S 2294 IS

To authorize the conveyance of certain Federal land in the State of New Mexico.

April 7, 2004

Mr. DOMENICI introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

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 2004'.

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.

END