Format Example - Agreement to Initiate

FORMAT EXAMPLE – NOT A FORM

AGREEMENT TO INITIATE

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE OMB No. 0596-0105

Forest Service

5430 Exchanges

NF

(non-Federal party)

(exchange authority(ies)

(cite the statue and U.S.C)

(I) We, the (non-Federal party's name and address) , Telephone: , hereinafter called the non-Federal party, and the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, acting through their authorized representatives intend to exchange real property of equal value described in attached Exhibits A and B under the terms and conditions described in the exhibits. It is understood that the basis for value of the exchange properties shall be appraisals which have been approved by the Forest Service. This Agreement to Initiate authorizes each party to enter on lands of the other for such purposes as preparing land value appraisals, land line surveys, wildlife and wetland inventories, and other evaluations deemed necessary by the Forest Service to fully evaluate the effects and merits of the exchange proposal.

It is understood that upon approval of the decision, exchange values, terms and conditions by the appropriate Forest Service official, the parties may enter into an exchange agreement that shall be binding to both parties. It is understood that prior to the exchange agreement, or issuance of a patent or deed by the United States if no exchange agreement is executed, no action taken shall create or establish any contractual or other obligations against the non-Federal party or the United States. Either the non-Federal party or the Forest Service may withdraw from the exchange at any time prior to execution of the exchange agreement, or conveyance from the United States.

Pursuant to Section 206(b) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. l7l6), a payment may be required by either party to equalize exchange values. The non-Federal party may reserve such rights as are acceptable to the Forest Service. Any reservations shall be subject to the rules and regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture, where applicable, and such other conditions as may be agreed upon. The reservations and exceptions of the non-Federal party are listed in Exhibit A attached.

39 - Exhibit 10--Continued

If this offer is approved and title accepted by the United States, the non-Federal party agrees to accept, in exchange, that National Forest System land described in Exhibit B attached, subject to the reservations and exceptions shown in Exhibit B attached. Title will be conveyed by Patent/Exchange Deed issued by the USDI-Bureau of Land Management/USDA-Forest Service.

It will be the non-Federal party's responsibility to furnish a good and sufficient title to the property free from objectionable encumbrances. The non-Federal party will convey title by general warranty deed when notified to do so. A policy of title insurance satisfactory to the Office of the General Counsel of the Department of Agriculture will be prepared at the expense of the non-Federal party.

The United States does not furnish title insurance for the property it conveys.

No authorization for compensation for costs assumed pursuant to the provision of 36 CFR 254.7 is provided.

The timeline for processing this proposal and the agreement on responsibility for costs on specific items (36 CFR 254.4(c)(6)) is provided for in Exhibit C (Implementation Schedule) and Exhibit D (Projected Costs and Allocation).

If the non-Federal party is assigned the responsibility of providing appraisals for the Federal and/or non-Federal properties in the Implementation Schedule, execution of this agreement requires the non-Federal party to instruct the Forest Service-approved fee appraiser to simultaneously submit all appraisals to the Forest Service and the non-Federal party. A copy of this Agreement to Initiate may be provided to the appraiser of record and serve as written authorization by the appraiser's client to provide a copy of all appraisals to the Forest Service.

Qualified tenants occupying the non-Federal lands affected by this proposal may be entitled to relocation benefits under 49 CFR 24.2. The non-Federal party agrees to formally notify the Forest Service of any tenants occupying the non-Federal land and provide the Forest Service documentation that the tenant has been notified of the proposed land exchange.

Unless otherwise provided by law or regulation (49 CFR 24.101(a)(1)), relocation benefits are not applicable to owner-occupants involved in exchanges with the United States provided the owner-occupants are notified in writing that the non-Federal lands are being acquired by the United States on a voluntary basis.

Therefore, this Agreement to Initiate serves as that notice and by signing the same, the owner-occupants agree that they are not entitled to relocation benefits.

39 - Exhibit 10--Continued

Each party to this agreement is responsible to provide the other documentation of the existence or non-existence of storage of hazardous substances stored on their respective lands for 1 year or

more or disposed of or released on said lands. If evidence of hazardous substances are found, either party may refuse, without liability, to complete the exchange.

No member of Congress, or Resident Commissioner, shall be admitted to any share or part of this proposal or to any benefit that may arise therefrom unless it is made with a corporation for its general benefit (18 U.S.C. 43l, 433).

The undersigned is a citizen of the United States or a corporation or other legal entity subject to the laws of the United States or a State thereof. The undersigned is also 21 years old or over and is the owner of the above described offered land or has a firm contract to acquire it.

Notification statement: Public availability of Property-Related Information. Any party who has signed below acknowledges receipt of this notification: All documents pertaining to both Federal and non-Federal lands necessary for the evaluation, processing, and consummation of a land adjustment transaction, including but not limited to appraisals, timber cruises, specialist reports, geology/mineral reports, title and other property information, are subject to public availability pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and the Privacy Act
(5 U.S.C. 552a).

However, it is the general intent of all parties that these land adjustment transaction documents will be considered “pre-decisional working papers” not subject to premature availability prior to the point which concludes evaluation of the proposal through the agency’s established, required process and policy.

BY: ______________________________

Date Non-Federal Party

BY: ______________________________

Date Authorized Officer

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Forest Service

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0596-0105. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 3 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.

39 - Exhibit 10--Continued

EXHIBIT A

Property that the Non-Federal Party will consider exchanging:

* Principal Meridian, * County, * (State)

(insert non-Federal legal description)

Land reservations of the Non-Federal Party and exceptions to title:

Reservations:

Outstanding Rights:

EXHIBIT B

Property that the U.S.D.A. Forest Service will consider exchanging:

* Principal Meridian, * County, * (State)

(insert Federal legal description)

Land reservations of the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, exceptions to title and uses to be recognized:

Reservations:

1. Reserving to the United States a right-of-way thereon for ditches or canals constructed by the authority of the United States Act of August 30, 1890 (26 Stat. 391; 43 U.S.C. 945). (note: applies to reserved Public Domain)

Outstanding Rights:

EXHIBIT C

IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE

(see sec. 39, ex. 02-06)

39 - Exhibit 10--Continued

EXHIBIT D

PROJECTED COSTS AND ALLOCATION

(Optional - use this exhibit when it is appropriate to display specific amounts to be contributed by either party towards common activities, such as appraisal costs being shared equally (50/50), or when there is a desire to demonstrate the proportional sharing overall by displaying total contributions by each party.

Allocation of Costs

Activity Forest Service Non-Federal Total

1. Appraisal $ $ $

2. Survey $ $ $

3. Title Work & Curative actions $ $ $

4. Environmental Site Assessment $ $ $

5. Environmental Analysis (NEPA) $ $ $

6. Closing (Escrow, Recording) $ $ $

7. $ $ $

8. $ $ $

Totals

Note: Allocation of costs must be linked to Exhibit C - Implementation Schedule and associated assignment of responsibilities. Activities may be broken out as needed to clarify agreement on cost sharing.

39 - Exhibit 10--Continued

EXHIBIT E

ASSEMBLED EXCHANGE

(optional - use only when doing an assembled exchange; the following can be an exhibit or the following can be read into the Agreement To Initiate)

This is an assembled land exchange developed pursuant to 36 CFR 254.5. As such, both the Federal and non-Federal lands are to be appraised in a similar manner.

In this case, the non-Federal party was requested by the Forest Service to secure the non-Federal ownerships for the purposes of the exchange. The various ownerships on the non-Federal side must be appraised as though each is in an individual transaction, and the sum of the individual values of those ownerships will be the non-Federal value of this transaction. The value of the Federal lands is the sum of the value of the various parcels of Federal lands involved in the exchange, each individual parcel valued as though in a separate transaction.

Differences between the physical characteristics of the non-Federal lands and Federal lands may require additional acreage to be added to the transaction by either party to achieve value equalization. If this becomes necessary, the added lands may also be appraised on an individual basis, as described above.