{
  "id": "RL32142",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL32142",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 319865,
      "date": "2003-11-07",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-08T14:34:41.035544",
      "title": "Highway Rights of Way on Public Lands: R.S. 2477 and Disclaimers of Interest",
      "summary": "A succinct provision in an 1866 statute known as \"R.S.  2477\" granted rights of way across\nunreserved federal lands for \"the construction of highways.\" The provision was repealed in 1976\nby the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), an act that also protected valid rights\nof way already established by that time. What definitions, criteria, and law should be applied to\nconfirm or validate these R.S.  2477 rights of way has been controversial. The issues are\nimportant to states and communities whose highway systems are affected. The issues are also\nimportant because the rights of way may run either through undeveloped federal lands that might\notherwise qualify for wilderness designation or across lands that are now private or within federal\nreserves (such as parks or national forests) created after the highways might have been established. \n Section 315 of FLPMA authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to issue a \"disclaimer of interest\"\nif an interest or interests of the United States in lands has \"terminated by operation of law or is\notherwise invalid.\" A disclaimer is a recordable document that can help remove a cloud from land\ntitle because it has the same effect as if the United States had conveyed the interest in question. The\nDepartment of the Interior has finalized amendments to existing regulations on disclaimers of\ninterest that allow states, state political subdivisions, and others to apply for disclaimers that\npreviously were time-barred. A recent Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Utah and\nthe Department of the Interior establishes an \"acknowledgment process\" whereby R.S.\n 2477 rights of way on certain federal lands can be validated and a disclaimer to them\nissued by the United States. Several other states have requested negotiations to develop MOUs\nregarding R.S.  2477 rights of way. \n The disclaimer regulation changes are controversial for many reasons; one of which is that\nCongress in Section 108 of  P.L. 104-208  prohibited regulations \"pertaining to\" R.S.  2477\nfrom becoming effective without Congressional approval. The use of disclaimers to acknowledge\nR.S.  2477 rights of way is also controversial because the criteria that will be used to\ndetermine the validity of asserted R.S.  2477 claims are not set out, and without clearly\nstated criteria and standards, it is not clear whether the terms of Section 315 have been met --\nwhether a disclaimable interest of the United States has terminated or not. Most agree that a\nresolution of R.S.  2477 validity issues is desirable, but there is disagreement on standards\nand on whether and how the Congress and the courts should be involved.  H.R. 1639 \nin the 108th Congress would authorize a process for determining the validity of R.S.  2477\nclaims and define crucial terms for those determinations. A House-passed amendment to FY2004\nInterior and Related Agencies Appropriations ( H.R. 2691 ) would have prohibited\nimplementation of the disclaimer regulation amendments in certain federal conservation areas, but\nwas removed in conference. This report reviews the disclaimer provision of Section 315 of\nFLPMA, the Utah MOU, the R.S.  2477 grant to construct highways and interpretation of\nit, the relationship of the new disclaimer regulations to that statute and to the statutory prohibition\nagainst rules that \"pertain to\" R.S.  2477, and H.R.  1639. It will be updated as\nevents warrant; see  CRS Report RS21402  for information on recent events.",
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      "typeId": "REPORTS",
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      "topics": []
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  ],
  "topics": [
    "Appropriations"
  ]
}