H.R. 3830 (ih) To provide for the exchange of certain lands within the State of Utah. ...

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        H.R.3830

                       One Hundred Fifth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the twenty-seventh day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-
                                  eight


                                 An Act


 
 To provide for the exchange of certain lands within the State of Utah.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Utah Schools and Lands Exchange Act 
of 1998''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
        (1) The State of Utah owns approximately 176,600 acres of land, 
    as well as approximately 24,165 acres of mineral interests, 
    administered by the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands 
    Administration, within the exterior boundaries of the Grand 
    Staircase-Escalante National Monument, established by Presidential 
    proclamation on September 18, 1996, pursuant to section 2 of the 
    Antiquities Act of 1906 (16 U.S.C. 431). The State of Utah also 
    owns approximately 200,000 acres of land, and 76,000 acres of 
    mineral interests, administered by the Utah School and 
    Institutional Trust Lands Administration, within the exterior 
    boundaries of several units of the National Park System and the 
    National Forest System, and within certain Indian reservations in 
    Utah. These lands were granted by Congress to the State of Utah 
    pursuant to the Utah Enabling Act (chap. 138, 28 Stat. 107 (1894)), 
    to be held in trust for the benefit of the State's public school 
    system and other public institutions.
        (2) Many of the State school trust lands within the monument 
    may contain significant economic quantities of mineral resources, 
    including coal, oil, and gas, tar sands, coalbed methane, titanium, 
    uranium, and other energy and metalliferous minerals. Certain State 
    school trust lands within the Monument, like the Federal lands 
    comprising the Monument, have substantial noneconomic scientific, 
    historic, cultural, scenic, recreational, and natural resources, 
    including ancient Native American archeological sites and rare 
    plant and animal communities.
        (3) Development of surface and mineral resources on State 
    school trust lands within the Monument could be incompatible with 
    the preservation of these scientific and historic resources for 
    which the Monument was established. Federal acquisition of State 
    school trust lands within the Monument would eliminate this 
    potential incompatibility, and would enhance management of the 
    Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
        (4) The United States owns lands and interest in lands outside 
    of the Monument that can be transferred to the State of Utah in 
    exchange for the Monument inholdings without jeopardizing Federal 
    management objectives or needs.
        (5) In 1993, Congress passed and the President signed Public 
    Law 103-93, which contained a process for exchanging State of Utah 
    school trust inholdings in the National Park System, the National 
    Forest System, and certain Indian reservations in Utah. Among other 
    things, it identified various Federal lands and interests in land 
    that were available to exchange for these State inholdings.
        (6) Although Public Law 103-93 offered the hope of a prompt, 
    orderly exchange of State inholdings for Federal lands elsewhere, 
    implementation of the legislation has been very slow. Completion of 
    this process is realistically estimated to be many years away, at 
    great expense to both the State and the United States in the form 
    of expert witnesses, lawyers, appraisers, and other litigation 
    costs.
        (7) The State also owns approximately 2,560 acres of land in or 
    near the Alton coal field which has been declared an area 
    unsuitable for coal mining under the terms of the Surface Mining 
    Control and Reclamation Act. This land is also administered by the 
    Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, but its 
    use is limited given this declaration.
        (8) The large presence of State school trust land inholdings in 
    the Monument, national parks, national forests, and Indian 
    reservations make land and resource management in these areas 
    difficult, costly, and controversial for both the State of Utah and 
    the United States.
        (9) It is in the public interest to reach agreement on exchange 
    of inholdings, on terms fair to both the State and the United 
    States. Agreement saves much time and delay in meeting the 
    expectations of the State school and institutional trusts, in 
    simplifying management of Federal and Indian lands and resources, 
    and in avoiding expensive, protracted litigation under Public Law 
    103-93.
        (10) The State of Utah and the United States have reached an 
    agreement under which the State would exchange all its State school 
    trust lands within the Monument, and specified inholdings in 
    national parks, forests, and Indian reservations that are subject 
    to Public Law 103-93, for various Federal lands and interests in 
    lands located outside the Monument, including Federal lands and 
    interests identified as available for exchange in Public Law 103-93 
    and additional Federal lands and interests in lands.
        (11) The State school trust lands to be conveyed to the Federal 
    Government include properties within units of the National Park 
    System, the National Forest System, and the Grand Staircase-
    Escalante National Monument. The Federal assets made available for 
    exchange with the State were selected with a great sensitivity to 
    environmental concerns and a belief and expectation by both parties 
    that Federal assets to be conveyed to the State would be unlikely 
    to trigger significant environmental controversy.
        (12) The parties agreed at the outset of negotiations to avoid 
    identifying Federal assets for conveyance to the State where any of 
    the following was known to exist or likely to be an issue as a 
    result of foreseeable future uses of the land: significant wildlife 
    resources, endangered species habitat, significant archaeological 
    resources, areas of critical environmental concern, coal resources 
    requiring surface mining to extract the mineral deposits, 
    wilderness study areas, significant recreational areas, or any 
    other lands known to raise significant environmental concerns of 
    any kind.
        (13) The parties further agreed that the use of any mineral 
    interests obtained by the State of Utah where the Federal 
    Government retains surface and other interest, will not conflict 
    with established Federal land and environmental management 
    objectives, and shall be fully subject to all environmental 
    regulations applicable to development of non-Federal mineral 
    interest on Federal lands.
        (14) Because the inholdings to be acquired by the Federal 
    Government include properties within the boundaries of some of the 
    most renowned conservation land units in the 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 many longstanding 
    environmental conflicts and further the interest of the State trust 
    lands, the school children of Utah, and these conservation 
    resources.
        (15) The Congress finds that, 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 and payments to be 
    conveyed to the State of Utah by the United States, are 
    approximately equal in value.
        (16) The purpose of this legislation is to enact into law and 
    direct prompt implementation of this historic agreement.

SEC. 3. RATIFICATION OF 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, Federal mineral 
interests, and payment of money for lands and mineral interests managed 
by the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, lands 
and mineral interests of approximately equal value inheld within the 
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument the Goshute and Navajo 
Indian Reservations, units of the National Park System, the National 
Forest System, and the Alton coal fields.
    (b) Ratification.--All terms, conditions, procedures, covenants, 
reservations, and other provisions set forth in the document entitled 
``Agreement to Exchange Utah School Trust Lands Between the State of 
Utah and the United States of America'' (herein referred to as ``the 
Agreement'') are hereby incorporated in this title, are ratified and 
confirmed, and set forth the obligations and commitments of the United 
States, the State of Utah, and Utah School and Institutional Trust 
Lands Administration (herein referred to as ``SITLA''), as a matter of 
Federal law.

SEC. 4. LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.

    (a) In General.--The maps and legal descriptions referred to in the 
Agreement depict the lands subject to the conveyances.
    (b) 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.
    (c) Conflict.--In case of conflict between the maps and the legal 
descriptions, 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.

SEC. 6. REPEAL OF PUBLIC LAW 103-93 AND PUBLIC LAW 104-211.

    The provisions of Public Law 103-93 (107 Stat. 995), other than 
section 7(b)(1), section 7(b)(3), and section 10(b) thereof, are hereby 
repealed. Public Law 104-211 (110 Stat. 3013) is hereby repealed.

SEC. 7. CASH PAYMENT PREVIOUSLY AUTHORIZED.

    As previously authorized and made available by section 7(b)(1) and 
(b)(3) of Public Law 103-93, upon completion of all conveyances 
described in the Agreement, the United States shall pay $50,000,000 to 
the State of Utah from funds not otherwise appropriated from the 
Treasury.

SEC. 8. SCHEDULE FOR CONVEYANCES.

    All conveyances under sections 2 and 3 of the agreement shall be 
completed within 70 days after the enactment of this Act.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.

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