[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 126 (Tuesday, October 1, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H6862-H6864]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            FEDERAL-UTAH STATE TRUST LANDS CONSOLIDATION ACT

  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4968) to provide for the exchange of certain lands in Utah, 
as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4968

       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 ``Federal-Utah State Trust 
     Lands Consolidation Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
       (1) The San Rafael Swell in Utah is a 900-square mile, wild 
     and beautiful region west of the Green River. The San Rafael 
     Swell is dominated by the jagged, uplifted San Rafael Reef, 
     which has nearly two dozen major canyons and many side draws 
     and box canyons. The San Rafael Swell towers above the desert 
     like a wilderness castle, ringed by 1,000-foot ramparts of 
     Navajo sandstone. Its highlands have been fractured by uplift 
     and scooped hollow by erosion over countless millennia, 
     leaving a tremendous basin punctuated by mesas, buttes, and 
     canyons and traversed by sediment-laden desert streams.
       (2) The San Rafael Swell region was one of the country's 
     last frontiers and possesses important natural, historical, 
     and cultural resources, including exceptional backcountry 
     recreation opportunities, productive habitat for Desert 
     Bighorn Sheep, important historical sites, including sections 
     of the Old Spanish Trail and the Outlaw Trail, significant 
     paleontological resources, and multiple wilderness study 
     areas created pursuant to section 603 of the Federal Lands 
     Policy and Management Act of 1976, or otherwise identified by 
     local government and conservation interests as having 
     significant conservation values. The beautiful rural 
     landscapes, historic and cultural landscapes, and spectacular 
     scenic vistas of the San Rafael Swell region contain 
     significant undeveloped recreational opportunities for people 
     throughout the United States.
       (3) The State of Utah owns approximately 102,871 acres of 
     land located in the San Rafael Swell region and administered 
     by the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands 
     Administration. These lands were granted by the Congress to 
     the State of Utah pursuant to the Utah Enabling Act of 1894 
     (chapter 138; 23 Stat. 107), to be held in trust for the 
     benefit of the State's public school system and other public 
     institutions. The lands are largely scattered in checkerboard 
     fashion amidst the Federal lands comprising the remainder of 
     the San Rafael Swell area.
       (4) Development of surface and mineral resources on State 
     trust lands within the San Rafael Swell area, or the sale of 
     such lands into private ownership, could be incompatible with 
     management of such lands for nonimpairment of their 
     wilderness characteristics pursuant to section 603(c) of the 
     Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, with future 
     congressional designation of the lands as wilderness, or with 
     future designation of such lands as a national monument, 
     national heritage area, or other conservation designation.
       (5) The State of Utah also owns 3,533 acres of land within 
     or directly adjacent to the Manti-La Sal National Forest in 
     Grand and Emery Counties, Utah, and 6,411 acres of land 
     within the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, a conservation reserve 
     established in 1995 by the United States and Washington 
     County, Utah, to implement a multiple-species habitat 
     conservation plan approved by the Fish and Wildlife Service 
     under section 10(a) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973. 
     The Reserve contains the highest density of critical habitat 
     for the Mojave desert tortoise, a threatened species, in the 
     United States. These State trust lands are also administered 
     by the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands 
     Administration, but the use of such lands by the State is 
     limited because of the conservation designations of 
     surrounding Federal lands.
       (6) The United States owns lands and interests in lands 
     elsewhere in Utah that can be transferred to the State of 
     Utah in exchange for the San Rafael Swell inholdings, the 
     Manti-La Sal forest lands, and the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve 
     lands without jeopardizing Federal management objectives or 
     needs.
       (7) The large presence of State trust land inholdings in 
     the San Rafael Swell region, the Manti-La Sal National 
     Forest, and the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve makes land and 
     resource management in these areas difficult, costly, and 
     controversial for both the State of Utah and the United 
     States.
       (8) It is in the public interest to reach agreement on 
     exchange of such inholdings, on terms fair to both the State 
     of Utah and the United States. Such an agreement, subject to 
     ratification by Congress and consent by the Utah legislature, 
     would save much time and delay in meeting the legitimate 
     expectations of the State school and institutional trusts, in 
     simplifying management of Federal lands, and in avoiding the 
     significant time and expense associated with administrative 
     land exchanges.
       (9) The State of Utah and the United States have reached an 
     agreement under which the State would exchange certain State 
     trust lands within the San Rafael Swell region, the Manti-La 
     Sal National Forest, and the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve for 
     various Federal lands outside of those areas but in the same 
     region of Utah.
       (10) The parties agreed at the outset of negotiations to 
     avoid identifying Federal assets for conveyance to the State 
     where any of the following was known to exist or likely to be 
     an issue as a result of foreseeable future uses of the lands:
       (A) Wilderness study areas.
       (B) Areas proposed for wilderness designation in pending 
     Federal legislation.
       (C) Significant endangered species habitat.
       (D) Significant archaeological resources.
       (E) Areas of critical environmental concern.
       (F) Other lands known to raise significant environmental 
     concerns of any kind.
       (11) Because the State trust lands to be acquired by the 
     Federal Government include

[[Page H6863]]

     properties within some of the most spectacular wild areas in 
     the western United States, and because a mission of the Utah 
     School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration is to 
     produce economic benefits for Utah's public schools and other 
     beneficiary institutions, the exchange of lands called for in 
     this agreement will resolve longstanding environmental 
     conflicts with respect to existing and proposed wilderness 
     study areas, place important natural lands into public 
     ownership, and further the interests of the State trust 
     lands, the school children of Utah, and these conservation 
     resources.
       (12) Under this agreement, the State interests to be 
     conveyed to the United States by the State of Utah, and the 
     Federal interests to be conveyed to the State of Utah by the 
     United States, have been examined by licensed independent 
     real estate consultants and, taken as a whole, have been 
     found to be approximately equal in value.
       (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to enact into law 
     and direct prompt implementation of this agreement, and 
     thereby to further the public interest by consolidating State 
     and Federal lands into manageable units while facilitating 
     the protection of lands with significant scientific, 
     cultural, and natural resources.

     SEC. 3. RATIFICATION OF THE AGREED EXCHANGE BETWEEN THE STATE 
                   OF UTAH AND THE UNITED STATES.

       (a) Agreement.--The State of Utah, the Department of the 
     Interior, and the Department of Agriculture have agreed to 
     exchange certain Federal lands in the State of Utah for lands 
     of approximately equal value managed by the Utah School and 
     Institutional Trust Lands Administration in the San Rafael 
     Swell area of Utah, the Manti-La Sal National Forest, and the 
     Red Cliffs Desert Reserve.
       (b) Ratification.--All terms, conditions, procedures, 
     covenants, reservations, and other provisions set forth in 
     the document entitled ``Agreement for Exchange of Lands 2002 
     Federal-Utah State Trust Lands Consolidation'', dated June 
     18, 2002 (in this Act referred to as ``the Agreement''), are 
     hereby incorporated in this Act, are ratified and confirmed, 
     and set forth the obligations of the United States, the State 
     of Utah, and the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands 
     Administration, as a matter of Federal law.

     SEC. 4. CONVEYANCES.

       (a) Conveyances.--All conveyances under sections 2, 3, and 
     4 of the Agreement shall be completed not later than 70 days 
     after enactment of this Act.
       (b) Maps and Legal Descriptions.--
       (1) In general.--The maps and legal descriptions referred 
     to in the Agreement depict the lands subject to the 
     conveyances under the Agreement.
       (2) Public availability.--The maps and legal descriptions 
     referred to in the Agreement shall be on file and available 
     for public inspection in the offices of the Secretary of the 
     Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Intermountain 
     Regional Office of the Forest Service, and the Utah State 
     Director of the Bureau of Land Management.
       (3) Conflict.--In case of any conflict between the maps and 
     the legal descriptions in the Agreement, the legal 
     descriptions shall control.
       (c) Certain Coal Lands.--
       (1) Identification.--The Secretary of the Interior shall 
     prepare legal descriptions for the approximately 4,000 acres 
     of Federal lands that State of Utah and the Secretary have 
     identified within sections 1 through 17 of township 22 south, 
     range 6 east, and within township 22 south, range 7 east, 
     Salt Lake Base and Meridian, Utah.
       (2) Restriction on conveyance.--Conveyance of the lands 
     identified in paragraph (1) shall reserve to the United 
     States the coal estate and the right to develop the coal 
     estate.
       (3) Future disposition.--Reservation of the coal estate 
     pursuant to paragraph (2) shall not restrict future 
     disposition of the coal estate pursuant to applicable law.
       (d) Species Identification.--Prior to any conveyances under 
     this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall identify 
     Federal lands subject to the Agreement which contain wildlife 
     species, or habitat of wildlife species, listed as a 
     threatened species or an endangered species under the 
     Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) or 
     that is a candidate for such a listing.
       (e) Independent Mineral Assessment.--Prior to any 
     conveyances under this Act, the Secretary of the Interior and 
     the State of Utah shall select an independent qualified 
     mineral appraiser, or other qualified expert agreeable to 
     both parties, who shall determine whether the terms of the 
     Agreement related to the UA/UB parcel, identified in section 
     3(d) of the Agreement, are fair and equitable to both 
     parties. If there is a contrary determination, the Secretary 
     and the State shall adjust the exchange or terms of the 
     Agreement so that the terms are fair and equitable to both 
     parties.
       (f) Exceptions to Conveyances.--
       (1) Legal descriptions.--The Secretary of the Interior 
     shall prepare legal descriptions, using the smallest possible 
     aliquot parts, for lands within sections 4, 5, 8, and 9, 
     township 22 south, range 7 east, and within section 12, 
     township 22 south, range 6 east, Salt Lake Base and Meridian, 
     and which are identified on the map entitled ``Emery County 
     Lands'', dated September 27, 2002.
       (2) Lands not authorized to be conveyed.--The lands 
     identified in paragraph (1) shall not be conveyed pursuant to 
     subsection (a). In addition, lands within section 17, 
     township 22 south, range 7 east, and within section 33, 
     township 21 south, range 7 east, Salt Lake Base and Meridian, 
     shall not be conveyed pursuant to subsection (a).
       (3) Lands not authorized to be accepted.--The Secretary of 
     the Interior shall not accept conveyance of section 36, 
     township 24 south, range 6 east; section 32, township 24 
     south, range 14 east; and section 2, township 26 south, range 
     8 east, Salt Lake Base and Meridian, Utah, pursuant to 
     subsection (a).

     SEC. 5. PLANT AND WILDLIFE SPECIES.

       For the lands identified under section 4(d), and the lands 
     identified in Exhibit E to the Agreement, the Secretary of 
     the Interior and the State of Utah shall enter into an 
     agreement which provides a process for the State to consult 
     or take other appropriate action to avoid, offset, or 
     mitigate adverse effects to any species or habitat 
     identified.

     SEC. 6. MINERAL DEVELOPMENT.

       All payments received by the United States pursuant to 
     section 13(c) of the Agreement shall be subject to sharing 
     with the State of Utah in the same manner the United States 
     shares bonus bids, rentals, and royalties with the State of 
     Utah under section 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 
     191).

     SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION.

       There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are 
     necessary to carry out this Act, including such sums as may 
     be desired to reduce the balance of the interest and 
     principal amounts owed by the United States to the Trust 
     Lands Administration pursuant to sections 4 and 5 of the 
     Agreement.

     SEC. 8. COSTS.

       The United States and the State of Utah shall each bear its 
     own respective costs incurred in the implementation of this 
     Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Utah (Mr. Hansen) and the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall) 
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.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4968, introduced by the gentleman from Utah (Mr. 
Cannon), would ratify a land exchange between the State of Utah and the 
Departments of the Interior and Agriculture. The bill would exchange 
approximately 108,000 acres of State trust lands for 136,000 acres of 
Federal land.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. RAHALL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)

                              {time}  1800

  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Utah has adequately 
explained this bill. We have no problem on my side of the aisle. I 
support the gentleman's legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Cannon), the author of the bill.
  (Mr. CANNON asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. CANNON. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4968, the Federal-
Utah State Trust Lands Consolidation Act. This land exchange represents 
the third major effort by Congress, the School and Institutional Trust 
Lands Administration, the State of Utah and the Department of the 
Interior to block up the checkerboard ownership of lands dedicated to 
the benefit of Utah's schoolchildren.
  H.R. 4968 will ratify an agreement signed by the Secretary of the 
Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture and the Governor of Utah that 
agrees to exchange over 100,000 acres of land within Emery, Uintah, 
Utah, Washington and Sevier Counties. The Federal Government will gain 
ownership of spectacular lands located within the San Rafael Swell 
area, critical species habitat in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve in 
Washington County and in--holdings within the Manti-La Sal National 
Forest. In return, the school children of Utah will receive developable 
lands that may contain recoverable oil, gas, coal or other resources.
  In this exchange, the two parties took a real world, businesslike 
approach. As someone with a background in business, I am fully aware of 
the extreme difficulty in negotiating the value of assets. In 
particular, I am aware of how difficult it is to place a value on 
something as intangible as the worth of a coherent, manageable piece of 
land as compared to scattered, checkerboard parcels of land. The two 
parties in this exchange have done as good a job as can be done.
  Futhermore, this exchange has been certified by an outside, third 
party expert who has fully analyzed these lands and minerals and 
submitted a report stating that this is an equal-value exchange.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a fair exchange that continues our efforts to 
protect those funds in

[[Page H6864]]

Utah that should not be developed and allows the school children of 
Utah to fully appreciate the assets they own. We have wide spread 
support for this effort throughout the State, among the Congressional 
delegation, from the NEA, PTA, the Administration and members of the 
environmental community. Critics of the exchange have made completely 
contradictory claims. They have asserted that the federal lands being 
granted to the state have huge value, but then say that the lands won't 
generate significant revenue. In reality, the lands that the Utah 
school trust will acquire have potential to generate reasonable future 
income, which will provide additional income to each of Utah's public 
schools, in a state where every penny counts.
  This bill has received prominent attention in the national press. 
Much of that attention has been focused on what Utah stands to gain 
from the exchange. It is important that we look at the other side of 
the exchange as well. Under H.R. 4968, the Federal Government will 
acquire over 100,000 acres of conservation lands in the San Rafael 
Swell, as well as the balanced of the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve in 
Washington County, in exchange for less sensitive federal lands that 
can generate revenue for Utah's schools.
  This is the third land exchange in Utah in the last three Congresses. 
We are improving the process and we will do better next time. It is 
imperative that these exchanges to be transparent and evenhanded. It is 
important that valuable resources are protected and that both parties 
be treated equitably. I am convinced this exchange meets those 
criteria.
  I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4968.
  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Shimkus). 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. 4968, 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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