Chapter 192. To provide for the disposition of public lands withdrawn and improved under the provisions of the reclamation laws, and which are no longer needed in connection with said laws
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CHAP. 192.— An Act To provide for the disposition of public lands withdrawn and improved under the provisions of the reclamation laws, and which are no longer needed in connection with said laws. May 20, 1920. [[S. 795](/us/bill/66/s/795).] [[Public, No. 212](/us/pl/66/212).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That whenever in the opinionPublic lands.Sale of lands reserved for irrigation works and no longer needed.Vol. 32, p. 388. of the Secretary of the Interior any public lands which have been withdrawn for or in connection with construction or operation of reclamation projects under the provisions of the Act of June 17, 1902, known as the Reclamation Act and Acts amendatory thereof and supplemental thereto, which are not otherwise reserved and which have been improved by and at the expense of the reclamation fund for administration or other like purposes, are no longer needed for the purposes for which they were withdrawn and improved, the Secretary of the Interior may cause said lands, together with the improvements thereon, to be appraised by three disinterested personsAppraisal, publication, etc. to be appointed by him and thereafter sell the same, for not less than the appraised value, at public auction to the highest bidder, after giving public notice of the time and place of sale by posting upon the land and by publication for not less than thirty days in a newspaper of general circulation in the vicinity of the land, not lessPayments. than one-fifth the purchase price shall be paid at the time of sale, and the remainder in not more than four annual payments with606interest at 6 per centum per annum, payable annually, on deferred payments.
Sec. 2. Title conveyed That upon payment of the purchase price the Secretary of the Interior is authorized, by appropriate patent, to convey all the right, title, and interest of the United States in and to said lands to the purchaser at said sale, subject, however, to such reservations, *Provisos*.Area, etc., limitations.limitations, or conditions as said Secretary may deem proper: *Provided*, That not over one hundred and sixty acres shall be sold to any one person, and if said lands are irrigable under the project in which located they shall be sold subject to compliance by the purchaser with all the terms, conditions, and limitations of the Reclamation Citizenship requirement.Act applicable to lands of that character: *Provided*, That the accepted bidder must, prior to issuance of patent, furnish satisfactory evidence that he or she is a citizen of the United States.
Sec. 3. Receipts to credit of irrigation projects. That the moneys derived from the sale of such lands shall be covered into the reclamation fund and be placed to the credit of the project for which such lands had been withdrawn. Approved, May 20, 1920.