[House Report 113-190]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
113th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 113-190
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POWELL SHOOTING RANGE LAND CONVEYANCE ACT
_______
September 10, 2013.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
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Mr. Hastings of Washington, from the Committee on Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 130]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (S. 130) to require the Secretary of the Interior to
convey certain Federal land to the Powell Recreation District
in the State of Wyoming, having considered the same, report
favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill
do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of S. 130 is to require the Secretary of the
Interior to convey certain Federal land to the Powell
Recreation District in the State of Wyoming.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The town of Powell is located in Park County, in
northwestern Wyoming. Since 1980, the Powell Recreation
District has used approximately 322 acres of public land as a
public shooting range. Because the lands are located within the
boundaries of an irrigation district, they were presumed to be
under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Reclamation. The Bureau
issued the original lease for the shooting range in 1980 and a
renewal in 2007. Recently, it was determined that the lands are
actually administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
In October 2005, the recreation district applied for a
transfer of the land under the Recreation and Public Purposes
Act (RPPA, 43 U.S.C. 869 et seq.). The land, however, had not
been identified by BLM as appropriate for conveyance under the
RPPA, and the Department of the Interior concluded that it does
not have authority to administratively transfer the land under
the RPPA because the land is contaminated with lead.
S. 130 directs the Secretary of the Interior to convey the
322 acres to the Powell Recreation District for continued use
as a shooting range, or for any other public purpose allowed
under the RPPA. The conveyance is to be made at no cost, but
the District is required to pay for any administrative costs
associated with the conveyance.
The land is conveyed subject to reversionary terms
requiring its continued use for a public purpose. This appears
unnecessary considering the subsurface estate is already owned
by the State of Wyoming and the site's hazardous substance
contamination that required a liability release and prevented a
RPPA conveyance in the first place. This provision may be of no
consequence, however, since the shooting range is intended to
be permanent.
COMMITTEE ACTION
S. 130 was introduced on January 24, 2013, by Senator
Michael Enzi (R-WY). On June 19, 2013, the bill passed the
Senate by unanimous consent without amendment. The bill was
then referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and within
the Committee to the Subcommittee on Public Lands and
Environmental Regulation. On July 19, 2013, the Subcommittee
held a hearing on the bill. On July 24, 2013, the full
Resources Committee met to consider S. 130. The Subcommittee on
Public Lands and Environmental Regulation was discharged by
unanimous consent. No amendments were offered and the bill was
adopted and ordered favorably reported to the House of
Representatives by unanimous consent.
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.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) 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)(2)(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. 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:
S. 130--Powell Shooting Range Land Conveyance Act
S. 130 would require the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to
convey 322 acres of federal land near Powell, Wyoming, to the
Powell Recreation District. Based on information provided by
BLM, CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would have
no significant impact on the federal budget. Enacting S. 130
would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-
as-you-go procedures do not apply.
The act would require BLM to convey the affected lands,
without consideration, to the Powell Recreation District, which
currently operates a shooting range on those lands. Because the
act requires the district to pay all administrative costs
associated with the conveyance, CBO estimates that implementing
S. 130 would have no significant impact on discretionary
spending. In addition, the affected lands are not expected to
generate receipts over the next 10 years under current law.
S. 130 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
On April 1, 2013, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S.
130 as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources on March 14, 2013. The two versions of this
legislation are identical, and the CBO cost estimates are the
same.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The
estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
2. Section 308(a) of 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. Based on
information provided by BLM, CBO estimates that implementing
the legislation would have no significant impact on the federal
budget.
3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or
objective of this bill is to require the Secretary of the
Interior to convey certain Federal land to the Powell
Recreation District in the State of Wyoming.
EARMARK STATEMENT
This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of
the House of Representatives.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5
Directed Rule Making. The Chairman does not believe that
this bill directs any executive branch official to conduct any
specific rule-making proceedings.
Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not
establish or reauthorize a program of the federal government
known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was
not included in any report from the Government Accountability
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139
or identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program
Information Act (Public Law 95-220, as amended by Public Law
98-169) as relating to other programs.
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.