To resolve boundary conflicts in Barry and Stone Counties in the State of Missouri

June 2, 2003

Mr. BOND introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

To resolve boundary conflicts in Barry and Stone Counties in the State of Missouri

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

(a) FINDINGS- The Congress finds and declares that--

(1) certain landowners in Barry and Stone Counties, Missouri, have innocently and in good faith relied on subsequent land surveys, which they believed to have been correct, and have occupied, improved, or claimed portions of adjoining Federal lands based on such survey information; and

(2) the appropriate Federal agencies should undertake actions to reestablish the corners of the Public Land Survey system, and to rectify boundary conflicts and landownership claims against Federal lands resulting from subsequent Federal and private land surveys, and do so in a manner which imposes the least cost and inconvenience to affected private landowners.

(b) PURPOSES- Within Barry and Stone Counties, Missouri, the purposes of this Act are--

(1) to resolve any boundary disputes arising from these subsequent land surveys; and

(2) to minimize costs and inconvenience to the affected private property owners in Barry and Stone County, Missouri.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

For the purposes of this Act, the term--

(1) `appropriate Secretary' means either the Secretary of the Army or the Secretary of Agriculture;

(2) `boundary conflict' means the situation where the private claim of ownership for non-Federal lands, based on subsequent land surveys, overlaps or conflicts with Federal ownership;

(3) `Bureau of Land Management' means the agency of that name within the United States Department of the Interior, the successor agency to the United States General Land Office.

(4) `Corps of Engineers' means the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers;

(5) `Federal land surveys' means any land survey made by an agency or department of the Federal Government with 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;

(6) `Forest Service' means the Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture;

(7) `National Forest System lands' means Federal lands within the National Forest System as such System is defined by section 10(a) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1609(a));

(8) `original land surveys' means the land surveys made by the General Land Office as part of the United States Public Land Survey System in the State of Missouri, and upon which the Government land patents were issued conveying the land from the Federal Government into private ownership;

(9) `United States Public Land Survey System' means the rectangular system of original Government lands survey 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;

(10) `qualifying claimant' means a private owner of real property in Barry and Stone Counties, Missouri, who has boundary conflict as a result of good faith and innocent reliance on subsequent land surveys, and as a result of such reliance, has occupied, improved, or made ownership claims to Federal lands, and who files a claim for relief under this Act within the time period prescribed in section 4(b); and

(11) `subsequent land surveys' mean any land surveys made after the original land surveys.

SEC. 3. RESOLUTION OF BOUNDARY CONFLICTS.

(a) AUTHORITIES- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including the Federal Property Administration Services Act of 1949, and without requirements for further administrative or environmental analyses or examination, the appropriate Secretary is authorized discretion to take any of the following actions, or combinations of actions, in order to resolve boundary conflicts with qualifying claimants on lands under their respective administrative jurisdiction--

(1) to convey and quitclaim all right, title, and interest of the United States in land for which there is a boundary conflict; or

(2) to confirm Federal title to and retain in Federal management any land for which there is a boundary conflict where there are Federal interests which may include improvements, authorized uses, easements, hazardous materials, historical and cultural resources; and

(3) to 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) of this subsection.

(b) CONSIDERATION AND COSTS- The Appropriate Secretary shall--

(1) waive consideration for the value of the Federal land conveyed and quitclaimed pursuant to subsection (a)(1) upon a finding that the boundary conflict was the result of the innocent detrimental reliance by the qualifying claimant on a subsequent land survey;

(2) pay administrative, personnel and any other costs associated with the implementation of this Act, including the costs of survey, marking and monumenting property lines and corners; and

(3) reimburse the qualifying claimant for reasonable out-of-pocket survey

costs necessary to establish a claim under this Act.

(c) VALUATION- Compensation paid to qualifying claimants for land retained in Federal ownership pursuant to subsection (a)(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, and shall not include the value of Federal improvements to the land.

(d) PREEXISTING CONDITION-

(1) The United States shall not compensate a qualifying claimant or any other person for any preexisting condition or reduction in value of any land which is the subject of a boundary conflict because of any existing or outstanding permits, use authorizations, reservations, timber removal, or other land use or condition.

(2) 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 under this Act, 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.

(e) RESERVATIONS, VALID EXISTING RIGHTS AND USES-

(1) Any conveyance pursuant to subsection (a)(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; and

(2) For any land subject to a special use authorization or permit for access or utilities, the appropriate Secretary may, at the request of the holder, convert such authorization to a permanent easement prior to any conveyance pursuant to subsection (a)(1); and

(3) The appropriate Secretary may reserve rights for future public uses in conveyances made pursuant to subsection (a)(1) of this section if the qualifying claimant is paid for the reservation in cash or in land of equal value.

(f) RESPONSIBILITIES OF CLAIMANTS- The qualifying claimant shall have the responsibility for establishing that they qualify for the remedies allowed under this Act.

SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE.

(a) Qualifying claimants shall notify the appropriate Secretary in writing of their claims of a boundary conflict with adjoining Federal land. Such notification shall be accompanied by the following information provided by the qualifying claimant which, except as provided in section 3(b)(3), shall be without cost to the United States--

(1) a land survey plat and legal description of the affected Federal lands claimed which are based upon a correctly made land survey completed and certified by a Missouri State licensed Professional Land Surveyor, and done in conformity with the United States Public Land Survey System and in compliance with the applicable State and Federal land surveying statutes and regulations; and

(2) information relating to the claim of ownership of such Federal lands, including supporting documentation showing the landowner relied on a subsequent land survey due to actions by the Federal Government in making or approving surveys for the Table Rock Reservoir; and

(b) Any qualifying claimant must file for resolution of a boundary conflict within 15 years of the date of enactment of this Act.

(c) Except for such additional authorities provided in this Act, nothing herein shall affect the Quiet Title Act (28 U.S.C. 2409a) or other applicable law, or affect the exchange and disposal authorities of the Secretary of Agriculture including, but not limited to, the Small Tracts Act (16 U.S.C. 521c), or the exchange and disposal authorities of the Secretary of the Army.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as necessary to carry out this Act.

END