§1745 Disclaimer of Interest in Lands

Summary

The Secretary may sign a recordable document saying the United States gives up any claim to certain land. He must first talk with any federal agency that would be affected. He can do this to clear a cloud on the title when one of three things is true: a U.S. recorded interest ended by law or is invalid; land between a survey’s meander line and the actual shoreline is not U.S. land; or accreted, relicted, or avulsed land is not U.S. land. An applicant must file a written request and have a notice printed in the Federal Register at least ninety days before the disclaimer is issued. The applicant must pay the Secretary’s administrative costs for making the document, and those fees go back into the same government fund used to pay them. The disclaimer acts like a quit-claim deed from the United States, releasing the U.S. claim to the land.