[House Report 106-885]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
106th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 106-885
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CONVEYANCE OF CERTAIN FOREST SERVICE LAND IN THE LAKE TAHOE BASIN
_______
September 22, 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
together with
DISSENTING VIEWS
[To accompany H.R. 4656]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 4656) to authorize the Forest Service to convey certain
lands in the Lake Tahoe Basin to the Washoe County School
District for use as an elementary school site, having
considered the same, reports favorably thereon without
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.
purpose of the bill
The purpose of H.R. 4656 is to authorize the Forest Service
to convey certain lands in the Lake Tahoe Basin to the Washoe
County District for use as an elementary school site.
background and need for legislation
The Incline Village Elementary School in Washoe County,
Nevada, was constructed in 1964. The school site is
approximately 6.4 acres in size, which is much smaller than the
10 acres normally needed for an elementary school. The small
size of the current site limits outdoor playgrounds, parking
areas, and snow removal storage. Incline Elementary has a
maximum capacity of 708 students. The 1999-2000 school year
enrollment was 671 students. Unlike all of the other elementary
schools in the District, Incline Elementary has only grades K-
5. The sixth grade was moved to the middle school because of
the lack of room at the elementary school. To meet the
increasing student population, a modular school addition was
built in 1994, and the school's capacity has been augmented by
the addition of a two classroom ``portable'' unit. Every
available space is being used for classrooms or teacher
preparation areas. There is no further room for expansion.
Additionally, there is no feasible way to re-zone the children
to other schools in the County.
The Board of Trustees of the Washoe County School District
created a committee comprised of school officials and other
interested community members to review the problem of school
overcrowding and to recommend a solution. After considerable
research, a site was chosen to construct a ``satellite school''
to operate in conjunction with the existing elementary school.
The site is located on U.S. Forest Service land in the Lake
Tahoe Basin Management Unit. The Washoe County School District
has been working closely with the U.S. Forest Service, as well
as regional interest groups (including the League to Save Lake
Tahoe), on this matter. All parties involved support the land
purchase and agree that the funds from the purchase are to be
reserved for acquiring further sensitive lands at Lake Tahoe.
Furthermore, the School District and the Forest Service have
agreed to the sale of the land at fair market value for limited
use.
Additionally, the land under consideration was originally
acquired by the federal government under the Santini-Burton
acquisition program as being environmentally sensitive because
a small portion is a stream environment zone. However, the
School District has determined that the small portion of the
site that is classified as sensitive land can be protected, and
the protected elements can be incorporated into existing
environmental education programs to instruct students on the
importance of stream environment zones to protect the
environment and water quality of Lake Tahoe. The Forest Service
determined that, since the land was purchased under the
Santini-Burton acquisition program, it lacks the authority to
allow the use of the parcel for other than water quality or
recreation purposes (as defined by the Santini-Burton Act)
without express authorization from Congress. Therefore,
authorizing legislation needs to be passed by Congress for this
conveyance to occur.
committee action
H.R. 4656 was introduced on June 14, 2000, by Congressman
Jim Gibbons (R-NV). The bill was referred to the Committee on
Resources and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on
Forests and Forest Health. Senate companion legislation (S.
2728) was also introduced on June 14, 2000, by Senator Richard
Byran (D-NV). On July 25, 2000, the Subcommittee held a hearing
on the bill. On September 13, 2000, the Full Resources
Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee on Forests
and Forest Health was discharged by unanimous consent from
further consideration of the bill. Congressman Adam Smith (WA)
offered an amendment to allow the Secretary to determine fair
market value of the site; the amendment failed by voice vote.
No further amendments were offered and the bill was 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 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 the 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, credit
authority, or an increase or decrease in tax expenditures.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, enactment of this
bill would affect direct spending (including offsetting
receipts), but that ``any such effects would total less than
$500,000 each 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, September 20, 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 H.R. 4656, a bill to
authorize the Forest Service to convey certain lands in the
Lake Tahoe basin to the Washoe County School District for use
as an elementary school site.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Megan Carrol.
Sincerely,
Barry B. Anderson,
(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
Enclosure.
H.R. 4656--A bill to authorize the Forest Service to convey certain
lands in the Lake Tahoe basin to the Washoe County School
District for use as an elementary school site
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 4656 would have no
significant impact on the federal budget. Because the bill
would affect direct spending (including offsetting receipts),
pay-as-you-go procedures would apply, but we estimate that any
such effects would total less than $500,000 each year.
H.R. 4656 would authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to
convey to the Washoe County School District in Nevada about 8.7
acres of federal land located within the Lake Tahoe basin and
administered by the Forest Service. The district would pay fair
market value for the land, subject to the restriction that the
land could be used only as the site of an elementary school
facility and would revert back to the federal government if
used for any other purpose. H.R. 4656 would authorize the
Secretary to retain and spend, without further appropriation,
proceeds from the sale to acquire environmentally sensitive
land in the Lake Tahoe basin.
Under current law, the agency has no plans to sell the
land, which presently generates no significant receipts and is
not expected to do so over the next 10 years. Based on
information from the agency, we estimate that, under H.R. 4656,
the land would be conveyed in 2001 in exchange for a cash
payment of less than $500,000, and that those receipts would be
spend during 2002.
H.R. 4656 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. This
purchase would be voluntary on the part of the Washoe County
School District, and any costs the district would incur as a
result also would be voluntary. The bill would have no
significant impact on the budgets of other state, local, or
tribal governments.
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.
DISSENTING VIEWS
H.R. 4656 directs the Forest Service to convey 8.7 acres of
Tahoe National Forest land to the Washoe County School District
in Incline Village, Nevada. According to the Forest Service,
the land is valued at between $2-4 million, but deed
restrictions and a reversionary clause set forth in the bill
may reduce the value by 75%. While this bill would result in a
windfall for Washoe County, the public interest is harmed when
artificially low values for national forest land result in
fewer dollars for the Forest Service to acquire comparable
lands.
The land to be conveyed was originally acquired for
$500,000 by the Forest Service in 1981, as environmentally
sensitive property under the Santini-Burton Act (``the Act'').
As is the case with other property in the popular Lake Tahoe
area, this land has appreciated considerably in the last twenty
years. To dispose of this land at what amounts to less than
actual fair market value fails to provide a fair return to the
taxpayers for their investment. It also undercuts the Santini-
Burton Act's goals of protecting environmentally sensitive land
around Lake Tahoe. Because of the inflated land prices in the
Lake Tahoe area, $500,000 in 2000 would not be close to
sufficient to purchase land comparable to what could be
purchased for $500,000 in 1981.
This bill further undermines the intent of the Santini-
Burton Act which requires that if transfers of land are made to
local governments, deed restrictions must protect the
environmental quality and public recreational purposes of the
land. Legislation is needed in this instance to override the
Act's safeguards. Unlike other sites conveyed for less than
fair market value with reversionary clauses, this land was not
public domain or surplus land. Rather, this land was
specifically purchased for its value in protecting and
enhancing the natural resources of the Lake Tahoe basin. By
rejecting the amendment that would have allowed the Forest
Service to obtain full value for the land, the Majority has not
only deprived the public of a fair return for its tax dollars,
but also has not offset the loss of this environmentally
significant property with sufficient funds to purchase
comparable lands.
George Miller.
Adam Smith.