[House Report 111-514]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


111th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     111-514

======================================================================



 
               SALMON LAKE LAND SELECTION RESOLUTION ACT

                                _______
                                

 June 28, 2010.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Rahall, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 2340]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 2340) to resolve the claims of the Bering 
Straits Native Corporation and the State of Alaska to land 
adjacent to Salmon Lake in the State of Alaska and to provide 
for the conveyance to the Bering Straits Native Corporation of 
certain other public land in partial satisfaction of the land 
entitlement of the Corporation under the Alaska Native Claims 
Settlement Act, having considered the same, report favorably 
thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as 
amended do pass.
  The amendment is as follows:
  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

  This Act may be cited as the ``Salmon Lake Land Selection Resolution 
Act''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

  The purpose of this Act is to ratify the Salmon Lake Area Land 
Ownership Consolidation Agreement entered into by the United States, 
the State of Alaska, and the Bering Straits Native Corporation.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

  In this Act:
          (1) Agreement.--The term ``Agreement'' means the document--
                  (A) titled ``Salmon Lake Area Land Ownership 
                Consolidation Agreement'';
                  (B) between the United States, the State, and the 
                Bering Straits Native Corporation on July 18, 2007, 
                which was extended until January 1, 2011, by agreement 
                of the parties to the Agreement effective January 1, 
                2009; and
                  (C) on file with--
                          (i) the Department of the Interior;
                          (ii) the Committee on Energy and Natural 
                        Resources of the Senate; and
                          (iii) the Committee on Natural Resources of 
                        the House of Representatives.
          (2) Bering straits native corporation.--The term ``Bering 
        Straits Native Corporation'' means an Alaska Native Regional 
        Corporation formed under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement 
        Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) for the Bering Straits region of 
        the State.
          (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
        the Interior.
          (4) State.--The term ``State'' means the State of Alaska.

SEC. 4. RATIFICATION OF AGREEMENT.

  (a) In General.--Subject to the provisions of this Act, Congress 
ratifies the Agreement.
  (b) Easements.--The conveyance of land to the Bering Straits Native 
Corporation, as specified in the Agreement, shall include the 
reservation of the easements that--
          (1) are identified in Appendix E to the Agreement; and
          (2) were developed by the parties to the Agreement in 
        accordance with section 17(b) of the Alaska Native Claims 
        Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1616(b)).
  (c) Corrections.--Beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary, with the consent of the other parties to the Agreement, 
may only make typographical or clerical corrections to the Agreement 
and any exhibits to the Agreement.
  (d) General Authority of Secretary.--The Secretary may carry out all 
actions allowed or required under the Agreement.

SEC. 5. BUDGETARY EFFECTS.

  The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying with 
the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by 
reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO 
Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional 
Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that 
such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 2340 is to resolve the claims of the 
Bering Straits Native Corporation and the State of Alaska to 
lands adjacent to Salmon Lake in the State of Alaska and to 
provide for the conveyance to the Bering Straits Native 
Corporation of certain other public land in partial 
satisfaction of the land entitlement of the Corporation under 
the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    H.R. 2340 seeks to provide for the completion of certain 
land selections under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 
(ANCSA).\1\ The bill ratifies the Salmon Lake Area Land 
Ownership Consolidation Agreement (Agreement), which provides 
for the transfer of certain federal lands to the Bering Straits 
Native Corporation (BSNC) and to the State of Alaska.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\42 U.S.C. Sec. 4321 et seq.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    H.R. 2340 would ratify the Agreement between the Bureau of 
Land Management (BLM), BSNC and the State. Under the Agreement, 
BLM would transfer 14,645 acres of land to BSNC and 3,084 acres 
to the State. BLM would retain ownership and administration of 
a 9-acre campground located at the outlet of Salmon Lake. The 
Agreement also maintains BLM access to the Kigluaik Mountain 
Range, in addition to public access easements on the lands to 
be transferred. Easements, identified in Appendix E to the 
Agreement, are subject to applicable Federal, State, or 
Municipal corporation regulation.
    More specifically, BLM would transfer Salmon Lake Airstrip 
Lands (44 acres) and Salmon Lake West Lands (3,040 acres) to 
the State of Alaska. BLM would also transfer Imurak Basin Lands 
(7,504 acres), Windy Cove Lands (6,132 acres), and Salmon Lake 
East Lands (1,009 acres) to BSNC. All lands conveyed will be 
counted against the State's and BSNC's allocations under the 
Alaska Statehood Act and ANCSA, respectively. Under the 
Agreement, BLM must transfer the land upon enactment of the 
legislation, thereby eliminating administrative appeals and 
litigation.

Historical Background

    On December 18, 1971, President Richard Nixon signed ANCSA 
into law. The law was intended to resolve long-standing issues 
surrounding native land claims in Alaska. The settlement 
extinguished Alaska native claims to the land by transferring 
titles to twelve Alaska Native regional corporations and over 
200 local village corporations. The 12 Alaska Native regional 
corporations received title to approximately 44 million acres 
of land in Alaska (about one-ninth of the State's land) plus 
$963 million in compensation.
    Specifically, section 11 of ANCSA provides for the 
conveyance of lands to Alaska Native village corporations. 
These lands include lands that enclose all or part of a native 
village, plus certain other lands sufficient to make the total 
acreage equal to a village's allotted acreage. The amount of 
acreage each village is entitled to is determined by 
population.
    Section 14(h) of ANCSA authorized the Secretary of the 
Interior to transfer land to the Alaska Native regional 
corporations. After December 18, 1975, Department of the 
Interior regulations limited regional native corporation land 
selections to areas identified in section 11 for village 
corporation selections.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\43 C.F.R. Sec. 2653.3(b).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Bering Straits Native Corporation (BSNC) is the native 
regional corporation for the majority of Alaska's Seward 
Peninsula and the coastal lands of eastern Norton Sound. The 
Corporation is entitled to approximately 2 million acres of 
subsurface estate from lands selected by 17 village 
corporations in the region as well as approximately 145,728 
acres of its own lands in identified withdrawal areas.\3\ 
According to BSNC, H.R. 2340 will result in the finalization of 
lands to be conveyed to BSNC under Section 14(h)(8). BSNC will, 
however, still have pending Section 14(h)(1) (Cemetery and 
Historic site selections), estimated at less than 2,000 
acres.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\Section 14(h)(8) lands, such as those subject to the Agreement, 
provide BSNC surface and subsurface estate.
    \4\All of the village corporation priorities have been completed 
and most of the region's villages have received their lands. BSNC will 
receive the subsurface estate to lands being conveyed to the remaining 
villages
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In 1977, BSNC selected lands in the Windy Cove and Salmon 
Lake areas under Section 14(h)(8) that were outside the Section 
11 areas. Litigation ensued, and it was eventually determined 
that BSNC could not obtain title to some of the lands selected 
because they were outside of the Section 11 areas. At the same 
time, BLM determined that it would be impossible to complete 
BSNC's land entitlement without some type of an agreement.
    In addition, Section 6(a) of the Alaska Statehood Act\5\ 
grants the State of Alaska the opportunity to select 
approximately 104 million acres of certain federal lands in 
Alaska for the State's benefit. Pursuant to this authority, the 
State also selected lands around Salmon Lake and Windy Cove, 
some of which were identical to the lands selected by BSNC.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\Public Law 85-508, 72 Stat. 339, July 7, 1958.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Currently BLM leases some of the land that would be 
transferred under the Agreement to the State for an airport, 
for which the State pays BLM approximately $1500 per year. 
Section 906(k) of the Alaska National Interests Land 
Conservation Act (ANILCA) requires the Secretary to hold 90% of 
any contract or lease revenues until such lands have been 
tentatively approved to the State. As such lands are 
tentatively approved, the Secretary transfers the monies to the 
State.
    After approximately three years of negotiation, BSNC, the 
State of Alaska, and the United States entered into the 
Agreement. The Agreement, signed in 2007, was originally 
scheduled to expire on January 1, 2009 but has been extended 
through January 11, 2011.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 2340 was introduced May 7, 2009 by Representative Don 
Young (R-AK). The bill was referred to the Committee on Natural 
Resources. On April 21, 2010, the Committee held a hearing on 
the bill. The Bureau of Land Management submitted a statement 
in support of the bill.
    On June 16, 2010, the Committee on Natural Resources met to 
consider H.R. 2340. Rep. Young offered an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute to delete the findings, make other 
clarifications, and to provide that the budgetary effects of 
the bill would be determined by the latest statement titled 
``Budgetary Effects of the PAYGO legislation'' submitted by the 
Chairman of the House Budget Committee. The amendment in the 
nature of a substitute was adopted by unanimous consent. The 
bill, as amended, was then ordered favorably reported to the 
House of Representatives by unanimous consent.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title

    Section 1 provides that this Act may be cited as the 
``Salmon Lake Land Selection Resolution Act.''

Section 2. Purpose

    Section 2 provides that the purpose of the Act is to ratify 
the Salmon Lake Area Land Ownership Agreement entered into by 
the United States, the State of Alaska, and the Bering Straits 
Native Corporation.

Section 3. Definitions

    Section 3 sets forth definitions of terms used in this Act, 
including definitions for the terms ``Secretary;'' ``State;'' 
``Agreement;'' and ``Bering Straits Native Corporation.''

Section 4. Ratification of agreement

    Section 4 provides for Congressional ratification of the 
Agreement. Section 4 also specifies the easements reserved in 
the Agreement. It also the Secretary to carry out all actions 
permitted or required under the Agreement. Only clerical or 
typographical corrections may be made to the Agreement after 
enactment of this Act.

Section 5. Budgetary effects

    Section 5 provides that the budgetary effects of H.R. 2340 
shall be determined by the latest statement titled ``Budgetary 
Effects of the PAYGO Legislation'' submitted by the Chairman of 
the House Budget Committee.

            COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

    Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee on Natural Resources' oversight findings and 
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.

                   CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

    Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United 
States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

    1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and 
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be 
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) 
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when 
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted 
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
    2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2) 
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this 
bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending 
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in 
revenues or tax expenditures.
    3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or 
objective of this bill, as ordered reported, is to resolve the 
claims of the Bering Straits Native Corporation and the State 
of Alaska to lands adjacent to Salmon Lake in the State of 
Alaska and to provide for the conveyance to the Bering Straits 
Native Corporation of certain other public land in partial 
satisfaction of the land entitlement of the Corporation under 
the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
    4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause 
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act 
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate 
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office:

H.R. 2340--Salmon Lake Land Selection Resolution Act

    Summary: H.R. 2340 would ratify an agreement settling a 
land dispute between the state of Alaska and the Bering Straits 
Native Corporation (a native-owned regional corporation 
established to administer land given to Alaska Natives under 
the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act). Based on information 
from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), CBO expects that 
implementing the legislation would increase direct spending; 
therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would apply. CBO estimates, 
however, that such effects would be negligible for each year.
    H.R. 2340 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) 
and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    Estimated cost to the federal government: Under the bill, 
the federal government would convey about 18,000 acres of land 
located in western Alaska to the Bering Straits Native 
Corporation and the state of Alaska to satisfy claims made by 
those parties under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and 
the Alaska Statehood Act, respectively. The federal government 
currently collects about $1,500 per year from a lease on the 
affected land. Thus, CBO estimates that conveying that land 
would reduce offsetting receipts (a credit against direct 
spending) by less than $20,000 over the 2010-2020 period. In 
addition, upon enactment of the bill, BLM would transfer 90 
percent of all receipts collected over the life of the lease 
(about $15,000 to date) to the state of Alaska and would 
deposit the remaining 10 percent of those funds in the U.S. 
Treasury. In total, CBO estimates that implementing the bill 
would increase direct spending by about $30,000 over the 2010-
2020 period.
    Pay-As-You-Go considerations: The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go 
Act of 2010 establishes budget reporting and enforcement 
procedures for legislation affecting direct spending or 
revenues. H.R. 2340 would reduce offsetting receipts and 
increase direct spending; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures 
would apply. However, CBO estimates that the increase in direct 
spending would not be significant over the 2010-2020 period. 
The net budgetary changes that are subject to pay-as-you-go 
procedures are shown in the following table.

    CBO ESTIMATE OF PAY-AS-YOU-GO EFFECTS FOR H.R. 2340, THE SALMON LAKE LAND SELECTION RESOLUTION ACT, AS ORDERED REPORTED BY THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON
                                                           NATURAL RESOURCES ON JUNE 16, 2010
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                    By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
                                                      --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        2010   2011   2012   2013   2014   2015   2016   2017   2018   2019   2020  2010-2015  2010-2020
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       NET INCREASE OR DECREASE (-) IN THE DEFICIT

Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Impact.......................      0      0      0      0      0      0      0      0      0      0      0         0          0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: H.R. 2340 
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as 
defined in UMRA and would impose no costs on state, local, or 
tribal governments.
    Previous CBO estimate: On January 12, 2010, CBO transmitted 
a cost estimate for S. 522, the Salmon Lake Land Selection 
Resolution Act, as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources on December 16, 2009. At that 
time, CBO estimated that implementing S. 522 would reduce 
offsetting receipts by less than $20,000 over the 2010-2020 
period.
    The two bills are very similar. Based on new information 
from BLM, CBO now estimates that enacting either S. 522 or H.R. 
2340 also would increase direct spending by $15,000 for 
payments to Alaska from receipts accrued over the life of a 
lease on the affected land. CBO now estimates that both bills 
would increase direct spending by about $30,000 over the 2010-
2020 period.
    Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Jeff LaFave; Impact on 
State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Melissa Merrell; Impact 
on the Private Sector: Amy Petz.
    Estimate approved by: Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                           EARMARK STATEMENT

    H.R. 2340 does not contain any congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in 
clause 9 of rule XXI.

                PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

    This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or 
tribal law.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing 
law.

                                  
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