[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 447 Referred in House (RFH)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 447
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 28, 2005
Referred to the Committee on Resources
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AN ACT
To authorize the conveyance of certain Federal land in the State of New
Mexico.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Jornada Experimental Range Transfer
Act of 2005''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Board.--The term ``Board'' means the Chihuahuan Desert
Nature Park Board.
(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Agriculture.
SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF LAND TO CHIHUAHUAN DESERT NATURE PARK BOARD.
(a) Conveyance.--The Secretary may convey to the Board, by
quitclaim deed, for no consideration, all right, title, and interest of
the United States in and to the land described in subsection (b).
(b) Description of Land.--The parcel of land referred to in
subsection (a) consists of not more than 1000 acres of land selected by
the Secretary--
(1) that is located in the Jornada Experimental Range in
the State of New Mexico; and
(2) that is subject to an easement granted by the
Agricultural Research Service to the Board.
(c) Conditions.--The conveyance of land under subsection (a) shall
be subject to--
(1) the condition that the Board pay--
(A) the cost of any surveys of the land; and
(B) any other costs relating to the conveyance;
(2) any rights-of-way to the land reserved by the
Secretary;
(3) a covenant or restriction in the deed to the land
described in subsection (b) requiring that--
(A) the land may be used only for educational
purposes;
(B) if the land is no longer used for the purposes
described in subparagraph (A), the land shall, at the
discretion of the Secretary, revert to the United
States; and
(C) if the land is determined by the Secretary to
be environmentally contaminated under subsection
(d)(2)(A), the Board shall remediate the contamination;
and
(4) any other terms and conditions that the Secretary
determines to be appropriate.
(d) Reversion.--If the land conveyed under subsection (a) is no
longer used for the purposes described in subsection (c)(3)(A)--
(1) the land shall, at the discretion of the Secretary,
revert to the United States; and
(2) if the Secretary chooses to have the land revert to the
United States, the Secretary shall--
(A) determine whether the land is environmentally
contaminated, including contamination from hazardous
wastes, hazardous substances, pollutants, contaminants,
petroleum, or petroleum by-products; and
(B) if the Secretary determines that the land is
environmentally contaminated, the Board or any other
person responsible for the contamination shall
remediate the contamination.
Passed the Senate July 27, 2005.
Attest:
EMILY J. REYNOLDS,
Secretary.