§ 4116. Department of Public Lands- Rental Fees Required
TITLE 2: NATURAL RESOURCES DIVISION 4: LAND RESOURCES § 4116. Department of Public Lands: Rental Fees Required. (a) The Department of Public Lands shall immediately assess rental fees for the use of public land for business purposes. The rental fees shall be assessed beginning with the Garapan business district, and the rental fees shall be received by the Department of Public Lands in accordance with N.M.I. Const. art. XI. (b) The Department of Public Lands shall not assess rental fees in respect to small parcels of public land, not in excess of 300 square meters, adjacent to land used for residential purposes where the residential land owner maintains the public land by removing undesirable vegetation and habitat for pests. Source: PL 4-54, § 7; global amendment by PL 15-2, § 4; (b) added by PL 17-48 § 2 (July 27, 2011). Commission Comment: PL 4-54, the “Emergency Appropriations Act of FY 1985,” took effect August 7, 1985. Former 2 CMC § 4116 (PL 3-101, § 2) was repealed by PL 4-13, § 7. PL 17-48 was enacted on July 27, 2011 “to elim- inate fees for the maintenance of small parcels of public land.” PL 17-48 (in- troductory statement). See PL 17-48 § 1, Findings, for more information. With respect to PL 3-101, see the comment to 2 CMC § 4115. With respect to the references to the “Marianas Public Land Corporation,” see Executive Order 94-3 (effective August 23, 1994), reorganizing the execu- tive branch, changing agency names and official titles, and effecting other changes, set forth in the Commission comment to 1 CMC § 2001; see also the comment to 2 CMC § 4114. The Board of Public Lands, which succeeded the Marianas Public Lands Corporation, was abolished by PL 12-71, § 2 (a) and replaced with the Maria- nas Public Lands Authority without conforming amendments to other sections of the act as enacted by PL 12-33. See comment to 1 CMC § 2801 regarding other technical deficiencies contained in PL 12-71. PL 15-2, which was enacted on February 22, 2006, abolished the Marianas Public Lands Authority and cre- ated a Department of Public Lands in its place [codified at 1 CMC § 2801 et seq.]. PL 15-2 contained the following provisions, in addition to severability and savings clauses. The global amendment therein included references to the Marianas Public Lands Corporation but did not account for existing references within the Commonwealth Code to the Board of Public Lands. Section 1. Short Title. This Act may be cited as the “Public Lands Act of 2006.” Section 2. Legislative Findings and Declaration of Policy. The purpose of this Act is to transfer the obligations and responsibilities of the Marianas Public Lands Authority to the elected legislative and executive officials of the Commonwealth. The Legislature has concluded that this Act is necessary based upon the following findings: (a) Art. XI section 4 (f) of the Constitution, as amended in 1985, provides that the functions previously performed by the Marianas
TITLE 2: NATURAL RESOURCES DIVISION 4: LAND RESOURCES Public Land Corporation “shall be transferred to the executive branch of government” after its dissolution. The Marianas Public Lands Authority in its current structure as an autonomous agency outside the executive branch fails to comply with this constitutional mandate. (b) The Commonwealth’s experience with the management of public lands over the years has demonstrated the need for additional controls to ensure that this valuable resource is administered in compliance with the requirements and fiduciary duties imposed by the Constitution. Section 3. Repeal. Public Laws 10-57, 12-33, and 12-71 to the extent they are applicable to public lands, are hereby repealed and re-enacted as a new Article 3 under Title 1, Chapter 13, as follows … Section 4. Global Amendment. Any reference to the Marianas Public Lands Corporation, Division of Public Lands, Office of Public Lands or the Marianas Public Lands Authority in the Commonwealth Code is hereby amended to read “Department of Public Lands.” PL 15-64 (effective May 30, 2007) further amended the global amendment section of PL 15-2 as follows: Section 4. Global Amendment. Any reference to the Marianas Public Lands Corporation, Division of Public Lands, Office of Public Lands or the Marianas Public Lands Authority in the Commonwealth Code is hereby amended to read “Department of Public Lands.” Any reference to the Board of Public Lands in the Commonwealth Code is amended to read “Secretary of Public Lands.”
Source: CNMI Law Revision Commission