[Senate Report 106-451]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 897
106th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 106-451
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MELROSE AIR FORCE RANGE, NEW MEXICO
_______
October 2 (legislative day, September 22), 2000.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 2757]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (S. 2757) to provide for the transfer and
other disposition of certain lands at Melrose Air Force Range,
New Mexico, and Yakima Training Center, Washington, having
considered the same, reports favorably thereon with amendments
and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass.
The amendments are as follows:
1. On page 2, line 1, delete ``PRIME'' and insert
``PRINCIPAL''.
2. On page 4, line 12, delete ``SW\1/4\'' and insert
``SE\1/4\''.
purpose of the measure
The purpose of S. 2757 is to transfer administrative
jurisdiction of approximately 6,714 acres of land administered
by the Bureau of Land Management within Melrose Air Force Range
in New Mexico to the Secretary of the Air Force and
approximately 6,649 acres of BLM land within Yakima Training
Center in Washington to the Secretary of the Army.
background and need
S. 2757 transfers multiple parcels of land that are
administered by the Bureau of Land Management but lie within
lands administered by the Department of Defense.
The measure transfers six parcels of public lands, totaling
approximately 6,714 acres within the Melrose Air Force Range in
Roosevelt County, New Mexico, from the Bureau of Land
Management to the Air Force. The Air Force has used the parcels
since the base was established in 1952. Approximately 1,811
acres of these lands lie within the bomb impact zone while the
remaining acreage is contained within the range safety zone.
The transfer is needed to provide the Air Force with complete
control over land uses on the Range. This transfer will
minimize potential safety concerns, liability of the United
States, and land use conflicts that could interfere with the
training mission.
The measure also transfers 19 scattered small tracts of
public lands totaling approximately 6,649 acres within the
Yakima Training Center in Kittitas County, Washington from the
Bureau of Land Management to the Army. The bill also withdraws
from the general mining laws the mineral estate associated with
an additional 3,090 acres. All of the Yakima Training Center
lands identified in this legislation are within an active
maneuver training area. This transfer is needed to make sure
all lands within the training facility are under the control of
the Army and administered under the same legislative
authorizations. This will provide additional efficiencies for
base managers and reduce the risk for disruptions which could
severely degrade the training mission of the Yakima Training
Center.
legislative history
S. 2757 was introduced by Senator Domenici on June 20,
1999. The Subcommittee on Forests and Public Land Management
held a hearing on S. 2757 on June 20, 2000. At the business
meeting on September 20, 2000, the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources ordered S. 2757 favorably reported, if
amended as described herein.
committee recommendation
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in
open business session on September 20, 2000, by a voice vote of
a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 2757 if
amended as described herein.
committee amendments
During the consideration of S. 2757, the Committee adopted
two technical amendments.
section-by-section analysis
Section 1(a)(1) transfers jurisdiction over the surface
estate of certain specified lands from the Secretary of the
Interior to the Secretary of the Air Force for the Melrose Air
Force Range in New Mexico.
Paragraph (2) requires the surface estate transferred under
paragraph 1 to be treated as real property and subject to the
Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949.
Paragraph (3) withdraws the mineral estate of the
transferred lands from all forms of appropriation, except under
the Materials Act of 1947.
Paragraph (4) provides that the Secretary of the Air Force
may use sand, gravel, or similar mineral material of the type
subject to disposition under the Materials Act of 1947, on the
transferred lands, when necessary for construction needs.
Subsection (b) transfers jurisdiction over the surface
estate of certain specified lands from the Secretary of the
Interior to the Secretary of the Army for the Yakima Training
Center, in Washington.
Paragraph (2) requires the surface estate transferred under
paragraph 1 to be treated as real property and subject to the
Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949.
Paragraph (3) withdraws the mineral estate of the
transferred lands, and certain specified other lands from all
forms of appropriation, except under the Materials Act of 1947.
Paragraph (4) provides that the Secretary of the Army may
use sand, gravel, or similar mineral material of the type
subject to disposition under the Materials Act of 1947, on the
transferred lands, when necessary for construction needs.
cost and budgetary considerations
The following estimate of costs of this measure have been
provided by the Congressional Budget Office.
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, September 27, 2000.
Hon. Frank H. Murkowski,
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. 2757, a bill to
provide for the transfer and other disposition of certain lands
at Melrose Air Force Range, New Mexico, and Yakima Training
Center, Washington.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Megan
Carroll.
Sincerely,
Barry B. Anderson
(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
Enclosure.
congressional budget office cost estimate
S. 2757--A bill to provide for the transfer and other disposition of
certain lands at Melrose Air Force Range, New Mexico, and
Yakima Training Center, Washington
S. 2757 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to
transfer administrative jurisdiction over certain lands to the
Secretaries of the Air Force and the Army. CBO estimates that
enacting S. 2757 would not significantly affect the federal
budget. Enacting the bill could affect offsetting receipts (a
credit against direct spending); therefore, pay-as-you-go
procedures would apply, but we expect any such effects to total
less than $10,000 in any given year. S. 2757 contains no
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would have no significant
impact on the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
Under the bill, the Secretary of the Interior would
transfer jurisdiction over 6,614 acres of federal lands within
Melrose Air Force Range, New Mexico, to the Secretary of the
Air Force. The Secretary of the Interior also would transfer
jurisdiction over 6,640 acres within Yakima Training Center,
Washington, to the Secretary of the Army. Subject to valid
existing rights, the bill would withdraw the associated mineral
estate of the transferred lands and about 3,090 acres if other
lands located within Yakima Training Center from mineral and
geothermal leasing and development.
Based on information from the Bureau of Land Management
(BLM), CBO estimates that transferring the lands would not
significantly change the federal costs to manage them.
Withdrawing certain lands from mineral and geothermal leasing
and development could reduce offsetting receipts from those
activities and payments to states to share those receipts, but
we estimate that such effects would be negligible. According to
BLM, those lands currently generate less than $10,000 a year
from activities that could be affected by the bill, and the
agency does not expect the lands to generate significant
receipts in the future.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Megan Carroll.
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 XXVVI 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. 2757. 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. 2757, as ordered reported.
executive communications
September 20, 2000, 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. 2757. These
reports had not been received at the time the report on S. 2757
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. The testimony provided by the Air
Force, the Army, and the Bureau of Land Management at the
Subcommittee hearing on S. 2757 follows:
Statement of Mr. Jimmy G. Dishner, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the
Air Force (Installations)
Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, good afternoon.
I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today to
discuss Senate bill 2757, introduced by Senator Domenici,
concerning the transfer of certain lands at Melrose Range in
New Mexico currently under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) but used exclusively for military
training purposes since the mid 1950's.
Sustained access to ranges is one of the foremost readiness
and strategic planning concerns for our Air Force. Increasingly
we find there is a symbiotic relationship between our
installations supporting combat aircraft and the 31 ranges we
operate in the continental United States, about half of which
are on land owned by our sister services. This relationship is
one of the critical criteria used in addressing installation
viability. The realities of urban sprawl, demographic changes,
and competition for finite land, airspace, frequency spectrum
and natural resources have intensified over the past ten years.
We appreciate the tremendous support of members of this
committee, your colleagues, and the leadership of the
Department of the Interior who supported the renewal of six
critical ranges for the Department of Defense including the Air
Force's Nellis Air Force Range, Nevada, and the Barry M.
Goldwater Range, Arizona. We also appreciate the personal time
Senator Domenici, Senator Bingaman and Senator Murkowski
devoted towards the renewals of the McGregor Range in New
Mexico and the Army's ranges in Alaska that are also utilized
by the Air Force.
Today we are here to address the legislative transfer of
approximately 6,700 acres that are located on the Melrose Range
in New Mexico. Melrose Range is approximately 66,000 acres in
total. The remainder of the property is used as safety buffer
zones. Approximately 59,000 acres of the range is Air Force-
owned real property. The remaining portions of the range,
approximately 6,700 acres are public lands under the
jurisdiction of the BLM. In fact, a portion of the impact area
itself is part of the BLM land holdings. The lands under the
jurisdiction of BLM are distributed in non-contiguous parcels
across the range. Consolidating all parcels on the range under
the control of the Air Force would address safety concerns,
minimize potential liability to the United States Government,
and reduce potential land use conflicts.
Melrose Range is the primary training range for the 27th
Fighter Wing at Cannon AFB. It supports daily air-to-ground and
electronic combat training for approximately 3,400 F-16 wing
sorties annually.
The Melrose Range is also used by the New Mexico Air
National Guard, based at Kirkland Air Force Base, and other
U.S. and allied aircrew accounting for an additional 1,400
sorties annually.
Melrose Range has been in continuous use by the Air Force
since 1952 and is 25 miles from Cannon--only about a five-
minute flight. Having a training range in close proximity to
the installation allows the Cannon-based aircrews to maximize
training time by reducing the time it would take to fly to more
distant ranges for training. Our need to improve local training
also recently led us to modify our training ranges and airspace
in Idaho and Texas. The Cannon AFB wing commander, Colonel
Jeffrey Remington, is also here with me today to respond to any
operational questions you may have.
In the future, the flexibility to modify our airspace and
ranges will be a critical element to ensuring America's
asymmetric advantage--the United States Air Force.
Thank you Mr. Chairman and members of the committee.
Colonel Remington and I stand ready to answer any questions you
may have.
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Joint Statement by Paul W. Johnson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the
Army (Installations and Housing), Office of the Assistant Secretary of
the Army (I&E) and Brigadier General William Webster, Director of
Training, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations,
Department of Army
Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee.
Thank you for this opportunity to address you about the
critical training opportunities that Yakima Training Center
affords the Army Active, Army Reserve and National Guard units,
and our sister services, the Air Force and Navy. Yakima
Training Center (YTC) is a sub-installation of Fort Lewis,
Washington, under the U.S. Army Forces Command.
The Army supports Senator Domenici's Senate Bill 2757 that
provides for the transfer and other disposition of certain
lands at Melrose Air Force Range, New Mexico, and Yakima
Training Center, Washington. That bill would transfer
administrative jurisdiction and convert 6,640 acres of public
domain lands that are wholly within Army controlled property at
the Yakima Training Center, to the Army. The transfer is needed
to provide the Army with complete control over land uses on the
Yakima Training Center and eliminate the artificial obstacles
to tactical movement that currently exist. The proposed
legislation eliminates a management restriction that has
adversely impacted the Army's ability to accomplish its
training objectives in the northern part of the Yakima Training
Center. The legislation also provides a common land management
situation for the Army, and thereby, makes Army range
operations and natural resource management more efficient.
The lands to be transferred at Yakima Training Center
consist of 19 scattered tracts of public domain lands, managed
by the Bureau of Land Management, aggregating 6,640 acres in
Kittitas County, Washington. There are an additional 3,090
acres of public domain mineral estate associated with Army
acquired lands that are withdrawn from the general mining laws.
The mineral estate of all 9,730 acres would remain under the
administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior.
The mineral estate would be withdrawn from the mining laws
(gold, silver, and lead) and the geothermal leasing laws, but
not the Material's Act (sand and gravel) or the Mineral Leasing
Act (oil, gas, and coal).
These Bureau of Land Management lands are located within an
approximately 63,000 acre expansion of the YTC authorized by
the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1992
and 1993 (Public Law 102-190) and the Military Construction
Appropriations Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-136). The Army
purchased (1994-1996) the surrounding 56,400 acres from private
landholders and the State of Washington leaving the 6,640 acres
of Bureau of Land Management ``inholdings'' to be withdrawn or
transferred to the Army. To date, the Bureau of Land Management
has granted a right-of-way to the Army for crossing the
inholdings, which allows the Army to use its acquired land, but
the Army cannot train on the lands. The Bureau of Land
Management inholdings are interspersed in a manner that
prevents the establishment of tactically and doctrinally
correct maneuver lanes. This restriction has adversely impacted
the Army's ability to accomplish its training objectives.
The original requirement for additional training land in
1992 was a result of three factors. The first factor was the
increased Army-wide emphasis on brigade level combined arms
training by Active and Reserve Component units. The increased
emphasis resulted from changes in Army Doctrine, organizations,
and equipment that in turn respond to evolving battlefield
requirements. The land expansion at Yakima Training Center,
with the land transfer, will enhance the ability of Active and
Reserve Component units to train to realistic brigade and
battalion standards. Second, the expansion and transfer were to
provide sufficient land to permit live-fire operation to
continue at the same time that large-scale maneuver training
and testing exercises are conducted and were to support
potential mobilization requirements as occurred during
Operation Desert Storm. It is the maneuver exercises that are
limited by the inholdings. Finally, the land expansion and
transfer were to provide enough land for environmentally sound
land management practices, like rotational use of training
areas, that periodically rests stressed training areas so that
native grasses and other vegetation can be planted to reduce
soil erosion.
It was good that the Army and Congress had the foresight to
expand the Yakima Training Center in 1992, because in 1999,
Fort Lewis, Washington and the Yakima Training Center were
selected as the initial sites where the Army's Brigade
Transformation Campaign Plan will be evaluated. An
Environmental Assessment of the impacts of the proposed
training is in progress. The Army's transformation plan will
meet the defense challenges of the future and provide the
Nation the decisive landpower forces necessary to support the
National Security Strategy and National Military Strategy. As a
result of transformation, the Army will be a strategically
responsive force that is dominant across the full spectrum of
operations. The Army will implement the Army vision through
transformation as rapidly as possible, while continually
maintaining warfighting readiness of operational forces. The
Army's Transformation Campaign Plan defines the process for
transformation for initial forces, interim forces, and
objective (future) forces. The Initial Force is a two brigade
combat team force at Fort Lewis, Washington and Yakima Training
Center that will transform and will receive off-the-shelf
equipment to support evaluation and refinement of the doctrinal
Organizational and Operational concepts. The Interim Force is a
transition force--one that seeks the Objective Force state of
the art technology, but leverages today's technology together
with modernized legacy forces to bridge to the future. The
Objective Force is the force that achieves our objective of a
strategically responsive Army that is capable of dominating at
any point across the full spectrum of operations and can
rapidly transition across mission requirements without loss of
momentum. It will be able to operate as an integral member of
the joint, multinational, interagency team, and dominant
against the asymmetric application of conventional,
unconventional and weapons of mass destruction threat
capabilities. This land transfer is necessary now to fully
train and test the Initial and Interim Brigades to the fullest
extent to which they are expected to perform.
Besides training, the Army has another mission I would like
to highlight . . . environmentally sound land management. The
Army has been and will be a good environmental steward of the
training land at the Yakima Training Center. In accordance with
the Sikes Act, we developed a comprehensive military land use
strategy and resource management plan for the entire
installation in 1996 entitled the Cultural and Natural
Resources Management Plan. It encompasses all the training
activities and land management practices on the entire 323,000-
acre installation. It was implemented and is periodically
updated. The plan will be updated after the land transfer. The
Yakima Training Center has implemented the Army's Integrated
Training Area Management technology. The goal of this program
is to reduce soil erosion and loss of vegetation on training
lands. Training is matched with the capabilities of the soils
and vegetation to withstand the training impact. As part of
this program, a Geographic Information System has been
established so that the installation can monitor change in the
soils, watersheds, slopes, streams, vegetation, land cover, and
man-made features. Livestock grazing was eliminated after the
Army conducted an Environmental Impact Statement study in 1994
that revealed that continuation of grazing was not compatible
with the proposed training activities. We have an Endangered
Species Management Plan that covers the Bald Eagle, Peregrine
Falcon, and the Sage Grouse. We allow hunting on Army land
where it does not interfere with training. When the Army
purchased the private land surrounding the Bureau of Land
Management inholdings, hunting use of the inholdings increased
because the public now had access across the Army land to the
inholdings.
To conclude, The Army requires the transfer of the Bureau
of Land Management inholdings to be able to conduct tactically
and doctrinally correct training and to provide comprehensive
environmental management.
Mr. Chairman, that concludes my statement. I will be
pleased to answer any questions you or other members of the
subcommittee may have.
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Statement of Sylvia V. Baca, Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals
Management
Good afternoon Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide the Department of the
Interior's views on S. 2757. This bill provides for the
permanent transfer of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) managed
public domain lands located within two military training ranges
to the respective military services which manage the particular
ranges. S. 2757 addresses this transfer at two ranges: the
Melrose Air Force Range in New Mexico and the Army's Yakima
Training Center in Washington. The Department supports the
passage of this bill.
melrose air force range, new mexico
S. 2757 would transfer administrative jurisdiction over the
surface estate of 6614 acres of BLM land from the Secretary of
the Interior to the Secretary of the Air Force. Subject to
valid existing rights, the mineral estate of the transferred
lands would be withdrawn from all forms of appropriation under
the public land laws.
The acquisition of lands for the Melrose Range was
authorized by the Military Construction Authorization Act of
1967 (Public Law 89-568). Pursuant to this authority, the Air
Force requested the assistance of the BLM to remove 6,634 acres
of State-owned lands and 80 acres of private lands (a total of
6,714 acres) through an exchange from within the range
boundaries. The BLM accomplished these exchanges in 1970 and
1973. In 1975, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, on behalf of
the Air Force, filed an application for withdrawal and
reservation of these lands with the BLM.
Melrose Range, including the BLM acquired parcels, has been
in continuous use since the initial Air Force lease of lands
from the State of New Mexico and private land owners in 1952.
The Air Force has been responsible for natural resources
management on these lands during this same period. The BLM has
not exercised natural resources management on the lands it
acquired for the Air Force within this active training range.
The six parcels which the BLM acquired for the Air Force
include 1,811 acres within the bomb impact zone; the remaining
acres are within the range safety buffer.
One Federal Endangered Species Act candidate animal, the
black tailed prairie dog, has been documented on the acquired
lands. Management for the species is currently under
development by the Department of Defense in association with
the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. There are no other
threatened, endangered or sensitive species known on the
acquired parcels and the proposed transfer is not in conflict
with either the Endangered Species Act or BLM policy.
The Department of the Interior supports the transfer of the
surface estate and withdrawal of the mineral estate of the BLM
acquired lands for the following reasons:
1. These lands were acquired for the sole purpose of
completing the range acquisition authorized by Public Law 89-
568.
2. The lands contain ordnance and explosive waste from 43
years of Air Force use.
3. The acquired lands represent less than 10% of the entire
range and are divided among six separate parcels.
4. The BLM has never managed and has no interest in
managing these lands located within an active training range
for natural or cultural resources.
yakima training center, washington
S. 2757 would transfer administrative jurisdiction over the
surface estate of 6640 acres of BLM land from the Secretary of
the Interior to the Secretary of the Army. Under the bill,
these lands will be withdrawn from mining law and geothermal
leasing, but not from oil and gas leasing.
The acquisition of lands for an expansion of the Army's
Yakima Training Center was authorized by the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993 (Public Law
102-190) and the Military Construction Authorization Act of
1992 (Public Law 102-136). Within this expansion area lie 6,640
acres of BLM-managed public domain lands and an additional
3,090 acres of subsurface mineral estate. The Army filed an
application for a withdrawal and reservation of these lands and
minerals in May 1992.
Nineteen small parcels of public lands, aggregating 6,640
acres, are within the Army's acquisition area. These public
lands represent approximately 10 percent of the expansion area.
These lands have been managed by the BLM for recreation and
grazing.
One federal Endangered Species Act candidate plant,
Erigonum codium (Umtanum Wild Buckwheat) has been documented on
habitat adjacent to the Yakima Training Center (Hanford
property) in Yakima County. Unsurveyed potential habitat occurs
within the Yakima Training Center near the southern boundary.
There are no threatened, endangered, or sensitive species known
in the expansion area and the proposed transfer would not be in
conflict with the Endangered Species Act or BLM policy.
The Department of the Interior supports the transfer of the
surface estate and withdrawal of the mineral estate of these
lands for the following reasons:
1. These lands are within the range expansion authorized by
Public Law 102-190.
2. The 19 scattered parcels are an integral part of the
Army's maneuver training. If these parcels are not under Army
control, the usefulness of the expansion is severely degraded.
3. These parcels are approximately 10 percent of the range
expansion.
4. Any attempt by the BLM to manage resources on these
scattered parcels within an active maneuver area would be very
difficult. Adequate coordination of any Department of the
Interior resource management concerns can be achieved through
the provisions of the Sikes Act, as amended (Public Law 86-
797).
We have identified two technical corrections to the land
descriptions and this information has been passed to Committee
staff.
Thank you again for the opportunity to testify on this
bill, I am happy to answer any questions you might have.
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. 2757 as ordered
reported.