NEWS RELEASE

For release: December 24, 2002                   

Contacts: David Quick 202/452-5125
                  Jeff Holdren, 202/452-7779

 

BLM Issues Final Rule on Conveyances, Disclaimers, and Correction Documents

 

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued a final rule today that will allow any entity claiming title to lands or an interest in lands to apply for a "recordable disclaimer of interest."  A recordable disclaimer of interest is an official determination that the United States neither owns nor holds a valid interest in certain lands.  The disclaimer document is used to create an administrative procedure for landowners and other claimants to remove clouds of title from their lands or interest in lands.

The final rule will be published in the Federal Register and will further the intentions Congress expressed in its 1986 revisions to the Quiet Title Act (28 USC 2409).  It is designed to eliminate the need for private legislation or litigation to remove clouds of title to the lands in which the BLM no longer holds interest.  This rule

·        removes the 12-year regulatory filing deadline for states from the existing regulation to better conform to the revised Quiet Title Act;

·        removes the requirement that an applicant be a "present owner of record" to be qualified under the Act;

·        allows any entity claiming title, not just current owners of record, to apply for a disclaimer of interest;

·        defines the "state" as used in this rule; and

·        clarifies how the BLM will approve disclaimer applications involving another Federal land managing agency.

The recordable disclaimer of interest provision is a case-by-case determination created by section 315 of FLPMA.  It allows BLM to disclaim federal ownership in a wide variety of property interest that may be in dispute.  The process for considering recordable disclaimer of interest applications has been in the Code of Federal Regulations since 1984.

The BLM started the public review and comment process on the proposed rule on Feb. 22, 2002.  The agency received over 17,000 comments on the proposed rule, analyzed them for substantive issues, and, where appropriate, incorporated suggested changes into this final rule.

A copy of the final rule can be obtained by writing to the BLM at Regulatory Affairs Group, 1620 L Street NW, 401 LS, Washington, DC  20036 or on the Internet at www.blm.gov.

 

The BLM, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, manages more land - 262 million surface acres - than any other Federal agency. Most of the country's BLM-managed public land is located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The Bureau, which has a budget of $1.8 billion and a workforce of 10,000 employees, also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the Nation. The BLM's "multiple use" mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The BLM accomplishes this by managing for such resources as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, and energy and mineral development that helps meet the nation's energy needs, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on the public lands.

 

                                                                   -BLM-