Lake Bistineau Land Title Stability Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 894 To direct the Secretary of the Interior to provide for clear title to certain land in Louisiana, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 30, 2019 Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To direct the Secretary of the Interior to provide for clear title to certain land in Louisiana, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Lake Bistineau Land 4 Title Stability Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. LAKE BISTINEAU LAND TITLE STABILITY. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 (1) CLAIMANT.—The term ‘‘claimant’’ means 8 any individual, group, or corporation authorized to 9 hold title to land or mineral interests in land in the 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:00 Feb 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H894.IH H894 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 894 IH State of Louisiana with a valid claim to the omitted 1 land, including any mineral interests. 2 (2) MAP.—The term ‘‘Map’’ means the map en- 3 titled ‘‘Lands as Delineated by Original Survey De- 4 cember 18, 1842 showing the 1969 Meander Line at 5 the 148.6 Elevation Line’’ and dated January 30, 6 2018. 7 (3) OMITTED LAND.— 8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘omitted 9 land’’ means the land in lots 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 10 12, and 13 of sec. 30, T. 16 N., R. 10 W., Lou- 11 isiana Meridian, comprising a total of approxi- 12 mately 229.72 acres, as depicted on the Map, 13 that— 14 (i) was in place during the Original 15 Survey; but 16 (ii) was not included in the Original 17 Survey. 18 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘omitted land’’ 19 includes— 20 (i) Peggy’s Island in lot 1 of sec. 17, 21 T. 16 N., R. 10 W., Louisiana Meridian; 22 and 23 (ii) Hog Island in lot 1 of sec. 29, T. 24 16 N., R. 10 W., Louisiana Meridian. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:00 Feb 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H894.IH H894 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 894 IH (4) ORIGINAL SURVEY.—The term ‘‘Original 1 Survey’’ means the survey of land surrounding Lake 2 Bistineau, Louisiana, conducted by the General 3 Land Office in 1838 and approved by the Surveyor 4 General on December 8, 1842. 5 (b) CONVEYANCES.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Consistent with the first sec- 7 tion of the Act of December 22, 1928 (commonly 8 known as the ‘‘Color of Title Act’’) (45 Stat. 1069, 9 chapter 47; 43 U.S.C. 1068), except as provided by 10 this section, the Secretary shall convey to the claim- 11 ant the omitted land, including any mineral inter- 12 ests, that has been held in good faith and in peace- 13 ful, adverse possession by a claimant or an ancestor 14 or grantor of the claimant, under claim or color of 15 title, based on the Original Survey. 16 (2) CONFIRMATION OF TITLE.—The conveyance 17 or patent of omitted land to a claimant under para- 18 graph (1) shall have the effect of confirming title to 19 the surface and minerals in the claimant and shall 20 not serve as any admission by a claimant. 21 (c) PAYMENT OF COSTS.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 23 graph (2), the conveyance required under subsection 24 (b) shall be without consideration. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:00 Feb 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H894.IH H894 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 894 IH (2) EXCEPTION.—Before the conveyance of the 1 omitted land under subsection (b), from any funds 2 appropriated to the State of Louisiana by the Lou- 3 isiana Legislature, the State of Louisiana shall pay 4 to the Secretary any costs incurred by the Secretary 5 relating to any survey, platting, legal description, or 6 associated activities required to prepare and issue a 7 patent under that subsection. 8 (d) MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIPTION.—As soon as 9 practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, the 10 Secretary shall file, and make available for public inspec- 11 tion in the appropriate offices of the Bureau of Land and 12 Management, the Map and legal descriptions of the omit- 13 ted land to be conveyed under subsection (b). 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:00 Feb 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H894.IH H894 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS