S2016-119

What This Bill Does

Directs an Alaska land exchange that would give Chugach Alaska Corporation about 65,374 acres of federal fee-simple land in exchange for about 231,000 acres of Chugach-owned subsurface estate beneath Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Habitat Protection and Acquisition Program surface lands and conservation easements.

Who Benefits and How

Chugach Alaska Corporation and its Native shareholders benefit because the exchange resolves split-estate conflicts created when Exxon Valdez settlement funds bought surface lands and conservation easements while Chugach retained dominant subsurface rights. Conservation managers benefit because the United States receives subsurface estate beneath roughly 231,000 acres of protected surface lands, making the Habitat Protection and Acquisition Program easier to manage for conservation. Alaska communities in the Chugach Region benefit if the exchange reduces land-management conflict and gives Chugach more economically useful fee-simple land. The United States benefits by consolidating surface and subsurface ownership across program lands acquired after the Exxon Valdez spill.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Interior and Forest Service realty staff must complete a complex mandatory exchange within one year if Chugach offers the specified subsurface estate. Federal land users lose federal ownership of about 65,374 acres, including National Forest System, BLM, and National Park Service parcels identified in the Chugach Region Land Study Report. Chugach Alaska gives up subsurface development rights beneath protected program lands. State and federal conservation managers must account for valid existing rights, reservations, rights-of-way, and other encumbrances.

Key Provisions

• Provides findings about the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, the $900 million civil settlement, and EVOSTC habitat acquisitions.
• Establishes definitions for Chugach Alaska, the Program, the Chugach Region Land Study Report, federal exchange land, and non-federal subsurface land.
• Directs the Interior Secretary to accept Chugach Alaska's offer of about 231,000 subsurface acres if made.
• Requires conveyance of about 65,374 federal acres to Chugach Alaska in exchange.
• Provides that land conveyed to Chugach is treated as ANCSA land and preserves valid existing rights and encumbrances.
• Creates consolidated federal conservation ownership under Exxon Valdez habitat program lands.