[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 20622-20623]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



        TRANSFERRING CERTAIN LANDS IN UTAH TO THE UNITED STATES

  Mr. HANSEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4721) to provide for all right, title, and interest in and 
to certain property in Washington County, Utah, to be vested in the 
United States, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4721

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. ACQUISITION OF CERTAIN PROPERTY IN WASHINGTON 
                   COUNTY, UTAH.

       (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
     law, effective 30 days after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act, all right, title, and interest in and to, and the 
     right to immediate possession of, the 1,516 acres of real 
     property owned by the Environmental Land Technology, Ltd. 
     (ELT) within the Red Cliffs Reserve in Washington County, 
     Utah, and the 34 acres of real property owned by ELT which is 
     adjacent to the land within the Reserve but is landlocked as 
     a result of the creation of the Reserve, is hereby vested in 
     the United States.
       (b) Compensation for Property.--Subject to section 309(f) 
     of the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996 
     (Public Law 104-333), the United States shall pay just 
     compensation to the owner of any real property taken pursuant 
     to this section, determined as of the date of the enactment 
     of this Act. An initial payment of $15,000,000 shall be made 
     to the owner of such real property not later than 30 days 
     after the date of taking. The full faith and credit of the 
     United States is hereby pledged to the payment of any 
     judgment entered against the United States with respect to 
     the taking of such property. Payment shall be in the amount 
     of--
       (1) the appraised value of such real property as agreed to 
     by the land owner and the United States, plus interest from 
     the date of the enactment of this Act; or
       (2) the valuation of such real property awarded by 
     judgment, plus interest from the date of the enactment of 
     this Act, reasonable costs and expenses of holding such 
     property from February 1990 to the date of final payment, 
     including damages, if any, and reasonable costs and attorneys 
     fees, as determined by the court. Payment shall be made from 
     the permanent judgment appropriation established pursuant to 
     section 1304 of title 31, United States Code, or from another 
     appropriate Federal Government fund.
     Interest under this subsection shall be compounded in the 
     same manner as provided for in section 1(b)(2)(B) of the Act 
     of April 17, 1954, (Chapter 153; 16 U.S.C. 429b(b)(2)(B)) 
     except that the reference in that provision to ``the date of 
     the enactment of the Manassas National Battlefield Park 
     Amendments of 1988'' shall be deemed to be a reference to the 
     date of the enactment of this Act.
       (c) Determination by Court in Lieu of Negotiated 
     Settlement.--In the absence of a negotiated settlement, or an 
     action by the owner, the Secretary of the Interior shall 
     initiate within 90 days after the date of the enactment of 
     this section a proceeding in the United States Federal 
     District Court for the District of Utah, seeking a 
     determination, subject to section 309(f) of the Omnibus Parks 
     and Public Lands Management Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-333), 
     of the value of the real property, reasonable costs and 
     expenses of holding such property from February 1990 to the 
     date of final payment, including damages, if any, and 
     reasonable costs and attorneys fees.


[[Page 20623]]


  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Utah (Mr. Hansen) and the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. 
Faleomavaega) 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, this bill was brought about by the 1973 Endangered 
Species Act. When that was passed, they found in southern Utah the 
desert tortoise. Out of finding the desert tortoise, we then had to 
find a place for the habitat for the desert tortoise, which basically 
really is not endangered, but I will not get into that.
  Finding it there, they found a situation where 33 different people 
had to give up ground to get it. We have taken care of all of those 
people for a critical habitat because they had that ground and they 
could not put their foot on it, all they could do was pay taxes.
  We have one person left, the biggest one. We are trying to get it 
resolved in this particular bill.
  During the hearing on this bill, several concerns were raised by the 
administration and the minority. At committee, my amendment in the 
nature of a substitute was adopted which addressed those concerns.
  This amendment accomplishes the following four things:
  First, the acreage will be vested in the United States 30 days after 
enactment.
  Second, just compensation shall be paid, with an initial payment of 
$15 million, which will prevent the property from reverting to 
creditors during litigation. According to the BLM's lowest estimate, 
the property is worth at least $35 million.
  Third, the court may consider the damages, costs, and attorneys' 
fees, as the court determines appropriate.
  Lastly, the values as determined by the court, not Congress or the 
BLM, will be paid out of the permanent judgment fund.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen), 
the chief sponsor of this legislation.
  We have no opposition to this legislation, Mr. Speaker, but there are 
some concerns on this side of the aisle concerning the provisions of 
the bill.
  Mr. Speaker, this is an extraordinary procedure taken on this bill. 
It is an authorization, it is an appropriation, and also an 
implementation of condemnation of land rolled into one. Only a few 
times in the past quarter century has a legislative taking been used by 
the Congress. Furthermore, the language of this legislation is 
substantially different from that used in other cases.
  There is also considerable controversy associated with the land 
identified by this legislation. Several news articles from the State of 
Utah have called into question actions by the landowner with regard to 
this property. Title has been clouded to this land, and it is unclear 
what interests the landowner has and what interests other parties have 
to the property in question.
  Mr. Speaker, the BLM has attempted to negotiate with the landowner. 
These negotiations have been hampered by the landowner's insistence on 
using appraisal assumptions that are not consistent with Federal 
standards and that were not used in other transactions, including those 
done previously with the landowner.
  The bill also seeks to open the door to payments to the landowner 
dating back to February, 1990. This raises several issues. First, the 
Desert Tortoise Reserve was not even established until 1996. It was 
only after this that attempts were made to acquire the property. Even 
until 1996, the landowner was involved in litigation on the property 
and could not present clear title. Settlement of the litigation and 
other subsequent actions have made other unnamed parties a beneficiary 
of this legislation.
  Like I said, Mr. Speaker, I do not oppose this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. HANSEN. 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. 4721, 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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