REAL Protection Act

Resurveys Entitle Adjacent Landowners to Protection Act or the REAL Protection Act

This bill directs the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, or the Forest Service, as appropriate, to notify all property owners with land abutting or adjacent to federal land being resurveyed of the pending resurvey. A resurvey is an official rerunning and remarking intended to supersede the records of the original survey.

The appropriate agency shall notify affected landowners within 30 days of completion of the resurvey if it extends the boundaries of federal land.

If a resurvey results in private land being reclassified as federal land, the affected landowners shall be given the right of first refusal to purchase the land for fair market value minus the value of any significant improvements made to such lands, or be reimbursed for the fair market value of any such improvements. Affected landowners may not be charged with willful trespass onto the land unless they used such lands with the knowledge that they should be classified as federal land.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5077 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5077

To provide protections and certainty for private landowners related to 
resurveying certain Federal land under the administrative jurisdiction 
 of the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, and the 
                Forest Service, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 13, 2019

  Mr. Tipton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
  Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on 
Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide protections and certainty for private landowners related to 
resurveying certain Federal land under the administrative jurisdiction 
 of the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, and the 
                Forest Service, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Resurveys Entitle Adjacent 
Landowners to Protection Act'' or the ``REAL Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. RESURVEY TRANSPARENCY; NOTICE REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Notice.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 30 days before the 
        commencement of a resurvey of Federal land under the 
        administrative jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management, 
        the National Park Service, or the Forest Service, the Secretary 
        concerned shall notify all property owners with land abutting 
        or adjacent to the Federal land being resurveyed of the pending 
        resurvey. If a resurvey extends the boundaries of Federal land, 
        the Secretary concerned shall notify affected landowners of the 
        results of the resurvey not later than 30 days after the 
        completion of the survey.
            (2) Notification.--The Secretary concerned shall use 
        certified or registered mail to notify landowners under this 
        subsection.
            (3) Identification of landowners.--When identifying 
        affected landowners for the purpose of notification under this 
        subsection, the Secretary concerned shall use the most recently 
        available tax records.
    (b) Public Comment.--Not later than 30 days after completing a 
resurvey, the Secretary concerned shall publish a notice in the Federal 
Register. Affected landowners may comment to the Secretary concerned 
and by submitting formal comments to the Federal Register notice.

SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF PERSONS.

    If a resurvey results in land previously thought to be privately 
owned to be reclassified as Federal land, the persons thought to be a 
private owner of such land--
            (1) shall--
                    (A) be given the right of first refusal to purchase 
                the land for fair market value minus the value of any 
                significant improvements made to such lands; or
                    (B) be reimbursed for the fair market value of any 
                significant improvements made to such lands; and
            (2) may not be charged with willful trespass onto such land 
        unless the person used such lands with the knowledge that the 
        lands should be classified as Federal land.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act:
            (1) Resurvey.--The term ``resurvey'' means an official 
        rerunning and remarking intended to supersede the records of 
        the original survey.
            (2) Secretary concerned.--The term ``Secretary concerned'' 
        means--
                    (A) the Secretary of the Interior, when referring 
                Federal land under the administrative jurisdiction of 
                the Bureau of Land Management or the National Park 
                Service; and
                    (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, when referring to 
                Federal land under the administrative jurisdiction of 
                the Forest Servcie.
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