Advancing Conservation and Education Act

IB Union Calendar No. 524 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 244 [Report No. 116–639] To maximize land management efficiencies, promote land conservation, generate education funding, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 4, 2019 Mr. STEWART introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources DECEMBER 14, 2020 Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources; committed to the Com- mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:59 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H244.RH H244 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 244 RH A BILL To maximize land management efficiencies, promote land conservation, generate education funding, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:59 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H244.RH H244 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 244 RH 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 ‘‘Advancing Conserva- 4 tion and Education Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds that— 7 (1) at statehood, Congress granted each of the 8 western States land to be held in trust by the States 9 and used for the support of public schools and other 10 public institutions; 11 (2) since the statehood land grants, Congress 12 and the executive branch have created multiple Fed- 13 eral conservation areas on Federal land within the 14 western States, including National Parks, National 15 Monuments, national conservation areas, national 16 grassland, components of the National Wilderness 17 Preservation System, wilderness study areas, and 18 national wildlife refuges; 19 (3) since statehood land grant land owned by 20 the western States are typically scattered across the 21 public land, creation of Federal conservation areas 22 often include State land grant parcels with substan- 23 tially different management mandates, making land 24 and resource management more difficult, expensive, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:59 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H244.RH H244 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 244 RH and controversial for both Federal land managers 1 and the western States; and 2 (4) allowing the western States to relinquish 3 State trust land within Federal conservation areas 4 and to select replacement land from the public land 5 within the respective western States, would— 6 (A) enhance management of Federal con- 7 servation areas by allowing unified management 8 of those areas; and 9 (B) increase revenue from the statehood 10 land grants for the support of public schools 11 and other worthy public purposes. 12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 13 In this Act: 14 (1) APPLICATION.—The term ‘‘application’’ 15 means an application for State relinquishment and 16 selection of land made under this Act in accordance 17 with section 5. 18 (2) ELIGIBLE AREA.—The term ‘‘eligible area’’ 19 means land within the outer boundary of— 20 (A) a unit of the National Park System; 21 (B) a component of the National Wilder- 22 ness Preservation System; 23 (C) a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge 24 System; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:59 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H244.RH H244 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 244 RH (D) a unit of the National Landscape Con- 1 servation System; 2 (E) an area determined by the Bureau of 3 Land Management, through an inventory car- 4 ried out in accordance with FLPMA, to have 5 wilderness characteristics— 6 (i) as of the date of enactment of this 7 Act; or 8 (ii) in a land use plan finalized under 9 FLPMA; 10 (F) National Forest System land and pub- 11 lic land administered by the Bureau of Land 12 Management that has been designated as a na- 13 tional monument, national volcanic monument, 14 national recreation area, national scenic area, 15 inventoried roadless area, unit of the Wild and 16 Scenic Rivers System, wilderness study area, or 17 Land Use Designation II (as described by sec- 18 tion 508 of the Alaska National Interest Lands 19 Conservation Act (Public Law 101–626; 104 20 Stat. 4428)); or 21 (G) a sentinel landscape designated by the 22 Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of De- 23 fense, and the Secretary of the Interior. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:59 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H244.RH H244 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 244 RH (3) FLPMA.—The term ‘‘FLPMA’’ means the 1 Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 2 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.). 3 (4) PRIORITY AREA.—The term ‘‘priority area’’ 4 means land within the outer boundary of any— 5 (A) National Monument; 6 (B) national conservation area managed by 7 the Bureau of Land Management; 8 (C) component of the National Wilderness 9 Preservation System; or 10 (D) unit of the National Park System. 11 (5) PUBLIC LAND.— 12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘public land’’ 13 has the meaning given the term ‘‘public lands’’ 14 in section 103 of FLPMA (43 U.S.C. 1702). 15 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘public 16 land’’ does not include Federal land that— 17 (i) is within an eligible area; 18 (ii) is within an area of critical envi- 19 ronmental concern established pursuant to 20 section 202(c)(3) of FLPMA (43 U.S.C. 21 1712(c)(3)); 22 (iii) is within an area withdrawn or 23 reserved by an Act of Congress, the Presi- 24 dent, or public land order for a particular 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:59 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H244.RH H244 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 244 RH public purpose or program, including for 1 the conservation of natural resources; 2 (iv) has been acquired using funds 3 from the Land and Water Conservation 4 Fund established under section 200302 of 5 title 54, United States Code; 6 (v) is within the boundary of an In- 7 dian reservation, pueblo, or rancheria; or 8 (vi) is within a special recreation man- 9 agement area. 10 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 11 the Secretary of the Interior. 12 (7) STATE LAND GRANT PARCEL.—The term 13 ‘‘State land grant parcel’’ means— 14 (A) any land granted to a western State by 15 Congress through a statehood or territorial land 16 grant for the support of public education or 17 other public institutions, or subsequently ac- 18 quired by the western State for that purpose; or 19 (B) land granted to the State of Alaska 20 under subsections (a), (b), and (k) of section 6 21 of the Act of July 7, 1958 (commonly known as 22 the ‘‘Alaska Statehood Act’’) (48 U.S.C. note 23 prec. 21; Public Law 85–508). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:59 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H244.RH H244 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 244 RH (8) TRADITIONAL CULTURAL PROPERTY.—The 1 term ‘‘traditional cultural property’’ has the mean- 2 ing given the term— 3 (A) ‘‘historic property’’ in section 800.16 4 of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations (as in 5 effect on the date of enactment of this Act); or 6 (B) ‘‘sacred site’’ in section 1(b) of Execu- 7 tive Order No. 13007 (42 U.S.C. 1996 note; re- 8 lating to Indian sacred sites). 9 (9) WATER RIGHT.—The term ‘‘water right’’ 10 means any right in or to groundwater, surface 11 water, or effluent under Federal, State, or other law. 12 (10) WESTERN STATE.—The term ‘‘western 13 State’’ means any of the States of Alaska, Arizona, 14 California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, 15 North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Wash- 16 ington, and Wyoming. 17 SEC. 4. RELINQUISHMENT OF STATE LAND GRANT PAR- 18 CELS AND SELECTION OF REPLACEMENT 19 LAND. 20 (a) AUTHORITY TO SELECT.—In accordance with 21 this Act and in order to facilitate the fulfillment of the 22 mandates of State land grant parcels and Federal land 23 described in subparagraphs (A) through (G) of section 24 3(2), on approval by the Secretary of an application under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:59 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H244.RH H244 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 244 RH section 5, a western State may relinquish to the United 1 States State land grant parcels wholly or primarily within 2 eligible areas and select in exchange public land within the 3 western State. 4 (b) VALID EXISTING RIGHTS.—Land conveyed under 5 this Act shall be subject to valid existing rights. 6 (c) MANAGEMENT AFTER RELINQUISHMENT.—Any 7 portion of a State land grant parcel acquired by the 8 United States under this Act that is located within an eli- 9 gible area shall— 10 (1) be incorporated in, and be managed as part 11 of, the applicable unit described in subparagraphs 12 (A) through (G) of section 3(2) in which the land is 13 located without further action by the Secretary with 14 jurisdiction over the unit; and 15 (2) if located within the National Forest Sys- 16 tem, be administered by the Secretary of Agriculture 17 in accordance with— 18 (A) the Act of March 1, 1911 (commonly 19 known as the ‘‘Weeks Law’’) (16 U.S.C. 552 et 20 seq.); and 21 (B) any laws (including regulations) appli- 22 cable to the National Forest System and the 23 unit of the National Forest System in which the 24 land is located. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:59 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H244.RH H244 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 244 RH (d) LIMITATION.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 2 graphs (2) and (3), until a western State has relin- 3 quished and conveyed to the United States substan- 4 tially all of the State land grant parcels located in 5 priority areas in the western State, the western 6 State may not apply to relinquish State land grant 7 parcels in other eligible areas in the western State. 8 (2) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary may waive the 9 limitation in paragraph (1) on a determination that 10 the relinquishment and conveyance to the United 11 States of substantially all State land grant parcels 12 located in priority areas in the western State is im- 13 practical or infeasible. 14 (3) OTHER STATE LAND GRANT PARCELS.—The 15 Secretary may accept an application from a western 16 State to relinquish State land grant parcels within 17 an eligible area in the western State if— 18 (A) the application is limited to relin- 19 quishing one or more State land grant parcels 20 within a single eligible area; 21 (B) the western State submitting the ap- 22 plication is, as determined by the Secretary, 23 making substantial progress in relinquishing 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:59 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H244.RH H244 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 244 RH State land grant parcels within priority areas in 1 the western State; and 2 (C) the Secretary has not accepted any 3 other applications from the western State under 4 this paragraph during the 5-year period ending 5 on the date of the application. 6 SEC. 5. PROCESS. 7 (a) PROCESS FOR APPLICATION.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 540 days 9 after the date of the enactment of this Act and in 10 accordance with this section, the Secretary shall pro- 11 mulgate regulations establishing a process by which 12 the western States may request the relinquishment 13 of State land grant parcels wholly or partially within 14 eligible areas and select public land in exchange for 15 the State land grant parcels. 16 (2) TIMING.—Except as provided in section 17 8(c), the process established by the Secretary under 18 this section shall ensure that the relinquishment of 19 State land grant parcels and the conveyance of pub- 20 lic land is concurrent. 21 (b) PUBLIC NOTICE.—Prior to accepting or con- 22 veying any land under this Act, the Secretary shall provide 23 public notice and an opportunity to comment on the pro- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:59 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H244.RH H244 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 244 RH posed conveyances between the western State and the 1 United States. 2 (c) ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro- 4 vided in this subsection, the Secretary shall acquire 5 State land grant parcels and convey public land 6 under this Act in accordance with— 7 (A) the National Environmental Policy Act 8 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); and 9 (B) other applicable laws. 10 (2) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OR ENVI- 11 RONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.—In preparing an 12 environmental assessment or environmental impact 13 statement pursuant to section 102(2) of the Na- 14 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 15 4332(2)) for the acquisition of State land grant par- 16 cels and the conveyance of public land under this 17 Act, if the western State has indicated an unwilling- 18 ness to consider State land grant parcels for relin- 19 quishment or public land for acquisition (other than 20 the State land grant parcels and public land de- 21 scribed in the proposed agency action), the Secretary 22 is not required to study, develop, and describe more 23 than— 24 (A) the proposed agency action; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:59 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H244.RH H244 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 244 RH (B) the alternative of no action. 1 (d) AGREEMENTS WITH STATES.— 2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized 3 to enter into agreements with any of the western 4 States to facilitate processing of applications and 5 conveyance of selected land. 6 (2) AGREEMENT.—On completion of a pre- 7 application process that includes identification of 8 land to be conveyed, the Secretary and the western 9 State may enter into a nonbinding agreement that 10 includes— 11 (A) a time schedule for completing the con- 12 veyances; 13 (B) an assignment of responsibility for 14 performance of required functions and for costs 15 associated with processing the conveyances; and 16 (C) a statement specifying whether as- 17 sumption of costs will be allowed pursuant to 18 section 8(d). 19 (e) APPROVAL OR REJECTION.—The Secretary— 20 (1) shall issue a final determination on an ap- 21 plication not later than 3 years after the date a 22 western State submits that application to the Sec- 23 retary; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:59 Dec 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H244.RH H244 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 14 •HR 244 RH (2) may approve an application in whole or in 1 part, or as modified by the Secretary as necessary 2 to balance the equities of the States and intere [Text truncated for display. 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