[House Report 110-249]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
110th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 110-249
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SNOQUALMIE PASS LAND CONVEYANCE ACT
_______
July 23, 2007.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Rahall, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 1285]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 1285) to provide for the conveyance of a parcel of
National Forest System land in Kittitas County, Washington, to
facilitate the construction of a new fire and rescue station,
and for other purposes, having considered the same, report
favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill
as amended do pass.
The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Snoqualmie Pass Land Conveyance Act''.
SEC. 2. LAND CONVEYANCE, NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LAND, KITTITAS COUNTY,
WASHINGTON.
(a) Conveyance Required.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall convey,
without consideration, to the King and Kittitas Counties Fire District
#51 of King and Kittitas Counties, Washington (in this section referred
to as the ``District''), all right, title, and interest of the United
States in and to a parcel of National Forest System land in Kittitas
County, Washington, consisting of approximately 1.5 acres within the
SW\1/4\ of the SE\1/4\ of section 4, township 22 north, range 11 east,
Willamette meridian, for the purpose of permitting the District to use
the parcel as a site for a new Snoqualmie Pass fire and rescue station.
(b) Reversionary Interest.--If the Secretary determines at any time
that the real property conveyed under subsection (a) is not being used
in accordance with the purpose of the conveyance specified in such
subsection, all right, title, and interest in and to the property shall
revert, at the option of the Secretary, to the United States, and the
United States shall have the right of immediate entry onto the
property. Any determination of the Secretary under this subsection
shall be made on the record after an opportunity for a hearing.
(c) Survey.--If necessary, the exact acreage and legal description of
the lands to be conveyed under subsection (a) shall be determined by a
survey satisfactory to the Secretary. The cost of a survey shall be
borne by the District.
(d) Additional Terms and Conditions.--The Secretary may require such
additional terms and conditions in connection with the conveyance under
subsection (a) as the Secretary considers appropriate to protect the
interests of the United States.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 1285 is to provide for the conveyance
of a parcel of National Forest System land in Kittitas County,
Washington, to facilitate the construction of a new fire and
rescue station.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The Snoqualmie Pass Fire and Rescue Station serves King and
Kittitas Counties Fire District #51. Fire District #51 is
managed by a three-person Board of Commissioners elected by the
voters of Snoqualmie Pass. The Fire District consists of 24
volunteer firefighter/EMT's that service a community of 350
full-time residents.
Snoqualmie Pass Fire and Rescue currently operates a fire
and rescue station on National Forest System property, at a
facility that they lease from the Forest Service. The leased
facility was built in the 1930's as a maintenance shed for the
Department of Transportation. The current facility has numerous
deficiencies such as a non-compliant electrical system and no
smoke alarm or sprinkler system.
Snoqualmie Pass Fire and Rescue was approached last year by
the Forest Service to ask if they would be interested in
purchasing the land that the fire and rescue station currently
sits on. Because they find the current facility to be
inadequate, they instead are asking to have a separate 1.5 acre
parcel conveyed to them in order to build a new fire and rescue
station. Snoqualmie Pass Fire and Rescue also lacks the funding
to purchase the parcel in question.
There were efforts in the past to resolve this matter
administratively through selling one acre of a three acre tract
to Snoqualmie Pass Fire and Rescue using the Townsite Act
(Public Law 85-569) but those efforts never came to fruition
due to funding constraints of Snoqualmie Pass Fire and Rescue.
The 1.5 acres in question are currently being used as a parking
lot.
H.R. 1285, as amended, conveys approximately 1.5 acres of
National Forest System lands in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie
National Forest in Kittitas County, Washington, to facilitate
the construction of a new fire and rescue station. H.R. 1285
also specifies that if the property conveyed is not being used
in accordance with the purpose of the conveyance, the property
shall revert back to the United States.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 1285 was introduced on March 1, 2007, by
Representative Doc Hastings (R-WA). The bill was referred to
the Committee on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to
the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands.
On April 17, 2007, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill.
At the Full Committee markup on June 28, 2007, the Subcommittee
was discharged from further consideration of the bill.
National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee
Chairman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) offered an amendment to make a
technical change to the map description and limit the acreage
of the parcel being conveyed to 1.5 acres. The Grijalva
amendment was adopted by voice vote. The bill, as amended, was
then ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives
by voice vote.
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 Natural 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. 1285--Snoqualmie Pass Land Conveyance Act
H.R. 1285 would provide for the conveyance, without
consideration, of 1.5 acres of Forest Service land to the King
and Kittitas Counties Fire District #51. The land would be
available only to the fire district to be used to construct a
new firehouse. Based on information from the Forest Service,
CBO expects that any cost to the government of implementing
this legislation would not be significant. Enacting H.R. 1285
would not affect direct spending or revenues.
H.R. 1285 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.
The staff contact for this estimate is Tyler Kruzich. 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.
EARMARK STATEMENT
H.R. 1285 does not contain any congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in
clause 9(d), 9(e) or 9(f) of rule XXI.
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.