[House Report 109-285]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
109th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 109-285
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CONVEYANCE TO BEAVER COUNTY, UTAH
_______
November 10, 2005.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
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Mr. Pombo, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 679]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 679) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey a
parcel of real property to Beaver County, Utah, having
considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment
and recommend that the bill do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 679 is to direct the Secretary of the
Interior to convey a parcel of real property to Beaver County,
Utah.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Minersville State Park is located on the shore of
Minersville Reservoir along State Highway 21 between the towns
of Beaver and Minersville, Utah. The Park is approximately 200
acres, 20 of which have the following improvements: campground
facilities, a boat launch ramp, a park, a pavilion, an entrance
station, and a maintenance building. The remainder of the
property is either sagebrush rangeland or under water
(depending on reservoir water levels). The Park was acquired
from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) with authority under
the Recreation and Public Purposes Act (43 U.S.C. 869 et.
seq.), which allows for the lease or purchase of BLM land
typically for parks, schools, hospitals, community buildings
and fairgrounds.
In April 2002, the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation
Board notified Beaver County that the State was going to close
the Park in June 2002 due to budgetary problems and the Park's
loss of revenue (roughly $90,000 per year). However, according
to a warranty deed for the property, if the State ceased to
operate the facility as a state park the property would revert
back to Beaver County. As such, on July 1, 2002, Beaver County
took over management of the Park. Shortly thereafter, the
County was notified that the warranty deed was invalid.
Currently Beaver County is operating the Park with an informal
agreement with the State.
H.R. 679 seeks to remedy the situation by conveying the
property to Beaver County. With title to the land, the County
will have the flexibility to manage the Park in an economically
feasible manner. Without the conveyance, BLM will, by statute,
require the State to remove all improvements to the Park.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 679 was introduced on February 9, 2005, by Congressman
Chris Cannon (R-UT). The bill was referred to the Committee on
Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on
Forests and Forest Health. On September 27, 2005, the
Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On October 19, 2005,
the Full Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The
Subcommittee was discharged from further consideration of the
bill by unanimous consent. No amendments were offered and the
bill was ordered favorably reported to the House of
Representatives by unanimous consent.
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Resources' oversight findings and recommendations
are reflected in the body of this report.
CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT
Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United
States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B)
of that Rule provides that this requirement does not apply when
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2)
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this
bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in
revenues or tax expenditures.
3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. This bill does
not authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives does not
apply.
4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office:
H.R. 679--A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey a
parcel of real property to Beaver County, Utah
CBO estimates that H.R. 679 would not significantly affect
the federal budget. The bill would direct the Secretary of the
Interior to convey to Beaver county, Utah, for no
consideration, approximately 200 acres of federal land in that
county. The county currently manages that land as a park under
a lease from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). According to
BLM, the land currently generates no significant receipts and
is not expected to do so over the next 10 years. Therefore, CBO
estimates that conveying it would not significantly affect
offsetting receipts (a credit against direct spending).
Enacting the bill would not affect revenues. Based on
information from BLM, we also estimate that the agency's costs
to complete the proposed conveyance would be minimal; any such
costs would be subject to the availability of appropriated
funds.
H.R. 679 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.
Enacting this legislation would benefit Beaver County.
On February 23, 2005, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for
S. 52, similar legislation, as ordered reported by the Senate
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on February 16, 2005.
The two bills are substantively similar, and our cost estimates
are the same.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Megan Carroll.
This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW
This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or
tribal law.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing
law.