Home > 104th Congressional Bills > H.R. 714 (ih) To establish the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in the State of Illinois, and for other purposes. [Introduced in House] ...H.R. 714 (ih) To establish the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in the State of Illinois, and for other purposes. [Introduced in House] ...
104th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 714
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To establish the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in the State of
Illinois, and for other purposes.
104th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 714
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To establish the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in the State of
Illinois, 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 AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Illinois Land
Conservation Act of 1995''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
TITLE I--CONVERSION OF JOLIET ARMY AMMUNITION PLANT TO MIDEWIN NATIONAL
TALLGRASS PRAIRIE
Sec. 101. Principles of transfer.
Sec. 102. Transfer of management responsibilities and jurisdiction over
Arsenal.
Sec. 103. Continuation of responsibility and liability of Secretary of
the Army for environmental cleanup.
Sec. 104. Establishment and administration of Midewin National
Tallgrass Prairie.
Sec. 105. Special management requirements for Midewin National
Tallgrass Prairie.
Sec. 106. Special disposal rules for certain Arsenal parcels intended
for MNP.
TITLE II--OTHER REAL PROPERTY DISPOSALS INVOLVING JOLIET ARMY
AMMUNITION PLANT
Sec. 201. Disposal of certain real property at Arsenal for a national
cemetery.
Sec. 202. Disposal of certain real property at Arsenal for a county
landfill.
Sec. 203. Disposal of certain real property at Arsenal for economic
development.
TITLE III--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Sec. 301. Degree of environmental cleanup.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) The term ``Administrator'' means the Administrator of
the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
(2) The term ``agricultural purposes'' means the use of
land for row crops, pasture, hay, and grazing.
(3) The term ``Arsenal'' means the Joliet Army Ammunition
Plant located in the State of Illinois.
(4) The acronym ``CERCLA'' means the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980
(42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.).
(5) The term ``Defense Environmental Restoration Program''
means the program of environmental restoration for defense
installations established by the Secretary of Defense under
section 2701 of title 10, United States Code.
(6) The term ``environmental law'' means all applicable
Federal, State, and local laws, regulations, and requirements
related to protection of human health, natural and cultural
resources, or the environment, including CERCLA, the Solid
Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.), the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.), the Clean Air
Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.), the Federal Insecticide,
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.), the
Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.), and the
Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.).
(7) The term ``hazardous substance'' has the meaning given
such term by section 101(14) of CERCLA (42 U.S.C. 9601(14)).
(8) The abbreviation ``MNP'' means the Midewin National
Tallgrass Prairie established pursuant to section 104 and
managed as a part of the National Forest System.
(9) The term ``national cemetery'' means a cemetery
established and operated as part of the National Cemetery
System of the Department of Veterans Affairs and subject to the
provisions of chapter 24 of title 38, United States Code.
(10) The term ``person'' has the meaning given such term by
section 101(21) of CERCLA (42 U.S.C. 9601(21)).
(11) The term ``pollutant or contaminant'' has the meaning
given such term by section 101(33) of CERCLA (42 U.S.C.
9601(33)).
(12) The term ``release'' has the meaning given such term
by section 101(22) of CERCLA (42 U.S.C. 9601(22)).
(13) The term ``response action'' has the meaning given the
term ``response'' by section 101(25) of CERCLA (42 U.S.C.
9601(25)).
TITLE I--CONVERSION OF JOLIET ARMY AMMUNITION PLANT TO MIDEWIN NATIONAL
TALLGRASS PRAIRIE
SEC. 101. PRINCIPLES OF TRANSFER.
(a) Land Use Plan.--The Congress ratifies in principle the
proposals generally identified by the land use plan which was developed
by the Joliet Arsenal Citizen Planning Commission and unanimously
approved on May 30, 1995.
(b) Transfer Without Reimbursement.--The area constituting the
Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie shall be transferred, without
reimbursement, to the Secretary of Agriculture.
(c) Management of MNP.--Management by the Secretary of Agriculture
of those portions of the Arsenal transferred to the Secretary under
this Act shall be in accordance with sections 104 and 105 regarding the
Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.
(d) Security Measures.--The Secretary of the Army and the Secretary
of Agriculture shall each provide and maintain physical and other
security measures on such portion of the Arsenal as is under the
administrative jurisdiction of such Secretary. Such security measures
(which may include fences and natural barriers) shall include measures
to prevent members of the public from gaining unauthorized access to
such portions of the Arsenal as are under the administrative
jurisdiction of such Secretary and that may endanger health or safety.
(e) Cooperative Agreements.--The Secretary of the Army, the
Secretary of Agriculture, and the Administrator are individually and
collectively authorized to enter into cooperative agreements and
memoranda of understanding among each other and with other affected
Federal agencies, State and local governments, private organizations,
and corporations to carry out the purposes for which the Midewin
National Tallgrass Prairie is established.
(f) Interim Activities of the Secretary of Agriculture.--Prior to
transfer and subject to such reasonable terms and conditions as the
Secretary of the Army may prescribe, the Secretary of Agriculture may
enter upon the Arsenal property for purposes related to planning,
resource inventory, fish and wildlife habitat manipulation (which may
include prescribed burning), and other such activities consistent with
the purposes for which the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie is
established.
SEC. 102. TRANSFER OF MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES AND JURISDICTION OVER
ARSENAL.
(a) Initial Transfer of Jurisdiction.--Within 6 months after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Army shall
effect the transfer of those portions of the Arsenal property
identified for transfer to the Secretary of Agriculture pursuant to
subsection (d). The Secretary of the Army shall transfer to the
Secretary of Agriculture only those portions of the Arsenal for which
the Secretary of the Army and the Administrator concur that no further
action is required under any environmental law and which therefore have
been eliminated from the areas to be further studied pursuant to the
Defense Environmental Restoration Program for the Arsenal. Within 4
months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
the Army and the Administrator shall provide to the Secretary of
Agriculture all existing documentation supporting such finding and all
existing information relating to the environmental conditions of the
portions of the Arsenal to be transferred to the Secretary of
Agriculture pursuant to this subsection.
(b) Additional Transfers.--The Secretary of the Army shall transfer
to the Secretary of Agriculture in accordance with section 106(c) any
portion of the property generally identified in subsection (d) and not
transferred under subsection (a) after the Secretary of the Army and
the Administrator concur that no further action is required at that
portion of property under any environmental law and that such portion
is therefore eliminated from the areas to be further studied pursuant
to the Defense Environmental Restoration Program for the Arsenal. At
least 2 months before any transfer under this subsection, the Secretary
of the Army and the Administrator shall provide to the Secretary of
Agriculture all existing documentation supporting such finding and all
existing information relating to the environmental conditions of the
portion of the Arsenal to be transferred. Transfer of jurisdiction
pursuant to this subsection may be accomplished on a parcel-by-parcel
basis.
(c) Effect on Continued Responsibilities and Liability of Secretary
of the Army.--Subsections (a) and (b), and their requirements, shall
not in any way affect the responsibilities and liabilities of the
Secretary of the Army specified in section 103.
(d) Identification of Portions for Transfer for MNP.--The lands to
be transferred to the Secretary of Agriculture under subsections (a)
and (b) shall be identified on a map or maps which shall be agreed to
by the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of Agriculture.
Generally, the land to be transferred to the Secretary of Agriculture
shall be all the real property and improvements comprising the Arsenal,
except for lands and facilities described in subsection (e) or
designated for disposal under section 106 or title II.
(e) Property Used for Environmental Cleanup.--
(1) Retention.--The Secretary of the Army shall retain
jurisdiction, authority, and control over real property at the
Arsenal to be used for--
(A) water treatment;
(B) the treatment, storage, or disposal of any
hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant,
hazardous material, or petroleum products or their
derivatives;
(C) other purposes related to any response action
at the Arsenal; and
(D) other actions required at the Arsenal under any
environmental law to remediate contamination or
conditions of noncompliance with any environmental law.
(2) Conditions.--The Secretary of the Army shall consult
with the Secretary of Agriculture regarding the identification
and management of the real property retained under this
subsection and ensure that activities carried out on that
property are consistent, to the extent practicable, with the
purposes for which the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie is
established, as specified in section 104(c), and with the other
provisions of such section and section 105.
(3) Priority of response actions.--In the case of any
conflict between management of the property by the Secretary of
Agriculture and any response action, or any other action
required under any other environmental law, including actions
to remediate petroleum products of their derivatives, the
response action or other action shall take priority.
(f) Surveys.--All costs of necessary surveys for the transfer of
jurisdiction of Arsenal property from the Secretary of the Army to the
Secretary of Agriculture shall be borne by the Secretary of
Agriculture.
SEC. 103. CONTINUATION OF RESPONSIBILITY AND LIABILITY OF SECRETARY OF
THE ARMY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP.
(a) Responsibility.--The liabilities and responsibilities of the
Secretary of the Army under any environmental law shall not transfer
under any circumstances to the Secretary of Agriculture as a result of
the property transfers made under section 102 or section 106, or as a
result of interim activities of the Secretary of Agriculture on Arsenal
property under section 101(f). With respect to the real property at the
Arsenal, the Secretary of the Army shall remain liable for and continue
to carry out--
(1) all response actions required under CERCLA at or
related to the property;
(2) all remediation actions required under any other
environmental law at or related to the property; and
(3) all actions required under any other environmental law
to remediate petroleum products or their derivatives (including
motor oil and aviation fuel) at or related to the property.
(b) Liability.--
(1) In general.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed to
effect, modify, amend, repeal, alter, limit or otherwise
change, directly or indirectly, the responsibilities or
liabilities under any environmental law of any person
(including the Secretary of Agriculture), except as provided in
paragraph (3) with respect to the Secretary of Agriculture.
(2) Liability of secretary of the army.--The Secretary of
the Army shall retain any obligation or other liability at the
Arsenal that the Secretary may have under CERCLA and other
environmental laws. Following transfer of any portions of the
Arsenal pursuant to this Act, the Secretary of the Army shall
be accorded all easements and access to such property as may be
reasonably required to carry out such obligation or satisfy
such liability.
(3) Special rules for secretary of agriculture.--The
Secretary of Agriculture shall not be responsible or liable
under any environmental law for matters which are in any way
related directly or indirectly to activities of the Secretary
of the Army, or any party acting under the authority of the
Secretary in connection with the Defense Environmental
Restoration Program, at the Arsenal and which are for any of
the following:
(A) Costs of response actions required under CERCLA
at or related to the Arsenal.
(B) Costs, penalties, or fines related to
noncompliance with any environmental law at or related
to the Arsenal or related to the presence, release, or
threat of release of any hazardous substance,
pollutant, contaminant, hazardous waste or hazardous
material of any kind at or related to the Arsenal,
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