University of Alaska Fiscal Foundation Act

II Calendar No. 495 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 1128 [Report No. 117–152] 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 14, 2021 Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself and Mr. SULLIVAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Nat- ural Resources SEPTEMBER 21, 2022 Reported by Mr. MANCHIN, with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Sep 22, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1128.RS S1128 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1128 RS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘University of Alaska 2 Fiscal Foundation Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 4 In this Act: 5 (1) AVAILABLE STATE-SELECTED LAND.—The 6 term ‘‘available State-selected land’’ means Federal 7 land in the State that has been selected by the 8 State, including land upon which the State has, 9 prior to December 31, 1993, filed a future selection 10 application under section 906(e) of the Alaska Na- 11 tional Interest Lands Conservation Act (43 U.S.C. 12 1635(e)), but not conveyed or patented to the State, 13 pursuant to Public Law 85–508 (commonly known 14 as the ‘‘Alaska Statehood Act’’) (48 U.S.C. note 15 prec. 21). 16 (2) CONSERVATION SYSTEM UNIT.—The term 17 ‘‘conservation system unit’’ has the meaning given 18 the term in section 102 of the Alaska National In- 19 terest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3102). 20 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 21 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di- 22 rector of the Bureau of Land Management. 23 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 24 of Alaska. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Sep 22, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1128.RS S1128 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1128 RS (5) UNIVERSITY.—The term ‘‘University’’ 1 means the University of Alaska, acting through the 2 Board of Regents. 3 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT. 4 The Secretary shall establish a program within the 5 Bureau of Land Management— 6 (1) to identify and convey available State-se- 7 lected land to the University to support higher edu- 8 cation in the State; and 9 (2) to acquire, by purchase or exchange, Uni- 10 versity-owned land located within conservation sys- 11 tem units in the State. 12 SEC. 4. IDENTIFICATION OF LAND TO BE CONVEYED TO 13 THE UNIVERSITY. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 15 date of enactment of this Act, the State and the University 16 may jointly identify not more than 500,000 acres of avail- 17 able State-selected land for inclusion in the program es- 18 tablished under section 3, of which not more than 360,000 19 acres may be conveyed and patented to the University. 20 (b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Upon the request of 21 the State and the University, the Secretary shall provide 22 technical assistance in the identification of available State- 23 selected land for inclusion in the program. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Sep 22, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1128.RS S1128 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1128 RS (c) MAPS.—As soon as practicable after the date on 1 which the available State-selected land is identified under 2 subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the Com- 3 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 4 and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 5 of Representatives 1 or more maps depicting the available 6 State-selected land identified for conveyance to the Uni- 7 versity. 8 (d) CONVEYANCE.—Subject to subsection (e), if the 9 State and the University notify the Secretary in writing 10 that the State and the University jointly concur with the 11 conveyance of all or a portion of the available State-se- 12 lected land identified under subsection (a), and that the 13 State relinquishes its selection rights to the land covered 14 by the notification, the Secretary shall convey the applica- 15 ble identified available State-selected land to the Univer- 16 sity, subject to valid existing rights, in the same manner 17 and subject to the same terms, conditions, and limitations 18 as is applicable to the State under Public Law 85–508 19 (commonly known as the ‘‘Alaska Statehood Act’’) (48 20 U.S.C. note prec. 21) and other applicable law, to be held 21 in trust for the exclusive use and benefit of the University, 22 to be administered in accordance with section 6. 23 (e) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Sep 22, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1128.RS S1128 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1128 RS (1) MAXIMUM ACREAGE.—Subject to paragraph 1 (3), the Secretary shall convey not more than a total 2 of 360,000 acres of available State-selected land to 3 the University under this section, not to exceed the 4 remaining entitlement of the State under Public 5 Law 85–508 (commonly known as the ‘‘Alaska 6 Statehood Act’’) (48 U.S.C. note prec. 21). 7 (2) LETTERS OF CONCURRENCE.—For purposes 8 of subsection (d) and subject to the maximum acre- 9 age limitation under subsection (a), the State and 10 the University may submit to the Secretary 1 or 11 more joint letters of concurrence identifying parcels 12 of available State selected land for conveyance as a 13 subset of the total acres to be conveyed under this 14 section. 15 (3) ACREAGE CHARGED AGAINST ALASKA 16 STATEHOOD ACT ENTITLEMENT.—The acreage of 17 land conveyed to the University under this section 18 shall be charged against the remaining entitlement 19 of the State under Public Law 85–508 (commonly 20 known as the ‘‘Alaska Statehood Act’’) (48 U.S.C. 21 note prec. 21). 22 (4) SURVEY COSTS.—In accordance with Public 23 Law 85–508 (commonly known as the ‘‘Alaska 24 Statehood Act’’) (48 U.S.C. note prec. 21), the Sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Sep 22, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1128.RS S1128 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1128 RS retary shall be responsible for the costs of required 1 surveys. 2 SEC. 5. UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA INHOLDINGS WITHIN CON- 3 SERVATION SYSTEM UNITS. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary or the Secretary of 5 Agriculture, as appropriate, may acquire by purchase or 6 exchange, with the consent of the University, University- 7 owned inholdings within conservation system units in the 8 State. 9 (b) APPRAISALS.—The value of the land to be ex- 10 changed or acquired under this section shall be determined 11 by the Secretary through appraisals conducted— 12 (1) in accordance with— 13 (A) the Uniform Appraisal Standards for 14 Federal Land Acquisitions; and 15 (B) the Uniform Standards of Professional 16 Appraisal Practice; and 17 (2) by an appraiser mutually agreed to by the 18 Secretary and the University. 19 (c) EQUAL VALUE EXCHANGES.—For any land ex- 20 change entered into under this section, the Federal land 21 and University-owned inholdings exchanged shall be of 22 equal value. 23 (d) PURCHASE ACQUISITIONS.—Pursuant to chapter 24 2003 of title 54, United States Code, amounts in the Land 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Sep 22, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1128.RS S1128 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1128 RS and Water Conservation Fund established by section 1 200302 of that title may be used for the purchase of Uni- 2 versity-owned inholdings within conservation system units 3 in the State under this section. 4 (e) REQUIREMENT.—Any land acquired by the 5 United States under this section shall be administered in 6 accordance with the laws (including regulations) applica- 7 ble to the conservation system unit in which the land is 8 located. 9 SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION OF CONVEYED OR EXCHANGED 10 LAND. 11 All available State-selected land that is tentatively ap- 12 proved or conveyed to the University under this Act, and 13 all land acquired by the University through an exchange 14 under this Act, together with the income therefrom and 15 the proceeds from any dispositions thereof, shall be admin- 16 istered by the University in trust to meet the necessary 17 expenses of higher education programs, similar to prior 18 Federal land grants to the University. 19 SEC. 7. STATE AND UNIVERSITY PARTICIPATION. 20 Nothing in this Act requires the State or the Univer- 21 sity— 22 (1) to participate in the program established 23 under section 3; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Sep 22, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1128.RS S1128 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1128 RS (2) to enter into sales or exchanges of Univer- 1 sity-owned inholdings within conservation system 2 units under section 5. 3 SEC. 8. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION. 4 Not later than 90 days after the date of any convey- 5 ance and patent to the University under this Act, the Sec- 6 retary shall notify the Committee on Energy and Natural 7 Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural 8 Resources of the House of Representatives of the land con- 9 veyed and patented. 10 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 11 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘University of Alaska 12 Fiscal Foundation Act’’. 13 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 14 In this Act: 15 (1) AVAILABLE STATE-SELECTED LAND.—The 16 term ‘‘available State-selected land’’ means Federal 17 land in the State that has been selected by the State 18 pursuant to section 6(b) of Public Law 85–508 (com- 19 monly known as the ‘‘Alaska Statehood Act’’) (48 20 U.S.C. note prec. 21), including land upon which the 21 State has, prior to December 31, 1993, filed a future 22 selection application under section 906(e) of the Alas- 23 ka National Interest Lands Conservation Act (43 24 U.S.C. 1635(e)), but not conveyed or patented to the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Sep 22, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1128.RS S1128 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1128 RS State, pursuant to Public Law 85–508 (commonly 1 known as the ‘‘Alaska Statehood Act’’) (48 U.S.C. 2 note prec. 21). 3 (2) INHOLDING.—The term ‘‘inholding’’ means 4 any interest in land owned by the University with- 5 in— 6 (A) any conservation system unit (as de- 7 fined in section 102 of the Alaska National In- 8 terest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3102)); 9 or 10 (B) any unit of the National Forest System 11 in the State. 12 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 13 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di- 14 rector of the Bureau of Land Management. 15 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 16 of Alaska. 17 (5) UNIVERSITY.—The term ‘‘University’’ means 18 the University of Alaska, acting through the Board of 19 Regents. 20 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT. 21 The Secretary shall establish a program within the Bu- 22 reau of Land Management— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Sep 22, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1128.RS S1128 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1128 RS (1) to identify and convey available State-se- 1 lected land to the University to support higher edu- 2 cation in the State; and 3 (2) to acquire, by purchase or exchange, Univer- 4 sity-owned inholdings in the State. 5 SEC. 4. IDENTIFICATION OF LAND TO BE CONVEYED TO 6 THE UNIVERSITY. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 4 years after the 8 date of enactment of this Act, the State and the University 9 may jointly identify not more than 500,000 acres of avail- 10 able State-selected land for inclusion in the program estab- 11 lished under section 3, of which not more than 360,000 acres 12 may be conveyed and patented to the University. 13 (b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Upon the request of the 14 State and the University, the Secretary shall provide tech- 15 nical assistance in the identification of available State-se- 16 lected land for inclusion in the program. 17 (c) MAPS.—As soon as practicable after the date on 18 which the available State-selected land is identified under 19 subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the Committee 20 on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the 21 Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Represent- 22 atives 1 or more maps depicting the available State-selected 23 land identified for potential conveyance to the University. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Sep 22, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1128.RS S1128 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1128 RS (d) CONVEYANCE.—Subject to subsection (e), if the 1 State and the University notify the Secretary in writing 2 that the State and the University jointly concur with the 3 conveyance of all or a portion of the available State-selected 4 land identified under subsection (a), and that the State will 5 conditionally relinquish the selection rights of the State to 6 the land covered by the notification on the issuance of the 7 land being tentatively approved, and will fully relinquish 8 those selection rights on final patent by the Secretary to 9 the University, the Secretary shall convey the applicable 10 identified available State-selected land to the University, 11 subject to valid existing rights, in the same manner and 12 subject to the same terms, conditions, and limitations as 13 is applicable to the State under section 6(b) of Public Law 14 85–508 (commonly known as the ‘‘Alaska Statehood Act’’) 15 (48 U.S.C. note prec. 21) and other applicable law, to be 16 held in trust for the exclusive use and benefit of the Univer- 17 sity, 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 the 22 University under this section, not to exceed the re- 23 maining entitlement of the State under section 6(b) of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Sep 22, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1128.RS S1128 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1128 RS Public 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 acreage 4 limitation under subsection (a), the State and the 5 University may submit to the Secretary 1 or more 6 joi [Text truncated for display. 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