II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 1084
To authorize the relinquishment and in lieu selection of land and minerals
in the State of North Dakota, to restore land and minerals to Indian
Tribes within the State of North Dakota, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH14, 2025
Mr. H
OEVEN(for himself and Mr. CRAMER) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Nat-
ural Resources
A BILL
To authorize the relinquishment and in lieu selection of land
and minerals in the State of North Dakota, to restore
land and minerals to Indian Tribes within the State
of North Dakota, 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 ‘‘North Dakota Trust 4
Lands Completion Act of 2025’’. 5
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6
In this Act: 7
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•S 1084 IS
(1) NORTH DAKOTA ENABLING ACT .—The term 1
‘‘North Dakota Enabling Act’’ means the Act of 2
February 22, 1889 (25 Stat. 676, chapter 180). 3
(2) R
ESERVATION.—The term ‘‘reservation’’ 4
means any Indian reservation located wholly or par-5
tially within the State of North Dakota and recog-6
nized under United States treaty, Executive order, 7
or Act of Congress. 8
(3) S
ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 9
the Secretary of the Interior. 10
(4) S
TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 11
of North Dakota, acting through the North Dakota 12
Board of University and School Lands and its agent, 13
the Department of Trust Lands. 14
(5) S
TATE LAND GRANT PARCEL .—The term 15
‘‘State land grant parcel’’ means— 16
(A) a parcel of land granted to the State 17
of North Dakota by Congress— 18
(i) on statehood; or 19
(ii) through a grant pursuant to the 20
North Dakota Enabling Act; 21
(B) a section of land numbered 16 or 36 22
granted to the State of North Dakota by Con-23
gress for school purposes; 24
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(C) a parcel of land selected by the State 1
of North Dakota as indemnity for any section 2
of land numbered 16 or 36; and 3
(D) a parcel of land other than a parcel of 4
land described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) 5
obtained by the State after statehood. 6
(6) U
NAPPROPRIATED FEDERAL LAND .— 7
(A) I
N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘unappropri-8
ated Federal land’’ means public land adminis-9
tered by the Bureau of Land Management lo-10
cated within the State of North Dakota, includ-11
ing public land that is mineral in character. 12
(B) E
XCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘unappropri-13
ated Federal land’’ does not include— 14
(i) land (including an interest in land) 15
acquired by the Bureau of Land Manage-16
ment; 17
(ii) any area of critical environmental 18
concern established pursuant to section 19
202(c)(3) of the Federal Land Policy and 20
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 21
1712(c)(3)); or 22
(iii) land that is— 23
(I) withdrawn from— 24
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(aa) entry, appropriation, or 1
disposal under the public land 2
laws; 3
(bb) location, entry, and 4
patent under the mining laws; or 5
(cc) disposition under all 6
laws pertaining to mineral and 7
geothermal leasing or mineral 8
materials; 9
(II) located within a component 10
of the National Landscape Conserva-11
tion System; 12
(III) designated as a Research 13
Natural Area; 14
(IV) located within any reserva-15
tion; 16
(V) located within— 17
(aa) T. 147 N., R. 95 W.; 18
(bb) T. 148 N., R. 95 W.; 19
(cc) T. 148 N., R. 96 W.; or 20
(dd) T. 149 N., R. 95 W.; 21
(VI) located within a United 22
States military reservation; or 23
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(VII) designated by Congress or 1
the President for conservation pur-2
poses. 3
SEC. 3. RELINQUISHMENT AND SELECTION; CONVEYANCE. 4
(a) R
ELINQUISHMENT AND SELECTION.— 5
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Subject to valid existing 6
rights, if the State elects to relinquish all right, title, 7
and interest of the State in and to a State land 8
grant parcel located wholly or partially within the 9
boundaries of any reservation, the Secretary shall 10
authorize the State to select in accordance with this 11
Act 1 or more parcels of unappropriated Federal 12
land of substantially equivalent value. 13
(2) A
PPROVAL.—Not later than 180 days after 14
the date on which the State makes a selection under 15
paragraph (1), the Secretary shall approve or reject, 16
in whole or in part, the selection. 17
(3) R
EVIEW.—Nothing in this subsection pre-18
cludes the Secretary from conducting an environ-19
mental review of any parcel proposed for relinquish-20
ment under paragraph (1) if the Secretary deter-21
mines that an environmental review is appropriate. 22
(b) C
ONVEYANCE.— 23
(1) C
ONVEYANCE BY SECRETARY .— 24
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(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days 1
after the date on which the Secretary approves 2
a State selection of unappropriated Federal 3
land under subsection (a)(2), the Secretary 4
shall initiate the actions necessary to convey to 5
the State the unappropriated Federal land. 6
(B) R
EQUIREMENTS.—Conveyance of un-7
appropriated Federal land by the Secretary 8
under this Act— 9
(i) shall be by patent or deed in a 10
form acceptable to the State and the Sec-11
retary; and 12
(ii) shall not be considered a sale, ex-13
change, or conveyance for purposes of sec-14
tion 203, 205, 206, or 209 of the Federal 15
Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 16
(43 U.S.C. 1713, 1715, 1716, 1719). 17
(2) R
ELINQUISHMENT AND CONVEYANCE BY 18
STATE.— 19
(A) I
N GENERAL.—As consideration for 20
the conveyance of unappropriated Federal land 21
under paragraph (1), on the date on which the 22
unappropriated Federal land is conveyed to the 23
State, the State shall concurrently relinquish 24
and convey to the Secretary all right, title, and 25
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interest of the State in and to the State land 1
grant parcel identified for relinquishment under 2
subsection (a)(1). 3
(B) T
ITLE.—The State shall convey to the 4
Secretary title, free of any financial claims, li-5
abilities, or other financial encumbrances, to all 6
parcels relinquished under subparagraph (A). 7
(C) L
IMITATION.—Relinquishment and 8
conveyance by the State of a State land grant 9
parcel under this Act shall not be considered an 10
exchange or acquisition for purposes of section 11
205 or 206 of the Federal Land Policy and 12
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1715, 13
1716). 14
(c) S
UCCESSION TORIGHTS ANDOBLIGATIONS.— 15
Each party to which land is conveyed under this Act shall, 16
to the fullest extent allowable under Federal and State 17
law, succeed to the rights and obligations of the conveying 18
party with respect to any lease, right-of-way, permit, or 19
other valid existing right to which the land is subject. 20
(d) M
ANAGEMENTAFTERRELINQUISHMENT.— 21
(1) R
ESERVATION.—If a State land grant par-22
cel relinquished by the State and conveyed to the 23
Secretary under this Act is located wholly or par-24
tially within the boundaries of any reservation, on 25
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•S 1084 IS
request of the applicable Indian Tribe, the portion of 1
the State land grant parcel located within the 2
boundaries of the reservation shall be— 3
(A) taken into trust by the Secretary on 4
behalf of, and for the benefit of, the Indian 5
Tribe on the date of the conveyance; and 6
(B) considered to be a part of the reserva-7
tion of the Indian Tribe. 8
(2) C
ONSULTATION REQUIRED .—Prior to the 9
conveyance of a State land grant parcel located 10
wholly or partially within the boundaries of any res-11
ervation, the State and the Secretary shall consult 12
with affected Indian Tribes, including the Indian 13
Tribe the land of which is subject to conveyance in 14
accordance with Executive Order 13175 (25 U.S.C. 15
5301 note; relating to consultation and coordination 16
with Indian tribal governments) and other applicable 17
laws. 18
(e) W
ITHDRAWAL.— 19
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Subject to valid rights in ex-20
istence on the date of enactment of this Act, all un-21
appropriated Federal land selected by the State for 22
conveyance under this Act, effective beginning on 23
the date on which the State makes the selection and 24
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•S 1084 IS
ending on the date described in paragraph (2), is 1
withdrawn from all forms of— 2
(A) entry, appropriation, or disposal under 3
the public land laws; 4
(B) location, entry, and patent under the 5
mining laws; and 6
(C) disposition under all laws pertaining to 7
mineral and geothermal leasing or mineral ma-8
terials. 9
(2) D
ATE DESCRIBED.—The date referred to in 10
paragraph (1) is the date on which, as applicable— 11
(A) the unappropriated Federal land is 12
conveyed by the Secretary to the State; 13
(B) the Secretary rejects the selection 14
under subsection (a)(2); or 15
(C) the State withdraws the selection. 16
SEC. 4. VALUATION. 17
(a) E
QUALVALUE.—With respect to a State land 18
grant parcel conveyed under this Act in consideration for 19
a parcel of unappropriated Federal land selected in ac-20
cordance with this Act— 21
(1) the overall value of the State land grant 22
parcel and the overall value of the parcel of unap-23
propriated Federal land shall be substantially equal; 24
or 25
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(2) subject to subsection (c), if the overall value 1
of the parcels is not equal, the party conveying the 2
parcel of lesser value shall— 3
(A) equalize the value by the payment of 4
funds to the other party; or 5
(B) enter the imbalance in value on a ledg-6
er account in accordance with subsection (e). 7
(b) A
PPRAISALREQUIRED.— 8
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub-9
section (d), the value of the unappropriated Federal 10
land selected in accordance with this Act and the 11
value of a State land grant parcel conveyed under 12
this Act shall be determined by appraisals conducted 13
by 1 or more independent appraisers selected jointly 14
by the Secretary and the State. 15
(2) R
EQUIREMENTS.—An appraisal under para-16
graph (1) shall be completed in accordance with— 17
(A) the Uniform Appraisal Standards for 18
Federal Land Acquisitions; or 19
(B) subject to subsection (d)(1), the Uni-20
form Standards for Professional Appraisal 21
Practice. 22
(c) E
QUALIZATION.—With respect to a conveyance to 23
the Secretary of a State land grant parcel of lesser value 24
than the parcel of unappropriated Federal land to be con-25
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•S 1084 IS
veyed to the State under this Act, the total value of the 1
equalization payment described in subsection (a)(2)(A) or 2
the ledger entry described in subsection (e), as applicable, 3
may not exceed 25 percent of the total value of the parcel 4
of unappropriated Federal land. 5
(d) L
OWVALUEPARCELS.— 6
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary, with the con-7
sent of the State, may use mass appraisals, a sum-8
mary appraisal, or a statement of value made by a 9
qualified appraiser carried out in accordance with 10
the Uniform Standards for Professional Appraisal 11
Practice to determine the value of a State land 12
grant parcel or a parcel of unappropriated Federal 13
land to be conveyed under this Act instead of an ap-14
praisal that complies with the Uniform Appraisal 15
Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions if the 16
State and the Secretary agree that market value of 17
the State land grant parcel or parcel of unappropri-18
ated Federal land, as applicable, is— 19
(A) less than $500,000; and 20
(B) less than $500 per acre. 21
(2) D
IVISION.—A State land grant parcel or a 22
parcel of unappropriated Federal land may not be 23
artificially divided in order to qualify for a summary 24
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appraisal, mass appraisal, or statement of value 1
under paragraph (1). 2
(e) L
EDGERACCOUNTS.— 3
(1) I
N GENERAL.—With respect to a State land 4
grant parcel conveyed under this Act in consider-5
ation for a parcel of unappropriated Federal land, if 6
the overall value of the parcels is not equal, the Sec-7
retary and the State may agree to use a ledger ac-8
count to make equal the value. 9
(2) I
MBALANCES.—A ledger account described 10
in paragraph (1) shall reflect imbalances in value to 11
be reconciled in a subsequent transaction. 12
(3) A
CCOUNT BALANCING .—Each ledger ac-13
count described in paragraph (1) shall be— 14
(A) balanced not later than 3 years after 15
the date on which the ledger account is estab-16
lished; and 17
(B) closed not later than 5 years after the 18
date of the last conveyance of land under this 19
Act. 20
(4) C
OSTS.— 21
(A) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary or the 22
State may assume costs or other responsibilities 23
or requirements for conveying land under this 24
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Act that ordinarily are borne by the other 1
party. 2
(B) A
DJUSTMENT.—If the Secretary or the 3
State assume costs or other responsibilities 4
under subparagraph (A), the Secretary or the 5
State shall make adjustments to the value of 6
the unappropriated Federal land conveyed to 7
the State to compensate the Secretary or the 8
State, as applicable, for assuming the costs or 9
other responsibilities. 10
(5) M
INERAL LAND.—If value is attributed to 11
any parcel of unappropriated Federal land that has 12
been selected by the State because of the presence 13
of minerals under a lease entered into under the 14
Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) that is 15
in a producing or producible status, and the lease is 16
to be conveyed under this Act, the value of the par-17
cel shall be reduced by the amount that represents 18
the likely Federal revenue sharing obligation under 19
the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) 20
with the State, but the adjustment shall not be con-21
sidered as reflecting a property right of the State. 22
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SEC. 5. MISCELLANEOUS. 1
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Land or minerals conveyed under 2
this Act shall be subject to all applicable Federal, State, 3
and Tribal law. 4
(b) P
ROTECTION OFINDIANRIGHTS.— 5
(1) T
REATY RIGHTS.—Nothing in this Act 6
modifies, limits, expands, or otherwise affects any 7
treaty-reserved right or other right of any Indian 8
Tribe recognized by any other means, including trea-9
ties or agreements with the United States, Executive 10
orders, statutes, regulations, or case law. 11
(2) L
AND OR MINERALS HELD IN TRUST .— 12
Nothing in this Act affects— 13
(A) land or minerals held in trust by the 14
United States as of the date of enactment of 15
this Act on behalf of, and for the benefit of, any 16
Indian Tribe; or 17
(B) any individual Indian allotment. 18
(c) H
AZARDOUSMATERIALS.— 19
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary and the State 20
shall make available for review and inspection any 21
record relating to hazardous materials on land to be 22
conveyed under this Act. 23
(2) C
ERTIFICATION.— 24
(A) I
N GENERAL.—Prior to completing a 25
conveyance of unappropriated Federal land 26
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under this Act, the Secretary shall complete an 1
inspection and a hazardous materials certifi-2
cation of the land to be conveyed. 3
(B) S
TATE LAND GRANT PARCELS .—Prior 4
to completing a conveyance of a State land 5
grant parcel under this Act, the State shall 6
complete an inspection and a hazardous mate-7
rials certification of the land to be conveyed. 8
(d) G
RAZINGPERMITS.— 9
(1) I
N GENERAL.—If land conveyed under this 10
Act is subject to a lease, permit, or contract for the 11
grazing of domestic livestock in effect on the date of 12
the conveyance, the Secretary or the State, as appli-13
cable, shall allow the grazing to continue for the re-14
mainder of the term of the lease, permit, or con-15
tract, subject to the related terms and conditions of 16
the user agreements, including permitted stocking 17
rates, grazing fee levels, access, and ownership and 18
use of range improvements. 19
(2) C
ANCELLATION.— 20
(A) I
N GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act 21
prevents the Secretary or the State from can-22
celing or modifying a grazing permit, lease, or 23
contract if the land subject to the permit, lease, 24
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or contract is sold, conveyed, transferred, or 1
leased for nongrazing purposes. 2
(B) B
ASE PROPERTIES.—If land conveyed 3
by the State under this Act is used by a grazing 4
permittee or lessee to meet the base property 5
requirements for a Federal grazing permit or 6
lease, the land shall continue to qualify as a 7
base property for the remaining term of the 8
lease or permit and the term of any renewal or 9
extension of the lease or permit. 10
(C) R
ANGE IMPROVEMENTS .—Nothing in 11
this Act prohibits a holder of a grazing lease, 12
permit, or contract from being compensated for 13
range improvements pursuant to the terms of 14
the lease, permit, or contract under existing 15
Federal or State laws. 16
SEC. 6. SAVINGS CLAUSE. 17
Nothing in this Act applies to or affects litigation or 18
disputes pending on the date of enactment of this Act re-19
garding the ownership of any land or mineral resources 20
located within the State of North Dakota. 21
Æ
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