§ 912. — Disposition of abandoned or forfeited railroad grants.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 43USC912]
TITLE 43--PUBLIC LANDS
CHAPTER 21--GRANTS IN AID OF RAILROADS AND WAGON ROADS
Sec. 912. Disposition of abandoned or forfeited railroad grants
Whenever public lands of the United States have been or may be
granted to any railroad company for use as a right of way for its
railroad or as sites for railroad structures of any kind, and use and
occupancy of said lands for such purposes has ceased or shall hereafter
cease, whether by forfeiture or by abandonment by said railroad company
declared or decreed by a court of competent jurisdiction or by Act of
Congress, then and thereupon all right, title, interest, and estate of
the United States in said lands shall, except such part thereof as may
be embraced in a public highway legally established within one year
after the date of said decree or forfeiture or abandonment be
transferred to and vested in any person, firm, or corporation, assigns,
or successors in title and interest to whom or to which title of the
United States may have been or may be granted, conveying or purporting
to convey the whole of the legal subdivision or subdivisions traversed
or occupied by such railroad or railroad structures of any kind as
aforesaid, except lands within a municipality the title to which, upon
forfeiture or abandonment, as herein provided, shall vest in such
municipality, and this by virtue of the patent thereto and without the
necessity of any other or further conveyance or assurance of any kind or
nature whatsoever: Provided, That this section shall not affect
conveyances made by any railroad company of portions of its right of way
if such conveyance be among those which have been or may after March 8,
1922, and before such forfeiture or abandonment be validated and
confirmed by any Act of Congress; nor shall this section affect any
public highway on said right of way on March 8, 1922: Provided further,
That the transfer of such lands shall be subject to and contain
reservations in favor of the United States of all oil, gas, and other
minerals in the land so transferred and conveyed, with the right to
prospect for, mine, and remove same.
(Mar. 8, 1922, ch. 94, 42 Stat. 414.)
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in title 16 section 1248.
