16 U.S.C. § 460x–7 — Acquisition of property

submitted 56 years ago by Pub. L. 91-479 to r/title-16-CONSERVATION · 491 words · no verdicts yet

in plain englishAI-generated · not legal advice

This section lets the Secretary buy land for the Sleeping Bear Dunes Lakeshore through donation, purchase, or trade. If a sale would cause an owner financial hardship, the Secretary must buy the property within a year. Before using condemnation, the Secretary must first try hard to negotiate a purchase.

(a) Authority of Secretary; manner of acquisition; procedure for lands partly within designated area: The Secretary may acquire land and land interests for this subchapter's purposes by donation, by purchase with donated or government funds, by transferring funds, by transfer from another federal agency, or by exchange. If a piece of land is only partly inside the designated lakeshore area, the Secretary may buy the whole tract to avoid extra costs from splitting the property. Land acquired outside the designated area this way can later be traded for privately owned land inside the area, and any leftover land not used in a trade can be disposed of following the rules in certain chapters of titles 40 and 41. (b) Sale offers; hardship from delay; time and manner of purchase: If an individual who owns property in the lakeshore offers to sell it, the Secretary must give that offer prompt and careful attention. If that owner tells the Secretary that keeping the property would cause them hardship, the Secretary must immediately look at the evidence, and — if money is available — must buy the property within one year of getting that notice, paying no more than fair market value. (c) State donations; transfer from Federal agency to administrative jurisdiction of Secretary: Property owned by the State of Michigan or its local governments can only be acquired by donation, not purchase. Separately, any federal property that the government already owned as of October 21, 1970, located within the designated area, can be transferred to the Secretary's control at no cost, as long as the agency that currently has custody of it agrees. (d) Initiation of condemnation proceedings subsequent to failure of Secretary to negotiate for purchase of property: The Secretary cannot start condemnation proceedings on any property until first making every reasonable effort to buy it through negotiation. A signed certificate from the Secretary or a designated representative, stating that this effort was made along with the hardship-purchase requirement in subsection (b), counts as strong evidence that the requirement was met. (e) Condemnation to acquire clear, marketable, and encumbrance-free title: Nothing in this subchapter stops the Secretary from using condemnation just to clear up a title problem, so the government ends up with a clean title free of any liens or other claims.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

(a) Authority of Secretary; manner of acquisition; procedure for lands partly within designated area

The Secretary is authorized to acquire by donation, purchase with donated or appropriated funds, transfer funds, transfer from any Federal agency, or exchange lands and interests therein for the purposes of this subchapter. When an individual tract of land is only partly within the area designated, the Secretary may acquire the entire tract by any of the above methods to avoid the payment of severance costs. Land so acquired outside the designated area may be exchanged by the Secretary for non-Federal lands within such area, and any portion of the land not utilized for such exchanges may be disposed of in accordance with the provisions of chapters 1 to 11 of title 40 and division C (except sections 3302, 3307(e), 3501(b), 3509, 3906, 4710, and 4711) of subtitle I of title 41.

(b) Sale offers; hardship from delay; time and manner of purchase

In exercising his authority to acquire property under this subchapter, the Secretary shall give immediate and careful consideration to any offer made by an individual owning property within the lakeshore to sell such property to the Secretary. An individual owning property within the lakeshore may notify the Secretary that the continued ownership by such individual of that property would result in hardship to him, and the Secretary shall immediately consider such evidence and shall within one year following the submission of such notice, subject to the availability of funds, purchase such property offered for a price which does not exceed its fair market value.

Any property or interests therein, owned by the State of Michigan or any political subdivisions thereof, may be acquired only by donation. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any property owned by the United States on October 21, 1970, located within such area may, with the concurrence of the agency having custody thereof, be transferred without consideration to the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary for use by him in carrying out the provisions of this subchapter.

(d) Initiation of condemnation proceedings subsequent to failure of Secretary to negotiate for purchase of property; certificate of compliance with negotiation procedure

With respect to that property which the Secretary is authorized to acquire by condemnation under the terms of this subchapter, the Secretary shall initiate no condemnation proceedings until after he has made every reasonable effort to acquire such property by negotiation and purchase. The certificate of the determination by the Secretary or his designated representative that there has been compliance with the provisions of this subsection and of subsection (b) of this section shall be prima facie evidence of such compliance.

(e) Condemnation to acquire clear, marketable, and encumbrance-free title

Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to prohibit the use of condemnation as a means of acquiring a clear and marketable title, free of any and all encumbrances.

Source credit: (Pub. L. 91–479, § 8, Oct. 21, 1970, 84 Stat. 1077.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

1970Enacted · Pub. L. 91-479 · 84 Stat. 1077

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 91-479 on 1970-10-21.

all 0 arguments · sorted by: best

no arguments yet — make the first case