H.R. 837
To require the Secretary of Agriculture to convey the Pleasant Valley Ranger District Administrative Site to Gila County, Arizona.
Sponsor: Elijah Crane · 0 cosponsors
In plain English: what this bill does
Summary
This bill would require the U.S. Forest Service to transfer about 232.9 acres of federal land in the Tonto National Forest in Arizona to Gila County, if the county asks in writing within 180 days of the bill becoming law. The transfer would be free, made by quitclaim deed, and the county would pay all costs of the transfer. The county could use the land only to serve and support veterans, and the land would return to the federal government if it is used for something else.
Who this affects
- Gila County, Arizona: may receive the land if it submits a written request within 180 days, and must pay all costs of the transfer, including any survey, environmental analysis, and historic preservation review.
- The Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Forest Service: must convey the land if the county asks, and is not required to provide any environmental covenant or warranty for the land.
- Veterans of the Armed Forces: are the group the land must serve and support under the bill's conditions.
Words to know
- Quitclaim deed: a legal document that transfers whatever interest the seller has in property, without promising that the title is clear.
- Covenant or warranty: a formal promise about the condition or ownership of property, such as a promise that it is free of contamination.
- Reversion: a return of property to its original owner when a condition attached to the transfer is broken.
- Valid existing rights: rights other people already hold in the land, such as permits or easements, that remain in place after the transfer.
For example
Made-up situation: Suppose the county asks for the land on day 100 and pays for the survey and required reviews. The county then transfers the land to itself at no price, but if it later leases the site to a private business instead of using it to serve veterans, the land would go back to the federal government at the Secretary's discretion.
Written by AI from the bill's text below; it can be wrong. How it's written
Official summary
Written by the Congressional Research Service.
This bill directs the Forest Service to convey specified property to Gila County, Arizona, upon the county's submission of a written request for such conveyance. The property, identified as the Gila County Area, consists of approximately 232.9 acres of National Forest System land located in the Tonto National Forest in Arizona.
The county must use the land for the purposes of serving and supporting veterans. If any land conveyed under this bill ceases to be used for such purpose, all right, title, and interest in and to the land shall revert to the United States, at the discretion of the Forest Service.
The conveyance must be made with a quitclaim deed and without consideration (value, such as payment, provided in exchange for the property).
The Forest Service must not be required to provide any covenant or warranty for the land and improvements conveyed to the county under such conveyance.
As a condition of the conveyance, the county must pay all the costs associated with the conveyance, including any (1) surveys, (2) environmental analysis or resource survey required under federal law, and (3) analysis required to comply with certain provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act.