§459b–1 Acquisition of Property

Summary

The Secretary of the Interior can acquire land, water, buildings, and other property inside the Cape Cod seashore area by buying, accepting gifts, taking transfers from other federal agencies, condemning, swapping, or other means. Property owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or by the listed towns can only be taken with the owner’s agreement. Federal property inside the area can be moved into the Secretary’s control without payment if the agency that holds it agrees. The Secretary can use donated money and budgeted funds to buy property and may pay up to the fair market value. The Secretary can swap non‑federal land for federal land in the area. The swapped properties should be about equal in fair market value, and the Secretary may accept or pay cash to make values equal. He must report each exchange to Congress within 30 days and give the fair market values and any cash paid or received. The Secretary may trade about 7.62 acres of federal land inside the area to the town of Provincetown for about 11.157 acres outside the area as shown on the map dated May, 1997, number 609/80,801, for a municipal solid waste transfer and recycling facility and other municipal uses compatible with Park Service rules. When that swap is finished, the park boundary must be changed to include the added land. “Fair market value” means the value the Secretary decides, and he can use an independent appraisal.