114 STAT. 2942 PUBLIC LAW 106-568—DEC. 27, 2000 subsection (a), the Secretary shall conduct an election by secret ballot for the purpose of electing tribal officials as provided in such tribal constitution. Such election shall be conducted consistent with the procedures specified in subsection (a) except to the extent that such procedures conflict with the tribal constitution. TITLE XV—CEMETERY SITES AND HISTORICAL PLACES SEC. 1501. FINDINGS; DEFINITIONS. (a) FINDINGS. —The Congress finds the following: (1) Pursuant to section 14(h)(1) of ANCSA, the Secretary has the authority to withdraw and convey to the appropriate regional corporation fee title to existing cemetery sites and historical places. (2) Pursuant to section 14(h)(7) of ANCSA, lands located within a National Forest may be conveyed for the purposes set forth in section 14(h)(1) of ANCSA. (3) Chugach Alaska Corporation, the Alaska Native Regional Corporation for the Chugach Region, applied to the Secretary for the conveyance of cemetery sites and historical places pursuant to section 14(h)(1) of ANCSA in accordance with the regulations promulgated by the Secretary. (4) Among the applications filed were applications for historical places at Miners Lake (AA-41487), Coghill Point (AA-41488), College Fjord (AA-41489), Point Pakenham (AA- 41490), College Point (AA-41491), Egg Island (AA-41492), and Wingham Island (AA-41494), which applications were substantively processed for 13 years and then rejected as having been untimely filed. (5) The fulfillment of the intent, purpose, and promise of ANCSA requires that applications substantively processed for 13 years should be accepted as timely, subject only to a determination that such lands and applications meet the eligibility criteria for historical places or cemetery sites, as appropriate, set forth in the Secretary regulations. (b) DEFINITIONS.— For the purposes of this title, the following definitions apply: (1) ANCSA.— The term "ANCSA" means the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, as amended (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). (2) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.— The term "Federal Government" means any Federal agency of the United States. (3) SECRETARY. —The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Interior. SEC. 1502. WITHDRAWAL OF LANDS. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall withdraw from all forms of appropriation all public lands described in the applications identified in section 1501(a)(4) of this title. SEC. 1503. APPLICATION FOR CONVEYANCE OF WITHDRAWN LANDS. With respect to lands withdrawn pursuant to section 1502 of this title, the applications identified in section 1501(a)(4) of this title are deemed to have been timely filed. In processing these applications on the merits, the Secretary shall incorporate and
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