I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 775
To ensure that there is no net gain in Federal land ownership in any
fiscal year, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY28, 2025
Ms. H
AGEMANintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agri-
culture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned
A BILL
To ensure that there is no net gain in Federal land
ownership in any fiscal year, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No Net Gain in Fed-4
eral Lands Act of 2025’’. 5
SEC. 2. NO NET GAIN IN CERTAIN FEDERAL LAND OWNER-6
SHIP. 7
(a) N
ONETGAIN.— 8
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(1) IN GENERAL.—The number of acres of 1
land, water, and interests therein acquired by the 2
United States and put under the administrative ju-3
risdiction of the Secretary of the Interior or the Sec-4
retary of Agriculture in a State during a fiscal year 5
may not exceed the number of acres of Federal land 6
under the administrative jurisdiction of the Sec-7
retary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture 8
disposed of in that State during that fiscal year. 9
(2) A
PPLICATION.—In applying paragraph 10
(1)— 11
(A) only the disposal of fee title to lands 12
or waters may be counted against acquisition of 13
fee title to lands or waters; and 14
(B) only disposal of interests in lands or 15
waters of less than fee may be counted against 16
acquisition of comparable interests in lands or 17
waters of less than fee. 18
(b) A
NNUALINVENTORY; DETERMINATION, RE-19
PORT.— 20
(1) I
NVENTORY.—The Secretary shall complete 21
an annual inventory of the total number of acres of 22
Federal land, categorized according to the type of 23
interest (such as fee, easement, mineral interest, 24
etc.), under the administrative jurisdiction of each 25
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agency of the Department of the Interior or the De-1
partment of Agriculture, as the case may be— 2
(A) in each State; and 3
(B) in the aggregate. 4
(2) D
ETERMINATION.—Based on the inventory 5
required by subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall 6
make an annual determination of the increase or de-7
crease in the previous fiscal year of the total number 8
of acres of Federal land, categorized according to 9
the type of interest (such as fee, easement, mineral 10
interest), under the administrative jurisdiction of— 11
(A) each agency of the Department of the 12
Interior or the Department of Agriculture, as 13
the case may be; and 14
(B) the Department of the Interior, in 15
total, and the Department of Agriculture, in 16
total, as the case may be. 17
(3) R
EPORT.—Not later than September 30 of 18
each year, the Secretary shall submit to the Presi-19
dent and Congress a report containing the inventory 20
and determination required under this subsection. 21
(c) C
OMPLIANCELANDDISPOSAL.— 22
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than 24 months 23
after the Secretary determines under subsection (b) 24
that the Federal Government acquired more new 25
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Federal land under the administrative jurisdiction of 1
that Secretary in a State than it disposed of in that 2
State during a fiscal year, the President shall convey 3
to that State sufficient Federal land under the ad-4
ministrative jurisdiction of that Secretary to comply 5
with subsection (a) for that fiscal year. 6
(2) N
O MAJOR FEDERAL ACTION .—A convey-7
ance under paragraph (1) shall not be considered a 8
major Federal action for the purposes of section 9
102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act 10
of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)). 11
(d) D
EFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this Act, the 12
following definitions apply: 13
(1) F
EDERAL LAND .—The term ‘‘Federal 14
land’’— 15
(A) means Federal lands, waters, and in-16
terests therein, including lands held in trust by 17
the Federal Government (except as provided in 18
subparagraph (C)); 19
(B) includes non-Federal land that is— 20
(i) leased by the Federal Government; 21
(ii) held as a conservation easement 22
by the Federal Government; or 23
(iii) requires oversight by, involvement 24
in, or other authority is exercised by the 25
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Federal Government to an extent that pro-1
hibits use of the non-Federal land that is 2
not specifically authorized by the Federal 3
Government; and 4
(C) does not include land, water, and inter-5
ests therein— 6
(i) held by an Indian Tribe or indi-7
vidual Indian subject to a restriction by 8
the Federal Government against alienation; 9
(ii) acquired pursuant to a foreclosure 10
under title 18, United States Code; 11
(iii) acquired by any department, 12
agency, or independent establishment in its 13
capacity as a receiver, conserver, or liqui-14
dating agent which is held by that depart-15
ment, agency, or independent establish-16
ment in such capacity pending disposal; 17
(iv) that has reverted to the Federal 18
Government pursuant to a reversionary 19
clause in a deed or statute; 20
(v) subject to seizure, levy, or lien 21
under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 22
or 23
(vi) securing a debt owed to the 24
United States. 25
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(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 1
means— 2
(A) the Secretary of Agriculture with re-3
gard to the Federal land under the administra-4
tive jurisdiction of that Secretary; and 5
(B) the Secretary of the Interior with re-6
gard to Federal land under the administrative 7
jurisdiction of that Secretary. 8
(3) S
TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the sev-9
eral States and the District of Columbia. 10
Æ
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