§ 1277. — Land acquisition.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 16USC1277]
TITLE 16--CONSERVATION
CHAPTER 28--WILD AND SCENIC RIVERS
Sec. 1277. Land acquisition
(a) Grant of authority to acquire; State and Indian lands; use of
appropriated funds; acquisition of tracts partially outside
component boundaries; disposition of lands
(1) The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture
are each authorized to acquire lands and interests in land within the
authorized boundaries of any component of the national wild and scenic
rivers system designated in section 1274 of this title, or hereafter
designated for inclusion in the system by Act of Congress, which is
administered by him, but he shall not acquire fee title to an average of
more than 100 acres per mile on both sides of the river. Lands owned by
a State may be acquired only by donation or by exchange in accordance
with subsection (d) of this section. Lands owned by an Indian tribe or a
political subdivision of a State may not be acquired without the consent
of the appropriate governing body thereof as long as the Indian tribe or
political subdivision is following a plan for management and protection
of the lands which the Secretary finds protects the land and assures its
use for purposes consistent with this chapter. Money appropriated for
Federal purposes from the land and water conservation fund shall,
without prejudice to the use of appropriations from other sources, be
available to Federal departments and agencies for the acquisition of
property for the purposes of this chapter.
(2) When a tract of land lies partially within and partially outside
the boundaries of a component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers
System, the appropriate Secretary may, with the consent of the
landowners for the portion outside the boundaries, acquire the entire
tract. The land or interest therein so acquired outside the boundaries
shall not be counted against the average one-hundred-acre-per-mile fee
title limitation of subsection (a)(1) of this section. The lands or
interests therein outside such boundaries, shall be disposed of,
consistent with existing authorities of law, by sale, lease, or
exchange.
(b) Curtailment of condemnation power in area 50 per centum or more of
which is owned in fee title by Federal or State government
If 50 per centum or more of the entire acreage outside the ordinary
high water mark on both sides of the river within a federally
administered wild, scenic or recreational river area is owned in fee
title by the United States, by the State or States within which it lies,
or by political subdivisions of those States, neither Secretary shall
acquire fee title to any lands by condemnation under authority of this
chapter. Nothing contained in this section, however, shall preclude the
use of condemnation when necessary to clear title or to acquire scenic
easements or such other easements as are reasonably necessary to give
the public access to the river and to permit its members to traverse the
length of the area or of selected segments thereof.
(c) Curtailment of condemnation power in urban areas covered by valid
and satisfactory zoning ordinances
Neither the Secretary of the Interior nor the Secretary of
Agriculture may acquire lands by condemnation, for the purpose of
including such lands in any national wild, scenic or recreational river
area, if such lands are located within any incorporated city, village,
or borough which has in force and applicable to such lands a duly
adopted, valid zoning ordinance that conforms with the purposes of this
chapter. In order to carry out the provisions of this subsection the
appropriate Secretary shall issue guidelines, specifying standards for
local zoning ordinances, which are consistent with the purposes of this
chapter. The standards specified in such guidelines shall have the
object of (A) prohibiting new commercial or industrial uses other than
commercial or industrial uses which are consistent with the purposes of
this chapter, and (B) the protection of the bank lands by means of
acreage, frontage, and setback requirements on development.
(d) Exchange of property
The appropriate Secretary is authorized to accept title to non-
Federal property within the authorized boundaries of any federally
administered component of the national wild and scenic rivers system
designated in section 1274 of this title or hereafter designated for
inclusion in the system by Act of Congress and, in exchange therefor,
convey to the grantor any federally owned property which is under his
jurisdiction within the State in which the component lies and which he
classifies as suitable for exchange or other disposal. The values of the
properties so exchanged either shall be approximately equal or, if they
are not approximately equal, shall be equalized by the payment of cash
to the grantor or to the Secretary as the circumstances require.
(e) Transfer of jurisdiction over federally owned property to
appropriate Secretary
The head of any Federal department or agency having administrative
jurisdiction over any lands or interests in land within the authorized
boundaries of any federally administered component of the national wild
and scenic rivers system designated in section 1274 of this title or
hereafter designated for inclusion in the system by Act of Congress is
authorized to transfer to the appropriate secretary jurisdiction over
such lands for administration in accordance with the provisions of this
chapter. Lands acquired by or transferred to the Secretary of
Agriculture for the purposes of this chapter within or adjacent to a
national forest shall upon such acquisition or transfer become national
forest lands.
(f) Acceptance of donated land, funds, and other property
The appropriate Secretary is authorized to accept donations of lands
and interests in land, funds, and other property for use in connection
with his administration of the national wild and scenic rivers system.
(g) Retained right of use and occupancy; termination; fair market value;
``improved property'' defined
(1) Any owner or owners (hereinafter in this subsection referred to
as ``owner'') of improved property on the date of its acquisition, may
retain for themselves and their successors or assigns a right of use and
occupancy of the improved property for noncommercial residential
purposes for a definite term not to exceed twenty-five years or, in lieu
thereof, for a term ending at the death of the owner, or the death of
his spouse, or the death of either or both of them. The owner shall
elect the term to be reserved. The appropriate Secretary shall pay to
the owner the fair market value of the property on the date of such
acquisition less the fair market value on such date of the right
retained by the owner.
(2) A right of use and occupancy retained pursuant to this
subsection shall be subject to termination whenever the appropriate
Secretary is given reasonable cause to find that such use and occupancy
is being exercised in a manner which conflicts with the purposes of this
chapter. In the event of such a finding, the Secretary shall tender to
the holder of that right an amount equal to the fair market value of
that portion of the right which remains unexpired on the date of
termination. Such right of use or occupancy shall terminate by operation
of law upon tender of the fair market price.
(3) The term ``improved property'', as used in this chapter, means a
detached, one-family dwelling (hereinafter referred to as ``dwelling''),
the construction of which was begun before January 1, 1967, (except
where a different date is specifically provided by law with respect to
any particular river) together with so much of the land on which the
dwelling is situated, the said land being in the same ownership as the
dwelling, as the appropriate Secretary shall designate to be reasonably
necessary for the enjoyment of the dwelling for the sole purpose of
noncommercial residential use, together with any structures accessory to
the dwelling which are situated on the land so designated.
(Pub. L. 90-542, Sec. 6, Oct. 2, 1968, 82 Stat. 912; Pub. L. 95-625,
title VII, Sec. 763(b), Nov. 10, 1978, 92 Stat. 3533; Pub. L. 99-590,
title V, Sec. 504, Oct. 30, 1986, 100 Stat. 3336.)
Amendments
1986--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 99-590, Sec. 504(b), (c), designated
existing provisions as par. (1), inserted provisions relating to
acquisition of lands by exchange in accordance with subsec. (d) of this
section, and added par. (2).
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 99-590, Sec. 504(d), inserted requirement that
acreage be outside ordinary high water mark on both sides of the river,
and inserted ``in fee title'' after ``owned''.
Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 99-590, Sec. 504(a), substituted ``Congress
is'' for ``Congress in''.
1978--Subsec. (g)(3). Pub. L. 95-625 inserted ``(except where a
different date is specifically provided by law with respect to any
particular river)''.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 1274, 1279, 1286 of this
title.
