PUBLIC LAW 107-239—OCT. 11, 2002 116 STAT. 1489 selections and entitlements for conveyance of certain lands and interests therein on a portion of Adak formerly occupied by the Navy. (7) Removal of a portion of the Adak Island land from refuge status will be offset by the acquisition of high quality wildlife habitat in other Aleut Corporation selections within the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, maintaining a resident human population on Adak to control caribou, and making possible a continued United States Fish and Wildlife Service presence in that remote location to protect the natural resources of the Aleutian Islands Unit of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. (8) It is in the public interest to promote reuse of the Adak Island lands by exchanging certain lands for lands selected by The Aleut Corporation elsewhere in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. Experience with environmental problems associated with formerly used defense sites in the State of Alaska suggests that the most effective and efficient way to avoid future environmental problems on Adak is to support and encourage active reuse of Adak. SEC. 2. RATIFICATION OF AGREEMENT. The document entitled the "Agreement Concerning the Convey- ance of Property at the Adak Naval Complex" (hereinafter "the Agreement"), and dated September 20, 2000, executed by The Aleut Corporation, the Department of the Interior and the Department of the Navy, together with any technical amendments or modifications to the boundaries that may be agreed to by the parties is hereby ratified, confirmed, and approved and the terms, conditions, procedures, covenants, reservations, indemnities and other provisions set forth in the Agreement are declared to be obligations and commitments of the United States and The Aleut Corporation: Provided, That modifications to the maps and legal descriptions of lands to be removed from the National Wildlife Refuge System within the military withdrawal on Adak Island set forth in Public Land Order 1949 may be made only upon agreement of all Parties to the Agreement and notification given to the Committee on Resources of the United States House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United States Senate: Provided further. That the acreage conveyed to the United States by The Aleut Corporation under the Agreement, as modified, shall be at least 36,000 acres. SEC. 3. REMOVAL OF LANDS FROM REFUGE. Effective on the date of conveyance to The Aleut Corporation Effective date. of the Adak Exchange Lands as described in the Agreement, all such lands shall be removed from the National Wildlife Refuge System and shall neither be considered as part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge nor be subject to any laws pertaining to lands within the boundaries of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, including the conveyance restrictions imposed by section 22(g) of ANCSA (43 U.S.C. 1621(g)), for land in the National Wildlife Refuge System. The Secretary shall adjust the boundaries of the Refuge so as to exclude all interests in lands and land rights, surface and subsurface, received by The Aleut Corporation in accordance with this Act and the Agreement.
�
