Collapse to view only § 1635. State selections and conveyances
- § 1631. Ownership of submerged lands
- § 1632. Statute of limitations on decisions of Secretary and reconveyance of land by Village Corporation
- § 1633. Administrative provisions
- § 1634. Alaska Native allotments
- § 1635. State selections and conveyances
- § 1636. Alaska land bank
- § 1637. Use of protraction diagrams
- § 1638. National Environmental Policy Act
- § 1639. Construction with Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
- § 1640. Relinquishment of selections partly within conservation units
- § 1641. Conveyances to Village Corporations
- § 1642. Land conveyances
For the purposes of this section, the terms “navigable” and “navigability” means navigable for the purpose of determining title to lands beneath navigable waters, as between the United States and the several States pursuant to the Submerged Lands Act [43 U.S.C. 1301 et seq., 1311 et seq.] and section 6(m) of the Alaska Statehood Act.
Whenever, after a conveyance has been made by this Act or under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.], the Secretary determines that an easement not reserved at the time of conveyance or by operation of subsection (a) of this section is required for any purpose specified in section 17(b)(1) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, he is authorized to acquire such easement by purchase or otherwise. The acquisition of such an easement shall be deemed a public purpose for which the Secretary may exercise his exchange authority pursuant to section 22(f) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1621(f)].
Offers for noncompetitive oil and gas leases under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 [30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.] which were filed but which did not result in the issuance of a lease on or before December 18, 1971, on lands selected by, and conveyed before, on, or after December 2, 1980, to, Native Corporations or to individual Natives under paragraph (5) or (6) of section 14(h) [43 U.S.C. 1613(h)(5) or (6)] as part of the entitlement to receive land under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.] shall not constitute valid existing rights under section 14(g) of such Act [43 U.S.C. 1613(g)] or under this Act.
This Act is not intended to modify, repeal, or otherwise affect any provision of the Act of January 2, 1976 (89 Stat. 1145), as amended or supplemented by Public Laws 94–456 and 95–178, and shall not be construed as imposing any additional restriction on the use or management of those lands described in section 22(k) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1621(k)].
Where a conflict between two or more allotment applications exists due to overlapping land descriptions, the Secretary shall adjust the descriptions to eliminate conflicts, and in so doing, consistent with other existing rights, if any, may expand or alter the applied-for allotment boundaries or increase or decrease acreage in one or more of the allotment applications to achieve an adjustment which, to the extent practicable, is consistent with prior use of the allotted land and is beneficial to the affected parties: Provided, That the Secretary shall, to the extent feasible, implement an adjustment proposed by the affected parties: Provided further, That the Secretary’s decision concerning adjustment of conflicting land descriptions shall be final and unreviewable in all cases in which the reduction, if any, of the affected allottee’s claim is less than 30 percent of the acreage contained in the parcel originally described and the adjustment does not exclude from the allotment improvements claimed by the allottee: Provided further, That where an allotment application describes more than one hundred and sixty acres, the Secretary shall at any time prior to or during survey reduce the acreage to one hundred and sixty acres and shall attempt to accomplish said reduction in the manner least detrimental to the applicant.
An allotment applicant may amend the land description contained in his or her application if said description designates land other than that which the applicant intended to claim at the time of application and if the description as amended describes the land originally intended to be claimed. If the allotment application is amended, this section shall operate to approve the application or to require its adjudication, as the case may be, with reference to the amended land description only: Provided, That the Secretary shall notify the State of Alaska and all interested parties, as shown by the records of the Department of the Interior, of the intended correction of the allotment’s location, and any such party shall have until the one hundred and eightieth day following December 2, 1980, or sixty days following mailing of the notice, whichever is later, to file with the Department of the Interior a protest as provided in subsection (a)(5) of this section, which protest, if timely, shall be deemed filed within one hundred and eighty days of December 2, 1980, notwithstanding the actual date of filing: Provided further, That the Secretary may require that all allotment applications designating land in a specified area be amended, if at all, prior to a date certain, which date shall be calculated to allow for orderly adoption of a plan of survey for the specified area, and the Secretary shall mail notification of the final date for amendment to each affected allotment applicant, and shall provide such other notice as the Secretary deems appropriate, at least sixty days prior to said date: Provided further, That no allotment application may be amended for location following adoption of a final plan of survey which includes the location of the allotment as described in the application or its location as desired by amendment.
Where the land described in an allotment application pending before the Department of the Interior on or before December 18, 1971 (or such an application as adjusted or amended pursuant to subsection (b) or (c) of this section), was on that date withdrawn, reserved, or classified for powersite or power-project purposes, notwithstanding such withdrawal, reservation, or classification the described land shall be deemed vacant, unappropriated, and unreserved within the meaning of the Act of May 17, 1906, as amended, and, as such, shall be subject to adjudication or approval pursuant to the terms of this section: Provided, however, That if the described land is included as part of a project licensed under part I of the Federal Power Act of June 10, 1920 (41 Stat. 24), as amended [16 U.S.C. 791a et seq.], or is presently utilized for purposes of generating or transmitting electrical power or for any other project authorized by Act of Congress, the foregoing provision shall not apply and the allotment application shall be adjudicated pursuant to the Act of May 17, 1906, as amended: Provided further, That where the allotment applicant commenced use of the land after its withdrawal or classification for powersite purposes, the allotment shall be made subject to the right of reentry provided the United States by section 24 of the Federal Power Act, as amended [16 U.S.C. 818]: Provided further, That any right of reentry reserved in a certificate of allotment pursuant to this section shall expire twenty years after December 2, 1980, if at that time the allotted land is not subject to a license or an application for a license under part I of the Federal Power Act, as amended [16 U.S.C. 791a et seq.], or actually utilized or being developed for a purpose authorized by that Act, as amended [16 U.S.C. 791a et seq.], or other Act of Congress.
Prior to issuing a certificate for an allotment subject to this section, the Secretary shall identify and adjudicate any record entry or application for title made under an Act other than the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.], the Alaska Statehood Act, or the Act of May 17, 1906, as amended, which entry or application claims land also described in the allotment application, and shall determine whether such entry or application represents a valid existing right to which the allotment application is subject. Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect rights, if any, acquired by actual use of the described land prior to its withdrawal or classification, or as affecting national forest lands.
Subject to valid existing rights and Native selection rights under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.], the State, at its option, may file future selection applications and amendments thereto, pursuant to section 6(a) or (b) of the Alaska Statehood Act or subsection (b) of this section, for lands which are not, on the date of filing of such applications, available within the meaning of section 6(a) or (b) of the Alaska Statehood Act, other than lands within any conservation system unit or the National Petroleum Reserve—Alaska. Each such selection application, if otherwise valid, shall become an effective selection without further action by the State upon the date the lands included in such application become available within the meaning of subsection (a) or (b) of section 6 regardless of whether such date occurs before or after expiration of the State’s land selection rights. Selection applications heretofore filed by the State may be refiled so as to become subject to the provisions of this subsection; except that no such refiling shall prejudice any claim of validity which may be asserted regarding the original filing of such application. Nothing contained in this subsection shall be construed to prevent the United States from transferring a Federal reservation or appropriation from one Federal agency to another Federal agency for the use and benefit of the Federal Government.
In furtherance of the State’s entitlement to lands under section 6(b) of the Alaska Statehood Act, the United States hereby conveys to the State of Alaska all right, title, and interest of the United States in and to all vacant, unappropriated, and unreserved lands, including lands subject to subsection (e) of this section but which lie within those townships outside the boundaries of conservation system units, National Conservation Areas, National Recreation Areas, new national forests and forest additions, established, designated, or expanded by this Act, which are specified in the list entitled “State Selection Lands May 15, 1978”, dated July 24, 1978, submitted by the State of Alaska and on file in the office of the Secretary of the Interior. The denomination of lands in such list which are not, on December 2, 1980, available lands within the meaning of section 6(b) of the Alaska Statehood Act and this Act shall be treated as a future selection application pursuant to subsection (e) of this section, to the extent such an application could have been filed under such subsection (e).
Nothing contained in this section shall relieve the Secretary of the duty to adjudicate conflicting claims regarding the lands specified in subsection (g) of this section, or otherwise selected under authority of the Alaska Statehood Act, subsection (b) of this section, or other law, prior to the issuance of tentative approval.
Any extensions of time periods granted to the State pursuant to section 17(d)(2)(E) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1616(d)(2)(E)] are hereby extinguished, and the time periods specified in subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall hereafter be applicable to State selections.
The second proviso of section 6(b) of the Alaska Statehood Act regarding Presidential approval of land selection north and west of the line described in section 10 of such Act shall not apply to any conveyance of land to the State pursuant to subsections (c), (d), and (g) of this section but shall apply to future State selections.
All land subject to an agreement made pursuant to subsection (a) and all land, and interests in land, conveyed or subsequently reconveyed pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.] to a Native individual, Native Corporation, or Settlement Trust shall be subject to condemnation for public purposes in accordance with the provisions of this Act and other applicable law.
Nothing in this section shall be construed as impairing, or otherwise affecting in any manner, any contract or other obligation which was entered into prior to December 2, 1980, or which (1) applies to any land which is subject to an agreement, and (2) was entered into before the agreement becomes effective.
Except as expressly provided in subsection (d), no provision of this section shall be construed as affecting the civil or criminal jurisdiction of the State of Alaska.
With the agreement of the party to whom a patent is to be issued under this chapter, or the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.], the Secretary, in his discretion, may base such patent on protraction diagrams in lieu of field surveys. Any person or corporation receiving a patent under this chapter or the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.] on the basis of a protraction diagram shall receive any gain or bear any loss of acreage due to errors, if any, in such protraction diagram.
The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (83 Stat. 852) [42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.] shall not be construed, in whole or in part, as requiring the preparation or submission of an environmental impact statement for withdrawals, conveyances, regulations, orders, easement determinations, or other actions which lead to the issuance of conveyances to Natives or Native Corporations, pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.], or this Act. Nothing in this section shall be construed as affirming or denying the validity of any withdrawals by the Secretary under section 14(h)(3) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1613(h)(3)].
Except as specifically provided in this Act, (i) the provisions of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.] are fully applicable to this Act, and (ii) nothing in this Act shall be construed to alter or amend any of such provisions.
Whenever a valid State or Native selection is partly in and partly out of the boundary of a conservation system unit, notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the State or any Native Corporation may relinquish its rights in any portion of any validly selected Federal land, including land underneath waters, which lies within the boundary of the conservation system unit. Upon relinquishment, the Federal land (including land underneath waters) so relinquished within the boundary of the conservation system unit shall become, and be administered as, a part of the conservation system unit. The total land entitlement of the State or Native Corporation shall not be affected by such relinquishment. In lieu of the lands and waters relinquished by the State, the State may select pursuant to the Alaska Statehood Act as amended by this Act, an equal acreage of other lands available for such purpose. The Native Corporation may retain an equal acreage from overselection lands on which selection applications were otherwise properly and timely filed. A relinquishment pursuant to this section shall not invalidate an otherwise valid State or Native Corporation land selection outside the boundaries of the conservation system unit, on the grounds that, after such relinquishment, the remaining portion of the land selection no longer meets applicable requirements of size, compactness, or contiguity, or that the portion of the selection retained immediately outside the conservation system unit does not follow section lines along the boundary of the conservation system unit. The validity of the selection outside such boundary shall not be adversely affected by the relinquishment.
The provisions of this section shall be applicable only to the conveyance of Federal lands described herein to a Native Corporation which within one hundred and eighty days after December 2, 1980, or the date of eligibility determination, whichever is later, files a document with the Secretary setting forth its election to receive conveyance pursuant to this section.
As soon as possible after December 2, 1980, the Secretary shall issue to each Native Corporation referred to in subsection (b) interim conveyances or patents to the estate or estates conveyed to such Corporation by such subsection, but title shall be deemed to have passed on the date of the filing of a document of election described in subsection (a), notwithstanding any delay in the issuance of the interim conveyances or patents.
A Village Corporation’s obligation to reconvey lands under section 14(c) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1613(c)] shall arise only upon receipt of an interim conveyance or patent, whichever is earlier, under subsection (c) of this section or under such Act [43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.]. For purposes of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.], legislative conveyances made by, or interim conveyances and patents issued pursuant to, this title shall have the same effect as if issued pursuant to sections 14(a), 14(b), 14(f), and 19(b) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1613(a), 1613(b), 1613(f), and 1618(b)] and shall be deemed to have been so issued. Disputes between or among Native Corporations arising from conveyances under this Act shall be resolved by a board of arbitrators of a type described in section 12(e) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1611(e)] pertaining to disputes over land selection rights and the boundaries of Village Corporations.
All conveyances made by operation of this section shall be subject to the terms and conditions of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.] as if such conveyances or patents had been made or issued pursuant to that Act.
For a period of one year from December 2, 1980, the Secretary may identify and issue a decision to reserve in the patent those easements, pursuant to section 17(b)(3) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1616(b)(3)], which are described in section 17(b)(1) of such Act [43 U.S.C. 1616(b)(1)] on lands conveyed by this section, but the Secretary shall not reserve a greater number of easements or more land for a particular easement or easements than is reasonably necessary and he shall be guided by the principles of section 1633 of this title. Upon the finality of the decision so issued, such easements shall be reserved in the conveyance document or documents issued by the Secretary as required by this section.
For purposes of this section, the term “Native Corporation” means Village Corporations and Regional Corporations.
Solely for the purpose of bringing claims that arise from the discharge of oil, the Congress confirms that all right, title, and interest of the United States in and to the lands validly selected pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) by Alaska Native corporations are deemed to have vested in the respective corporations as of March 23, 1989. This section shall take effect with respect to each Alaska Native corporation only upon its irrevocable election to accept an interim conveyance of such land and notice of such election has been formally transmitted to the Secretary of the Interior.