[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 95 (Monday, July 12, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H5477-H5478]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RESOLVING BOUNDARY CONFLICTS IN BARRY AND STONE COUNTIES, MISSOURI
Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
Senate bill (S. 1167) to resolve boundary conflicts in Barry and Stone
Counties in the State of Missouri.
The Clerk read as follows:
S. 1167
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. RESOLUTION OF BOUNDARY CONFLICTS, VICINITY OF MARK
TWAIN NATIONAL FOREST, BARRY AND STONE
COUNTIES, MISSOURI.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``appropriate Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Army or the Secretary of Agriculture.
(2) The term ``boundary conflict'' means the situation in
which the private claim of ownership to certain lands, based
on subsequent Federal land surveys, overlaps or conflicts
with Federal ownership of the same lands.
(3) The term ``Federal land surveys'' means any land survey
made by any agency or department of the Federal Government
using Federal employees, or by Federal contract with State-
licensed private land surveyors or corporations and
businesses licensed to provide professional land surveying
services in the State of Missouri for Table Rock Reservoir.
(4) The term ``original land surveys'' means the land
surveys made by the United States General Land Office as part
of the Public Land Survey System in the State of Missouri,
and upon which Government land patents were issued conveying
the land.
(5) The term ``Public Land Survey System'' means the
rectangular system of original Government land surveys made
by the United States General Land Office and its successor,
the Bureau of Land Management, under Federal laws providing
for the survey of the public lands upon which the original
land patents were issued.
(6) The term ``qualifying claimant'' means a private owner
of real property in Barry or Stone County, Missouri, who has
a boundary conflict as a result of good faith and innocent
reliance on subsequent Federal land surveys, and as a result
of such reliance, has occupied or improved Federal lands
administered by the appropriate Secretary.
(7) The term ``subsequent Federal land surveys'' means any
Federal land surveys made after the original land surveys
that are inconsistent with the Public Land Survey System.
(b) Resolution of Boundary Conflicts.--The Secretary of the
Army and the Secretary of Agriculture shall cooperatively
undertake actions to rectify boundary conflicts and
landownership claims against Federal lands resulting from
subsequent Federal land surveys and correctly reestablish the
corners of the Public Land Survey System in Barry and Stone
Counties, Missouri, and shall attempt to do so in a manner
which imposes the least cost and inconvenience to affected
private landowners.
(c) Notice of Boundary Conflict.--
(1) Submission and contents.--A qualifying claimant shall
notify the appropriate Secretary in writing of a claim that a
boundary conflict exists with Federal land administered by
the appropriate Secretary. The notice shall be accompanied by
the following information, which, except as provided in
subsection (e)(2)(B), shall be provided without cost to the
United States:
(A) A land survey plat and legal description of the
affected Federal lands, which are based upon a land survey
completed and certified by a Missouri State-licensed
professional land surveyor and done in conformity with the
Public Land Survey System and in compliance with the
applicable State and Federal land surveying laws.
(B) Information relating to the claim of ownership of the
Federal lands, including supporting documentation showing
that the landowner relied on a subsequent Federal land survey
due to actions by the Federal Government in making or
approving surveys for the Table Rock Reservoir.
(2) Deadline for submission.--To obtain relief under this
section, a qualifying claimant shall submit the notice and
information required by paragraph (1) within 15 years after
the date of the enactment of this Act.
(d) Resolution Authorities.--In addition to using existing
authorities, the appropriate Secretary is authorized to take
any of the following actions in order to resolve boundary
conflicts with qualifying claimants involving lands under the
administrative jurisdiction of the appropriate Secretary:
(1) Convey by quitclaim deed right, title, and interest in
land of the United States subject to a boundary conflict
consistent with the rights, title, and interest associated
with the privately-owned land from which a qualifying
claimant has based a claim.
(2) Confirm Federal title to, and retain in Federal
management, any land subject to a boundary conflict, if the
appropriate Secretary determines that there are Federal
interests, including improvements, authorized uses,
easements, hazardous materials, or historical and cultural
resources, on the land that necessitates retention of the
land or interests in land.
(3) Compensate the qualifying claimant for the value of the
overlapping property for which title is confirmed and
retained in Federal management pursuant to paragraph (2).
(e) Consideration and Cost.--
(1) Conveyance without consideration.--The conveyance of
land under subsection (d)(1) shall be made without
consideration.
(2) Costs.--The appropriate Secretary shall--
(A) pay administrative, personnel, and any other costs
associated with the implementation of this section by his or
her Department, including the costs of survey, marking, and
monumenting property lines and corners; and
(B) reimburse the qualifying claimant for reasonable out-
of-pocket survey costs necessary to establish a claim under
this section.
(3) Valuation.--Compensation paid to a qualifying claimant
pursuant to subsection (d)(3) for land retained in Federal
ownership pursuant to subsection (d)(2) shall be valued on
the basis of the contributory value of the tract of land to
the larger adjoining private parcel and not on the basis of
the land being a separate tract. The appropriate Secretary
shall not consider the value of any Federal improvements to
the land. The appropriate Secretary shall be responsible for
compensation provided as a result of subsequent Federal land
surveys conducted or commissioned by the appropriate
Secretary's Department.
(f) Preexisting Conditions; Reservations; Existing Rights
and Uses.--
(1) Preexisting conditions.--The appropriate Secretary
shall not compensate a qualifying claimant or any other
person for any preexisting condition or reduction in value of
any land subject to a boundary conflict because of any
existing or outstanding permits, use authorizations,
reservations, timber removal, or other land use or condition.
(2) Existing reservations and rights and uses.--Any
conveyance pursuant to subsection (d)(1) shall be subject
to--
(A) reservations for existing public uses for roads,
utilities, and facilities; and
(B) permits, rights-of-way, contracts and any other
authorization to use the property.
(3) Treatment of land subject to special use authorization
or permit.--For any land subject to a special use
authorization or permit for access or utilities, the
appropriate Secretary may convert, at the request of the
holder, such authorization to a permanent easement prior to
any conveyance pursuant to subsection (d)(1).
(4) Future reservations.--The appropriate Secretary may
reserve rights for future public uses in a conveyance made
pursuant to subsection (d)(1) if the qualifying claimant is
compensated for the reservation in cash or in land of equal
value.
(5) Hazardous substances.--The requirements of section
120(h) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act (42 U.S.C. 9620(h)) shall not
apply to conveyances or transfers of jurisdiction pursuant to
subsection (d), but the United States shall continue to be
liable for the cleanup costs of any hazardous substances on
the lands so conveyed or transferred if the contamination by
hazardous substances is caused by actions of the United
States or its agents.
(g) Relation to Other Conveyance Authority.--Nothing in
this section affects the Quiet Title Act (28 U.S.C. 2409a) or
other applicable law, or affects the exchange and disposal
authorities of the Secretary of Agriculture, including the
Small Tracts Act (16 U.S.C. 521c), or the exchange and
disposal authorities of the Secretary of the Army.
(h) Additional Terms and Conditions.--The appropriate
Secretary may require such additional terms and conditions in
connection with a conveyance under subsection (d)(1) as the
Secretary considers appropriate to protect the interests of
the United States.
(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out
the purposes of this Act.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Georgia (Mr. Burns) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Dooley) each
will control 20 minutes.
[[Page H5478]]
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Burns).
Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of Representatives to pass
S. 1167, the Senate companion to H.R. 2304. This legislation provides a
mechanism for the Forest Service and the Army Corps of Engineers to
resolve boundary conflicts between the Mark Twain National Forest and
adjacent private landowners. The dispute over boundaries stems from
recent surveys conducted by contractors to the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, which have frequently been found to be severely flawed by
the State.
The measure sets a process for dealing with the disputed boundaries.
A landowner would notify the Secretary of Agriculture of a disputed
boundary, prompting a new land survey. If the Secretary determines the
boundary conflict is the result of a reliance on a previous land
survey, the land in dispute can be returned to the private property
owner.
It is important to note that the bill does not require the conveyance
of any particular lands. Where a new survey shows that the lands in
question were surveyed improperly, the Forest Service can either
execute a quit claim to the land, assert Federal ownership if the
Federal Government has improved the land, or compensate the landowner
for the land.
This is a case where the Federal Government has not exercised
adequate due diligence in maintaining their land surveys to the
detriment of their neighbors. Rather than redrawing map boundaries from
Washington, we are creating a process where these folks can address
their claims closer to home. The Committee on Agriculture regards this
as an equitable solution to a local problem created by the Federal
Government. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. DOOLEY of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
(Mr. DOOLEY of California asked and was given permission to revise
and extend his remarks.)
Mr. DOOLEY of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 1167,
which seeks to correct a number of boundary conflicts that have
occurred in the vicinity of the Mark Twain National Forest in Barry and
Stone Counties, Missouri.
The boundary conflicts at issue resulted from discrepancies between
recent land surveys conducted by the U.S. Forest Service and decades-
old surveys conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers. As a result of
the more recent Forest Service land surveys, private property lines
adjoining Federal lands were moved and private property landowners
discovered that, due to their reliance on the older Army Corps of
Engineers land surveys, they had inadvertently trespassed on Federal
lands.
S. 1167 will remedy these boundary conflicts by authorizing and
directing either the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the
Army to convey title to U.S. Forest Service land on which private
landowners can demonstrate that they inadvertently trespassed due to
their innocent reliance on a previous inaccurate Federal survey, or
relied on a survey based on a previous inaccurate survey.
This legislation largely mirrors H.R. 2304 which passed the House on
November 17. While most of the differences between S. 1167 and H.R.
2304 are technical, S. 1167 gives the Secretary of Agriculture or the
Secretary of the Army more flexibility in resolving the boundary
conflicts by explicitly allowing the appropriate Secretary to use
existing authorities to resolve the conflicts, in addition to the
process outlined in the legislation.
I urge my colleagues to support this legislation so that these
boundary conflicts can be resolved.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Blunt), the distinguished majority whip.
Mr. BLUNT. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friends both for supporting this
bill and the gentleman from Georgia for yielding to me to talk about it
a few minutes.
This is a bill, as the gentleman from California said, that the House
has passed at an earlier time. It does seem occasionally that even in a
very small, local issue that it takes an act of Congress to resolve a
problem that one would think that common sense would be able to
resolve, but in this case that is not the case and it takes this bill,
Senate bill 1167, to provide a speedy resolution to really a boundary
dispute affecting private property owners in my district.
The historic boundary lines neighboring the Mark Twain National
Forest and Table Rock Lake in Missouri's Barry County and Stone County
were blurred when the U.S. Forest Service decided in the recent past to
restore the mid-1800s Corners Program. The only problem with restoring
this program is that nobody, including the Corps of Engineers, had paid
any attention to it since the mid-1880s and land surveys conducted in
the 1970s by and for the Corps of Engineers have found that major
discrepancies would be the case if these old markers somehow became the
rule of how property would be determined. Instead, property has been
based on a 1950s survey when Table Rock Lake was built.
A fight with the Federal Government over a boundary line can really
be an uphill battle, as we all know or could imagine. Don Ayers of
Shell Knob in my district tells me that the Forest Service showed up on
his property and moved his boundary by 30 feet. When they did that they
essentially repossessed his driveway, took part of his garage and an
outbuilding on the land that he had every reason to believe he owned
and clearly not only had paid taxes on but had made improvements,
including those improvements that the Forest Service said now would
belong to them once that boundary line was moved. Recognizable and
verifiable boundary lines are essential to private property ownership.
This bill, sponsored by my colleague from Missouri, Senator Bond,
sets a process for dealing with disputed boundaries in Barry and Stone
Counties. As the gentleman from California said, we passed similar
legislation in this body last November. This bill allows us to go ahead
and get that job done.
The Federal Government already owns one-third of the Nation's land,
and inaccuracies in Federal surveys should never force landowners to
forfeit their property. I urge my colleagues to support this
commonsense legislation.
Mr. BURNS. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support S. 1167.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Burns) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the Senate bill, S. 1167.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the Senate bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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