[108th Congress Public Law 279]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]


[DOCID: f:publ279.108]

[[Page 871]]

     BARRY AND STONE COUNTIES MISSOURI BOUNDARY CONFLICT RESOLUTION

[[Page 118 STAT. 872]]

Public Law 108-279
108th Congress

                                 An Act


 
 To resolve boundary conflicts in Barry and Stone Counties in the State 
           of Missouri. <<NOTE: July 22, 2004 -  [S. 1167]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. RESOLUTION OF BOUNDARY CONFLICTS, VICINITY OF MARK 
                              TWAIN NATIONAL FOREST, BARRY AND 
                              STONE COUNTIES, MISSOURI.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``appropriate Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Army or the Secretary of Agriculture.
            (2) The term ``boundary conflict'' means the situation in 
        which the private claim of ownership to certain lands, based on 
        subsequent Federal land surveys, overlaps or conflicts with 
        Federal ownership of the same lands.
            (3) The term ``Federal land surveys'' means any land survey 
        made by any agency or department of the Federal Government using 
        Federal employees, or by Federal contract with State-licensed 
        private land surveyors or corporations and businesses licensed 
        to provide professional land surveying services in the State of 
        Missouri for Table Rock Reservoir.
            (4) The term ``original land surveys'' means the land 
        surveys made by the United States General Land Office as part of 
        the Public Land Survey System in the State of Missouri, and upon 
        which Government land patents were issued conveying the land.
            (5) The term ``Public Land Survey System'' means the 
        rectangular system of original Government land surveys made by 
        the United States General Land Office and its successor, the 
        Bureau of Land Management, under Federal laws providing for the 
        survey of the public lands upon which the original land patents 
        were issued.
            (6) The term ``qualifying claimant'' means a private owner 
        of real property in Barry or Stone County, Missouri, who has a 
        boundary conflict as a result of good faith and innocent 
        reliance on subsequent Federal land surveys, and as a result of 
        such reliance, has occupied or improved Federal lands 
        administered by the appropriate Secretary.
            (7) The term ``subsequent Federal land surveys'' means any 
        Federal land surveys made after the original land surveys that 
        are inconsistent with the Public Land Survey System.

    (b) Resolution of Boundary Conflicts.--The Secretary of the Army and 
the Secretary of Agriculture shall cooperatively undertake actions to 
rectify boundary conflicts and landownership claims against Federal 
lands resulting from subsequent Federal

[[Page 118 STAT. 873]]

land surveys and correctly reestablish the corners of the Public Land 
Survey System in Barry and Stone Counties, Missouri, and shall attempt 
to do so in a manner which imposes the least cost and inconvenience to 
affected private landowners.
    (c) Notice of Boundary Conflict.--
            (1) Submission and contents.--A qualifying claimant shall 
        notify the appropriate Secretary in writing of a claim that a 
        boundary conflict exists with Federal land administered by the 
        appropriate Secretary. The notice shall be accompanied by the 
        following information, which, except as provided in subsection 
        (e)(2)(B), shall be provided without cost to the United States:
                    (A) A land survey plat and legal description of the 
                affected Federal lands, which are based upon a land 
                survey completed and certified by a Missouri State-
                licensed professional land surveyor and done in 
                conformity with the Public Land Survey System and in 
                compliance with the applicable State and Federal land 
                surveying laws.
                    (B) Information relating to the claim of ownership 
                of the Federal lands, including supporting documentation 
                showing that the landowner relied on a subsequent 
                Federal land survey due to actions by the Federal 
                Government in making or approving surveys for the Table 
                Rock Reservoir.
            (2) Deadline for submission.--To obtain relief under this 
        section, a qualifying claimant shall submit the notice and 
        information required by paragraph (1) within 15 years after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act.

    (d) Resolution Authorities.--In addition to using existing 
authorities, the appropriate Secretary is authorized to take any of the 
following actions in order to resolve boundary conflicts with qualifying 
claimants involving lands under the administrative jurisdiction of the 
appropriate Secretary:
            (1) Convey by quitclaim deed right, title, and interest in 
        land of the United States subject to a boundary conflict 
        consistent with the rights, title, and interest associated with 
        the privately-owned land from which a qualifying claimant has 
        based a claim.
            (2) Confirm Federal title to, and retain in Federal 
        management, any land subject to a boundary conflict, if the 
        appropriate Secretary determines that there are Federal 
        interests, including improvements, authorized uses, easements, 
        hazardous materials, or historical and cultural resources, on 
        the land that necessitates retention of the land or interests in 
        land.
            (3) Compensate the qualifying claimant for the value of the 
        overlapping property for which title is confirmed and retained 
        in Federal management pursuant to paragraph (2).

    (e) Consideration and Cost.--
            (1) Conveyance without consideration.--The conveyance of 
        land under subsection (d)(1) shall be made without 
        consideration.
            (2) Costs.--The appropriate Secretary shall--
                    (A) pay administrative, personnel, and any other 
                costs associated with the implementation of this section 
                by his or her Department, including the costs of survey, 
                marking, and monumenting property lines and corners; and

[[Page 118 STAT. 874]]

                    (B) reimburse the qualifying claimant for reasonable 
                out-of-pocket survey costs necessary to establish a 
                claim under this section.
            (3) Valuation.--Compensation paid to a qualifying claimant 
        pursuant to subsection (d)(3) for land retained in Federal 
        ownership pursuant to subsection (d)(2) shall be valued on the 
        basis of the contributory value of the tract of land to the 
        larger adjoining private parcel and not on the basis of the land 
        being a separate tract. The appropriate Secretary shall not 
        consider the value of any Federal improvements to the land. The 
        appropriate Secretary shall be responsible for compensation 
        provided as a result of subsequent Federal land surveys 
        conducted or commissioned by the appropriate Secretary's 
        Department.

    (f) Preexisting Conditions; Reservations; Existing Rights and 
Uses.--
            (1) Preexisting conditions.--The appropriate Secretary shall 
        not compensate a qualifying claimant or any other person for any 
        preexisting condition or reduction in value of any land subject 
        to a boundary conflict because of any existing or outstanding 
        permits, use authorizations, reservations, timber removal, or 
        other land use or condition.
            (2) Existing reservations and rights and uses.--Any 
        conveyance pursuant to subsection (d)(1) shall be subject to--
                    (A) reservations for existing public uses for roads, 
                utilities, and facilities; and
                    (B) permits, rights-of-way, contracts and any other 
                authorization to use the property.
            (3) Treatment of land subject to special use authorization 
        or permit.--For any land subject to a special use authorization 
        or permit for access or utilities, the appropriate Secretary may 
        convert, at the request of the holder, such authorization to a 
        permanent easement prior to any conveyance pursuant to 
        subsection (d)(1).
            (4) Future reservations.--The appropriate Secretary may 
        reserve rights for future public uses in a conveyance made 
        pursuant to subsection (d)(1) if the qualifying claimant is 
        compensated for the reservation in cash or in land of equal 
        value.
            (5) Hazardous substances.--The requirements of section 
        120(h) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
        Compensation, and Liability Act (42 U.S.C. 9620(h)) shall not 
        apply to conveyances or transfers of jurisdiction pursuant to 
        subsection (d), but the United States shall continue to be 
        liable for the cleanup costs of any hazardous substances on the 
        lands so conveyed or transferred if the contamination by 
        hazardous substances is caused by actions of the United States 
        or its agents.

    (g) Relation to Other Conveyance Authority.--Nothing in this section 
affects the Quiet Title Act (28 U.S.C. 2409a) or other applicable law, 
or affects the exchange and disposal authorities of the Secretary of 
Agriculture, including the Small Tracts Act (16 U.S.C. 521c), or the 
exchange and disposal authorities of the Secretary of the Army.
    (h) Additional Terms and Conditions.--The appropriate Secretary may 
require such additional terms and conditions in connection with a 
conveyance under subsection (d)(1) as the Secretary considers 
appropriate to protect the interests of the United States.

[[Page 118 STAT. 875]]

    (i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out the purposes of 
this Act.

    Approved July 22, 2004.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 1167:
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SENATE REPORTS: No. 108-234 (Comm. on Energy and Natural Resources).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 150 (2004):
            May 19, considered and passed Senate.
            July 12, considered and passed House.

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