This bill requires the Secretary of Agriculture (acting through the Chief of the Forest Service) to convey a specific Forest Service parcel in Perryville, Arkansas — roughly 0.81 acres identified as parcel 850–10555–001 — to Perry County if the County files a written request within 180 days of enactment. The transfer is by quitclaim deed, made without monetary consideration, and is subject to existing rights, a discretionary reversion provision, and any other conditions the Secretary deems necessary to protect United States interests.
The County must pay all transaction costs, including a survey (if necessary), any federal environmental analyses, and any studies required under the National Historic Preservation Act. The Secretary is explicitly not required to provide covenants or warranties under CERCLA section 120(h)(3)(A).
The property must be used for public purposes (examples given include education and youth development), and if it ceases to be used that way it may revert to federal ownership at the Secretary’s discretion.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill directs the Secretary to transfer all United States’ interest in a single Forest Service parcel in Perryville to Perry County on a quitclaim, no-consideration basis if the County requests conveyance within 180 days. The deed is subject to existing rights, potential reversion, and any protective terms the Secretary imposes.
Who It Affects
Directly affects Perry County (the prospective grantee), the U.S. Forest Service (the grantor), and local recipients of the site (schools, youth programs). Secondary stakeholders include environmental and historic-preservation reviewers and any holders of preexisting property rights or encumbrances on the parcel.
Why It Matters
Although the parcel is small, the bill shifts environmental, survey, and NHPA compliance costs to a local government and uses a quitclaim/no-warranty transfer that reallocates title and environmental risk. It’s a compact example of how Congress can clear federal land for local public use while avoiding federal cleanup or warranty obligations.
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What This Bill Actually Does
Congress instructs the Secretary of Agriculture to transfer a single, identified Forest Service parcel in Perryville, Arkansas, to Perry County — but only if the County asks for it within 180 days after the law takes effect. The bill pins down the parcel by its local parcel number and street address but requires a survey acceptable to the Secretary to establish the exact acreage and legal description before closing.
The conveyance is structured as a quitclaim deed, which conveys whatever interest the United States holds without guaranteeing clear title, and the transfer must be made without any purchase price. The deed is ‘‘subject to valid existing rights’’ and to a possible reversion: if the County stops using the land for public purposes (the bill gives examples such as education and youth development), the Secretary may take the property back.
The Secretary also retains authority to add other terms needed to protect federal interests.Practically, the County bears the up-front transaction burden: it must pay for a survey (if one is needed) and for any federal environmental reviews or resource surveys federal law requires. It must also fund any studies necessary to comply with the National Historic Preservation Act (the bill cites division A of subtitle III of title 54, U.S.C.).
Finally, the statute says explicitly that the Secretary ‘‘shall not be required to provide any covenant or warranty’’ under the cited CERCLA provision — meaning the federal government is opting out of the customary obligation to provide certain assurances about contamination and remediation responsibilities.Those combined choices — an expedited request deadline, county-paid studies, a quitclaim/no-consideration conveyance, and an explicit no-warranty clause — make this a fast, low-cost federal transfer on paper, but one that leaves title, environmental, and long-term stewardship risks and costs to the county and any future local users.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The County must submit a written request for the parcel within 180 days of enactment or the conveyance authority lapses.
The parcel is described as approximately 0.81 acres at 1069 Fourche Avenue, Perryville, AR (parcel 850–10555–001); the Secretary can require a survey to fix the exact acreage and legal description.
The conveyance is by quitclaim deed, made without monetary consideration, and is ‘‘subject to valid existing rights’’ and any terms the Secretary imposes to protect U.S. interests.
Perry County must pay all conveyance costs, explicitly including a survey (if needed), any federal environmental analyses or resource surveys, and studies required under the National Historic Preservation Act.
The Secretary is not required to provide any covenant or warranty under CERCLA section 120(h)(3)(A); the property must be used only for public purposes and may revert to the United States at the Secretary’s discretion if the County stops such use.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Conditional requirement to convey upon written request
This subsection creates the basic trigger: if Perry County files a written request within 180 days, the Secretary must convey ‘‘all right, title, and interest’’ in the described parcel. The timing condition is strict — the transfer authority depends on that request — and the conveyance command is mandatory once the procedural precondition is met, subject to the other statutory limits in later subsections.
Parcel identification and survey authority
Congress identifies the parcel by local parcel number and street address and estimates its size at 0.81 acres. The subsection also authorizes the Secretary to require a survey to establish the exact acreage and legal description; that survey becomes the operative legal description for the conveyance and can affect boundaries, easements, and encumbrances that the county will inherit.
Form of deed and protective qualifiers
The statute requires a quitclaim deed made without consideration and clarifies the conveyance is subject to valid existing rights and reversion under subsection (g). A quitclaim conveys whatever interest the United States actually holds, without warranty as to title quality, while the ‘‘valid existing rights’’ language preserves third-party easements or other encumbrances. The Secretary may also add other terms she considers appropriate to protect federal interests, giving the agency discretion to tailor post-transfer protections.
Cost allocation for conveyance
This subsection shifts all conveyance-related costs to the County. It specifically lists survey costs (if the Secretary requires one), any federal environmental analysis or resource surveys required by law, and any analyses needed to meet the National Historic Preservation Act. That allocation can be significant depending on the scope of required reviews and whether potential contamination, species, or cultural-resource issues arise.
Environmental warranty exemption (CERCLA)
By name-checking section 120(h)(3)(A) of CERCLA, the bill makes clear the Secretary ‘‘shall not be required to provide any covenant or warranty’’ for the property. In practice, that reduces the federal government’s obligation to give an assurance about remediation or residual contamination and increases the buyer’s risk exposure — a material shift from transfers that include express covenants or cleanup commitments.
Use restriction, reversion, and definitions
The conveyed parcel must be used for public purposes such as education and youth development; if use departs from this limitation, the property may revert to federal ownership at the Secretary’s discretion. The subsection also defines ‘‘County’’ (Perry County, Arkansas) and ‘‘Secretary’’ (Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service), clarifying who exercises rights and responsibilities under the statute.
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Who Benefits
- Perry County, Arkansas — Gains local control of a centrally located parcel for public uses without paying a purchase price, enabling new or expanded education and youth programs on a site currently managed by the Forest Service.
- Local schools and youth-service organizations — Obtain a potential site for programming, facilities, or community services that might otherwise be unavailable or harder to secure on the private market.
- U.S. Forest Service/federal land managers — Remove a small urban parcel from agency management duties and potential administrative costs associated with a single non-forested urban property, simplifying local forest-unit responsibilities.
Who Bears the Cost
- Perry County — Must fund the survey (if required), federal environmental analyses, and any NHPA compliance work; also inherits title risk from a quitclaim/no-warranty transfer and potential future liabilities tied to contamination or encumbrances.
- Local taxpayers or county budgets — If the county proceeds, the up-front and potential long-term costs (remediation, stewardship, or compliance) could fall on county finances or require new appropriations.
- Potential future federal responsibilities — If the Secretary exercises reversion, the federal government may regain a parcel that requires administrative processing or remediation; the discretionary reversion framework also creates monitoring overhead for the agency to enforce use restrictions.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The bill pits local control and low-cost transfer of a small parcel to support public programs against protecting the public from latent environmental, title, and historic-preservation liabilities; it solves immediate local access to land at the cost of shifting financial and legal risk onto the county and creating discretionary, potentially uncertain federal oversight.
The bill shifts substantial transactional and environmental risk to a single local government while offering no purchase price in return. A quitclaim deed conveys no title warranties, so Perry County could inherit defects, easements, or contamination liabilities that a warranty-backed deed would otherwise expose the federal government to.
The statute’s explicit carve-out from CERCLA covenant obligations magnifies that risk: the Secretary ‘‘shall not be required’’ to provide the particular covenant or warranty referenced, leaving open who bears cleanup responsibility if contamination surfaces beyond what ‘‘valid existing rights’’ might cover.
Implementation questions remain. The 180-day request window pressures county decision-making and could force a rushed survey or incomplete environmental/historic reviews.
The Secretary’s discretion to add terms ‘‘appropriate to protect the interests of the United States’’ and to decide whether to reclaim the property if use changes creates legal uncertainty for county planners and potential third-party funders. Finally, the statute does not specify timelines for completing required federal reviews or for the reversion process, which could complicate budgeting and long-term planning for both local and federal actors.
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