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            Young’s legislation (H.R. 865) has been referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, where he serves as the Ranking Member.

          “Because of an unusual set of historical and legal circumstances, CVEA’s rights-of-way for electrical transmission lines are considered to be in trespass by the Bureau of Indian Affairs because power lines were constructed on certain lands that were later converted to 14 individual Native allotments,” Young said. 

            “Beginning in the 1950’s, the State and Federal governments issued the rights-of-way for the CVEA power lines.  However, when ANILCA was passed a large number of new Native Allotments were approved, including some in areas where the pre-existing power lines had been constructed.

            “In 1986, the Interior Board of Land Appeals applied a legal doctrine called ‘relation back’ to disputes arising over the rights-of-way on some of the Native Allotments.  Under this doctrine the allotees’ land-use rights predated the state and federal governments’ issuance of the rights-of-ways, putting CVEA in trespass on the allotment land.

            “According to testimony submitted by the General Accountability Office and CVEA during a hearing last year, existing remedies to resolve these conflicts are not working.

            “This is unfortunate and this legislation seeks to address the problem in an equitable manner for both the Native allotees and the power customers.”

The CVEA is a rural nonprofit electric cooperative formed in 1954.  It serves about 3,550 customers in a 240-mile area in the Copper River Basin and Valdez areas spanning the Glenn and Richardson highways.

          A General Accountability Office (GAO) study was conducted on the issue, after which Young’s legislation was developed.  A similar bill was the subject of a Resources Committee hearing in 2006, but time expired in the 109^th Congress before it could be considered further.

          Young’s bill legislatively affirms the rights-of-way and provides a compensation process utilizing the permanent judgment fund to compensate for any property right affected by the legislation.  H.R. 865 enables CVEA to serve its customers, promotes future infrastructure development in Alaska, and protects the value of Native allotments.

The legislation Young introduced is identical to S. 205, sponsored by Senators Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).