H.R. 2130 — Introduced in House → Reported in House

Sec. 2 Disclaimer and outdated surveys

(a)

changed In general— The Secretary ~~hereby~~ disclaims any right, title, and interest to ~~all~~ the land located south of the South Bank boundary line ~~of the Red River~~ in the affected area.

(b)

changed Clarification of prior surveys— ~~Previous surveys~~ Surveys conducted by the Bureau of Land Management before the date of the enactment of this Act shall have no force or effect in determining the ~~current~~ South Bank boundary line.

Sec. 3 Survey of South Bank boundary line

(a)

changed ~~Boundary identification—~~Survey required— To identify the ~~current~~ South Bank boundary line ~~along~~ in the affected area, the Secretary shall commission a ~~new~~ survey. The survey ~~that—~~shall—

(1)

changed ~~adheres~~ adhere to the gradient boundary survey method;

(2)

changed ~~spans~~ span the entire length of the affected area;

(3)

changed is be conducted by Licensed State Land Surveyors chosen by the Texas General Land ~~Office; and~~Office, in consultation with the Oklahoma Commissioners of the Land Office;

(4)

changed is be completed not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this ~~Act.~~Act; and

(5)

added not be submitted to the Bureau of Land Management for approval.

(b)

changed Approval of the ~~Survey—~~survey— ~~The~~ After the survey is completed, the Secretary shall submit the survey ~~conducted under this Act~~ to be approved by the Texas General Land ~~Office for approval. State approval of~~ Office, in consultation with the ~~completed survey shall satisfy~~ Oklahoma Commissioners of the ~~requirements under this Act.~~Land Office.

(c)

added Surveys of individual parcels—

(1)

added In general— Parcels surveyed as required by this section shall be surveyed and approved on an individual basis by the Texas General Land Office, in consultation with the Oklahoma Commissioners of the Land Office.

(2)

added Surveys of individual parcels not submitted to the Bureau of Land Management— Surveys of individual parcels shall not be submitted to the Bureau of Land Management for approval.

(d)

added Notice—

(1)

added Notification to the Secretary— Not later than 30 days after a survey for a parcel is approved by the Texas General Land Office under subsection (c), such office shall provide to the Secretary the following:

(A)

added Notice of the approval of such survey.

(B)

added A copy of such survey and field notes relating to such parcel.

(2)

added Notification to adjacent landowners— Not later than 30 days after the date on which the Secretary receives notification relating to a parcel under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall provide to landowners adjacent to such parcel the following:

(A)

added Notice of the approval of such survey.

(B)

added A copy of such survey and field notes relating to such parcel.

(C)

added Notice that the landowner may file an appeal under section 4.

(D)

added Notice that the landowner may apply for a patent under section 5.

(E)

added Any additional information considered appropriate by the Secretary.

Sec. 4 Appeal

changed Not later than 1 year after the ~~survey is completed and approved pursuant to~~ date on which a landowner receives notification under section 3, 3(d)(2), a ~~private property owner~~ landowner who ~~holds~~ claims to hold right, title, or interest in the affected area may appeal ~~public domain claims by~~ the ~~Secretary~~ determination of the survey to an ~~Administrative Law Judge.~~administrative law judge of the Department of the Interior.

Sec. 5 Red River surface rights

(a)

added Notification of application period for patents—

(1)

added In general— On the date that is 18 months after the date on which the Secretary receives notification relating to a parcel under section 3(d)(1), the Secretary shall determine whether such parcel is subject to appeal.

(2)

added Parcel not subject to appeal— Not later than 30 days after the date on which the Secretary determines a parcel is not subject to appeal, the Secretary shall—

(A)

added notify landowners adjacent to such parcel that the Secretary shall accept applications for patents for that parcel under subsection (b) for a period of 210 days; and

(B)

added begin accepting applications for patents for that parcel under subsection (b) for a period of 210 days.

(3)

added Parcel subject to appeal— If the Secretary determines a parcel is subject to appeal, the Secretary shall, not less than once every 6 months, check the status of the appeals relating to such parcel, until the Secretary determines such parcel is not subject to appeal.

(b)

added Patents for lands in the affected area— If the Secretary receives an application for a patent for a parcel of identified Federal lands during the period for applications for such parcel under subsection (a)(2)(B) and determines that the parcel has been held in good faith and in peaceful adverse possession by an applicant, or the ancestors or grantors of such applicant, for more than 20 years under claim (including through a State land grant or deed or color of title), the Secretary may issue a patent for the surface rights to such parcel to the applicant, on the payment of $1.25 per acre, if the patent includes the following conditions:

(1)

added All minerals contained in the parcel are reserved to the United States and subject to sale or disposal by the United States under applicable leasing and mineral land laws.

(2)

added Permittees, lessees, or grantees of the United States have the right to enter the parcel for the purpose of prospecting for and mining deposits.

(c)

added Pending requests for patents— The Secretary shall not offer a parcel of identified Federal land for purchase under section 6 if a patent request for that parcel is pending under this section.

removed The Secretary shall ensure that no parcels of land in the affected area are treated as Federal land for the purpose of any resource management plan until the survey has been completed and approved and the Secretary ensures that the parcel is not subject to further appeal pursuant to this Act.

Sec. 6 Right of refusal and competitive sale

(a)

added Right of refusal—

(1)

added Offers to purchase— After the expiration of the period for applications under section 5(a)(2)(B), the Secretary shall offer for purchase for a period of 60 days for each right of refusal—

(A)

added the surface rights to the remaining identified Federal lands located north of the vegetation line of the South Bank to—

(i)

added the adjacent owner of land located in Oklahoma to the north with the first right of refusal;

(ii)

added if applicable, the adjacent owner of land located in Texas to the south with the second right of refusal;

(iii)

added if applicable, the adjacent owner of land located to the east with the third right of refusal; and

(iv)

added if applicable, the adjacent owner of land located to the west with the fourth right of refusal; and

(B)

added the surface rights to the remaining identified Federal lands located south of the vegetation line of the South Bank to—

(i)

added the adjacent owner of land located in Texas to the south with the first right of refusal;

(ii)

added if applicable, the adjacent owner of land located in Oklahoma to the north with the second right of refusal;

(iii)

added if applicable, the adjacent owner of land located to the east with the third right of refusal; and

(iv)

added if applicable, the adjacent owner of land located to the west with the fourth right of refusal.

(2)

added Remaining identified Federal lands defined— In this subsection, the term “remaining identified Federal lands” means any parcel of identified Federal lands—

(A)

added not subject to appeal under section 4;

(B)

added not determined by an administrative law judge of the Department of the Interior or a Federal court to be the property of an adjacent landowner; and

(C)

added not patented or subject to a pending request for a patent under section 5.

(b)

added Disposal by competitive sale— If a parcel offered under subsection (a) is not purchased, the Secretary shall offer the parcel for disposal by competitive sale for not less than fair market value as determined by an appraisal conducted in accordance with nationally recognized appraisal standards, including the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions and the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice.

(c)

added Conditions of sale— The sale of a parcel under this section shall be subject to—

(1)

added the condition that all minerals contained in the parcel are reserved to the United States and subject to sale or disposal by the United States under applicable leasing and mineral land laws;

(2)

added the condition that permittees, lessees, or grantees of the United States have the right to enter the parcel for the purpose of prospecting for and mining deposits; and

(3)

added valid existing State, tribal, and local rights.

(d)

added Report— Not later than 5 years after the date on which the survey is approved, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a list of the parcels of identified Federal lands that have not been sold under subsection (b) and a description of the reasons such parcels were not sold.

removed This Act does not change or affect in any manner the interest of the States or sovereignty rights of federally recognized Indian tribes over lands located to the north of the South Bank boundary line of the Red River as established by this Act.

Sec. 7 Resource management plan

added The Secretary may not treat a parcel of identified Federal lands as Federal land for the purposes of a resource management plan if the treatment of such parcel does not comply with the provisions of this Act.

(a)

removed ~~Competitive sale of identified Federal lands—~~ After the survey has been completed and approved and the Secretary ensures that a parcel is not subject to further appeal under this Act, the Secretary shall offer any and all such remaining identified Federal lands for disposal by competitive sale for not less than fair market value as determined by an appraisal conducted in accordance with nationally recognized appraisal standards, including the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions; and the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice.

(b)

removed ~~Existing rights—~~ ~~The sale of identified Federal lands under this section shall be subject to valid existing tribal, State, and local rights.~~

(c)

removed ~~Proceeds of sale of lands—~~ ~~Net proceeds from the sale of identified Federal lands under this section shall be used to offset any costs associated with this Act.~~

(d)

removed ~~Report—~~ Not later than 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a list of any identified Federal lands that have not been sold under subsection (a) and the reasons such lands were not sold.

Sec. 8 Construction

(a)

added Lands located north of the South Bank boundary line— Nothing in this Act shall be construed to modify the interest of Texas or Oklahoma or sovereignty rights of any federally recognized Indian tribe over lands located to the north of the South Bank boundary line as established by the survey.

removed ~~For the purposes of this Act:~~

(b)

changed ~~Affected area—~~Patents under the Color of Title Act— ~~The term affected area means lands along~~ Nothing in this Act shall be construed to modify land patented under the ~~approximately 116-mile stretch~~ Act of ~~the Red River from its confluence with~~ December 22, 1928 (Public Law 70–645; 45 Stat. 1069; 43 U.S.C. 1068; commonly known as the ~~North Fork~~ Color of ~~the Red River on the west to the 98th meridian on~~ Title Act), before the ~~east between~~ date of the ~~States~~ enactment of ~~Texas and Oklahoma.~~this Act.

(c)

changed ~~Secretary—~~Red River Boundary Compact— ~~The term Secretary means the Secretary of~~ Nothing in this Act shall be construed to modify the ~~Interior, acting through~~ Red River Boundary Compact as enacted by the ~~Director of Bureau~~ States of ~~Land Management.~~Texas and Oklahoma and consented to by the United States Congress by Public Law 106–288 (114 Stat. 919).

(3)

removed ~~South Bank—~~ The term South Bank means the water-washed and relatively permanent elevation or acclivity, commonly called a cut bank, along the southerly or right side of the Red River which separates its bed from the adjacent upland, whether valley or hill, and usually serves to confine the waters within the bed and to preserve the course of the river; as specified in the fifth paragraph of the decree rendered March 12, 1923, in Oklahoma v. Texas, 261 U.S. 340, 43 S. Ct. 376, 67 L. Ed. 687.

(4)

removed ~~South Bank boundary line—~~ The term South Bank boundary line means the boundary between Texas and Oklahoma identified through the gradient boundary survey method; as specified in the sixth and seventh paragraphs of the decree rendered March 12, 1923, in Oklahoma v. Texas, 261 U.S. 340, 43 S. Ct. 376, 67 L. Ed. 687.

(5)

removed ~~Gradient boundary survey method—~~ The term gradient boundary survey method means the measurement technique used to locate the South Bank boundary line under the methodology established by the United States Supreme Court which recognizes that the boundary line between the States of Texas and Oklahoma along the Red River is subject to such changes as have been or may be wrought by the natural and gradual processes known as erosion and accretion as specified in the second, third, and fourth paragraphs of the decree rendered March 12, 1923, in Oklahoma v. Texas, 261 U.S. 340, 43 S. Ct. 376, 67 L. Ed. 687.

Sec. 9 Definitions

added

added In this Act:

(1)

added Affected area— The term affected area means lands along the approximately 116-mile stretch of the Red River from its confluence with the North Fork of the Red River on the west to the 98th meridian on the east between the States of Texas and Oklahoma.

(2)

added Gradient boundary survey method— The term gradient boundary survey method means the measurement technique used to locate the South Bank boundary line under the methodology established in Oklahoma v. Texas, 261 U.S. 340 (1923) (recognizing that the boundary line between the States of Texas and Oklahoma along the Red River is subject to change due to erosion and accretion).

(3)

added Identified Federal lands— The term identified Federal lands means the lands in the affected area from the South Bank boundary line north to the medial line of the Red River as identified pursuant to this Act.

(4)

added Secretary— The term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Land Management.

(5)

added South Bank— The term South Bank means the water-washed and relatively permanent elevation or acclivity, commonly called a cut bank, along the southerly or right side of the Red River which separates its bed from the adjacent upland, whether valley or hill, and usually serves to confine the waters within the bed and to preserve the course of the river (as specified in the fifth paragraph of Oklahoma v. Texas, 261 U.S. 340 (1923)).

(6)

added South bank boundary line— The term South Bank boundary line means the boundary between Texas and Oklahoma identified through the gradient boundary survey method (as specified in the sixth and seventh paragraphs of Oklahoma v. Texas, 261 U.S. 340 (1923)).

(7)

added Survey— The term survey means the survey required by section 3(a).

(8)

added Vegetation line— The term vegetation line means the visually identifiable continuous line of vegetation that is adjacent to the portion of the riverbed kept practically bare of vegetation by the natural flow of the river and is continuous with the vegetation beyond the riverbed.

H.R. 2130 — what changed