[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5074 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5074
To amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to improve
the transparency and oversight of land conveyances involving the sale,
exchange, or other disposal of National Forest System lands or public
lands under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management or the
acquisition of non-Federal lands for inclusion in the National Forest
System or administration as public lands, and for other purposes.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 11, 2014
Mr. Tipton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on
Agriculture, 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
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A BILL
To amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to improve
the transparency and oversight of land conveyances involving the sale,
exchange, or other disposal of National Forest System lands or public
lands under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management or the
acquisition of non-Federal lands for inclusion in the National Forest
System or administration as public lands, 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. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Land Adjacency Notification and
Disclosure Act'' or ``LAND Act''.
SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR FOREST SERVICE AND BUREAU OF LAND
MANAGEMENT LAND ACQUISITIONS AND CONVEYANCES.
(a) Notice to Adjacent Landowners.--
(1) Land acquisitions.--Section 205 of the Federal Land
Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1715) is amended
by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(f) Notice to Adjacent Landowners.--As part of the acquisition of
a parcel of non-Federal lands under this section, section 206, or other
applicable law that will become public lands or National Forest System
lands, the Secretary or the Secretary of Agriculture, as the case may
be, shall provide advance written notification to each owner of land
that is adjacent to the parcel of land to be acquired. To assist in
identifying adjacent landowners, the Secretary concerned should use the
most recently available tax records.''.
(2) Land conveyances.--Section 208 of the Federal Land
Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1718) is amended--
(A) by inserting ``(a) Issuance of Patent and Other
Conveyance Documents.--'' before the first sentence and
``(b) Other Terms and Conditions.--'' before the second
sentence; and
(B) by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
``(c) Notice to Adjacent Landowners.--As part of the conveyance of
a parcel of public lands or National Forest System lands by sale,
exchange, or other disposal method under section 203 or 206 or other
applicable law, the Secretary or the Secretary of Agriculture, as the
case may be, shall provide advance written notification to each owner
of land that is adjacent to the parcel of land to be conveyed. To
assist in identifying adjacent landowners, the Secretary concerned
should use the most recently available tax records.''.
(b) Oversight of Use of Third-Party Facilitators.--
(1) Acquisition.--Section 205 of the Federal Land Policy
and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1715) is amended by
inserting after subsection (f), as added by subsection (a)(1),
the following new subsection:
``(g) Oversight of Use of Third-Party Facilitators.--(1) If the
acquisition process for a parcel of non-Federal lands under this
section, section 206, or other applicable law that will become public
lands or National Forest System lands involves the use of a third-party
facilitator, the Secretary or the Secretary of Agriculture, as the case
may be, shall require, as a condition of the approval of the
acquisition--
``(A) submission of all purchase contracts and related
agreements held by the third-party facilitator related to the
parcel to be acquired; and
``(B) supervisor review of such purchase contracts and
related agreements, the purpose of the acquisition, and other
terms and conditions of the acquisition.
``(2) In this subsection, the term `third-party facilitator' means
any entity (other than an agent of the United States) whose role in a
real estate transaction is to assist the buyer or seller, or both, in
reaching agreement in the transaction.''.
(2) Land conveyances.--Section 208 of the Federal Land
Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1718) is amended
by inserting after subsection (c), as added by subsection
(a)(2), the following new subsection:
``(d) Oversight of Use of Third-Party Facilitators.--(1) If the
process by which a parcel of public lands or National Forest System
lands will be conveyed by sale, exchange, or other disposal method
under section 203 or 206 or other applicable law, involves the use of a
third-party facilitator, the Secretary or the Secretary of Agriculture,
as the case may be, shall require, as a condition of the approval of
the conveyance--
``(A) submission of all purchase contracts and related
agreements held by the third-party facilitator related to the
Federal land to be conveyed;
``(B) submission to appraisers of contact information for
prospective end owners of the Federal land to be conveyed; and
``(C) supervisor review of such purchase contracts and
related agreements, the purpose of the conveyance, and other
terms and conditions of the conveyance.
``(2) In this subsection, the term `third-party facilitator' means
any entity (other than an agent of the United States) whose role in a
real estate transaction is to assist the buyer or seller, or both, in
reaching agreement in the transaction.''.
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