Buffalo Tract Protection Act

II Calendar No. 350 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 526 To withdraw certain Bureau of Land Management land from mineral development. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 14, 2019 Mr. HEINRICH (for himself and Mr. UDALL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Nat- ural Resources DECEMBER 17, 2019 Reported by Ms. MURKOWSKI, with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To withdraw certain Bureau of Land Management land from mineral development. 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 ‘‘Buffalo Tract Protec- 4 tion Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S526.RS S526 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 526 RS SEC. 2. WITHDRAWAL. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, 2 the Bureau of Land Management land described in sub- 3 section (b) is withdrawn from all forms of mineral develop- 4 ment under all laws pertaining to mineral leasing or min- 5 eral materials, including locatable minerals. 6 (b) BLM LAND DESCRIBED.—The Bureau of Land 7 Management land referred to in subsection (a) is the land 8 identified as ‘‘Tract A’’, ‘‘Tract B’’, ‘‘Tract C’’, and 9 ‘‘Tract D’’ on the map entitled ‘‘Placitas, New Mexico 10 Area Map’’ and dated March 11, 2016. 11 (c) DISPOSAL OF SURFACE ESTATE.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 13 nothing in this section prohibits the disposal of the 14 surface estate of the Bureau of Land Management 15 land described in subsection (b) under— 16 (A) the Federal Land Policy and Manage- 17 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); or 18 (B) the Act of June 14, 1926 (commonly 19 known as the ‘‘Recreation and Public Purposes 20 Act’’) (43 U.S.C. 869 et seq.). 21 (2) OWNERSHIP OF MINERAL ESTATE.—Any 22 disposal of the surface estate of the Bureau of Land 23 Management land described in subsection (b) shall 24 be subject to the condition that the mineral estate 25 of that land shall remain under the ownership of the 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S526.RS S526 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 526 RS Bureau of Land Management, subject to the with- 1 drawal described in subsection (a). 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Buffalo Tract Protection 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. WITHDRAWAL. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, the 7 Federal land described in subsection (b) is withdrawn from 8 all forms of— 9 (1) location, entry, and patent under the mining 10 laws; and 11 (2) disposition under the mineral leasing, min- 12 eral materials, and geothermal leasing laws. 13 (b) DESCRIPTION.—The Federal land referred to in 14 subsections (a) and (c) is the approximately 4,288 acres of 15 land administered by the Director of the Bureau of Land 16 Management and generally depicted as ‘‘Tract A’’, ‘‘Tract 17 B’’, ‘‘Tract C’’, and ‘‘Tract D’’ on the map entitled 18 ‘‘Placitas, New Mexico Area Map’’ and dated November 13, 19 2019. 20 (c) SURFACE ESTATE.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the reservation of 22 the mineral estate under paragraph (2), nothing in 23 this Act prohibits the Secretary of the Interior from 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S526.RS S526 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 526 RS conveying the surface estate of the Federal land de- 1 scribed in subsection (b) in accordance with— 2 (A) the Federal Land Policy and Manage- 3 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); or 4 (B) the Act of June 14, 1926 (commonly 5 known as the ‘‘Recreation and Public Purposes 6 Act’’) (43 U.S.C. 869 et seq.). 7 (2) MINERAL ESTATE.—Any conveyance of the 8 surface estate of the Federal land described in sub- 9 section (b) shall require a reservation of the mineral 10 estate to the United States. 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S526.RS S526 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S526.RS S526 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS Calendar No. 350 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 526 A BILL To withdraw certain Bureau of Land Management land from mineral development. DECEMBER 17, 2019 Reported with an amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S526.RS S526 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS