43 U.S.C. §§ 641a–641d

The Secretary of the Interior shall issue quitclaim deeds to the public-land States for all lands patented to such States under section 641 of this title. He shall also issue a patent for all unpatented public lands within each State now segregated under that section for which the State issued final certificates or other evidence of right prior to June 1, 1953, or as to which equitable claims to the lands accrued prior to that date (by reason of cultivation or improvement of the lands for agricultural development purposes) for conveyance to the holders of such rights or claims, or to their heirs, successors, or assigns.

The Secretary shall not issue such quitclaim deeds or patents to any State, however, unless that State files a proper application for the transfer of these lands within three years after August 13, 1954.

The application must include a list of all the lands which the State certifies should be transferred under the terms of section 641a of this title, the basis for the certification of each tract included, and a quitclaim or relinquishment of all right, title, and interest in the State to any and all other lands under section 641 of this title. Such quitclaim or relinquishment by the State shall not affect any private rights obtained from the State prior to August 13, 1954.

The quitclaim or relinquishment of all right, title, and interest by the State to any lands under sections 641a to 641d of this title shall not be effective until the Secretary has transferred the lands applied for under section 641a of this title. The Secretary shall provide for the administration and disposition under the public-land laws of the lands quitclaimed or relinquished by the States pursuant to sections 641a to 641d of this title.