[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 16913-16914]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    BILL TO FACILITATE ACQUISITION OF MINERAL RIGHTS AT ROCKY FLATS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 26, 2003

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I am today introducing a bill to 
facilitate the acquisition by the Federal Government of mineral rights 
or other non-Federal interests in lands that are located within the 
boundaries of the Rocky Flats site in Colorado.
  In the 1950's, the Federal Government bought land at Rocky Flats for 
the use as a production facility for nuclear-weapon components. 
However, the purchase did not include all the mineral rights, some of 
which remained in private ownership.
  Production at Rocky Flats ended more than a decade ago. Since then, 
the Department of Energy, through its contractors, has been working to 
have the site cleaned up and closed.
  In 2001, Congress passed legislation I sponsored with Senator Wayne 
Allard to guide the future of Rocky Flats. Under that legislation--the 
Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge Act of 2001--once the cleanup and 
closure are accomplished, most of the land at Rocky Flats will be 
transferred from the Department of Energy to the Department of the 
Interior and will be managed as a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge 
System.
  The refuge act includes some provisions related to the non-Federal 
minerals--primarily sand and gravel--at Rocky Flats. It says ``nothing 
in this [law] limits any valid, existing . . . mineral right'' except 
for ``such reasonable conditions on access . . . as are appropriate for 
the cleanup and closure of Rocky

[[Page 16914]]

Flats and for the management of the refuge.'' And it says that a 
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between DOE and Interior is to 
``address the impacts'' mineral rights ``may have on the management of 
the refuge, and provide strategies for resolving or mitigating these 
impacts.''
  These provisions were included in the refuge act in order to make 
clear that while these mineral rights are to be respected as private 
property, future development of the minerals could have adverse effects 
on the land, wildlife habitat, and other values of the future wildlife 
refuge. That is why Congress directed the agencies to consider these 
potential future effects and work to find ways to mitigate those 
impacts.
  So far, however, the Energy and Interior Departments have not been 
able to agree on what to do about the minerals, and the MOU has not 
been completed.
  I think the best way to handle this would be for the Federal 
Government to acquire the minerals. However, neither the DOE nor 
Interior has made this a priority, and the current budgetary situation 
places constraints on such acquisitions.
  My bill is intended to make it more feasible for the Interior 
Department to acquire some or all of the minerals. It would do that by 
giving the Secretary of the Interior two additional methods (either 
instead of or in addition to purchase for cash) for completing such 
acquisitions--
  (1) by giving ``credits'' that could be used instead of cash to pay 
for oil and gas leases on the Outer Continental Shelf; and
  (2) by allowing federal lands or minerals anywhere in the country to 
be exchanged for the Rocky Flats minerals (under current law, such 
exchanges can only occur within the same state--Colorado lands/minerals 
for other Colorado lands/minerals).
  The bill has no compulsory provisions. It does not require that any 
of the non-Federal interests at Rocky Flats be acquired by the 
government, and it does not require anyone to accept anything other 
than cash for any interests that the government may acquire. It would 
merely provide the Interior Department with new tools--in addition to 
those it already has--for such acquisitions.
  In developing the bill, I sought and obtained technical assistance 
from the Interior Department. I also have given careful consideration 
to comments from local governments and others in Colorado, and have 
made revisions to earlier drafts of the legislation in response to 
points raised in those comments.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill--the ``Rocky Flats Minerals Acquisition 
Act''--is narrow in scope. However, I think it can assist in successful 
implementation of something that is very important for all Coloradans--
the establishment of the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge. I think 
it deserves the support of every Member of the House.
  For the information of our colleagues, here is a short outline of the 
bill:

            OUTLINE OF ROCKY FLATS MINERALS ACQUISITION BILL


                               background

       When the ongoing cleanup of the Rocky Flats site is 
     completed, it will be closed and most of the site will be 
     transferred to the Interior Department for management as a 
     National Wildlife Refuge. Within the site's boundaries there 
     are some privately-owned mineral rights (primarily sand and 
     gravel). Federal acquisition of at least some of these 
     mineral rights would further sound management of the site as 
     a wildlife refuge. However, the current budgetary situation 
     makes it difficult to complete such acquisition.
       The purpose of the bill is to provide the Interior 
     Department with two additional tools to assist in the 
     acquisition of minerals rights or other non-Federal property 
     at Rocky Flats:
       (1) Authority to provide ``credits'' (instead of or in 
     addition to cash) that could be used for bonus bids or 
     royalties for mineral leases on the Outer Continental Shelf; 
     and
       (2) Authority to provide eligible BLM lands (or interests) 
     anywhere in the country in exchange for the interests 
     acquired at Rocky Flats (waiving the current requirement that 
     exchanges must be within the same state).


                       section-by-section outline

       Section 1--
       (1) provides a short title: ``Rocky Flats Minerals 
     Acquisition Act.''
       (2) includes findings regarding the status of Rocky Flats 
     and the desirability of federal acquisition of mineral 
     interests within its boundaries
       (3) states the bill's purpose as being to facilitate 
     acquisition of non-Federal interests at Rocky Flats by 
     authorizing the Interior Department to use credits or 
     interests in certain public lands, instead of or in addition 
     to cash.
       Section 2--
       (1) authorizes the Interior Department to use appropriated 
     funds, credits, exchanged lands or interests therein, or any 
     combination of these, to acquire mineral interests or other 
     non-Federal interests at Rocky Flats;
       (2) defines ``credits,'' making clear that they can only be 
     issued with agreement of recipient, can only be used for 
     bonus bids or royalty payments for oil or gas leases on the 
     Outer Continental Shelf and must be used within 10 years of 
     their issuance;
       (3) specifies that while exchanges can involve BLM lands or 
     interests in any State, only lands or interests identified as 
     suitable for disposal under current law can be transferred to 
     private ownership through such an exchange;
       (4) provides that interests acquired by the United States 
     under the bill will be managed as part of the wildlife refuge 
     and cannot be developed or transferred out of Federal 
     ownership; and specifies that the bill adds to the Interior 
     Department's existing authority and does not reduce any 
     authority the Department already has.

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