[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:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
<all>