16 U.S.C. § 3161: Congressional declaration of…

Summary

Alaska needs an organized, ongoing way to plan and provide roads and utilities that includes the State, the Federal Government, and the public. Because the current rules for approving such projects on public lands are mixed, inconsistent, or sometimes missing, the law creates one clear approval process to limit harm when siting transportation and utility systems in lands set up or expanded by this Act.

Title 16, §3161

Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Congress finds that—

(a)Alaska’s transportation and utility network is largely undeveloped and the future needs for transportation and utility systems in Alaska would best be identified and provided for through an orderly, continuous decisionmaking process involving the State and Federal Governments and the public;

(b)the existing authorities to approve or disapprove applications for transportation and utility systems through public lands in Alaska are diverse, dissimilar, and, in some cases, absent; and

(c)to minimize the adverse impacts of siting transportation and utility systems within units established or expanded by this Act and to insure the effectiveness of the decisionmaking process, a single comprehensive statutory authority for the approval or disapproval of applications for such systems must be provided in this Act.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This Act, referred to in subsec. (c), is Pub. L 96–487, Dec. 2, 1980, 94 Stat. 2371, known as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 3101 of this title and Tables.

§3161 Congressional Declaration of Findings