Act to Clarify State Jurisdiction Over Public Lands Exposed

Model Bill Info
Bill Title	Act to Clarify State Jurisdiction over Public Lands
Date Introduced	December 2, 2016
Date Finalized	January 12, 2017
Date Accessed	April 25, 2018
Type	Model Policy
Status	Final
Task Forces	Federalism and International Relations
Keywords	Public Lands, Federalism, Environment

Summary

Relating to public lands, this act requires the governor, state attorney general, state commissioner of public lands or any other relevant state public official to review proposed changes in legislative jurisdiction over any land or other area, including national monuments. This act would also require the governor, state attorney general, state commissioner of public lands or any other relevant state public official to determine if a national monument is not confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the items to be protected by the monument and authorizing litigation by the attorney general.

Act to Clarify State Jurisdiction over Public Lands

Model Policy
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF [INSERT STATE]:

A. In order to acquire all or any measure of legislative jurisdiction of the kind involved in Article I,
Section 8, Clause 17 of the constitution of the United States over any land or other area, including national monuments, or in order to relinquish such legislative jurisdiction or any measure thereof [which] that may be vested in the United States, the United States, acting through a duly authorized
department, agency or officer, shall file with the governor a notice of intention to acquire or relinquish such legislative jurisdiction, together with a sufficient number of duly authenticated copies [thereof] to meet the recording requirements of Subsection [C] F of this section [with the governor]. The notice from the United States shall contain:

(1) a detailed accounting of each individual jurisdiction to be protected;

(2) the precise global positioning system location of each jurisdiction to be protected;

(3) the square footage that each jurisdiction to be protected occupies;

(4) the total square footage of the parcel of land comprising the designation of the jurisdiction;

(5) a peer-reviewed justification for the protection of the jurisdiction by the federal government.

B. Immediately upon receipt of the notice, the governor shall furnish the commissioner of public lands and the attorney general with a copy of it and shall request [his] their comments and recommendations.

C. The governor, the commissioner of public lands and the attorney general shall determine whether the
limits of the jurisdiction are confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the items to be protected by the designation of the jurisdiction.

D. The governor shall transmit the notice, together with [his] the governor’s comments and recommendations, if any, and the comments and recommendations of the commissioner of
public lands and the attorney general, if any, to the next session of the legislature. Unless prior to the expiration of the legislative session to which the notice is transmitted the legislature has adopted a resolution approving the transfer of legislative jurisdiction as proposed in the notice, the transfer shall not be effective.

E. If the governor, the commissioner of public lands and the attorney general determine pursuant to Subsection C of this section that the limits of a parcel comprising the jurisdiction to be ceded are not confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the items to be protected, the attorney general may commence an action to confine the limits of the parcel comprising the jurisdiction to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the items to be protected by the jurisdiction.

F. The governor shall cause a duly authenticated copy of the notice and resolution to be recorded
in the office of the county clerk of the county where the land or other area affected by the transfer of jurisdiction is situated, and, upon such recordation, the transfer of jurisdiction shall take effect. If the land or other area is situated in more than one county, a duly authenticated copy of the notice and resolution shall be recorded in the county clerk’s office of each such county.

G. The governor shall cause copies of all documents recorded pursuant to this act.