[106th Congress Public Law 301]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]


<DOC>
[DOCID: f:publ301.106]


[[Page 114 STAT. 1059]]

Public Law 106-301
106th Congress

                                 An Act


 
    To provide for the exchange of certain lands within the State of 
              Utah. <<NOTE: Oct. 13, 2000 -  [H.R. 4579]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress <<NOTE: Utah West Desert Land 
Exchange Act of 2000.>>  assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Utah West Desert Land Exchange Act of 
2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The State of Utah owns approximately 95,095.19 acres of 
        land, as well as approximately 11,187.60 acres of mineral 
        interests, located in the West Desert region of Utah and 
        contained wholly or partially within certain wilderness study 
        areas created pursuant to section 603 of the Federal Lands 
        Policy and Management Act of 1976, or proposed by the Bureau of 
        Land Management for wilderness study area status pursuant to 
        section 202 of that Act. These lands were granted by the 
        Congress to the State of Utah pursuant to the Utah Enabling Act 
        of 1894 (chapter 138; 23 Stat. 107), to be held in trust for the 
        benefit of the State's public school system and other public 
        institutions. The lands are largely scattered in checkerboard 
        fashion amidst the Federal lands comprising the remainder of 
        such existing and proposed wilderness study areas.
            (2) Development of surface and mineral resources on State 
        trust lands within existing or proposed wilderness study areas, 
        or the sale of such lands into private ownership, could be 
        incompatible with management of such lands for nonimpairment of 
        their wilderness characteristics pursuant to section 603(c) of 
        the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 or with 
        future congressional designation of the lands as wilderness.
            (3) The United States owns lands and interests in lands 
        outside of existing and proposed wilderness study areas that can 
        be transferred to the State of Utah in exchange for the West 
        Desert wilderness inholdings without jeopardizing Federal 
        management objectives or needs.
            (4) The large presence of State trust land inholdings in 
        existing and proposed wilderness study areas in the West Desert 
        region makes land and resource management in these areas 
        difficult, costly, and controversial for both the State of Utah 
        and the United States.

[[Page 114 STAT. 1060]]

            (5) It is in the public interest to reach agreement on 
        exchange of such inholdings, on terms fair to both the State of 
        Utah and the United States. Such an agreement, subject to 
        ratification by the Congress, would save much time and delay in 
        meeting the legitimate expectations of the State school and 
        institutional trusts, in simplifying management of Federal 
        lands, and in avoiding the significant time and expense 
        associated with administrative land exchanges.
            (6) The State of Utah and the United States have reached an 
        agreement under which the State would exchange certain State 
        trust lands within specified wilderness study areas and areas 
        identified as having wilderness characteristics in the West 
        Desert region for various Federal lands and interests in lands 
        outside of those areas but in the same region of Utah. The 
        agreement also provides for the State to convey to the United 
        States approximately 483 acres of land in Washington County, 
        Utah, that has been designated as critical habitat for the 
        Desert Tortoise, a threatened species, for inclusion in the Red 
        Cliffs Desert Reserve.
            (7) Because the inholdings to be acquired by the Federal 
        Government include properties within some of the most 
        spectacular wild areas in the western United States, and because 
        a mission of the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands 
        Administration is to produce economic benefits for Utah's public 
        schools and other beneficiary institutions, the exchange of 
        lands called for in this agreement will resolve longstanding 
        environmental conflicts with respect to the existing and 
        proposed wilderness study areas, place important natural lands 
        into public ownership, and further the interests of the State 
        trust lands, the school children of Utah, and these conservation 
        resources.
            (8) Under this agreement taken as a whole, the State 
        interests to be conveyed to the United States by the State of 
        Utah, and the Federal interests to be conveyed to the State of 
        Utah by the United States, will be approximately equal in value.

    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to enact into law and 
direct prompt implementation of this agreement, and thereby to further 
the public interest by consolidating State and Federal lands into 
manageable units while facilitating the protection of lands with 
significant scientific, cultural, and natural resources.

SEC. 3. RATIFICATION OF THE AGREED EXCHANGE BETWEEN THE STATE OF UTAH 
            AND THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR.

    (a) Agreement.--The State of Utah and the Department of the Interior 
have agreed to exchange certain Federal lands and mineral interests in 
the State of Utah for lands and mineral interests of approximately equal 
value managed by the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands 
Administration wholly or partially within certain existing and proposed 
wilderness study areas in the West Desert region of Utah.

    (b) Ratification.--All terms, conditions, procedures, covenants, 
reservations, and other provisions set forth in the document entitled 
``Agreement for Exchange of Lands--West Desert State-Federal Land 
Consolidation'', dated May 30, 2000 (in this Act referred to as ``the 
Agreement''), are hereby incorporated in this Act, are

[[Page 114 STAT. 1061]]

ratified and confirmed, and set forth the obligations of the United 
States, the State of Utah, and the Utah School and Institutional Trust 
Lands Administration, as a matter of Federal law.
    (c) Condition.--Before exchanging any lands under this Act, the 
Secretary of the Interior and the State of Utah shall each document in a 
statement of value how the determination of approximately equal value 
was made in accordance with section 206(h) of the Federal Land Policy 
and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716(h)), provided that the 
provisions of paragraph (1)(A) of section 206(h) of such Act shall not 
apply. In addition, the Secretary and the State shall select an 
independent qualified appraiser who shall review the statements of value 
as prepared by the Secretary and the State of Utah and all documentation 
and determine if the lands are of approximately equal value. If there is 
a finding of a difference in value, then the Secretary and the State 
shall adjust the exchange to achieve approximately equal value.

SEC. 4. CONVEYANCES.

    (a) <<NOTE: Deadline.>>  Conveyances.--All conveyances under 
sections 2 and 3 of the Agreement shall be completed within 70 days 
after the date on which the condition set forth in section 3(c) is met.

    (b) Maps and Legal Descriptions.--
            (1) In general.--The maps and legal descriptions referred to 
        in the Agreement depict the lands subject to the conveyances 
        under the Agreement.
            (2) Public availability.--The maps and descriptions referred 
        to in the Agreement shall be on file and available for public 
        inspection in the offices of the Secretary of the Interior and 
        the Utah State Director of the Bureau of Land Management.
            (3) Conflict.--In case of any conflict between the maps and 
        the legal descriptions in the Agreement, the legal descriptions 
        shall control.

SEC. 5. COSTS.

    The United States and the State of Utah shall each bear its own 
respective costs incurred in the implementation of this Act.

    Approved October 13, 2000.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 4579:
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SENATE REPORTS: No. 106-463 (Comm. on Energy and Natural Resources).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 146 (2000):
            July 11, considered and passed House.
            Oct. 3, considered and passed Senate.

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