43 U.S.C. § 1701 — Congressional declaration of policy

Page 527 TITLE 43—PUBLIC LANDS § 1701 Sec. 1782. Bureau of Land Management Wilderness Study. 1783. Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area. 1784. Lands in Alaska; designation as wilderness; management by Bureau of Land Manage- ment pending Congressional action. 1785. Fossil Forest Research Natural Area. 1786. Piedras Blancas Historic Light Station. 1787. Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse Outstanding Natural Area. SUBCHAPTER I—GENERAL PROVISIONS § 1701. Congressional declaration of policy (a) The Congress declares that it is the policy of the United States that— (1) the public lands be retained in Federal ownership, unless as a result of the land use planning procedure provided for in this Act, it is determined that disposal of a particular par- cel will serve the national interest; (2) the national interest will be best realized if the public lands and their resources are peri- odically and systematically inventoried and their present and future use is projected through a land use planning process coordi- nated with other Federal and State planning efforts; (3) public lands not previously designated for any specific use and all existing classifications of public lands that were effected by executive action or statute before October 21, 1976, be re- viewed in accordance with the provisions of this Act; (4) the Congress exercise its constitutional authority to withdraw or otherwise designate or dedicate Federal lands for specified pur- poses and that Congress delineate the extent to which the Executive may withdraw lands without legislative action; (5) in administering public land statutes and exercising discretionary authority granted by them, the Secretary be required to establish comprehensive rules and regulations after con- sidering the views of the general public; and to structure adjudication procedures to assure adequate third party participation, objective administrative review of initial decisions, and expeditious decisionmaking; (6) judicial review of public land adjudica- tion decisions be provided by law; (7) goals and objectives be established by law as guidelines for public land use planning, and that management be on the basis of multiple use and sustained yield unless otherwise speci- fied by law; (8) the public lands be managed in a manner that will protect the quality of scientific, sce- nic, historical, ecological, environmental, air and atmospheric, water resource, and archeo- logical values; that, where appropriate, will preserve and protect certain public lands in their natural condition; that will provide food and habitat for fish and wildlife and domestic animals; and that will provide for outdoor recreation and human occupancy and use; (9) the United States receive fair market value of the use of the public lands and their resources unless otherwise provided for by statute; (10) uniform procedures for any disposal of public land, acquisition of non-Federal land for public purposes, and the exchange of such lands be established by statute, requiring each disposal, acquisition, and exchange to be con- sistent with the prescribed mission of the de- partment or agency involved, and reserving to the Congress review of disposals in excess of a specified acreage; (11) regulations and plans for the protection of public land areas of critical environmental concern be promptly developed; (12) the public lands be managed in a manner which recognizes the Nation’s need for domes- tic sources of minerals, food, timber, and fiber from the public lands including implementa- tion of the Mining and Minerals Policy Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 1876, 30 U.S.C. 21a) as it pertains to the public lands; and (13) the Federal Government should, on a basis equitable to both the Federal and local taxpayer, provide for payments to compensate States and local governments for burdens cre- ated as a result of the immunity of Federal lands from State and local taxation. (b) The policies of this Act shall become effec- tive only as specific statutory authority for their implementation is enacted by this Act or by subsequent legislation and shall then be con- strued as supplemental to and not in derogation of the purposes for which public lands are ad- ministered under other provisions of law. (Pub. L. 94–579, title I, § 102, Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2744.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT This Act, referred to in subsecs. (a)(1), (3) and (b), is Pub. L. 94–579, Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2743, known as the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Ta- bles. The Mining and Minerals Policy Act of 1970, referred to in subsec. (a)(12), is Pub. L. 91–631, Dec. 31, 1970, 84 Stat. 1876, which is classified to section 21a of Title 30, Mineral Lands and Mining. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries SHORT TITLE OF 2018 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 115–141, div. O, § 101(a), Mar. 23, 2018, 132 Stat. 1059, as amended by Pub. L. 116–6, § 7(2), Feb. 15, 2019, 133 Stat. 15, provided that: ‘‘This division [see Tables for classification] may be cited as the ‘Stephen Sepp Wild- fire Suppression Funding and Forest Management Ac- tivities Act’.’’ SHORT TITLE OF 2009 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 111–88, div. A, title V, § 501, Oct. 30, 2009, 123 Stat. 2968, provided that: ‘‘This title [enacting sections 1748a and 1748b of this title] may be cited as the ‘Fed- eral Land Assistance, Management, and Enhancement Act of 2009’ or ‘FLAME Act of 2009’.’’ SHORT TITLE OF 1988 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 100–409, § 1, Aug. 20, 1988, 102 Stat. 1086, pro- vided that: ‘‘This Act [enacting section 1723 of this title, amending section 1716 of this title and sections 505a, 505b, and 521b of Title 16, Conservation, and enact- ing provisions set out as notes under sections 751 and 1716 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Federal Land Ex- change Facilitation Act of 1988’.’’ SHORT TITLE Pub. L. 94–579, title I, § 101, Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2744, provided that: ‘‘This Act [see Tables for classification] Page 528 TITLE 43—PUBLIC LANDS § 1702 may be cited as the ‘Federal Land Policy and Manage- ment Act of 1976’.’’ SAVINGS PROVISION Pub. L. 94–579, title VII, § 701, Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2786, provided that: ‘‘(a) Nothing in this Act, or in any amendment made by this Act [see Short Title note above], shall be con- strued as terminating any valid lease, permit, patent, right-of-way, or other land use right or authorization existing on the date of approval of this Act [Oct. 21, 1976]. ‘‘(b) Notwithstanding any provision of this Act, in the event of conflict with or inconsistency between this Act and the Acts of August 28, 1937 (50 Stat. 874; 43 U.S.C. 1181a–1181j [now 43 U.S.C. 2601 et seq., see Tables for classification]), and May 24, 1939 (53 Stat. 753), inso- far as they relate to management of timber resources, and disposition of revenues from lands and resources, the latter Acts shall prevail. ‘‘(c) All withdrawals, reservations, classifications, and designations in effect as of the date of approval of this Act shall remain in full force and effect until modified under the provisions of this Act or other ap- plicable law. ‘‘(d) Nothing in this Act, or in any amendments made by this Act, shall be construed as permitting any per- son to place, or allow to be placed, spent oil shale, over- burden, or byproducts from the recovery of other min- erals found with oil shale, on any Federal land other than Federal land which has been leased for the recov- ery of shale oil under the Act of February 25, 1920 (41 Stat. 437, as amended; 30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.). ‘‘(e) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as modi- fying, revoking, or changing any provision of the Alas- ka Native Claims Settlement Act (85 Stat. 688, as amended; 43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). ‘‘(f) Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to repeal any existing law by implication. ‘‘(g) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as lim- iting or restricting the power and authority of the United States or— ‘‘(1) as affecting in any way any law governing ap- propriation or use of, or Federal right to, water on public lands; ‘‘(2) as expanding or diminishing Federal or State jurisdiction, responsibility, interests, or rights in water resources development or control; ‘‘(3) as displacing, superseding, limiting, or modi- fying any interstate compact or the jurisdiction or responsibility of any legally established joint or com- mon agency of two or more States or of two or more States and the Federal Government; ‘‘(4) as superseding, modifying, or repealing, except as specifically set forth in this Act, existing laws ap- plicable to the various Federal agencies which are au- thorized to develop or participate in the development of water resources or to exercise licensing or regu- latory functions in relation thereto; ‘‘(5) as modifying the terms of any interstate com- pact; ‘‘(6) as a limitation upon any State criminal stat- ute or upon the police power of the respective States, or as derogating the authority of a local police officer in the performance of his duties, or as depriving any State or political subdivision thereof of any right it may have to exercise civil and criminal jurisdiction on the national resource lands; or as amending, lim- iting, or infringing the existing laws providing grants of lands to the States. ‘‘(h) All actions by the Secretary concerned under this Act shall be subject to valid existing rights. ‘‘(i) The adequacy of reports required by this Act to be submitted to the Congress or its committees shall not be subject to judicial review. ‘‘(j) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as affect- ing the distribution of livestock grazing revenues to local governments under the Granger-Thye Act (64 Stat. 85, 16 U.S.C. 580h), under the Act of May 23, 1908 (35 Stat. 260, as amended; 16 U.S.C. 500), under the Act of March 4, 1913 (37 Stat. 843, as amended; 16 U.S.C. 501), and under the Act of June 20, 1910 (36 Stat. 557).’’ SEVERABILITY Pub. L. 94–579, title VII, § 707, Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2794, provided that: ‘‘If any provision of this Act [see Short Title note set out above] or the application thereof is held invalid, the remainder of the Act and the application thereof shall not be affected thereby.’’ REFERENCES TO DIVISION O OF PUB. L. 115–141 Pub. L. 115–141, div. O, § 101(b), Mar. 23, 2018, 132 Stat. 1059, as amended by Pub. L. 116–6, § 7(2), Feb. 15, 2019, 133 Stat. 15, provided that: ‘‘A reference to the Wildfire Suppression Funding and Forest Management Activi- ties Act [div. O of Pub. L. 115–141, see Short Title of 2018 Amendment note above], including a reference in a reg- ulation, order, or other law, is deemed to refer to the Stephen Sepp Wildfire Suppression Funding and Forest Management Activities Act.’’ EXISTING RIGHTS-OF-WAY Pub. L. 94–579, title VII, § 706(b), Oct. 21, 1976, 90 Stat. 2794, provided that: ‘‘Nothing in section 706(a) [see Ta- bles for classification], except as it pertains to rights- of-way, may be construed as affecting the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture under the Act of June 4, 1897 (30 Stat. 35, as amended, 16 U.S.C. 551); the Act of July 22, 1937 (50 Stat. 525, as amended, 7 U.S.C. 1010–1212); or the Act of September 3, 1954 (68 Stat. 1146, 43 U.S.C. 931c).’’ § 1702. Definitions Without altering in any way the meaning of the following terms as used in any other statute, whether or not such statute is referred to in, or amended by, this Act, as used in this Act— (a) The term ‘‘areas of critical environmental concern’’ means areas within the public lands where special management attention is required (when such areas are developed or used or where no development is required) to protect and pre- vent irreparable damage to important historic, cultural, or scenic values, fish and wildlife re- sources or other natural systems or processes, or to protect life and safety from natural hazards. (b) The term ‘‘holder’’ means any State or local governmental entity, individual, partner- ship, corporation, association, or other business entity receiving or using a right-of-way under subchapter V of this chapter. (c) The term ‘‘multiple use’’ means the man- agement of the public lands and their various re- source values so that they are utilized in the combination that will best meet the present and future needs of the American people; making the most judicious use of the land for some or all of these resources or related services over areas large enough to provide sufficient latitude for periodic adjustments in use to conform to changing needs and conditions; the use of some land for less than all of the resources; a com- bination of balanced and diverse resource uses that takes into account the long-term needs of future generations for renewable and nonrenew- able resources, including, but not limited to, recreation, range, timber, minerals, watershed, wildlife and fish, and natural scenic, scientific and historical values; and harmonious and co- ordinated management of the various resources without permanent impairment of the produc- tivity of the land and the quality of the environ- ment with consideration being given to the rel-