Section 209 of FLPMA

Page 507

§ 1719

TITLE 43—PUBLIC LANDS

used jointly or divided among the Secretaries as they
determine appropriate for the consideration, processing, and consummation of land exchanges pursuant to
the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976,
as amended, and other applicable law. Such moneys are
expressly intended by Congress to be in addition to, and
not offset against, moneys otherwise annually requested by the Secretaries, and appropriated by Congress for land exchange purposes.’’
SAVINGS PROVISION
Pub. L. 100–409, § 5, Aug. 20, 1988, 102 Stat. 1090, provided that: ‘‘Nothing in this Act [see Short Title of 1988
Amendment note set out under section 1701 of this
title] shall be construed as amending the Alaska Native
Claims Settlement Act (Public Law 92–203, as amended)
[43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.] or the Alaska National Interest
Lands Conservation Act (Public Law 96–487, as amended) [see Tables for classification] or as enlarging or diminishing the authority with regard to exchanges conferred upon either the Secretary of the Interior or the
Secretary of Agriculture by either such Acts. If any
provision of this Act or the application thereof is held
invalid, the remainder of the Act and the application
thereof shall not be affected thereby. Nothing in this
Act shall be construed to change the discretionary nature of land exchanges or to prohibit the Secretary concerned or any other party or parties involved in a land
exchange from withdrawing from the exchange at any
time, unless the Secretary concerned and the other
party or parties specifically commit otherwise by written agreement.’’

§ 1717. Qualifications of conveyees
No tract of land may be disposed of under this
Act, whether by sale, exchange, or donation, to
any person who is not a citizen of the United
States, or in the case of a corporation, is not
subject to the laws of any State or of the United
States.
(Pub. L. 94–579, title II, § 207, Oct. 21, 1976, 90
Stat. 2757.)
REFERENCES IN TEXT
This Act, referred to in text, is Pub. L. 94–579, Oct. 21,
1976, 90 Stat. 2743, as amended, known as the Federal
Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. For complete
classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables.

§ 1718. Documents of conveyance; terms, covenants, etc.
The Secretary shall issue all patents or other
documents of conveyance after any disposal authorized by this Act. The Secretary shall insert
in any such patent or other document of conveyance he issues, except in the case of land exchanges, for which the provisions of subsection
1716(b) of this title shall apply, such terms, covenants, conditions, and reservations as he deems
necessary to insure proper land use and protection of the public interest: Provided, That a conveyance of lands by the Secretary, subject to
such terms, covenants, conditions, and reservations, shall not exempt the grantee from compliance with applicable Federal or State law or
State land use plans: Provided further, That the
Secretary shall not make conveyances of public
lands containing terms and conditions which
would, at the time of the conveyance, constitute
a violation of any law or regulation pursuant to
State and local land use plans, or programs.
(Pub. L. 94–579, title II, § 208, Oct. 21, 1976, 90
Stat. 2757.)

REFERENCES IN TEXT
This Act, referred to in text, is Pub. L. 94–579, Oct. 21,
1976, 90 Stat. 2743, as amended, known as the Federal
Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. For complete
classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables.

§ 1719. Mineral interests; reservation and conveyance requirements and procedures
(a) All conveyances of title issued by the Secretary, except those involving land exchanges
provided for in section 1716 of this title, shall reserve to the United States all minerals in the
lands, together with the right to prospect for,
mine, and remove the minerals under applicable
law and such regulations as the Secretary may
prescribe, except that if the Secretary makes
the findings specified in subsection (b) of this
section, the minerals may then be conveyed together with the surface to the prospective surface owner as provided in subsection (b) of this
section.
(b)(1) The Secretary, after consultation with
the appropriate department or agency head,
may convey mineral interests owned by the
United States where the surface is or will be in
non-Federal ownership, regardless of which Federal entity may have administered the surface,
if he finds (1) that there are no known mineral
values in the land, or (2) that the reservation of
the mineral rights in the United States is interfering with or precluding appropriate nonmineral development of the land and that such development is a more beneficial use of the land
than mineral development.
(2) Conveyance of mineral interests pursuant
to this section shall be made only to the existing or proposed record owner of the surface,
upon payment of administrative costs and the
fair market value of the interests being conveyed.
(3) Before considering an application for conveyance of mineral interests pursuant to this
section—
(i) the Secretary shall require the deposit by
the applicant of a sum of money which he
deems sufficient to cover administrative costs
including, but not limited to, costs of conducting an exploratory program to determine the
character of the mineral deposits in the land,
evaluating the data obtained under the exploratory program to determine the fair market
value of the mineral interests to be conveyed,
and preparing and issuing the documents of
conveyance: Provided, That, if the administrative costs exceed the deposit, the applicant
shall pay the outstanding amount; and, if the
deposit exceeds the administrative costs, the
applicant shall be given a credit for or refund
of the excess; or
(ii) the applicant, with the consent of the
Secretary, shall have conducted, and submitted to the Secretary the results of, such an exploratory program, in accordance with standards promulgated by the Secretary.
(4) Moneys paid to the Secretary for administrative costs pursuant to this subsection shall
be paid to the agency which rendered the service
and deposited to the appropriation then current.
(Pub. L. 94–579, title II, § 209, Oct. 21, 1976, 90
Stat. 2757.)

§ 1720

TITLE 43—PUBLIC LANDS

§ 1720. Coordination by Secretary of the Interior
with State and local governments
At least sixty days prior to offering for sale or
otherwise conveying public lands under this Act,
the Secretary shall notify the Governor of the
State within which such lands are located and
the head of the governing body of any political
subdivision of the State having zoning or other
land use regulatory jurisdiction in the geographical area within which such lands are located, in order to afford the appropriate body
the opportunity to zone or otherwise regulate,
or change or amend existing zoning or other regulations concerning the use of such lands prior
to such conveyance. The Secretary shall also
promptly notify such public officials of the issuance of the patent or other document of conveyance for such lands.
(Pub. L. 94–579, title II, § 210, Oct. 21, 1976, 90
Stat. 2758.)
REFERENCES IN TEXT
This Act, referred to in text, is Pub. L. 94–579, Oct. 21,
1976, 90 Stat. 2743, as amended, known as the Federal
Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. For complete
classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables.

§ 1721. Conveyances of public lands to States,
local governments, etc.
(a) Unsurveyed islands; authorization and limitations on authority
The Secretary is authorized to convey to
States or their political subdivisions under the
Recreation and Public Purposes Act (44 Stat. 741
as amended; 43 U.S.C. 869 et seq.), as amended,
but without regard to the acreage limitations
contained therein, unsurveyed islands determined by the Secretary to be public lands of the
United States. The conveyance of any such island may be made without survey: Provided,
however, That such island may be surveyed at
the request of the applicant State or its political subdivision if such State or subdivision donates money or services to the Secretary for
such survey, the Secretary accepts such money
or services, and such services are conducted pursuant to criteria established by the Director of
the Bureau of Land Management. Any such island so surveyed shall not be conveyed without
approval of such survey by the Secretary prior
to the conveyance.
(b) Omitted lands; authorization and limitations
on authority
(1) The Secretary is authorized to convey to
States and their political subdivisions under the
Recreation and Public Purposes Act [43 U.S.C.
869 to 869–4], but without regard to the acreage
limitations contained therein, lands other than
islands determined by him after survey to be
public lands of the United States erroneously or
fraudulently omitted from the original surveys
(hereinafter referred to as ‘‘omitted lands’’).
Any such conveyance shall not be made without
a survey: Provided, That the prospective recipient may donate money or services to the Secretary for the surveying necessary prior to conveyance if the Secretary accepts such money or
services, such services are conducted pursuant
to criteria established by the Director of the Bu-

Page 508

reau of Land Management, and such survey is
approved by the Secretary prior to the conveyance.
(2) The Secretary is authorized to convey to
the occupant of any omitted lands which, after
survey, are found to have been occupied and developed for a five-year period prior to January 1,
1975, if the Secretary determines that such conveyance is in the public interest and will serve
objectives which outweigh all public objectives
and values which would be served by retaining
such lands in Federal ownership. Conveyance
under this subparagraph shall be made at not
less than the fair market value of the land, as
determined by the Secretary, and upon payment
in addition of administrative costs, including
the cost of making the survey, the cost of appraisal, and the cost of making the conveyance.
(c) Conformity with land use plans and programs
and coordination with State and local governments of conveyances
(1) No conveyance shall be made pursuant to
this section until the relevant State government, local government, and areawide planning
agency designated pursuant to section 204 of the
Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act of 1966 (80 Stat. 1255, 1262) [42 U.S.C.
3334] and/or section 6506 of title 31 have notified
the Secretary as to the consistency of such conveyance with applicable State and local government land use plans and programs.
(2) The provisions of section 1720 of this title
shall be applicable to all conveyances under this
section.
(d) Applicability of other statutory requirements
for authorized use of conveyed lands
The final sentence of section 1(c) of the Recreation and Public Purposes Act [43 U.S.C. 869(c)]
shall not be applicable to conveyances under
this section.
(e) Limitations on uses of conveyed lands
No conveyance pursuant to this section shall
be used as the basis for determining the baseline
between Federal and State ownership, the
boundary of any State for purposes of determining the extent of a State’s submerged lands or
the line of demarcation of Federal jurisdiction,
or any similar or related purpose.
(f) Applicability to lands within National Forest
System, National Park System, National
Wildlife Refuge System, and National Wild
and Scenic Rivers System
The provisions of this section shall not apply
to any lands within the National Forest System,
defined in the Act of August 17, 1974 (88 Stat. 476;
16 U.S.C. 1601), the National Park System, the
National Wildlife Refuge System, and the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.
(g) Applicability to other statutory provisions authorizing sale of specific omitted lands
Nothing in this section shall supersede the
provisions of the Act of December 22, 1928 (45
Stat. 1069; 43 U.S.C. 1068), as amended, and the
Act of May 31, 1962 (76 Stat. 89), or any other Act
authorizing the sale of specific omitted lands.
(Pub. L. 94–579, title II, § 211, Oct. 21, 1976, 90
Stat. 2758.)