[House Report 106-132]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
106th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 106-132
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EDUCATION LAND GRANT ACT
_______
May 10, 1999.--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 H.R. 150]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 150) to amend the Act popularly known as the Recreation
and Public Purposes Act to authorize disposal of certain public
lands or national forest lands to local education agencies for
use for elementary or secondary schools, including public
charter schools, and for other purposes, having considered the
same, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend
that the bill as amended do pass.
The amendments are as follows:
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu
thereof the following:
SECTION. 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Education Land Grant Act''.
SEC. 2. CONVEYANCE OF NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS FOR EDUCATIONAL
PURPOSES.
(a) Authority to Convey.--Upon application, the Secretary of
Agriculture may convey National Forest System lands for use for
educational purposes if the Secretary determines that--
(1) the entity seeking the conveyance will use the conveyed
land for a public or publicly funded elementary or secondary
school, to provide grounds or facilities related to such a
school, or for both purposes;
(2) the conveyance will serve the public interest;
(3) the land to be conveyed is not otherwise needed for the
purposes of the National Forest System; and
(4) the total acreage to be conveyed does not exceed the
amount reasonably necessary for the proposed use.
(b) Acreage Limitation.--A conveyance under this section may not
exceed 80 acres. However, this limitation shall not be construed to
preclude an entity from submitting a subsequent application under this
section for an additional land conveyance if the entity can demonstrate
to the Secretary a need for additional land.
(c) Costs and Mineral Rights.--A conveyance under this section shall
be for a nominal cost. The conveyance may not include the transfer of
mineral rights.
(d) Review of Applications.--When the Secretary receives an
application under this section, the Secretary shall--
(1) before the end of the 14-day period beginning on the date
of the receipt of the application, provide notice of that
receipt to the applicant; and
(2) before the end of the 120-day period beginning on that
date--
(A) make a final determination whether or not to
convey land pursuant to the application, and notify the
applicant of that determination; or
(B) submit written notice to the applicant containing
the reasons why a final determination has not been
made.
(e) Reversionary Interest.--If at any time after lands are conveyed
pursuant to this section, the entity to whom the lands were conveyed
attempts to transfer title to or control over the lands to another or
the lands are devoted to a use other than the use for which the lands
were conveyed, without the consent of the Secretary, title to the lands
shall revert to the United States.
Amend the title so as to read:
A bill to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to convey
National Forest System lands for use for educational purposes,
and for other purposes.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 150 is to authorize the Secretary of
Agriculture to convey National Forest System lands for use for
educational purposes, and for other purposes.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
In 1954 Congress passed the Recreation and Public Purposes
Act (R&PPA) which authorized the sale or lease of Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) land to State and local governments and
qualified non-profit organizations for public purposes.
Typically, the R&PPA has been used for schools, parks,
fairgrounds, campgrounds, historic monument sites, hospitals,
and municipal facilities.
The R&PPA served the public well and has allowed many
communities to build needed public facilities that couldn't
have been built otherwise. Unfortunately, many of the
``landlocked'' towns of the west (those that are completely
surrounded by Federal land) are surrounded by Forest Service
land, not BLM land. Since Forest Service land may not be
conveyed by under the R&PPA, these towns are at a disadvantage.
Because private land within National Forests is so scarce, it
is becoming extremely expensive, and often school districts
cannot afford to purchase private land for schools.
On several occasions Congress has passed individual bills
to transfer Forest Service land to local governments or
education agencies for public purposes. Unfortunately, for
Congress to pass an individual bill for each small western
community that needs Forest Service land is labor intensive and
cost prohibitive. The obvious solution is to give the Forest
Service the statutory authority to discretionarily make such
transfers. H.R. 150 was designed for this purpose, and would
have originally accomplished it by bringing Forest Service land
under the R&PPA.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 150 was introduced on January 6, 1999, by Congressman
J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ). The bill was referred to the Committee on
Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on
National Parks and Public Lands and to the Subcommittee on
Forests and Forest Health. On February 4, 1999, the
Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands held a hearing
on the bill, where witnesses from several small western
communities testified in support of H.R. 150. The Forest
Service testified that the Administration did not support the
bill as currently constituted, but expressed a willingness to
work with the Committee to craft an acceptable substitute. On
February 25, 1999, the Subcommittee on National Parks and
Public Lands met to mark up the bill. Both Subcommittee
Chairman Jim Hansen (R-UT) and Ranking Member Carlos Romero-
Barcelo (D-PR) offered amendments in the nature of a
substitute. These amendments were subsequently withdrawn with
the agreement that the Majority and Minority would work
together to craft an acceptable amendment to offer at Full
Committee. The bill was then ordered favorably reported to the
Full Committee by voice vote. On April 28, 1999, the Full
Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee
on Forests and Forest Health was discharged from further
consideration of the bill by unanimous consent. Congressman
Hansen offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute that
created a free-standing program that would allow the Forest
Service to transfer land for educational purposes at nominal
cost. Delegate Romero-Barcelo then offered an amendment to the
amendment that changed some of the reversionary language. The
amendment to the amendment was adopted by voice vote. And the
Hansen amendment, as amended, was adopted by voice vote. The
bill was then ordered favorably reported to the House of
Representatives by voice vote.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Short title
This section designates the title of the Act as the
``Education Land Grant Act.''
Section 2. Conveyance of National Forest System lands for educational
purposes
Subsection (a) authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to
convey Forest Service Lands for educational purposes if the
Secretary determines that certain conditions are met:
Subsection (a)(1) requires that the entity seeking the
conveyance will use the conveyed land for a public or publicly
funded elementary or secondary school, to provide grounds or
facilities related to such a school, or for both purposes. The
original bill specified that conveyances could be made to
charter schools. During negotiations between the Majority and
Minority on H.R. 150 it was agreed that this language should be
dropped since ``charter school'' is a vague term that will
likely differ from State to State. The Committee instead chose
to adopt the term ``public or publicly funded.'' The Committee
did not feel it was the appropriate role of Congress to inject
itself into State policy debates on charter schools, vouchers,
and various other programs that provide public funds to
schools. Nor did the Committee feel that it was appropriate for
Congress to force the Secretary of Agriculture to promulgate
regulations defining ``charter school.'' The phrase ``publicly
funded'' was therefore substituted to avoid these problems.
This preserves the intent of the original bill. The intent of
the Act is to help provide education to young people, not to
split hairs over semantics.
Subsection (a)(2) requires that the conveyance will serve
the public interest.
Subsection (a)(3) requires that the land to be conveyed is
not otherwise needed for the purposes of the National Forest
System. This phrase should not be interpreted too literally.
Almost any parcel of National Forest land could be said to be
``needed'' for habitat protection, watershed enhancement,
timber production, etc. The intent of this subsection is to
insure that the Secretary does not transfer lands that have
extraordinary features or values that might be lost if the
parcels were used for school purposes. The section should be
interpreted in light of the importance of elementary and
secondary education to society and may often, therefore,
require the Secretary to perform a cost benefit analysis.
Subsection (a)(4) requires that the total acreage to be
conveyed not exceed the amount reasonably necessary for the
proposed use. This section insures that the Secretary not
transfer more Forest Service land than is needed for school
purposes. Schools and related facilities are often built in
phases as funds become available or as enrollment rises. It is
often desirable to transfer the land for these schools all at
once instead of in phases to provide certainty for funding
purposes. When applicants make these issues known, the
Secretary should be sensitive to these concerns. Transfers for
school-related facilities such as playgrounds, ball fields,
parks, etc. are also anticipated and approved of by this Act.
Subsection (b) limits the acreage of conveyances under this
Act to 80 acres. This should be more than enough land for most
schools and facilities. The Act does anticipate that there may
be rare cases where additional transfers may be warranted and
provides for additional transfers if the entity seeking the
additional conveyance can demonstrate such a need to the
Secretary.
Subsection (c) provides that conveyances under this Act
shall be for a nominal cost. The phrase ``nominal'' was
specifically chosen over the term ``discount,'' reflecting the
desire of Congress that appraised value not be an issue in such
transfers. The regulations for the R&PPA provide that such
transfers be made at $10 per acre and the Committee feels that
similar pricing would be appropriate under the Education Land
Grant Act. Subsection (c) also prohibits the Secretary from
transferring mineral rights to parcels of land transferred
pursuant to this Act.
Subsection (d) would require expedited review of
applications under this Act. The Secretary would be required to
acknowledge within 14 days that the application has been
received. The Secretary would then be required to make a final
determination whether to convey the land pursuant to the
application and notify the applicant within 120 days. If the
Secretary cannot make a determination within the 120 day
period, the Secretary is required to submit written notice to
the applicant containing the reasons why the final
determination has not been made.
Subsection (e) addresses the reversionary interest of the
United States in land transferred pursuant to the Education
Land Grant Act. The Act requires that land transferred pursuant
to this Act be used for education purposes. As such, a
reversionary interest in the land will be retained by the
United States. The Committee recognizes, however, that land use
patterns change over time. The Committee spends a good portion
of its time going through the arduous legislative process to
pass individual public laws to relinquish reversionary
interests held by the United States in parcels of land
transferred often as much as over a century ago. This is not a
productive use of Congressional time, especially if there is
any way to avoid it. The Committee, therefore, chose to vest in
the Secretary discretion over the disposal of the reversionary
interest retained in Education Land Grant Act transfers.
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 tax
expenditures. According to the Congressional Budget Office,
enactment of this bill could result in a loss of offsetting
receipts but any such loss would total less than $500,000 per
year.
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, May 5, 1999.
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 H.R. 150, a bill to
authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to convey National
Forest System lands for use for educational purposes, and for
other purposes.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Victoria Heid
Hall.
Sincerely,
Barry B. Anderson
(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
Enclosure.
H.R. 150--A bill to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to convey
National Forest System lands for educational purposes, and for
other purposes
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 150 would have no
significant impact on the federal budget. Because the bill
could result in a loss of offsetting receipts, pay-as-you-go
procedures would apply; however, CBO estimates that any such
effects would total less than $500,000 each year. H.R. 150
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. This bill would
benefit some local governments by giving them the opportunity
to acquire National Forest land for public schools at a nominal
cost.
H.R. 150 would authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to
convey up to 80 acres of land in the National Forest System
(NFS) for use by public or publicly funded schools for a
nominal payment. Once land not otherwise needed for NFS
purposes would be made available, and any such conveyances
would not include the transfer of mineral rights. Title to the
land would revert to the federal government if the recipient
attempts to transfer it or use it for other than educational
purposes. The bill would require the Secretary to notify an
applicant within 120 days of receiving the application as to
whether the land will be conveyed, or provide a written
explanation as to why such a determination has not been made.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 150 would result in
forgone offsetting receipts if land that the Secretary would
likely sell at fair market value under current law would, under
the bill, be conveyed at a discount. However, CBO estimates
that any such loss of receipts from land sales would total less
than $500,000 each year. While the opportunity to use NFS land
for schools at a nominal cost might be a popular option if H.R.
150 were enacted, such NFS land is rarely sold under current
law. Thus, we expect that enacting the bill would not result in
any significant loss of federal receipts.
The CBO staff contact is Victoria Heid Hall. This estimate
was approved by Robert A. Sunshine, Deputy Assistant Director
for Budget Analysis.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing
law.