16 U.S.C. § 410t — Acquisition and transfer of lands; private owner’s retention of right of use and occupancy

(a) Acquisition of lands; administrative jurisdiction of Federal lands; notice in Federal Register: The Secretary of the Interior may acquire land inside the park's designated area by donation, by donated money, or by money Congress appropriates. Federal land already in that area can be transferred to the Secretary's control if the agency that controls it agrees. The park officially becomes "Minute Man National Historical Park" once the Secretary announces in the Federal Register that enough land has been acquired.

(b) Transfer of lands: The Secretary of the Interior must transfer, at no cost, two parcels (shown on an April 1990 map) to the Secretary of Defense. In return, the Secretary of Defense must transfer, at no cost, four parcels (shown on maps dated April 1990) to the Secretary of the Interior, to become part of the park.

(c) Exceptions and limitations to authorization to acquire lands; condemnation: For land added to the park by the 1991 amendments ("1991 additions"), the Secretary may acquire land by donation, purchase, or exchange — with two exceptions: (1) land owned by Massachusetts or one of its local governments can only be acquired by donation; and (2) land used only for non-commercial homes as of July 1, 1991 can only be acquired with the owner's consent, unless the Secretary decides the property is being developed, or is about to be developed, in a way that harms the park's scenic, historical, cultural, or other values. That said, exception (2) does not stop the Secretary from using condemnation to clear up a disputed title on 1991-addition land. Within 6 months of October 24, 1992, and after public comment, the Secretary must publish specific guidelines for making the "harmful development" decisions in exception (2). These guidelines must require: (A) written notice to the Secretary before any development starts; (B) written notice from the Secretary to the owner about any proposed decision; and (C) a fair chance for the owner to comment on that decision.

(d) Private owner's retention of right of use and occupancy: (1) A person whose private property the Secretary acquires under subsection (c) may, at the time of acquisition, choose to keep living on or using the property for a set term — either up to 25 years, or until the owner or the owner's spouse dies, whichever is later. The owner picks which term to keep. (2) Unless the property is wholly or partly donated, the Secretary must pay the owner the property's fair market value on the acquisition date, minus the value of the use-and-occupancy right the owner keeps. (3) Ownership, for this subsection, is determined as of July 1, 1991.