[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 118, 108th Congress, 2nd Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

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

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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

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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.

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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.