House Bill No. 607

Introduced By _______________________________________________________________________________



A Bill for an Act entitled: "An Act providing for the issuance of historic right-of-way deeds by the department of natural resources and conservation granting nonexclusive easements for historic uses of state lands for rights-of-way; providing for the criteria for issuance of the deeds and the terms of the deeds; requiring payment of a fee and the value of the historic right-of-way; providing a statutory appropriation; amending section

17-7-502, MCA; and providing a termination date."



WHEREAS, the Department of State Lands, as the predecessor of the Department of Natural Resources with respect to state land, encouraged the development of road rights-of-way across state land before 1972; and

WHEREAS, the Department of State Lands either did not charge for these rights-of-way or charged minimal fees for the rights-of-way before 1972; and

WHEREAS, many of the road rights-of-way granted by the Department of State Lands were granted without a written easement; and

WHEREAS, Article X, section 11(2), of the Montana Constitution requires that the fair market value, ascertained in the manner provided by law, must be charged for the disposition of an interest in state land; and

WHEREAS, the 55th Legislature intends that the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation honor the historical uses of state land for rights-of-way.



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



NEW SECTION. Section 1.  Recognition of historic right-of-way -- criteria for right-of-way deed -- conditions -- fees. (1) A person or a county may apply to the department for a historic right-of-way deed by filing an application with the department by October 1, 2001, on a form prescribed by the department. An application must be accompanied by:

(a) an application fee of $50;

(b) a notarized affidavit:

(i) demonstrating that the applicant or the applicant's predecessor in interest used the right-of-way applied for before 1973;

(ii) describing the purpose for which the right-of-way was used before 1973; and

(iii) demonstrating that the historic right-of-way applied for is the right-of-way demonstrated in the evidence provided in subsection (1)(c); and

(c) (i) aerial photographs taken by an agency of the United States demonstrating use of the right-of-way applied for; or

(ii) other evidence of the use of the right-of-way applied for.

(2)  The department shall review an application and other evidence submitted pursuant to subsection (1) and shall issue a historic right-of-way deed in the name of the applicant if:

(a) the applicant pays the application fee provided in subsection (1)(a) and the fair market value of the historic right-of-way as provided in subsection (4);

(b) the applicant has shown by substantial evidence the matters required in subsections (1)(b) and (1)(c)(i) or (1)(c)(ii);

(c) the department has, if necessary, made a field inspection of the right-of-way applied for; and

(d) the deed is approved by the board.

(3) A historic right-of-way deed issued in the name of the applicant may be assigned by the applicant to another person with the approval of the department. The department may not require a fee for the approval of an assignment and may not withhold approval for any reason other than that the use of the historic right-of-way is contrary to subsection (5).

(4) (a) At the time of issuing the historic right-of-way deed, the department shall collect from the applicant the full market value of the acreage of the historic right-of-way based on the following classifications of land:

(i) $37.50 per acre for state land classified as grazing land;

(ii) $275 per acre for state land classified as timber land;

(iii) $100 per acre for state land classified as crop land; and

(iv) $100 per acre for other land.

(b) Amounts collected pursuant to subsection (4)(a) must be deposited in the public school fund provided for in 20-9-601.

(5) If application is made in accordance with this section, a historic right-of-way deed must be issued by the department, subject to the approval of the board, on the following terms:

(a) the right-of-way is only for the purposes for which the road was used before 1973;

(b) the right-of-way is only for the minimum width necessary for the purposes of subsection (5)(a); and

(c) the right-of-way is only for the physical condition of the road existing on the date the historic right-of-way deed is issued by the department.

(6)  Issuance of a historic right-of-way deed pursuant to this section is exempt from the requirements of Title 75, chapter 1, parts 1 and 2, and Title 22, chapter 3, part 4.

(7) The survey requirements of 77-2-102 may be waived by the department for the issuance of a historic right-of-way deed if the department determines there is sufficient information available to define the boundaries of the right-of-way for the purposes of recording the easement.

(8) The department may attach conditions to a historic right-of-way deed necessary to ensure compliance with law. However, the department may not require reversion of the right-of-way to the state.

(9) For the purposes of this section, "historic right-of-way deed" means a document issued by the department granting to the applicant a nonexclusive easement over state land.



NEW SECTION. Section 2.  State lands historic right-of-way account -- statutory appropriation. There is a state lands historic right-of-way account in the state special revenue fund. The application fee collected by the department pursuant to [section 1(1)(a)] must be deposited in the account. Money in the account is statutorily appropriated to the department, as provided in 17-7-502, for the expenses of the department in administering [section 1]. Money in the account on the termination date of the account must be deposited in the general fund.



Section 3.  Section 17-7-502, MCA, is amended to read:

"17-7-502.   Statutory appropriations -- definition -- requisites for validity. (1) A statutory appropriation is an appropriation made by permanent law that authorizes spending by a state agency without the need for a biennial legislative appropriation or budget amendment.

(2)  Except as provided in subsection (4), to be effective, a statutory appropriation must comply with both of the following provisions:

(a)  The law containing the statutory authority must be listed in subsection (3).

(b)  The law or portion of the law making a statutory appropriation must specifically state that a statutory appropriation is made as provided in this section.

(3)  The following laws are the only laws containing statutory appropriations: 2-9-202; 2-17-105; 2-18-812; 3-5-901; 5-13-403; 10-3-203; 10-3-310; 10-3-312; 10-3-314; 10-4-301; 15-1-111; 15-23-706; 15-30-195; 15-31-702; 15-37-117; 15-38-202; 15-65-121; 15-70-101; 16-1-404; 16-1-410; 16-1-411; 16-11-308; 17-3-106; 17-3-212; 17-5-404; 17-5-424; 17-5-804; 17-6-101; 17-6-201; 17-7-304; 18-11-112; 19-2-502; 19-6-709; 19-9-1007; 19-17-301; 19-18-512; 19-18-513; 19-18-606; 19-19-205; 19-19-305; 19-19-506; 20-8-107; 20-8-111; 20-9-361; 20-26-1503; 23-5-136; 23-5-306; 23-5-409; 23-5-610; 23-5-612; 23-5-631; 23-7-301; 23-7-402; 32-1-537; 37-43-204; 37-51-501; 39-71-503; 39-71-907; 39-71-2321; 39-71-2504; 44-12-206; 44-13-102; 50-4-623; 50-5-232; 50-40-206; 53-6-150; 53-6-703; 53-24-206; 60-2-220; 67-3-205; 75-1-1101; 75-5-1108; 75-6-214; 75-11-313; 76-12-123; [section 2]; 80-2-103; 80-2-222; 80-4-416; 81-5-111; 82-11-136; 82-11-161; 85-1-220; 85-20-402; 90-3-301; 90-4-215; 90-6-331; 90-7-220; 90-7-221; and 90-9-306.

(4)  There is a statutory appropriation to pay the principal, interest, premiums, and costs of issuing, paying, and securing all bonds, notes, or other obligations, as due, that have been authorized and issued pursuant to the laws of Montana. Agencies that have entered into agreements authorized by the laws of Montana to pay the state treasurer, for deposit in accordance with 17-2-101 through 17-2-107, as determined by the state treasurer, an amount sufficient to pay the principal and interest as due on the bonds or notes have statutory appropriation authority for the payments. (In subsection (3): pursuant to sec. 7, Ch. 567, L. 1991, the inclusion of 19-6-709 terminates upon death of last recipient eligible for supplemental benefit; and pursuant to sec. 7(2), Ch. 29, L. 1995, the inclusion of 15-30-195 terminates July 1, 2001.)"



NEW SECTION. Section 4.  Codification instruction. [Sections 1 and 2] are intended to be codified as an integral part of Title 77, chapter 1, part 1, and the provisions of Title 77, chapter 1, part 1, apply to [sections 1 and 2].



NEW SECTION. Section 5.  Termination. [This act] terminates October 1, 2003.

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