statutory requirement that the Federal Government acquire private lands
and minerals within the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.
Eighteen years ago, this tragedy happened. Mr. Speaker, 16 years
after creation of the monument and 15 years after the statutory
deadline for the exchange, it will finally bring this issue to a close,
finally.
This legislation has the bipartisan support of members of the
Washington Delegation and the administration. It equitably and finally
completes the exchange previously mandated by Congress when the
monument was created.
I congratulate my colleague, the gentlewoman from Washington (Mrs.
Smith), and all parties involved for their excellent work, and I urge
all of my colleagues to support this very common-sense legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the Mount Saint Helen's National Volcanic Monument
Completion Act requires the Secretary of the Interior to acquire, by
exchange, the mineral and geothermal interests of the Burlington
Northern, Incorporated and the Weyerhaeuser Companies in the Mount
Saint Helen's National Volcanic Monument in the State of Washington.
We appreciate the interest of the Washington delegation to see this
exchange executed as soon as possible, as the matter has been unsettled
for too long. Therefore, we were pleased to learn that an appraisal
agreement had been reached between the federal government and the
private landowners involved.
The negotiations have concluded with the Forest Service and
Weyerhaeuser agreeing upon a value of $4.2 million.
The Administration has indicated that they have no objection to the
substitute bill which incorporates this agreement and is being offered
today.
Clearly, Burlington and Weyerhaeuser should be compensated for their
mineral rights within Mount Saint Helen's National Volcanic Monument.
Now that the Administration is no longer opposed to the bill because an
agreed-upon value for the property has been accomplished and will be
included in the bill, we see no reason to oppose the bill.
We are in strong support of this legislation. The previous problems
that they had with respect to value for the property have been worked
out. We urge the passage of this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to
the gentlewoman from Washington (Mrs. Linda Smith).
Mrs. LINDA SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the
gentlewoman from Idaho (Mrs. Chenoweth) for yielding. She has been a
great chairman. And I want to thank her staff. This has not been one of
the easier bills, and I know that they did a lot of work in trying to
negotiate the final principles and values in this bill.
I want to talk about what happened in 1980 for a moment so we
understand what brings us to this day. Mount St. Helens erupted in what
was one of nature's most beautiful events and also most devastating. It
caused a 250-mile-per-hour avalanche and high winds that destroyed over
150 square miles of forests, and it sent a plume of ash over to the
eastern side of the State that was like nothing we have ever seen. In
fact, it took quite a while to clean it up.
But, after that, it took until 1982 to establish a monument. And in
that process, we decided to protect 110,000 acres around the volcano
for future recreation and education and research. This monument
actually preserves this area, but it also has become a living
classroom.
Underneath this new beautiful park and living classroom, though, has
been captured the mineral rights that were supposed to be exchanged in
the original agreement in 1982 so that those that owned the mineral
rights got mineral rights somewhere else or some compensation.
Today, after all of this time, and this started in 1980, we are
finally keeping our commitment to those that own the mineral rights to
make reasonable exchanges for what is their property. So I again want
to thank the chairman, I want to thank the staff and all of the members
of our delegation who unanimously support this legislation in bringing
us to this day; a long time, but finally fairness has prevailed and we,
the government, are keeping our commitment to those various landowners.
Mr. HASTINGS of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by
applauding my colleague from Washington State, Mrs. Smith, for bringing
this matter to the attention of the House. I also commend the hard work
of Mr. Young, the Chairman of the Resources Committee and Mrs.
Chenoweth, the Chairman of the Subcommittee, for their excellent work
in moving this legislation forward.
I encourage my colleagues to support H.R. 1659, the Mt. St. Helens
National Volcanic Monument Completion Act. This legislation completes
the work begun with the creation of the monument in 1982 by bringing
the remaining privately owned mineral rights within the monument into
federal ownership.
Mr. Speaker, as a lifetime resident of Washington State, I remember
the awesome spectacle of Mt. St. Helens' eruption and the tragic loss
of lives and property it caused. The federal government created the St.
Helens National Monument to preserve the unique volcanic landscape that
resulted. However, it was never the intent of Congress that the
creation of this monument should result in an uncompensated loss of
private property. In fact, the enacting legislation required all land
and mineral rights to be acquired by exchange within one year. Fifteen
years later, this statutory requirement has not been met.
Mr. Speaker, the completion of the original terms of the Mt. St.
Helens National Volcanic Monument is long overdue. H.R. 1659 will
fulfill the commitment made by the United States in a manner which is
fair to both the private landowners and the American taxpayers. This is
a good bill that I urge my colleagues to support.
Mrs. CHENOWETH. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from Idaho (Mrs. Chenoweth) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1659, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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