[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2336 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2336
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey lands of the former
Fort Bayard Military Reservation in Grant County, New Mexico, to the
village of Santa Clara, the city of Bayard, or the county of Grant in
that State, in tracts of not less than 40 acres, and 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
June 12, 2013
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
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey lands of the former
Fort Bayard Military Reservation in Grant County, New Mexico, to the
village of Santa Clara, the city of Bayard, or the county of Grant in
that State, in tracts of not less than 40 acres, and 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, FORMER FORT BAYARD MILITARY RESERVATION,
GRANT COUNTY, NEW MEXICO.
(a) In General.--Subject to this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture
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 1,499 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 of
Agriculture--
(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 of Agriculture to be necessary to protect the
interests of the United States.
SEC. 3. APPROVAL OF ALL PARTIES REQUIRED FOR CONVEYANCE.
The Secretary of Agriculture 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 under section 1, the Secretary of Agriculture
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.
(a) Inclusion in Conveyance.--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.
(b) Administrative Costs.--
(1) 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.
(2) Definition.--For the purposes of this section, 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--
(A) the mineral character of the land in question;
and
(B) the fair market value of the mineral interest.
(c) Amounts Paid Into Treasury.--Amounts paid to the Secretary of
the Interior under this section shall be paid into the Treasury of the
United States as miscellaneous receipts.
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