[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 135 (Thursday, October 1, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11287-S11288]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          AMENDMENTS SUBMITTED

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                KING COVE HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT OF 1998

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                      MURKOWSKI AMENDMENT NO. 3676

  Mr. MURKOWSKI proposed an amendment to the bill (S. 1092) to provide 
for a transfer of land interests in order to facilitate surface 
transportation between the cities of Cold Bay, Alaska, and King Cove, 
Alaska, and for other purposes; as follows:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``King Cove Health and Safety 
     Act of 1998''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       The Congress finds that--
       (a) King Cove, Alaska is a community in the westernmost 
     region of the Alaska Peninsula with a population of roughly 
     800 full-time residents and an additional 400 to 600 workers 
     who are transported in and out of the community a number of 
     times a year to work in the local fish processing plant and 
     on fishing vessels;
       (b) the majority of the full-time residents are indigenous 
     Native peoples of Aleut ancestry that have resided in the 
     region for over 5,000 years;
       (c) the only mode of access to or from King Cove is via 
     small aircraft or fishing boat, and the weather patterns are 
     so severe and unpredictable that King Cove is one of the 
     worst places in all of the United States to access by either 
     of these modes of transportation;
       (d) the State of Alaska has initiated the King Cove to Cold 
     Bay Transportation Improvement Assessment to confirm the need 
     for transportation improvements for King Cove and to identify 
     alternative methods of improving transportation access with 
     comprehensive environmental and economic review of each 
     alternative;
       (e) the State of Alaska has identified a road between King 
     Cove and Cold Bay as one of the alternatives to be evaluated 
     in the transportation planning process but for a road to be a 
     viable option for the State of Alaska, the Congress must 
     grant a legislative easement within the Izembek National 
     Wildlife Refuge (``Refuge'') across approximately seven miles 
     of wilderness land owned by the Federal Government;
       (f) there are fourteen miles of roads within the wilderness 
     boundary of the Refuge which are currently traveled by 
     vehicles;
       (g) any road constructed in accordance with such easement 
     would be an unpaved, one-lane road sufficient in width to 
     satisfy State law; and
       (h) the combined communities of King Cove and Cold Bay have 
     approximately 250 vehicles.

     SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

       The purpose of this Act is to establish a surface 
     transportation easement across Federal lands within the 
     Refuge and to transfer 664 acres of high value habitat lands 
     adjacent to the Refuge in fee simple from the King Cove 
     Corporation to the Federal Government as new wilderness lands 
     within the Refuge in exchange for redesignating a narrow 
     corridor of land within the Refuge as nonwilderness lands.

     SEC. 4. LAND EXCHANGE.

       If the King Cove Corporation offers to transfer to the 
     United States all right, title, and interest of the 
     Corporation in and to all land owned by the Corporation in 
     Sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of T 57 S, R 88 W, Seward 
     Meridian, Alaska; and any improvements thereon, the Secretary 
     of the Interior (``Secretary'') shall, not later than 30 days 
     after such offer, grant the Aleutians East Borough a 
     perpetual right-of-way of 60 feet in width through the lands 
     described in sections 6 and 7 of this Act for the 
     construction, operation and maintenance of certain utility-
     related fixtures and of a public road between the city of 
     Cold Bay, Alaska, and the city of King Cove, Alaska and 
     accept the transfer of the offered lands. Upon transfer to 
     the United States, such lands shall be managed in accordance 
     with Section 1302(i) of the Alaska National Interest Lands 
     Conservation Act, shall be included within the Refuge, and 
     shall be managed as wilderness.

     SEC. 5. RIGHT-OF-WAY.

       Unless otherwise agreed to be the Secretary and the 
     Aleutians East Borough, the right-of-way granted under 
     section 4 shall--
       (1) include sufficient lands for logistical staging areas 
     and construction material

[[Page S11288]]

     sites used for the construction and maintenance of an 
     unpaved, one-lane public road sufficient in width to meet the 
     minimum requirements necessary to satisfy State law;
       (2) meet all requirements for a public highway right-of-way 
     under the laws of the State of Alaska; and
       (3) include the right for the Aleutians East Borough, or 
     its assignees to construct, operate, and maintain electrical, 
     telephone, or other utility facilities and structures within 
     the right-of-way.

     SEC. 6. CONFORMING CHANGE.

       Upon the offer of Corporation lands under section 4, the 
     boundaries of the wilderness area within the Refuge are 
     modified to exclude from wilderness designation a 100 foot 
     wide corridor to accommodate the right-of-way within the 
     following land sections--
       (1) Sections 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 
     30, 35, and 36 of T 56 S, R 87 W, Seward Meridian, Alaska.
       (2) Sections 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 34, 35, and 36 of T 56 S, 
     R 88 W, Seward Meridian, Alaska.
       (3) Sections 1, 2, 11, and 12 of T 57 S, R 89 W, Seward 
     Meridian, Alaska.

     SEC. 7. RIGHT-OF-WAY LOCATION.

       Unless otherwise agreed to by the Secretary and the 
     Aleutians East Borough, the right-of-way granted under 
     section 4 shall be located within--
       (a) sections 2, 3, 10, and 11 of T 59 S, R 86 W, Seward 
     Meridian, Alaska;
       (b) sections 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, and 35 of T 59 
     S, R 86 W, Seward Meridian, Alaska;
       (c) sections 3, 4, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 23, 24, 25, 26, 
     and 36 of T 58 S, R 87 W, Seward Meridian, Alaska;
       (d) sections 5, 6,7, 8, 9, 16, 17, 20, 21, 27, 28, 29, 32, 
     33, and 34 of T 57 S, R 87 W, Seward Meridian, Alaska;
       (e) sections 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 
     30, 35, and 36 of T 56 S, R 87 W, Seward Meridian, Alaska;
       (f) sections 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 34, 35, and 36 of T 56 S, 
     R 88 W, Seward Meridian, Alaska;
       (g) section 6 of T 37 S, R 88 W, Seward Meridian, Alaska; 
     and
       (h) sections 1, 2, 11, and 12 of T 57 S, R 89 W, Seward 
     Meridian, Alaska.

     SEC. 8. TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.

       The following provisions of law shall not be applicable to 
     any right-of-way granted under section 4 of this Act or to 
     any road constructed on such right-of-way--
       (1) section 22(g) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement 
     Act (43 U.S.C. 1621(g)).
       (2) title XI of the Alaska National Interest Lands 
     Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3161 et seq.), except as 
     specified in this section; and
       (3) section 303(c) of title 49, United States Code.
       Sec. 9. The Secretary and the Aleutians East Borough shall 
     jointly prepare a plan setting forth--
       (1) the times of the year a road may reasonably be 
     constructed when there are not high concentrations of 
     migratory birds in Kinzarof Lagoon; and
       (2) limitations on non-emergency road traffic during 
     periods of the year when there are high concentrations of 
     migratory birds in Kinzarof Lagoon.
       Sec. 10. If within 24 months of the date the King Cove 
     Corporation offers to transfer to the United States all 
     right, title, and interest of the Corporation lands set forth 
     in Section 4 of this Act, the Secretary and the Aleutians 
     East Borough fail to mutually agree on the following--
       (1) a final land exchange and a grant of a right-of-way 
     pursuant to Section 4; and
       (2) the right-of-way specifications, and terms and 
     conditions of use set forth in sections 5, 6, 7 and 8 of this 
     Act;

     then the Aleutians East Borough shall have the right to 
     select a 60 foot right-of-way for the construction, 
     operation, and maintenance of certain utility-related 
     fixtures and of a public road from lands described in Section 
     7 of this section, and to identify logistical staging areas 
     and construction material sites within the right-of-way. If 
     an agreements is not reached within 6 months after the 
     Aleutians East Borough notifies the Secretary of its 
     selection, then the right-of-way is hereby granted to the 
     Borough.

     

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