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108th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5330
To authorize and direct the exchange of lands in Grand and Uintah
Counties, Utah, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 8, 2004
Mr. Matheson (for himself and Mr. Cannon) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources
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A BILL
To authorize and direct the exchange of lands in Grand and Uintah
Counties, Utah, and for other purposes.
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 Recreational Lands Exchange
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds and declares that--
(1) Areas surrounding the Colorado River in Grand County,
Utah, Dinosaur National Monument in Uintah County, Utah, and
the Book Cliffs area of Uintah County, Utah, contain nationally
recognized scenic values, significant archaeological and
historic resources, valuable wildlife habitat, and outstanding
opportunities for public recreation that are enjoyed by
hundreds of thousands of people annually.
(2) In these areas, the State of Utah owns multiple parcels
of lands granted by Congress to the State 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 amid the Federal lands comprising the
remainder of the Colorado River corridor, Dinosaur National
Monument and Book Cliffs areas.
(3) These State trust lands were granted for the purpose of
generating financial support for Utah's public schools through
sale or development of natural resources, and the lands are
held in trust under State and Federal law for the benefit of
the public school system of the State and other beneficiary
institutions.
(4) State trust lands in the Colorado River corridor,
Dinosaur National Monument, and Book Cliffs areas contain
significant natural and recreational values, including portions
of Westwater Canyon of the Colorado River, the nationally-
recognized Kokopelli and Slickrock trails, several of the
largest natural rock arches in the United States, multiple
wilderness study areas and proposed wilderness areas, and
viewsheds for Arches National Park and Dinosaur National
Monument.
(5) The large presence of State trust lands located within
the Colorado River corridor, Dinosaur National Monument, and
Book Cliffs areas make land and resource management in the
areas more difficult, costly, and controversial for both the
State of Utah and the United States.
(6) Development of Utah State trust lands in these areas in
accordance with the purpose for which the lands were granted
could be incompatible with management of such areas for
recreational, natural, and scenic values.
(7) The United States owns lands and interests in lands
elsewhere in Utah that can be transferred to the State of Utah
in exchange without jeopardizing Federal management objectives
or needs.
(8) It is in the public interest to enact legislation
authorizing an exchange of other federally owned lands in Utah
for the Utah State trust lands located within the Colorado
River corridor, Dinosaur National Monument and Book Cliffs
areas, on terms fair to the State of Utah and the United
States.
(b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to authorize, direct,
facilitate and expedite the land exchange described herein in order to
further the public interest by disposing of Federal lands with limited
recreational and conservation values and acquiring in exchange
therefore State trust lands with important recreational, scenic, and
conservation values for permanent public management and use.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Offered lands.--The term ``Offered Lands'' means the
Utah State school trust lands described in section 4(b) to be
conveyed to the United States under this Act.
(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior.
(3) Selected lands.--The term ``Selected Lands'' means the
public lands described in section 4(c) to be conveyed to the
State under this Act.
(4) State.--The term ``State'' means the State of Utah.
SEC. 4. LAND EXCHANGE.
(a) Condition.--The exchange directed by this section shall be
consummated if, not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, the State offers to transfer to the United States the Offered
Lands.
(b) Conveyance of Offered Lands by State.--In accordance with this
Act, the State shall convey to the United States by State patent
acceptable to the Secretary, subject to valid existing rights, all
right, title, and interest of the State in and to the following Offered
Lands:
(1) Certain land comprising approximately ____ acres and
located in the Colorado River corridor in Grand County, Utah,
as generally depicted on a map entitled ``Utah Recreational
Land Exchange Offered Lands'', dated October 2004.
(2) Certain land comprising approximately ____ acres and
located in the vicinity of Dinosaur National Monument in Uintah
County, Utah, also as generally depicted on the map entitled
``Utah Recreational Land Exchange Offered Lands'', dated
October 2004.
(3) Certain land comprising approximately ____ acres and
located in the Book Cliffs area of Uintah County, Utah, also as
generally depicted on the map entitled ``Utah Recreational Land
Exchange Offered Lands'', dated October 2004.
(c) Conveyance of Selected Land by the United States.--At the time
of receipt of title to the Offered Lands, the Secretary shall
simultaneously convey to the State all right, title, and interest of
the United States, subject to valid existing rights, in and to certain
land comprising approximately ______ acres and located in Grand and
Uintah Counties, Utah, as generally depicted on a map entitled ``Utah
Recreational Land Exchange Selected Lands'', dated October 2004.
SEC. 5. EXCHANGE VALUATION, APPRAISALS, AND EQUALIZATION.
(a) Equal Value Exchange.--The values of the Offered Lands and
Selected Lands--
(1) shall be approximately equal; or
(2) if the values are not approximately equal, values shall
be made approximately equal in accordance with subsection (e)
or (f).
(b) Appraisals.--The values of the Offered Lands and Selected Lands
shall be determined by appraisals using comparable sales of surface and
subsurface property and nationally recognized appraisal standards,
including, to the extent appropriate, the Uniform Appraisal Standards
for Federal Land Acquisitions (1992), the Uniform Standards of
Professional Appraisal Practice, and section 206(d) of the Federal Land
Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716(d)) and its
implementing regulations. The appraisals of the Offered Lands and the
Selected Lands shall consider all otherwise comparable public and
private sales without regard to whether such lands were acquired for
conservation or preservation purposes, or the governmental or non-
profit status of the entity making the acquisition. If value is
attributed to minerals subject to lease under Federal mineral leasing
laws, then such value shall be proportionately adjusted to reflect
Federal mineral revenue sharing, upon the condition that the Utah
School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration shall assume the
revenue sharing obligation of the United States with respect to that
land.
(c) Appraisals; Review by Secretary and State.--The State shall
contract for appraisals of the Offered Lands and the Selected Lands
with an independent third-party appraiser or appraisers jointly
selected from a list approved by both the State and the Secretary. The
list shall be approved not later than 30 days after the State offers
the Offered Lands in accordance with subsection (a). Completed
appraisals shall be submitted to the Secretary and the State for review
not later than 120 days after selection of the appraisers.
(d) Resolution of Disagreement.--The Secretary and the State shall
independently review and approve or disapprove appraisals submitted
pursuant to subsection (c) not later than 90 days after receipt of such
appraisals. If the Secretary and the State are unable to agree on the
value of a parcel of land, the value may, by mutual agreement, be
determined in accordance with the methods set forth in sections
206(d)(2) and 206(d)(4) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act
of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716(d)(2), (4)). If, one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the parties have not agreed upon the value of
any parcel or parcels involved in the exchange, any appropriate United
States District Court, including the United States District Court for
the District of Utah, Central Division, shall have jurisdiction to
hear, determine, and render judgment on the value of such lands. No
action provided for in this subsection may be filed with the Court
sooner than 1 year or later than 3 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
(e) Equalization If Surplus of Offered Lands.--In general if, after
the completion of the appraisal and dispute resolution process set
forth in subsections (b), (c), and (d), the final value of the Offered
Lands exceeds the final value of the Selected Lands the Secretary shall
delete Offered Lands from the exchange until the values are
approximately equal.
(f) Equalization If Surplus of Selected Land.--In general if, after
the completion of the appraisal and dispute resolution process set
forth in subsections (b), (c), and (d), the final value of the Selected
Lands exceeds the final value of the Offered Lands--
(1) the State and the Secretary may mutually agree to
delete lands from the Selected Lands until the values are
approximately equal; or
(2) the State and the Secretary may mutually agree to add
additional State trust lands to the Offered Lands, provided the
additional lands have been previously appraised pursuant to an
ongoing Federal acquisition process or program and the
appraised value has been accepted by the Secretary.
SEC. 6. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.
(a) Land Status.--
(1) Administration of lands acquired by united states.--In
accordance with the provisions of section 206(c) of the Federal
Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716(c)), all
lands acquired by the United States pursuant to this Act shall
upon acceptance of title by the United States and without
further action by the Secretary become part of and be managed
as part of the administrative unit or area within which they
are located. The payment of mineral revenues from the acquired
lands shall be subject to the provisions of section 35 of the
Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 2191).
(2) Withdrawal of selected land.--Subject to valid existing
rights, the Federal lands described in subsection (c)(2) are
hereby withdrawn from disposition under the public land laws
and from location, entry, and patent under the mining laws of
the United States, from the operation of the mineral leasing
laws of the United States, from operation of the Geothermal
Steam Act of 1970, and from the operation of the Act of July
31, 1947, commonly known as the Materials Act of 1947 (30
U.S.C. 601 and following).
(b) Grazing Permits.--
(1) In general.--On all lands exchanged under this Act, the
party acquiring title to such lands shall honor, for the
remainder of the applicable term, all leases, permits, and
contracts for the grazing of domestic livestock, and the
related terms and conditions of user agreements on exchanged
lands, including permitted stocking rates, grazing fee levels,
access rights, and ownership and use of range improvements.
Upon expiration of any lease or permit, the holder shall be
entitled to a preference right to renew such lease or permit to
the extent provided by Federal or State law. Nothing in this
Act shall prevent the State from canceling any grazing permit
when the underlying land is sold, conveyed, transferred, or
leased for nongrazing purposes by the State.
(2) Base properties.--In any instance where lands conveyed
by the State under this Act are used by a grazing permittee or
lessee to meet the base property requirements for a Federal
grazing permit or lease, such lands shall continue to qualify
as base properties for the remaining term of the lease or
permit and any renewal or extensions thereof.
(c) Hazardous Materials.--The Secretary and, as a condition of the
exchange, the State shall make available for review and inspection all
pertinent records relating to hazardous materials (if any) on the lands
to be exchanged pursuant to this Act. The responsibility for costs of
remedial action related to such materials shall be borne by those
entities responsible under existing law.
(d) Timing.--The land exchange authorized under this Act shall be
complete not later than 330 days after the date on which the State
makes the Secretary an offer to exchange under section 4(a), unless the
Secretary and the State agree to extend the date of the completion of
the land exchange.
(e) Provisions Relating to Federal Lands.--The enactment of this
Act shall be construed as satisfying the provisions of section 206(a)
of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C.
1716(a)) requiring that exchanges of lands be in the public interest.
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