University of Alaska Fiscal Foundation Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2546 To provide for the continuation of higher education through the conveyance to the University of Alaska of certain public land in the State of Alaska, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 14, 2021 Mr. YOUNG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To provide for the continuation of higher education through the conveyance to the University of Alaska of certain public land in the State of Alaska, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘University of Alaska 4 Fiscal Foundation Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:59 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2546.IH H2546 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2546 IH (1) AVAILABLE STATE-SELECTED LAND.—The 1 term ‘‘available State-selected land’’ means Federal 2 land in the State that has been selected by the 3 State, including land upon which the State has, 4 prior to December 31, 1993, filed a future selection 5 application under section 906(e) of the Alaska Na- 6 tional Interest Lands Conservation Act (43 U.S.C. 7 1635(e)), but not conveyed or patented to the State, 8 pursuant to Public Law 85–508 (commonly known 9 as the ‘‘Alaska Statehood Act’’) (48 U.S.C. note 10 prec. 21). 11 (2) CONSERVATION SYSTEM UNIT.—The term 12 ‘‘conservation system unit’’ has the meaning given 13 the term in section 102 of the Alaska National In- 14 terest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3102). 15 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 16 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di- 17 rector of the Bureau of Land Management. 18 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 19 of Alaska. 20 (5) UNIVERSITY.—The term ‘‘University’’ 21 means the University of Alaska, acting through the 22 Board of Regents. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:59 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2546.IH H2546 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2546 IH SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT. 1 The Secretary shall establish a program within the 2 Bureau of Land Management— 3 (1) to identify and convey available State-se- 4 lected land to the University to support higher edu- 5 cation in the State; and 6 (2) to acquire, by purchase or exchange, Uni- 7 versity-owned land located within conservation sys- 8 tem units in the State. 9 SEC. 4. IDENTIFICATION OF LAND TO BE CONVEYED THE 10 UNIVERSITY. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 12 date of enactment of this Act, the State and the University 13 may jointly identify not more than 500,000 acres of avail- 14 able State-selected land for inclusion in the program es- 15 tablished under section 3, of which not more than 360,000 16 acres may be conveyed and patented to the University. 17 (b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Upon the request of 18 the State and the University, the Secretary shall provide 19 technical assistance in the identification of available State- 20 selected land for inclusion in the program. 21 (c) MAPS.—As soon as practicable after the date on 22 which the available State-selected land is identified under 23 subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the Com- 24 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 25 and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:59 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2546.IH H2546 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2546 IH of Representatives 1 or more maps depicting the available 1 State-selected land identified for conveyance to the Uni- 2 versity. 3 (d) CONVEYANCE.—Subject to subsection (e), if the 4 State and the University notify the Secretary in writing 5 that the State and the University jointly concur with the 6 conveyance of all or a portion of the available State-se- 7 lected land identified under subsection (a), and that the 8 State relinquishes its selection rights to the land covered 9 by the notification, the Secretary shall convey the applica- 10 ble identified available State-selected land to the Univer- 11 sity, subject to valid existing rights, in the same manner 12 and subject to the same terms, conditions, and limitations 13 as is applicable to the State under Public Law 85–508 14 (commonly known as the ‘‘Alaska Statehood Act’’) (48 15 U.S.C. note prec. 21) and other applicable law, to be held 16 in trust for the exclusive use and benefit of the University, 17 to be administered in accordance with section 6. 18 (e) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.— 19 (1) MAXIMUM ACREAGE.—Subject to paragraph 20 (3), the Secretary shall convey not more than a total 21 of 360,000 acres of available State-selected land to 22 the University under this section, not to exceed the 23 remaining entitlement of the State under Public 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:59 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2546.IH H2546 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2546 IH Law 85–508 (commonly known as the ‘‘Alaska 1 Statehood Act’’) (48 U.S.C. note prec. 21). 2 (2) LETTERS OF CONCURRENCE.—For purposes 3 of subsection (d) and subject to the maximum acre- 4 age limitation under subsection (a), the State and 5 the University may submit to the Secretary 1 or 6 more joint letters of concurrence identifying parcels 7 of available State selected land for conveyance as a 8 subset of the total acres to be conveyed under this 9 section. 10 (3) ACREAGE CHARGED AGAINST ALASKA 11 STATEHOOD ACT ENTITLEMENT.—The acreage of 12 land conveyed to the University under this section 13 shall be charged against the remaining entitlement 14 of the State under Public Law 85–508 (commonly 15 known as the ‘‘Alaska Statehood Act’’) (48 U.S.C. 16 note prec. 21). 17 (4) SURVEY COSTS.—In accordance with Public 18 Law 85–508 (commonly known as the ‘‘Alaska 19 Statehood Act’’) (48 U.S.C. note prec. 21), the Sec- 20 retary shall be responsible for the costs of required 21 surveys. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:59 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2546.IH H2546 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2546 IH SEC. 5. UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA INHOLDINGS WITHIN CON- 1 SERVATION SYSTEM UNITS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary or the Secretary of 3 Agriculture, as appropriate, may acquire by purchase or 4 exchange, with the consent of the University, University- 5 owned inholdings within conservation system units in the 6 State. 7 (b) APPRAISALS.—The value of the land to be ex- 8 changed or acquired under this section shall be determined 9 by the Secretary through appraisals conducted— 10 (1) in accordance with— 11 (A) the Uniform Appraisal Standards for 12 Federal Land Acquisitions; and 13 (B) the Uniform Standards of Professional 14 Appraisal Practice; and 15 (2) by an appraiser mutually agreed to by the 16 Secretary and the University. 17 (c) EQUAL VALUE EXCHANGES.—For any land ex- 18 change entered into under this section, the Federal land 19 and University-owned inholdings exchanged shall be of 20 equal value. 21 (d) PURCHASE ACQUISITIONS.—Pursuant to chapter 22 2003 of title 54, United States Code, amounts in the Land 23 and Water Conservation Fund established by section 24 200302 of that title may be used for the purchase of Uni- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:59 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2546.IH H2546 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2546 IH versity-owned inholdings within conservation system units 1 in the State under this section. 2 (e) REQUIREMENT.—Any land acquired by the 3 United States under this section shall be administered in 4 accordance with the laws (including regulations) applica- 5 ble to the conservation system unit in which the land is 6 located. 7 SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION OF CONVEYED OR EXCHANGED 8 LAND. 9 All available State-selected land that is tentatively ap- 10 proved or conveyed to the University under this Act, and 11 all land acquired by the University through an exchange 12 under this Act, together with the income therefrom and 13 the proceeds from any dispositions thereof, shall be admin- 14 istered by the University in trust to meet the necessary 15 expenses of higher education programs, similar to prior 16 Federal land grants to the University. 17 SEC. 7. STATE AND UNIVERSITY PARTICIPATION. 18 Nothing in this Act requires the State or the Univer- 19 sity— 20 (1) to participate in the program established 21 under section 3; or 22 (2) to enter into sales or exchanges of Univer- 23 sity-owned inholdings within conservation system 24 units under section 5. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:59 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2546.IH H2546 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2546 IH SEC. 8. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION. 1 Not later than 90 days after the date of any convey- 2 ance and patent to the University under this Act, the Sec- 3 retary shall notify the Committee on Energy and Natural 4 Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural 5 Resources of the House of Representatives of the land con- 6 veyed and patented. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:59 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2546.IH H2546 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS