[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 316 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 316
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey to the village of
Santa Clara, the city of Bayard, or the county of Grant, in the State
of New Mexico, in tracts of not less than 40 acres, at market price at
its present state of use as agricultural grazing lands as determined by
the Secretary, for business and community development, and for other
purposes.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 5, 2007
Mr. Pearce introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural
Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker,
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
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A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey to the village of
Santa Clara, the city of Bayard, or the county of Grant, in the State
of New Mexico, in tracts of not less than 40 acres, at market price at
its present state of use as agricultural grazing lands as determined by
the Secretary, for business and community development, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. CONVEYANCE OF LAND.
(a) In General.--Subject to this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture
(hereafter in this Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall convey
the lands described in subsection (b) to one or more eligible buyers
for the purpose of business and community development.
(b) Land Described.--The lands to be conveyed under subsection (a)
are the following lands that were formerly part of the Fort Bayard
Military Reservation, Grant County, New Mexico, comprising
approximately 1499 acres, and are situated in sections:
Township 17 South, Range 12 West, New Mexico Principal
Meridian.
Section 30, all within the former Fort Bayard Military
Reservation (31 acres more or less).
Section 31, all within the former Fort Bayard Military
Reservation (155 acres more or less).
Township 17 South, Range 13 West, New Mexico Principal
Meridian.
Section 34, all within the former Fort Bayard Military
Reservation (584 acres more or less).
Section 35, all within the former Fort Bayard Military
Reservation less lands conveyed under other Federal authorities
to the Village of Central (Santa Clara), and the State of New
Mexico (216 acres more or less).
Section 36, all within the former Fort Bayard Military
Reservation (513 acres more or less).
(c) Eligible Buyers.--For the purposes of this Act, eligible buyers
are the village of Santa Clara, the city of Bayard, and the county of
Grant, in the State of New Mexico.
SEC. 2. CONDITIONS.
In making the conveyance under section 1, the Secretary--
(1) shall sell the land in tracts of not less than 40
acres;
(2) shall require as consideration for the land the market
price of the land in its present state of use as agricultural
grazing lands as determined by the Secretary;
(3) shall protect all valid existing rights;
(4) shall reserve easements for existing facilities such as
roads, telephone lines, pipelines, electric power transmission
lines, or other facilities or improvements in place;
(5) shall reserve such easements for roads as the Secretary
of Agriculture finds necessary to assure access to lands of the
United States or to meet public needs; and
(6) may contain such additional terms, conditions,
reservations, and restrictions as may be determined by the
Secretary to be necessary to protect the interests of the
United States.
SEC. 3. APPROVAL OF ALL PARTIES REQUIRED FOR CONVEYANCE.
The Secretary shall not make a conveyance under this Act to any one
of the eligible buyers, without written approval of the two
nonacquiring eligible buyers.
SEC. 4. HISTORIC OR PREHISTORIC SITES.
If historic or prehistoric cultural properties are located upon the
lands to be conveyed, the Secretary shall be responsible for the costs
and recovery of these sites and shall do so in a timely manner so as
not to unduly restrict future use of the selected lands by the
acquiring party. The Secretary may, at the Secretary's discretion, use
a deed reservation to retain historic or prehistoric properties in the
ownership of the United States instead of site recovery, if agreeable
to the acquiring party.
SEC. 5. SALE OF MINERAL INTERESTS.
Upon application by the acquiring party, all the undivided mineral
interest of the United States in any parcel or tract sold pursuant to
this Act shall be conveyed to the acquiring party or its successor in
title by the Secretary of the Interior. In areas where the Secretary of
the Interior determines that there is no active mineral development or
leasing, and that the lands have no mineral value, the mineral
interests covered by a single application shall be sold for a
consideration of $1. In other areas the mineral interests shall be sold
at the fair market value thereof as determined by the Secretary of the
Interior after taking into consideration such appraisals as the
Secretary of the Interior deems necessary or appropriate.
SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.
(a) Deposit and Payment.--Each application for a conveyance to be
made under this Act shall be accompanied by a nonrefundable deposit to
be applied to related administrative costs as determined by the
Secretary of the Interior. If the conveyance is made pursuant to an
application, the applicant shall pay to the Secretary of the Interior
the full administrative costs, less the deposit. If a conveyance is not
made pursuant to the application, the deposit shall constitute full
satisfaction of such administrative costs notwithstanding that the
administrative costs exceed the deposit.
(b) Definition.--For the purposes of this Act, the term
``administrative costs'' includes, in addition to other items, all
costs that the Secretary of the Interior determines are included in a
determination of--
(1) the mineral character of the land in question; and
(2) the fair market value of the mineral interest.
SEC. 7. AMOUNTS PAID INTO TREASURY.
Amounts paid to the Secretary of the Interior under this Act shall
be paid into the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous
receipts.
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