[108th Congress Public Law 129]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]


[DOCID: f:publ129.108]

[[Page 1357]]

    ALASKAN NATIVE VILLAGE AND THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT LAND EXCHANGE

[[Page 117 STAT. 1358]]

Public Law 108-129
108th Congress

                                 An Act


 
  To authorize the exchange of lands between an Alaska Native Village 
     Corporation and the Department of the Interior, and for other 
             purposes. <<NOTE: Nov. 17, 2003 -  [S. 924]>> 

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

SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act, the term--
            (1) ``ANCSA'' means the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 
        (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.);
            (2) ``ANILCA'' means the Alaska National Interest Lands 
        Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.);
            (3) ``Calista'' means the Calista Corporation, an Alaska 
        Native Regional Corporation established pursuant to ANCSA;
            (4) ``Identified Lands'' means approximately 10,943 acres of 
        lands (including surface and subsurface estates) designated as 
        ``Proposed Village Site'' on a map entitled ``Proposed Newtok 
        Exchange,'' dated September, 2002, and available for inspection 
        in the Anchorage office of the United States Fish and Wildlife 
        Service;
            (5) ``limited warranty deed'' means a warranty deed which 
        is, with respect to its warranties, limited to that portion of 
        the chain of title from the moment of conveyance from the United 
        States to Newtok to and including the moment at which such title 
        is validly reconveyed to the United States;
            (6) ``Newtok'' means the Newtok Native Corporation, an 
        Alaska Native Village Corporation established pursuant to ANCSA;
            (7) ``Newtok lands'' means approximately 12,101 acres of 
        surface estate comprising conveyed lands and selected lands 
        identified as Aknerkochik on the map referred to in paragraph 
        (4) and that surface estate selected by Newtok on Baird Inlet 
        Island as shown on the map; and
            (8) ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the Interior.

SEC. 2. LANDS TO BE EXCHANGED.

    (a) Lands Exchanged to the United States.--If, within 180 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, Newtok expresses to the Secretary in 
writing its intent to enter into a land exchange with the United States, 
the Secretary shall accept from Newtok a valid, unencumbered conveyance, 
by limited warranty deed, of the Newtok lands previously conveyed to 
Newtok. The Secretary shall also accept from Newtok a relinquishment of 
irrevocable prioritized selections for approximately 4,956 acres for 
those validly selected lands not yet conveyed to Newtok.

[[Page 117 STAT. 1359]]

    (b) Lands Exchanged to Newtok.--In exchange for the Newtok lands 
conveyed and selections relinquished under subsection (a), the Secretary 
shall, subject to valid existing rights and notwithstanding section 
14(f) of ANCSA, convey to Newtok the surface and subsurface estates of 
the Identified Lands. The conveyance shall be by interim conveyance. 
Subsequent to the interim conveyance, the Secretary shall survey 
Identified Lands at no cost to Newtok and issue a patent to the 
Identified Lands subject to the provisions of ANCSA and this Act.

SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE.

    (a) Timing.--The Secretary shall issue interim conveyances pursuant 
to subsection 2(b) at the earliest possible time after acceptance of the 
Newtok conveyance and relinquishment of selections under subsection 
2(a).
    (b) Relationship to ANCSA.--Lands conveyed to Newtok under this Act 
shall be treated as having been conveyed under the provisions of ANCSA, 
except that the provisions of 14(c) and 22g of ANCSA shall not apply to 
these lands. Consistent with section 103(c) of ANILCA, these lands shall 
not be included as a portion of the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge 
and shall not be subject to regulations applicable solely to public 
lands within this Conservation System Unit.
    (c) Effect on Entitlement.--Except as otherwise provided, nothing in 
this Act shall be construed to change the total acreage of land to which 
Newtok is entitled under ANCSA.
    (d) Effect on Newtok Lands.--The Newtok Lands shall be included in 
the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge as of the date of acceptance of 
the conveyance of those lands from Newtok, except that residents of the 
Village of Newtok, Alaska, shall retain access rights to subsistence 
resources on those Newtok lands as guaranteed under section 811 of 
ANILCA (16 U.S.C. 3121), and to subsistence uses, such as traditional 
subsistence fishing, hunting and gathering, consistent with section 803 
of ANILCA (16 U.S.C. 3113).
    (e) Adjustment to Calista Corporation ANCSA Entitlement for 
Relinquished Newtok Selections.--To the extent that Calista subsurface 
rights are affected by this Act, Calista shall be entitled to an 
equivalent acreage of in lieu subsurface entitlement for the Newtok 
selections relinquished in the exchange as set forth in subsection 2(a) 
of this Act. This equivalent entitlement shall come from subsurface 
lands already selected by Calista, but which have not been conveyed. If 
Calista does not have sufficient subsurface selections to accommodate 
this additional entitlement, Calista Corporation is hereby authorized to 
make an additional in lieu selection for the deficient acreage from 
lands within the region but outside any conservation system unit.

[[Page 117 STAT. 1360]]

    (f) Adjustment to Exchange.--If requested by Newtok, the Secretary 
may consider and make adjustments to the exchange to meet the purposes 
of this Act, subject to all the same terms and conditions of this Act.

    Approved November 17, 2003.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 924:
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HOUSE REPORTS: No. 108-345 (Comm. on Resources).
SENATE REPORTS: No. 108-97 (Comm. on Energy and Natural Resources).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 149 (2003):
            July 17, considered and passed Senate.
            Nov. 4, considered and passed House.

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