[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 13 (Wednesday, January 30, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S402-S405]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself and Mr. Begich):
  S. 182. A bill to provide for the unencumbering of title to non-
Federal land owned by the city of Anchorage, Alaska, for purposes of 
economic development by conveyance of the Federal reversion interest to 
the City; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation 
to clear the title to three small parcels of land owned by the 
Municipality of Anchorage, AK, my home State, so that the land can be 
put to more productive uses in the future.
  At different times between 1922 and 1991, Anchorage, AK, received a 
number of parcels of land from the Federal Government, including these 
three parcels of land, located in downtown Anchorage, comprising 2.65 
acres in total. They were conveyed to either the former ``City of 
Anchorage'' or more recently the ``Municipality of Anchorage.'' They 
were transferred by the Federal Government to the local government for 
a wide variety of specific purposes, but all were transferred for the 
overarching purpose of helping the then nascent City of Anchorage, 
which was, and largely still is, surrounded by Federal lands, have 
sufficient land resources to provide municipal services to the growing 
community. For reasons that made sense decades ago, all of the deeds 
for these properties contain reversionary clauses, that should the land 
not be used for various general ``municipal purposes'' their ownership 
would revert to the Federal Government. The problem is that in each 
case, the tracts are no longer useful for the purposes originally 
intended, the lands are not needed by the Federal Government, the 
public purpose for which the reversion clause was put in place has long 
ago been fulfilled, and in case they were to be returned to the Federal 
estate, it would cost the Federal Government substantial sums to 
maintain the properties or prepare them for future sale.
  These small tracts are not practical for the Federal Government to 
repossess for several reasons: the Federal Government is barely able to 
manage all the land it currently owns in Alaska, including in 
Anchorage, let alone adding small tracts to burden its responsibility. 
After more than 50 years since the Statehood Act, and 42 years since 
the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act's passage, the State and our 
Native People still have not received final patent to all their lands. 
The public purposes for which the Federal reversionary clauses were put 
in place have been met. These clauses were added to insure that during 
its earlier, developmental stages, Anchorage would use the Federal land 
conveyed to it to build the city and the municipal and public 
infrastructure of the community. After decades of dedicated public use 
of these properties, the ``public purpose'' basis for the clauses has 
been fulfilled. For these properties, my legislation addresses the 
question of how long is long enough for a reversionary clause to have 
served its purpose, by recognizing that after decades of living up to 
its obligations under what are now outdated restrictions from the last 
century, it is time to let the City move forward with its vision for 
the new one. The commercial use of the properties will add to the 
public municipal treasury, and to the Federal treasury, hence 
continuing the public benefit of the lands, albeit in a different way.
  In 1922 the City of Anchorage received a number of properties around 
Anchorage for municipal/school purposes. One of the properties was the 
1.93-acre site in Block 42 downtown that since the early 1980s has been 
the site of the William A. Egan Convention Center. With the completion 
in 2010 of the larger Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center, the tract 
is surplus to municipal needs, and could best be utilized for sale to 
the private sector that would then be best able to afford the cost of 
conversion of the property for future use, adding to the Federal income 
tax base and local property tax base.
  The second tract is a lot of .48 acres at Seventh and I Streets 
downtown, currently being used as a municipal parking lot. The land, 
obtained by the city as part of a 1982 land exchange that cleared the 
site for a major office building across the street, is too small for 
municipal or Federal office space use, or for park construction, but 
might be properly sized for a commercial enterprise. It is zoned for 
business, but cannot be used for business that

[[Page S405]]

would contribute to the local property tax base or Federal income tax 
base, because of the inability of the Municipality to sell the property 
due to the Federal reversion clause.
  The third site at the corner of H Street and Christiansen Drive, .24 
acres in size and obtained by the city in 1963, again is too small for 
municipal or Federal office space, and unneeded for park space, but 
might be of use for a retail establishment given its location near a 
municipal parking facility. Likewise, it is zoned for business/
commercial, but cannot be used and potentially contribute to the local 
and Federal tax bases due to the Federal reversion requirement. It 
currently sits vacant and idle.
  In all cases, the best municipal use of the lands would be for sale 
to provide revenues to the Municipality of Anchorage that could be used 
for provision of municipal social services. In each case, reversion of 
the lands to the Federal Government would result in Federal ownership 
of tracts unneeded for Federal purposes, but lands that would produce 
greater conveyance and management costs to the Federal treasury than 
are likely to be recovered through fair market sales.
  The Municipality of Anchorage and its Mayor Daniel Sullivan have 
asked that the reversionary clauses be repealed on the three tracts, 
the city absorbing all costs connected with surveying, recording and 
other costs connected with the properties. In these cases, lifting of 
the reversionary clauses on three of the literally thousands of acres 
conveyed to Anchorage, partially as a result of the Alaska Statehood 
Act, makes for good land use, and economic and public policy sense for 
both the local government and the Federal Government. The Municipality 
of Anchorage has already established 223 parks containing 82 
playgrounds and 250 miles of trails, encompassing 10,946 acres inside 
its boundaries. There is no shortage of park and open space in the 
municipality. There is no public policy purpose in the 21st Century not 
to permit these very limited Federal reversion extinguishments.
  Passage of this act would cost the Federal Government nothing, but 
would aid the citizens of Anchorage by allowing lands to be put on the 
city's tax rolls. I am introducing this bill now, joined by my Alaska 
colleague and former Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich as cosponsor, to 
foster action, hopefully, early in this 113th Congress.
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