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Title 43, Public LandsRelease 119-102

§908 Deposits by Railroad Companies for Costs of Surveying and Conveying Unsurveyed Lands Granted

Title 43 › CHAPTER 21 — GRANTS IN AID OF RAILROADS AND WAGON ROADS › § 908

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Railroad companies that Congress gave public land to must, within ninety days after the Secretary of the Interior asks, put enough money into a U.S. government bank account to cover the cost of surveying, picking, and formally transferring any of the granted lands that are not yet surveyed. The Secretary will tell the company how much to deposit and can require money for all unsurveyed land or for certain townships or parts of townships. The Interior Department will use the money, under its rules, to pay for the surveys and transfers. Any extra money will be returned to the company or to whoever the company names.

Full Legal Text

Title 43, §908

Public Lands, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

To enable the Secretary of the Interior to complete the adjustment of land grants made by Congress to aid in the construction of railroads, and to subject the lands granted to taxation by States, Territories, and municipal authorities, any railroad corporation required by law to pay the costs of surveying, selecting, or conveying any lands granted to such company or corporation, or for its use and benefit, by any Act of Congress, is required, within ninety days from demand by the Secretary of the Interior, to deposit in a proper United States depository to the credit of the United States a sum sufficient to pay the cost of surveying, selecting, and conveying any of the unsurveyed lands granted to such company, or for its use and benefit, under any Act of Congress: Provided further, That the Secretary of the Interior shall determine and specify in the notice or demand to such company the amount of the required deposit, and may, in his discretion, demand a sum sufficient to cover the cost of the survey, selection, and conveyance of the entire area granted to any company, or for its use and benefit, then unsurveyed, or for such townships or fractional townships as he may prescribe and designate in the notice or demand to such company, as aforesaid: And provided further, That the amount deposited shall, subject to the rules and regulations of the Department of the Interior, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior or such officer as he may designate, be disbursed for the surveying, including office and field work, selection, and conveyance of the lands granted and designated in the notice of the Secretary of the Interior, as aforesaid: And provided further, That in the event the money deposited by any railroad corporation under the provisions of sections 908 to 911 of this title shall exceed the cost of said surveys, the said excess thereof shall be repaid to the corporation so depositing the same, or to its assigns.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

AppropriationsEffective
July 1, 1935, the continuing appropriation provided for in this section was repealed by act
June 26, 1934, ch. 756, § 1, 48 Stat. 1225.

Executive Documents

Transfer of Functions

For

Transfer of Functions

of other officers, employees, and agencies of Department of the Interior, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of the Interior, with power to delegate, see Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1950, §§ 1, 2, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1262, set out under section 1451 of this title. “Secretary of the Interior or such officer as he may designate” substituted for “Commissioner of the General Land Office” on authority of section 403 of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946. See note set out under section 1 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

43 U.S.C. § 908

Title 43, Public Lands

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102