QUITCLAIMING CERTAIN PROPERTY IN ENID, OKLA., TO H. B. BASS

JUNE 24, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed

Mr. PETERSON, from the Committee on Public Lands, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 5205)

The Committee on Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 5205) to quitclaim certain property in Enid, Okla., to H. B. Bass, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

EXPLANATION OF THE BILL

H. R. 5205 merely corrects the land description contained in the act of April 13, 1946 (60 Stat. 88), to quiet title to certain school district property in Enid, Okla. No expenditure of Federal funds is required.

The act of April 13, 1946, was intended to perfect title of Mr. H. B. Bass to a half block of ground in Enid that had been sold by the school district to Mr. Bass. Through inadvertence a portion of an alley and two streets was omitted from the land description. H. R. 5205 corrects that error

Pertinent comments from the favorable report of the Department of the Interior are set forth below and further explain the purpose of the bill:

If Congress believes this conveyance should be made. I have no objection to the enactment of H. R. 5205

The lands which would be conveyed under H. R. 5205 are a part of the Jonesville town site established as an addition to Enid Okla., in accordance with the plat of survey certified by the trustees of the town site on September 2, 1898. From a copy of a judgment of the district court of Garfield County. State of Oklahoma No. 23511. dated December 11. 1947. filed in this Department, it appears that Mr Bass is the owner of property contiguous to the portion of the alley and two streets which would be conveyed under this bill. The alley and streets were apparently not needed and were vacated by the city of Enid. Under

Oklahoma law, it appears that the adjoining owner would ordinarily secure title to the portion of vacated alleys or streets adjoining his property. Since the United States never parted with title to the alley and streets, legislation is necessary to permit Mr. Bass to secure the title to the area described in the bill. In any case, there appears to be no reason why the United States, which no longer has any substantial interest in the lands in the Jonesville Town Site, should assert any right to the alley and streets.

The Committee on Public Lands unanimously recommends the enactment of H. R. 5205.

O

1st Session

No. 909

PERMITTING MINING ON PUBLIC LANDS WITHDRAWN OR RESERVED FOR POWER DEVELOPMENT

JUNE 24, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. ENGLE of California, from the Committee on Public Lands, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 388)

The Committee on Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 388) to permit the mining, development, and utilization of the mineral resources of all public lands within or reserved for power development, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill do pass.

The amendments are as follows:

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the following: That this Act may be cited as the "Mining Claims Rights Restoration Act of 1949."

SEC. 2. All public lands belonging to the United States now or hereafter withdrawn or reserved for power development or power sites by statutory rights or otherwise shall be open to entry for location and patent of mining claims and mill sites for mining development, beneficiation, removal, and utilization of the mineral resources: Provided. That all power rights to such lands shall be retained by the United States.

SEC. 3. Prospecting and exploration for and the development and utilization of mineral resources authorized in this Act shall be entered into or continued at the financial risk of the individual party or parties undertaking such work: Provided, That the United States, its permittees and licensees shall not be responsible or held liable or incur any liability whatsoever for the damage. destruction, or loss of any mining claim. mill site, facility installed or erected, income, or other property or investments resulting from the actual use of such lands or portions thereof for power development at any time where such power development is made by or under the authority of the United States.

SEC. 4. The owner of any unpatented mining claim located on land described in Sec. 2 of this Act shall file for record in the United States district land office of the land district in which the claim is situated (1) within one year after the effective date of this Act, as to any or all locations heretofore made, or within sixty days of location, as to locations hereafter made, a copy of the notice of location of the claim; (2) within sixty days after the expiration of any annual assessment

year, a statement as to the assessment work done or improvements made during the previous assessment year.

SEC. 5. Nothing in this Act contained shall be construed to limit or restrict the rights of the owner or owners of any valid mining claim located prior to the date of withdrawal or reservation.

SEC. 6. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, all mining claims and mill sites or mineral rights located under the terms of this Act or otherwise contained on the public lands cited in section 2 shall be used only for the purposes cited in section 2 and no facility or activity shall be erected or conducted thereon for other purposes.

EXPLANATION OF THE BILL

H. R. 388, as amended, provides for the prospecting, development, mining, and utilization of the mineral resources of all public lands withdrawn or reserved for power development. This is to be accomplished by placing all such lands under the general mining laws of the United States, subject to certain reservations. No expenditure of Federal funds is required.

Approximately 7,000,000 acres of public lands, all in the West, are withdrawn or reserved for power development, of which roughly 95 percent has been withdrawn since around 1910 or for 39 years. Only a small amount of such land is suitable or eventually may be used for power development.

The committee notes that the development, mining and utilization of the mineral resources of public lands withdrawn or reserved for power development cannot possibly damage such lands or interfere with the purposes for which they are withdrawn or reserved. To the contrary, any mining and utilization of the mineral resources of such lands would be highly beneficial to the United States.

The bill adequately protects the interest of the United States by specifying that all power rights to the subject lands shall be retained by the United States and that the United States shall not incur any liability whatsoever for the damage, destruction, or loss of any mining claim, facility, or income resulting from the actual use of such lands for power development made or authorized by the United States. It also is provided that all mining claims located under the act shall be used only for the purposes cited in the bill.

The bill does not "limit or restrict the rights of the owner or owners of any valid mining claim located prior to the date of withdrawal or reservation."

Several changes recommended by the Federal Power Commission and the Bureau of Land Management are embodied in the amended bill The committee accepted the recommended provision that the owner of any unpatented mining claim located under the provisions of the act be required to file a copy of the location notice with the United States district land office of the land district in which the claim is situated. A statement as to the assessment work done each year also is required to be filed with the district land office. The same requirements are applied to owners of any or all mining locations heretofore made The Bureau of Land Management testified and the committee agreed that the United States should have a record of all mining claims located and maintained on the subject lands. To be of maximum value the location notice should contain, if possible, a description tied in with the public land surveys