[Senate Report 109-12]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 23
109th Congress Report
SENATE
1st Session 109-12
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CENTRAL NEVADA RURAL CEMETERIES ACT
_______
February 23, 2005.--Ordered to be printed
Filed, under authority of the order of the Senate of February 17, 2005
_______
Mr. Domenici, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 254]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (S. 254) to direct the Secretary of
Agriculture to convey certain land to Lander County, Nevada,
and the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain land to
Eureka, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon
without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE MEASURE
The purpose of S. 254 is to direct the Secretary of
Agriculture to convey certain land to Lander County, Nevada,
and the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain land to
Eureka County, Nevada, for continued use as cemeteries.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
The town of Kingston, Nevada, located in Lander County,
desires approximately 8.75 acres of U.S. Forest Service (USFS)
land to supplement the 1.25 acres of USFS land conveyed to it
in 2000 for use as a cemetery. The additional land will ensure
that areas of unmarked graves are included in the town's
cemetery, and that space is available for future graves in
Kingston Cemetery. The additional land will bring the total
acreage to the original ten acres that the town had access to
under a Special Use Permit. The town of Kingston wants to
continue use of the cemetery through local public ownership
rather than through the Federal agency permitting process. In
addition, the bill would convey ten acres of land managed by
the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to Eureka County, Nevada,
for continued use for the Maiden's Grave Cemetery. The site
continues to receive occasional burials and has been identified
by the BLM as suitable for disposal.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
S. 254 was introduced by Senator Reid for himself and
Senator Ensign on February 1, 2005. An identical bill (S. 1819)
was introduced by Senators Reid and Ensign in the 108th
Congress. The Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests held a
hearing on S. 1819 on March 10, 2004 (S. Hrg. 108-490). S. 1819
was attached as a stand alone title of H.R. 620 and passed the
Senate, by unanimous consent, as amended, on December 7, 2004.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in an open
business session on February 9, 2005, by a voice vote of a
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 254.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1 provides the short title.
Section 2 provides findings and directs the Secretary of
Agriculture to convey, for no consideration, 10 acres of
National Forest land to the city of Lander, Nevada, to expand
an existing cemetery, within 90 days after passage of the Act.
It also directs the Secretary to grant an access easement for
persons desiring to visit the cemetery and includes reversion
provisions if the county uses the land for any purpose other
than a cemetery.
Section 3 provides findings and directs the Secretary of
Agriculture to convey, for no consideration, 10 acres of
National Forest land to Eureka County, Nevada, to expand an
existing cemetery. It also directs the Secretary to grant an
access easement for persons desiring to visit the cemetery and
includes reversion provisions if the county uses the land for
any purpose other than a cemetery.
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The following estimate of the costs of this measure has
been provided the Congressional Budget Office.
S. 254--Central Nevada Rural Cemeteries Act
CBO estimates that implementing S. 254 would not
significantly affect the federal budget and that enacting the
bill would not affect direct spending or revenues. S. 254
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as
defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no
costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
S. 254 would direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the
Secretary of the Interior to convey, without consideration,
certain lands to two counties in Nevada for use as cemeteries.
According to both the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land
Management, the land to be conveyed currently generates no
significant receipts and is not expected to do so over the next
10 years; hence, CBO estimates that conveying it would not
affect offsetting receipts (a credit against direct spending).
We also estimate that federal spending to complete the proposed
conveyance would be less than $50,000, subject to the
availability of appropriated funds.
The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Megan Carroll
and Julie Middleton. This estimate was 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. 254.
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. 254, as ordered reported.
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
The views of the administration were included in testimony
received by the Committee at a hearing on S. 1819, an identical
bill from the 108th Congress, on March 10, 2004.
Statement of Mark Rey, Under Secretary, Natural Resources and
Environment, Department of Agriculture
* * * * * * *
S. 1819 Central Nevada Rural Cemeteries Act
* * * * * * *
In summary, Section 1 of S. 1819 requires the Secretary
through the Chief of the Forest Service to convey to Lander
County, Nevada, for no consideration, all right, title, and
interest of the United States in and to the 8.75 acres of
National Forest System land known as Kingston Cemetery.
In accordance with Public Law 85-569, the Townsite Act, we
have already conveyed 1.25 acres of land (on which the cemetery
is located) to the Town of Kingston for $500 on August 1, 2000.
At the time of conveyance, the Town of Kingston indicated the
1.25 acres encompassed all known marked and unmarked
gravesites. The Town of Kingtson indicated that the 1.25 acres
was adequate to accommodate their future expansion needs.
Specifically, all of the gravesites were accounted for within a
half acre fenced area that the 1.25 acres encompassed. The
additional 0.75 acres were intended for parking and anticipated
expansion of the current cemetery.
If new unmarked gravesites have been discovered or the
needs of the Kingston Cemetery have changed and are in the
public interest, we would be supportive of making additional
Federal lands available to the county or city for fair market
value and granting the county an easement to maintain the
access road to the cemetery as a county road.
If Lander County is not willing to pay fair market value to
purchase this land, we would be willing to consider authorizing
its current and future use of this land under a special-use
permit authorization.
The Department does not object to making additional Federal
lands available to Lander County, Nevada in S. 1819, but the
Department believes that the Forest Service can meet the
objectives of Section 1 of this legislation under its current
statutory authorities that would allow it to convey National
Forest System lands to Lander, County for fair-market value in
cash.
For example, under the Townsite Act, the Secretary of
Agriculture may convey, for fair market value, up to 640 acres
of land to established communities located adjacent to National
Forests in Alaska or the contiguous western states. Within
certain limits, the Sisk Act authorizes the Secretary of
Agriculture to exchange lands with states, counties, or
municipal governments or public school districts for land or
money.
Moreover, under the General Exchange Act, the Secretary of
Agriculture can exchange National Forest System lands with
State and local governments. These laws require the Secretary
of Agriculture to obtain fair market value for exchanges or
sales of National Forest lands. Indeed, the Federal policy, in
recent decades, has moved toward obtaining a fair return to the
public for the value of lands conveyed out of Federal
ownership.
* * * * * * *
Statement of Tom Lonnie, Assistant Director, Minerals, Realty and
Resource Protection, Department of the Interior
* * * * * * *
``The Maiden's Grave'' is the final resting place of
Lucinda Duncan who on August 15, 1863, died on her way to the
gold and silver fields of Nevada. Mrs. Duncan at 71 was ``the
mother of the wagon train'' which consisted largely of her
seven surviving children, their spouses and a multitude of
grandchildren. Following her death, the wagon train held a
ceremony and their leaving was memorialized by a member of the
party: ``* * * we paid our last debt & respect to the remains
of the departed mother. There upon that wild & lonely spot, we
left her, until Gabriel shall sound his trumpet in the last
day. The scene was truly a sad one to leave a beloved mother on
the wild and desolate plains. A board with the name of the
deceased was put up at the head & boulder was laid over the
grave to keep wolves from scratching in it. After this the
train moved on.''
Today, the site continues to receive occasional burials.
Therefore, it is considered a ``modern cemetery'' and does not
qualify for the National Register of Historic Places. The BLM,
through its planning process, has identified the cemetery as
suitable for disposal and the county has indicated a strong
interest in taking responsibility for this parcel.
While we would typically expect to receive market value for
such a transfer, we understand the unique circumstances in this
case, and the unique needs of Eureka County. Under other
circumstances, we might have considered a Recreation and Public
Purposes (R&PP) Act conveyance to lower the cost to the county,
but the need for permanency in this transfer prevents this from
being a viable option, thus the need for legislative
intervention. We appreciate this opportunity to work
cooperatively with local interests to the betterment of the
community.
During consideration of H.R. 272 by the House of
Representatives, amendments were made to address the BLM's
concerns which were primarily of a technical nature and we
support both H.R. 272 and its identical companion S. 1819.
* * * * * * *
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. 254, as ordered
reported.