[107th Congress Public Law 239]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]


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[DOCID: f:publ239.107]


[[Page 1487]]

                     ALASKA LAND EXCHANGE AGREEMENT

[[Page 116 STAT. 1488]]

Public Law 107-239
107th Congress

                                 An Act


 
  To ratify an agreement between The Aleut Corporation and the United 
  States of America to exchange land rights received under the Alaska 
Native Claims Settlement Act for certain land interests on Adak Island, 
      and for other purposes. <<NOTE: Oct. 11, 2002 -  [S. 1325]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress <<NOTE: Alaska. 16 USC 668dd 
note.>> assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that:
            (1) Adak Island is an isolated island located 1,200 miles 
        southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, between the Pacific Ocean and 
        the Bering Sea. The Island, with its unique physical and 
        biological features, including a deep water harbor and abundant 
        marine-associated wildlife, was recognized early for both its 
        natural and military values. In 1913, Adak Island was reserved 
        and set aside as a Preserve because of its value to seabirds, 
        marine mammals, and fisheries. Withdrawals of portions of Adak 
        Island for various military purposes date back to 1901 and 
        culminated in the 1959 withdrawal of approximately half of the 
        Island for use by the Department of the Navy for military 
        purposes.
            (2) By 1990, military development on Adak Island supported a 
        community of 6,000 residents. Outside of the Adak Naval Complex, 
        there was no independent community on Adak Island.
            (3) As a result of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment 
        Act of 1990 (104 Stat. 1808), as amended, the Adak Naval Complex 
        has been closed by the Department of Defense.
            (4) The Aleut Corporation is an Alaskan Native Regional 
        Corporation incorporated in the State of Alaska pursuant to the 
        Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), as amended (43 
        U.S.C. 1601, et seq.). The Aleut Corporation represents the 
        indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands who prior to the 
        Russian exploration and settlement of the Aleutian Islands were 
        found throughout the Aleutian Islands which includes Adak 
        Island.
            (5) None of Adak Island was available for selection by The 
        Aleut Corporation under section 14(h)(8) of ANCSA (43 U.S.C. 
        1613(h)(8)) because it was part of a National Wildlife Refuge 
        and because the portion comprising the Adak Naval Complex was 
        withdrawn for use by the United States Navy for military 
        purposes prior to the passage of ANCSA in December 1971.
            (6) The Aleut Corporation is attempting to establish a 
        community on Adak and has offered to exchange ANCSA land

[[Page 116 STAT. 1489]]

        selections and entitlements for conveyance of certain lands and 
        interests therein on a portion of Adak formerly occupied by the 
        Navy.
            (7) Removal of a portion of the Adak Island land from refuge 
        status will be offset by the acquisition of high quality 
        wildlife habitat in other Aleut Corporation selections within 
        the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, maintaining a 
        resident human population on Adak to control caribou, and making 
        possible a continued United States Fish and Wildlife Service 
        presence in that remote location to protect the natural 
        resources of the Aleutian Islands Unit of the Alaska Maritime 
        National Wildlife Refuge.
            (8) It is in the public interest to promote reuse of the 
        Adak Island lands by exchanging certain lands for lands selected 
        by The Aleut Corporation elsewhere in the Alaska Maritime 
        National Wildlife Refuge. Experience with environmental problems 
        associated with formerly used defense sites in the State of 
        Alaska suggests that the most effective and efficient way to 
        avoid future environmental problems on Adak is to support and 
        encourage active reuse of Adak.

SEC. 2. RATIFICATION OF AGREEMENT.

    The document entitled the ``Agreement Concerning the Conveyance of 
Property at the Adak Naval Complex'' (hereinafter ``the Agreement''), 
and dated September 20, 2000, executed by The Aleut Corporation, the 
Department of the Interior and the Department of the Navy, together with 
any technical amendments or modifications to the boundaries that may be 
agreed to by the parties is hereby ratified, confirmed, and approved and 
the terms, conditions, procedures, covenants, reservations, indemnities 
and other provisions set forth in the Agreement are declared to be 
obligations and commitments of the United States and The Aleut 
Corporation: Provided, That modifications to the maps and legal 
descriptions of lands to be removed from the National Wildlife Refuge 
System within the military withdrawal on Adak Island set forth in Public 
Land Order 1949 may be made only upon agreement of all Parties to the 
Agreement and notification given to the Committee on Resources of the 
United States House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources of the United States Senate: Provided further, That 
the acreage conveyed to the United States by The Aleut Corporation under 
the Agreement, as modified, shall be at least 36,000 acres.

SEC. 3. REMOVAL OF LANDS FROM REFUGE.

    Effective <<NOTE: Effective date.>> on the date of conveyance to The 
Aleut Corporation of the Adak Exchange Lands as described in the 
Agreement, all such lands shall be removed from the National Wildlife 
Refuge System and shall neither be considered as part of the Alaska 
Maritime National Wildlife Refuge nor be subject to any laws pertaining 
to lands within the boundaries of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife 
Refuge, including the conveyance restrictions imposed by section 22(g) 
of ANCSA (43 U.S.C. 1621(g)), for land in the National Wildlife Refuge 
System. The Secretary shall adjust the boundaries of the Refuge so as to 
exclude all interests in lands and land rights, surface and subsurface, 
received by The Aleut Corporation in accordance with this Act and the 
Agreement.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1490]]

SEC. 4. ALASKA NATIVE CLAIMS SETTLEMENT ACT.

    Lands and interests therein exchanged and conveyed by the United 
States pursuant to this Act shall be considered and treated as 
conveyances of lands or interests therein under the Alaska Native Claims 
Settlement Act, except that receipt of such lands and interests therein 
shall not constitute a sale or disposition of land or interests received 
pursuant to such Act. The public easements for access to public lands 
and waters reserved pursuant to the Agreement are deemed to satisfy the 
requirements and purposes of section 17(b) of the Alaska Native Claims 
Settlement Act.

SEC. 5. REACQUISITION OF LANDS.

    The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to acquire by purchase 
or exchange, on a willing seller basis only, any land conveyed to The 
Aleut Corporation under the Agreement and this Act. In the event any of 
the lands are subsequently acquired by the United States, they shall be 
automatically included in the Refuge System. 
The <<NOTE: Applicability.>> laws and regulations applicable to Refuge 
lands shall then apply to these lands and the Secretary shall then 
adjust the boundaries accordingly.

SEC. 6. GENERAL.

    (a) Nothwithstanding the Federal Property and Administrative 
Services Act of 1949, as amended (40 U.S.C. 483-484) and the Defense 
Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990, as amended (10 U.S.C. 2687), 
and for the purposes of the transfer of property authorized by this Act, 
Department of Navy personal property that remains on Adak Island is 
deemed related to the real property and shall be conveyed by the 
Department of the Navy to The Aleut Corporation at no additional cost 
when the related real property is conveyed by the Department of the 
Interior.
    (b) The Secretary of the Interior shall convey to The Aleut 
Corporation those lands identified in the Agreement as the former 
landfill sites without charge to The Aleut Corporation's entitlement 
under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
    (c) Any property, including, but not limited to, appurtenances and 
improvements, received pursuant to this Act shall, for purposes of 
section 21(d) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, as amended, 
and section 907(d) of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation 
Act, as amended, be treated as not developed until such property is 
actually occupied, leased (other than leases for nominal consideration 
to public entities) or sold by The Aleut Corporation, or, in the case of 
a lease or other transfer by The Aleut Corporation to a wholly owned 
development subsidiary, actually occupied, leased, or sold by the 
subsidiary.
    (d) Upon conveyance to The Aleut Corporation of the lands described 
in Appendix A of the Agreement, the lands described in Appendix C of the 
Agreement will become unavailable for selection under ANCSA.

[[Page 116 STAT. 1491]]

    (e) The maps included as part of Appendix A to the Agreement depict 
the lands to be conveyed to The Aleut Corporation. The maps shall be 
left on file at the Region 7 Office of the United States Fish and 
Wildlife Service and the offices of Alaska Maritime National Wildlife 
Refuge in Homer, Alaska. The written legal descriptions of the lands to 
be conveyed to The Aleut Corporation are also part of Appendix A. In 
case of any discrepancies, the maps shall be controlling.

    Approved October 11, 2002.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 1325:
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SENATE REPORTS: No. 107-180 (Comm. on Energy and Natural Resources).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 148 (2002):
            Aug. 1, considered and passed Senate.
            Sept. 24, considered and passed House.

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