[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 37 (Tuesday, April 9, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H1100-H1101]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        BEAR RIVER MIGRATORY BIRD REFUGE SETTLEMENT ACT OF 2002

  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 3958) to provide a mechanism for the settlement of claims of 
the State of Utah regarding portions of the Bear River Migratory Bird 
Refuge located on the shore of the Great Salt Lake, Utah, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 3958

       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 ``Bear River Migratory Bird 
     Refuge Settlement Act of 2002''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) The Secretary of the Interior and the State of Utah 
     have negotiated a preliminary agreement concerning the 
     ownership of lands within the Bear River Migratory Bird 
     Refuge located in Bear River Bay of the Great Salt Lake, 
     Utah.
       (2) The State is entitled to ownership of those sovereign 
     lands constituting the bed of the Great Salt Lake, and, 
     generally, the location of the sovereign lands boundary was 
     set by an official survey of the Great Salt Lake meander 
     line.
       (3) The establishment of the Refuge in 1928 along the shore 
     of the Great Salt Lake, and lack of a meander line survey 
     within the Refuge, has led to uncertainty of ownership of 
     some those sovereign lands.
       (4) In order to settle the uncertainty concerning the 
     sovereign land boundary caused by the gap in the surveyed 
     Great Salt Lake meander line within the Refuge, the Secretary 
     and the State have agreed to the establishment of a fixed 
     sovereign land boundary along the southern boundary of the 
     Refuge and the State has agreed to release any claim to the 
     lake bed above such boundary line.
       (5) The Secretary and the State have expressed their 
     intentions to establish a mutually agreed upon procedure to 
     address the conflicting claims to ownership of the lands and 
     interests in land within the Refuge.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior.
       (2) Refuge.--The term ``Refuge'' means the Bear River 
     Migratory Bird Refuge located in Bear River Bay of the Great 
     Salt Lake, Utah.
       (3) Agreement.--The term ``agreement'' means the agreement 
     to be signed by the Secretary and the State to establish a 
     mutually agreeable procedure for addressing the conflicting 
     claims to ownership of the lands and interests in land within 
     the Refuge.
       (4) State.--The term ``State'' means the State of Utah.

     SEC. 4. REQUIRED TERMS OF LAND CLAIMS SETTLEMENT, BEAR RIVER 
                   MIGRATORY BIRD REFUGE, UTAH.

       (a) Specific Terms Required in Agreement.--The Secretary 
     shall not enter into an agreement with the State for the 
     quitclaim or other transfer of lands or interests in lands 
     within the Refuge unless the terms of the agreement include 
     each of the following provisions:
       (1) Nothing in the agreement shall be construed to impose 
     upon the State or any of agency of the State any obligation 
     to convey to the United States any interest in water owned or 
     controlled by the State, except upon appropriate terms and 
     for adequate consideration.
       (2) Nothing in the agreement shall constitute admission or 
     denial of the United States claim to a Federal reserved water 
     right.
       (3) The State shall support the United States application 
     to add an enlarged Hyrum Reservoir, or another storage 
     facility, as an alternate place of storage under the Refuge's 
     existing

[[Page H1101]]

     1,000 cubic feet per second State certified water right. Such 
     support shall be contingent upon demonstration by the United 
     States that no injury to water rights shall occur as a result 
     of the addition.
       (4) Nothing in the agreement shall affect jurisdiction by 
     the State or the United States Fish and Wildlife Service over 
     wildlife resources management, including fishing, hunting and 
     trapping, within the Refuge.
       (5) If the State elects to bring suit against the United 
     States challenging the validity of the deed issued pursuant 
     to the agreement, and if such suit is successful in 
     invalidating such deed, the State will--
       (A) pay the United States for the fair market value of all 
     real property improvements on the property at the time of 
     invalidation, such as dikes, water control structures and 
     buildings;
       (B) repay any amounts paid by the United States because of 
     ownership of the land by the United States from the date of 
     establishment of the Refuge, such as payments in lieu of 
     taxes; and
       (C) repay any amounts paid to the State pursuant to the 
     agreement.
       (6) Subject to the availability of funds for this purpose, 
     the Secretary shall agree to pay $15,000,000 to the State 
     upon delivery by the State of a quitclaim deed that meets all 
     applicable standards of the Department of Justice and covers 
     all lands and interests in lands claimed by the State within 
     the Refuge. Such payment shall be subject to the condition 
     that the State use the payment for the purposes, and in the 
     amounts, specified in subsections (b) and (c).
       (b) Wetlands and Wildlife Protection Programs.--
       (1) Deposit.--The State shall deposit $10,000,000 of the 
     amount paid pursuant to the agreement, as required by 
     subsection (a)(6), in a restricted account, known as the 
     Wetlands and Habitat Protection Account, to be used as 
     provided in paragraph (2).
       (2) Authorized uses.--The Executive Director of the Utah 
     Department of Natural Resources may withdraw from the 
     Wetlands and Habitat Protection Account, on an annual basis, 
     amounts equal to the interest earned on the amount deposited 
     under paragraph (1) for the following purposes:
       (A) Wetland or open space protection in and near the Great 
     Salt Lake.
       (B) Enhancement and acquisition of wildlife habitat in and 
     near the Great Salt Lake.
       (c) Recreational Trails and Streams Development and 
     Expansion.--The Utah Department of Natural Resources shall 
     use $5,000,000 of the amount paid pursuant to the agreement, 
     as required by subsection (a)(6), for the following purposes:
       (1) Development, improvement, and expansion of motorized 
     and non-motorized recreational trails on public and private 
     lands in the State, with priority given to providing trail 
     access to the Great Salt Lake as part of the proposed 
     Shoshone and Ogden-Weber trail systems.
       (2) Preservation, reclamation, enhancement, and 
     conservation of streams in the State.
       (d) Coordination of Projects.--The Executive Director of 
     the Utah Department of Natural Resources shall seek to 
     maximize the use of funds under subsections (b) and (c) 
     through coordination with nonprofit organizations, Federal 
     agencies, other agencies of the State, and local governments, 
     and shall give priority to those projects under such 
     subsections that include Federal, State, or private matching 
     funds.
       (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated $15,000,000 for the payment required by 
     subsection (a)(6) to be included as a term of the agreement.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Utah (Mr. Hansen) and the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. 
Christensen) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen).
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  H.R. 3958 provides a mechanism for the settlement of claims between 
the U.S. Department of Interior and the State of Utah regarding 
portions of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge located on the north 
shore of the Great Salt Lake and authorizes a reimbursement to the 
State of $15 million for the lands, oil, gas and mineral rights within 
the refuge.
  The Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge was created in 1928 by Congress. 
Today, the refuge consists of 74,000 acres. Of these acres, the State 
of Utah claims 18,000 acres below the meander line of the Great Salt 
Lake as State sovereign lands. For nearly 75 years, the State and 
Federal governments have disputed the ownership of these lands. A 1976 
Supreme Court decision, Utah v. United States, quieted title to the bed 
of the Great Salt Lake up to and including the surveyed meander line, 
excepting the refuge from the decision.
  On September 28, 2001, negotiations between the Fish and Wildlife 
Service and the State resulted in a settlement agreement to be signed 
by the Secretary and by the Governor of the State. The settlement 
agreement is conditional upon congressional authorization and 
appropriation of required funds as well as State legislative approval. 
The 2002 Utah legislature approved the necessary measures. H.R. 3958 
fulfills congressional action necessary for the Secretary of Interior 
to sign the final agreement.
  To assure that reimbursement moneys from the settlement are used to 
benefit wildlife, this bill requires the State to place two-thirds of 
the funds in a permanent interest-bearing account to fund wetland and 
wildlife habitat projects in the State of Utah in perpetuity. The 
remaining one-third of the funds will be used for trail and stream 
enhancement. In return, the State will drop its claim to the disputed 
portion of the refuge. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3958.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  (Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
her remarks.)
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3958 would provide the framework 
for a quitclaim settlement between the Federal Government and the State 
of Utah concerning lands and other interests at the Bear River 
Migratory Bird Refuge. This legislation is necessary to enable the 
Secretary of the Interior to sign the final agreement negotiated 
between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the State regarding a 
75-year-old dispute concerning ownership to the beds and waters of the 
Great Salt Lake within the refuge. This legislation would not codify 
the agreement. Rather, H.R. 3958 would simply specify the required 
terms of the settlement.
  Additionally, H.R. 3958 would authorize $15 million subject to the 
availability of appropriations as reimbursement to the State to quiet 
title to the lands, oil, gas and mineral rights within the refuge. In 
exchange, the State will drop its claim to the 18,000 acres within the 
refuge that are subject to the dispute and receive valuable funding to 
support habitat conservation and outdoor recreation activities 
benefiting both the refuge and the State lands and waters.
  Mr. Speaker, the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is one of the 
oldest and most popular refuges within the entire National Wildlife 
Refuge System. This legislation should enhance future Federal 
management authority at the refuge. I commend Chairman Hansen for 
bringing this bill before the House today. We are pleased to support 
it.
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 3958, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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