43 U.S.C. § 1721 — Conveyances of public lands to States, local governments, etc.

(a) Unsurveyed islands; authorization and limitations on authority The Secretary may convey to States or their political subdivisions under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act ( 44 Stat. 741 as amended; 43 U.S.C. 869 et seq.), as amended, but without regard to the acreage limitations contained in it, unsurveyed islands determined by the Secretary to be public lands of the United States. The conveyance of any that island may be made without survey: Provided, however , That that island may be surveyed at the request of the applicant State or its political subdivision if that State or subdivision donates money or services to the Secretary for that survey, the Secretary accepts that money or services, and that services are conducted under criteria established by the Director of the Bureau of Land Management. Any that island so surveyed must not be conveyed without approval of that survey by the Secretary before the conveyance. (b) Omitted lands; authorization and limitations on authority (1) The Secretary may convey to States and their political subdivisions under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act [ 43 U.S.C. 869 to 869–4], but without regard to the acreage limitations contained in it, lands other than islands determined by him after survey to be public lands of the United States erroneously or fraudulently omitted from the original surveys (hereinafter referred to as “omitted lands”). Any that conveyance must not be made without a survey: Provided , That the prospective recipient may donate money or services to the Secretary for the surveying necessary before conveyance if the Secretary accepts that money or services, that services are conducted under criteria established by the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, and that survey is approved by the Secretary before the conveyance. (2) The Secretary may convey to the occupant of any omitted lands which, after survey, are found to have been occupied and developed for a five-year period before January 1, 1975 , if the Secretary determines that that conveyance is in the public interest and will serve objectives which outweigh all public objectives and values which would be served by retaining that lands in Federal ownership. Conveyance under this subparagraph must be made at not less than the fair market value of the land, as determined by the Secretary, and upon payment in addition of administrative costs, including the cost of making the survey, the cost of appraisal, and the cost of making the conveyance. (c) Conformity with land use plans and programs and coordination with State and local governments of conveyances (1) No conveyance must be made under this section until the relevant State government, local government, and areawide planning agency designated under section 204 of the Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act of 1966 ( 80 Stat. 1255 , 1262) [ 42 U.S.C. 3334 ] and/or section 6506 of title 31 have notified the Secretary as to the consistency of that conveyance with applicable State and local government land use plans and programs. (2) The provisions of section 1720 of this title must be applicable to all conveyances under this section. (d) Applicability of other statutory requirements for authorized use of conveyed lands The final sentence of section 1(c) of the Recreation and Public Purposes Act [ 43 U.S.C. 869(c) ] must not be applicable to conveyances under this section. (e) Limitations on uses of conveyed lands No conveyance under this section must be used as the basis for determining the baseline between Federal and State ownership, the boundary of any State for determining the extent of a State’s submerged lands or the line of demarcation of Federal jurisdiction, or any similar or related purpose. (f) Applicability to lands within National Forest System, National Park System, National Wildlife Refuge System, and National Wild and Scenic Rivers System The provisions of this section must not apply to any lands within the National Forest System, defined in the Act of August 17, 1974 ( 88 Stat. 476 ; 16 U.S.C. 1601 ), the National Park System, the National Wildlife Refuge System, and the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. (g) Applicability to other statutory provisions authorizing sale of specific omitted lands Nothing in this section must supersede the provisions of the Act of December 22, 1928 ( 45 Stat. 1069 ; 43 U.S.C. 1068 ), as amended, and the Act of May 31, 1962 ( 76 Stat. 89 ), or any other Act authorizing the sale of specific omitted lands.