[House Report 106-898]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
106th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 106-898
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60 BAR LAND EXCHANGE, WYOMING
_______
September 26, 2000.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Young of Alaska, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 1030]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(S. 1030) to provide that the conveyance by the Bureau of Land
Management of the surface estate to certain land in the State
of Wyoming in exchange for certain private land will not result
in the removal of the land from operation of the mining laws,
having considered the same, report favorably thereon without
amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of S. 1030 is to provide that the conveyance by
the Bureau of Land Management of the surface estate to certain
land in the State of Wyoming in exchange for certain private
land will not result in the removal of the land from operation
of the mining laws.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking to finalize
an equal-value land exchange under section 206 of the Federal
Land Policy and Management Act under which the United States
will acquire 9,480 acres of land of high scenic and
recreational value near Gillette, Wyoming. The mineral estate
of these lands is federally owned and open to the operation of
the mining laws governing disposition in such split-estate
situations. In exchange, BLM will convey 20,832 acres of
scattered, isolated public lands with mostly limited public
access. BLM will retain the mineral estate beneath the offered
private lands to be conveyed to the United States, and will
also retain the mineral estate beneath the public lands to be
conveyed.
The private lands were formerly located within the 60 Bar
Ranch, adjacent to existing BLM and Wyoming State lands. They
have been purchased by Cow Creek LLC, a limited liability
company, and will be exchanged for scattered, isolated tracts
of public land located within the private ranch units of the
owners of Cow Creek LLC. An existing uranium company holds
surface rights on the scattered public lands proposed for
exchange. The company stated a willingness to relinquish its
mining claims if this bill becomes law. With respect to the
lands begin transferred by BLM, S. 1030 provides for an
exemption to 43 Code of Federal Regulation Sections 2201.1 2(d)
and 2091.3 2(c), which require that the mineral estate remain
closed to the operation of the mining laws pending the issuance
of land use regulations. These exemptions will allow the
uranium mine to pursue subsurface claims in the future, a
situation the owners of Cow Creek LLC are aware of and support.
For additional information, please see Senate Report 106-
174.
COMMITTEE ACTION
S. 1030 was introduced by Senator Michael B. Enzi (R-WY) on
May 13, 1999. On November 19, 1999, the Senate passed S. 1030
with an amendment by unanimous consent. In the House of
Representatives, the bill was referred to the Committee on
Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on
Energy and Mineral Resources and the Subcommittee on National
Parks and Public Lands. On June 15, 2000, the Subcommittee on
Energy and Mineral Resources held a hearing on the bill. On
June 28, 2000, the full Resources Committee met to consider the
bill. The Subcommittees were 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 voice vote.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. 60 Bar land exchange
Subsection (a) describes the waiver of specified BLM
regulations which require that mineral estate remain closed to
the operation of the mining laws pending the issuance of land
use regulations.
Subsection (b) provides the land description of the
scattered public lands to be conveyed by S. 1030.
Subsection (c) provides that the land to be acquired by the
United States will be segregated from entry under the mining
laws until appropriate land use planning is completed for the
land.
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 and Article IV, section 3 of the
Constitution of the United States grant 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. Government Reform Oversight Findings. Under clause
3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives, the Committee has received no report of
oversight findings and recommendations from the Committee on
Government Reform on this bill.
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:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, July 7, 2000.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1030, an act to
provide that the conveyance by the Bureau of Land Management of
the surface estate to certain land in the state of Wyoming in
exchange for certain private land will not result in the
removal of the land from operation of the mining laws.
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.
S. 1030--An act to provide that the conveyance by the Bureau of Land
Management of the surface estate to certain land in the state
of Wyoming in exchange for certain private land will not result
in the removal of the land from operation of the mining laws
CBO estimates that enacting S. 1030 would have no
significant impact on the federal budget. Enacting the
legislation would not affect direct spending or receipts;
therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply. S. 1030
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as
defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not
affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
S. 1030 concerns the administration of certain federal land
that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) plans to exchange in
Wyoming. In the proposed exchange, the federal government would
convey the surface rights to about 20,830 acres of federal land
in exchange for the surface rights to about 9,500 acres of
privately owned land. No subsurface mineral rights would be
exchanged. However, under current federal regulations, public
land administered by BLM that is conveyed in an exchange is
automatically removed from operation of the mining laws. S.
1030 provides that the subsurface rights retained by the
federal government in the land exchange would not be subject to
those regulations and would therefore remain open to the mining
laws. As a result, enacting this legislation would allow a
uranium mining company to pursue its existing subsurface claims
to the land after the exchange is completed.
On October 5, 1999, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S.
1030 as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources on September 22, 1999. The two versions of
this legislation are identical, and the cost estimates are the
same.
The CBO staff contact 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.