[Senate Report 108-14]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 26
108th Congress Report
SENATE
1st Session 108-14
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GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK LAND EXCHANGE ACT
_______
March 5, 2003.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Domenici, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 273]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (S. 273) to provide for the expeditious
completion of the acquisition of land owned by the State of
Wyoming within the boundaries of Grand Teton National Park, and
for other purposes, having considered the same, reports
favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the
bill do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE MEASURE
The purpose of S. 273 is to provide for the acquisition of
approximately 1,366 acres of land and 40 acres of mineral
interests owned by the State of Wyoming within the boundaries
of Grand Teton National Park.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
At the time of statehood, Wyoming was granted two sections
and a third smaller parcel of school trust lands in what later
became Grand Teton National Park. The Wyoming Constitution
directs the State to generate a reasonable income from these
trust lands to support its public schools. Any revenue or
proceeds from school trust lands must be used for the
educational trust fund. The State has been leasing the lands
identified in the bill for grazing and wildlife purposes,
raising approximately $2,000 annually in fees. In response to a
recent Wyoming Supreme Count decision,\1\ the State is
reevaluating the revenue streams from its school trust lands.
Because the State land in Grand Teton National Park is near the
town of Jackson, the State may be facing future legal
challenges to obtain maximum value for the lands and sell them
for development.
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\1\ Campbell County School District v. Wyoming, 907 P.2d 1238 (Wyo.
1995) (holding Wyoming's public school finance system
unconstitutional).
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Three parcels of land and a 40-acre tract of subsurface
mineral interests would be exchanged under the terms of S. 273.
The 40-acre mineral interest is located near the center of the
park near Jackson Lake. The smallest land parcel of State land
comprises 85 acres and is located in the southwestern part of
the park across the Snake River from the Jackson Hole Airport.
The two largest parcels are each 640 acres. One is in the
southern part and the other is in the eastern part of the park.
Both are close to the park's developed road system. Enactment
of S. 273 will allow for the continued protection of these
properties within Grand Teton National Park while ensuring that
the State of Wyoming meets its constitutional mandate to
maximize revenues from its school trust lands.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
S. 273 was introduced by Senators Thomas and Enzi on
February 4, 2003. A similar bill, S. 1105, was introduced by
Senators Thomas and Enzi during the 107th Congress on March 1,
2001. The Subcommittee on National Parks held a hearing on S.
1105 on July 31, 2001. At its business meeting on August 2,
2001, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered S.
1105 favorably reported with an amendment in the nature of a
substitute. S. 1105 passed the Senate, as amended, on October
17, 2001. The House passed S. 1105 with additional unrelated
provisions September 24, 2002. On November 20, 2003, the Senate
disagreed to the House amendment. The Senate also adopted the
text of S. 1005 as part of amendment 4971 to S. 941, which
passed the Senate, on November 19, 2002.
At the business meeting on February 26, 2003, the Committee
on Energy and Natural Resources ordered S. 273 favorably
reported.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open
business session on February 26, 2003, by a unanimous vote of a
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 273 as
described herein.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1 entitles the bill ``Grand Teton National Park
Land Exchange Act.''
Section 2 defines key terms used in the bill.
Section 3 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior (the
``Secretary'') to acquire approximately 1,406 acres of State
lands and interests in land within Grand Teton National Park by
donation, purchase with donated or appropriated funds, or
exchange.
Section 4 requires that the State lands and interests be
valued by one of the following methods: the Secretary and the
Governor are to mutually agree on the selection of a qualified
appraiser to conduct an appraisal of the State lands; or if
they are unable to agree on an appraiser, then they are each to
select an appraiser, and the two appraisers will select a third
qualified appraiser to value the State lands. The Secretary and
the State of Wyoming are each required to pay one-half of the
appraisal costs.
Section 5 provides that the lands and interests acquired
from the State are to be administered as part of Grand Teton
National Park and are to be managed in accordance with the Act
of August 25, 1916 (16 U.S.C. 1, commonly known as the National
Park Service Organic Act) and other laws and regulations
applicable to units of the National Park System.
Section 6 authorizes the appropriations necessary to carry
out this Act.
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The following estimate of the cost of this measure has been
provided by the Congressional Budget Office:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, February 28, 2003.
Hon. Pete V. Domenici,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 273, the Grand Teton
National Park Land Exchange Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Megan
Carroll.
Sincerely,
Douglas Holtz-Eakin,
Director.
Enclosure.
S. 273--Grand Teton National Park Land Exchange Act
Summary: S. 273 would authorize the Secretary of the
Interior to acquire about 1,400 acres of state-owned lands and
associated interests that lie within the boundaries of the
Grand Teton National Park in Teton County, Wyoming. The
Secretary could acquire those lands by donation, purchase, or,
under certain conditions, by exchanging them for other federal
lands and interests. The Secretary would manage any lands
acquired under S. 273 as part of the Grand Teton National Park.
CBO estimates that implementing S. 273 would cost $1
million in 2004, assuming appropriation of the necessary
amounts. The legislation would affect direct spending
(including offsetting receipts), but we estimate that any net
change in direct spending would be negligible.
S. 273 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)
and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal
governments. This exchange would be voluntary on the part of
the Wyoming state government.
Estimated cost to the Federal Government: For this
estimate, CBO assumes that S. 273 will be enacted by the end of
fiscal year 2003 and that amounts necessary to implement this
legislation will be provided soon thereafter. The estimated
budgetary impact of S. 273 is shown in the following table. The
costs of this legislation fall within budget function 300
(natural resources and environment).
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By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
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2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
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CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION \1\
Estimated Authorization Level................................... 0 1 0 0 0 0
Estimated Outlays............................................... 0 1 0 0 0 0
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\1\ Enacting S. 273 could affect direct spending, but CBO estimates that any such effects would be negligible.
Basis of estimate: S. 273 would authorize the Secretary of
the Interior to acquire state-owned lands through donation or
purchase, or, under certain conditions, by exchanging them for
other federal lands. The act does not specify the federal lands
to be exchanged but does require that they be identified for
disposal under approved land use plans in effect on the date of
the bill's enactment. If lands eligible for exchange under S.
273 are not sufficient to acquire the state's lands, S. 273
would authorize the Secretary to identify other federal lands
or interests, including mineral rights, that may be used to
complete the exchange. Under S. 273, however, a subsequent act
of the Congress would be necessary to authorize the Secretary
to proceed with an exchange of other such lands or interests.
Spending subject to appropriation
Assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts and based
on information from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), CBO
estimates that the agency would spend $1 million for
administrative and analytical work associated with the
acquisition authorized by S. 273. We estimate that most of that
spending would occur during 2004.
Direct spending
Based on information from BLM, CBO assumes that the agency
would most likely attempt to acquire the state's lands through
an exchange of federal lands that have been identified for
disposal. Under current law, the agency has authority to sell
such lands and to keep and spend the proceeds for various
purposes. Hence, we estimate that conveying lands that have
been identified for disposal as part of a land exchange with
Wyoming would result in forgone offsetting receipts from the
sale of such lands but that any such forgone receipts would be
fully offset by a corresponding decrease in direct spending of
sale proceeds. Thus, CBO estimates that the net change in
direct spending under S. 273 would be negligible.
Alternatively, CBO estimates that conveying other federal
lands and interests that are not identified for disposal cold
result in a net increase in direct spending. Because S. 273
does not authorize the conveyance of such lands and interests,
however, any such effects would be contingent on a future act
of the Congress.
Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: S. 273
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as
defined in UMRA and would impose no costs on state, local, or
tribal governments. This exchange would be voluntary on the
part of the Wyoming state government.
Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Megan Carroll; Impact
on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Majorie Miller; and
Impact on the Private Sector: Lauren Marks.
Estimate approved by: Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION
In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in
carrying out S. 273. The bill is not a regulatory measure in
the sense of imposing Government-established standards or
significant economic responsibilities on private individuals
and businesses.
No personal information would be collected in administering
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal
privacy.
Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the
enactment of S. 273, as ordered reported.
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
On February 26, 2003, the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources requested legislative reports from the Department of
the Interior and the Office of Management and Budget setting
forth Executive agency recommendations on S. 273. These reports
had not been received at the time the report on S. 273 was
filed. When the reports become available, the Chairman will
request that they be printed in the Congressional Record for
the advice of the Senate.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no
changes in existing law are made by the bill S. 273, as ordered
reported.