House Engrossed

State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-second Legislature First Regular Session 2015

HOUSE BILL 2176

 

AN ACT

 

Amending title 37, chapter 5, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 37-910; relating to public lands.

 

 

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

 

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1.  Title 37, chapter 5, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 37-910, to read:

START_STATUTE37-910.  Relinquishment of nonenumerated federal land; applicability; definition

A.  From and after the effective date of this section, the commissioner shall annually request the United States to relinquish all constitutionally nonenumerated federal land within this state through sale or to the state land trust on or before December 31, 2025.

B.  Beginning January 1, 2026, the attorney general shall initiate proceedings against the United States in order to force the relinquishment of all remaining constitutionally nonenumerated federal land within this state to the state land trust.

C.  This section does not apply to property:

1.  That is held by the United States for the benefit, including water rights, of a federal reclamation project or managed by a political subdivision of this state or a special taxing district organized under title 48.

2.  On which permanent improvements are constructed or that is legally encumbered.

3.  That is associated with electrical power projects, including generation, transmission or distribution.

D.  For the purposes of this section, "constitutionally nonenumerated federal land" means land that is held by the federal government and that does not serve a purpose enumerated in the United States Constitution, including article 1, section 8, paragraph 17 of the United States Constitution, and:

1.  Includes:

(a)  United States bureau of land management holdings.

(b)  national forests.

(c)  wilderness areas.

(d)  wildlife refuges.

(e)  national monuments.

(f)  national historic sites.

2.  Does not include:

(a)  national parks.

(b)  Indian reservations.

(c)  federal military installations.

(d)  federal lands that contain permanent improvements such as federal structures for post offices, federal courts and federal agencies. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2.  Legislative findings

A.  The 42.1 percent of Arizona land (approximately 30,700,000 acres) under the control of the United States:

1.  Was not constitutionally conveyed to the United States.

2.  Is typically not being used for constitutionally enumerated uses.

3.  Has been held since Arizona's 1912 statehood, which is an unreasonable length of time.

4.  Is grossly disproportionate to similar federal land holdings within the eastern states, which constitutes a violation of the Equal Footing Doctrine and the principle of basic fairness across sovereign states.

B.  In comparison to eastern states, the large presence of the United States as a landholder within this state clearly dilutes state sovereignty, impedes this state's ability to govern (for example, to lay and collect taxes, fund education, fund first responders, fund and maintain infrastructure and exercise policing powers), and begs the question as to whether those lands in question actually comprise a portion of the current state of Arizona or whether they have not fundamentally changed disposition from the territorial status that existed before 1912.

C.  According to Professor Robert Natelson of the Independence Institute, the United States Constitution grants the federal government no plenary power to hold land, only to dispose of and to acquire real estate and other property to carry out any enumerated purpose, either in the exercise of a core power or through the implied powers memorialized in the Necessary and Proper Clause.  Land acquired or held by the federal government within states may be held only for enumerated purposes, and all federal holdings not being used or needed for enumerated purposes must be disposed of within a reasonable time.  Nonenclave federal land held under the Property Clause should be held only for enumerated purposes.  The land is subject to state law, and the federal government must be treated like any other landowner. States must respect the discharge of legitimate federal functions associated with federally held lands.