[Senate Report 111-150]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 300
111th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 111-150
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ACQUISITION OF LAND IN SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, BY THE MOUNT OLIVET
CEMETERY ASSOCIATION
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March 2, 2010.--Ordered to be printed
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Mr. Bingaman, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 1442]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the Act (H.R. 1442) to provide for the sale of the
Federal Government's reversionary interest in approximately 60
acres of land in Salt Lake City, Utah, originally conveyed to
the Mount Olivet, Cemetery Association under the Act of January
23, 1909, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon
without amendment and recommends that the Act do pass.
PURPOSE
The purpose of H.R. 1442 is to provide for the sale of the
Federal Government's reversionary interest in approximately 60
acres of land in Salt Lake City, Utah, originally conveyed to
the Mount Olivet Cemetery Association under the Act of January
23, 1909.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
In 1874, churches in Salt Lake City, Utah, petitioned the
Federal Government for land for a nondenominational cemetery.
In 1877, Congress enacted legislation that authorized the
conveyance of 20 acres of federal land to be used as a public
cemetery and established a Board of Trustees, known as the
Mount Olivet Cemetery Association (Association), to oversee
management of the Mount Olivet Cemetery.
On January 23, 1909, Congress enacted legislation that
enabled the Association to acquire an additional 60 acres of
federal land adjacent to the cemetery. The land conveyance
included a condition that the land would revert to the Federal
Government if any of the 60 acres were not used for the purpose
of the cemetery. The Bureau of Land Management holds this
reversionary interest within the Department of the Interior.
H.R. 1442 would allow Rowland Hall-St. Marks School,
situated adjacent to the cemetery, to purchase 13 acres of the
60 acres for facility expansion. The sale can only proceed if
the Federal Government's reversionary interest is removed. H.R.
1442 would remove the government's reversionary interest.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
H.R. 1442, sponsored by Rep. Matheson, was reported by the
Committee on Natural Resources on July 10, 2009 (H. Rept. 111-
198), and passed the House of Representatives on July 16, 2009,
by a vote of 422-0.
Similar legislation, S. 865, was introduced in the Senate
by Senator Bennett on April 22, 2009. The Subcommittee on
Public Lands and Forests held a hearing on both bills on
October 8, 2009. On December 16, 2009, the Committee on Energy
and Natural Resources ordered H.R. 1442 to be reported
favorably without amendment.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open
business session on December 16, 2009, by a voice vote of a
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 1442.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1(a) directs the Secretary of the Interior to
convey the federal reversionary interest in approximately 60
acres of land in Salt Lake City, Utah, within 30 days of an
offer from the Mount Olivet Cemetery Association, provided that
the offer is made within one year of the completion of an
appraisal of the property.
Subsection (b) requires the Secretary to complete a survey
of the property within 90 days of enactment to determine
precise boundaries and acreage.
Subsection (c) requires the Secretary to complete an
appraisal of the property within 180 days of enactment.
Subsection (d) provides that the Mount Olivet Cemetery
Association shall pay to the Secretary the appraised value of
the Federal interest within 30 days of conveyance.
Subsection (e) requires that all associated costs of the
conveyance be paid by the Association.
Subsection (f) directs the deposit of proceeds from the
transaction into the Federal Land Disposal Account and makes
them available for expenditure in accordance with section
206(c) of the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act (43
U.S.C. 2305(c)).
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The following estimate of costs of this measure has been
provided by the Congressional Budget Office.
H.R. 1442--An act to provide for the sale of the federal government's
reversionary interest in approximately 60 acres of land in Salt
Lake City, Utah, originally conveyed to the Mount Olivet
Cemetery Association under the Act of January 23, 1909
H.R. 1442 would direct the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
to sell the federal government's reversionary interest in about
60 acres of land in Salt Lake City. CBO estimates that enacting
H.R. 1442 would have no net effect on direct spending and no
effect on revenues.
The legislation 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.
The land affected by H.R. 1442 was conveyed to the Mount
Olivet Cemetery Association in 1909 under a law that specified
that any portion of the conveyance not used for burials would
revert to the United States. (Later statutes permitted the
association to lease the land for other purposes, but not sell
it.) By authorizing BLM to sell the reversionary interest in a
60-acre portion of the original conveyance to the association,
the legislation would allow the land to be subsequently sold by
the association. Proceeds from the sale of the reversionary
interest would be available to BLM without further
appropriation to acquire other lands authorized to be
purchased. Administrative costs related to the transaction
would be borne by the association.
Enacting H.R. 1442 would increase both offsetting receipts
and associated spending of those proceeds, resulting in no net
change in direct spending. CBO cannot estimate the amount of
such receipts and spending in the absence of an appraisal to
determine the value of the government's reversionary interest
in the affected land. However, we expect that receipts and
subsequent spending would total less than $1 million, probably
in fiscal year 2010.
On June 23, 2009, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R.
1442, as ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural
Resources on June 10, 2009. The two versions of the legislation
are similar, and our cost estimates the same.
The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Deborah Reis
and Daniel Hoople. The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo,
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION
In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in
carrying out H.R. 1442.
The Act is not a regulatory measure in the sense of
imposing Government-established standards or significant
economic responsibilities on private individuals and
businesses.
No personal information would be collected in administering
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal
privacy.
Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the
enactment of H.R. 1442, as ordered reported.
CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING
H.R. 1442, as ordered reported, does not contain any
congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits,
or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the
Standing Rules of the Senate.
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
The following testimony provided by the Bureau of Land
Management was included in testimony received by the Committee
at a hearing on S. 865 on October 8, 2009.
Statement of Marcilynn A. Burke, Deputy Director, Bureau of Land
Management, Department of the Interior
Thank you for inviting the Department of the Interior to
testify on S. 865 and H.R. 1442, which provide for the disposal
of the Federal government's interest in certain acreage of the
Mount Olivet Cemetery in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) supports H.R. 1442 as passed by the House
of Representatives.
background
The Mount Olivet Cemetery, in Salt Lake City, Utah, is
owned and managed by the Mount Olivet Cemetery Association (the
Cemetery Association). Located on the east side of Salt Lake
City, the cemetery consists of approximately 80 acres of land,
20 acres of which is currently used for burials.
The Federal government, acting through the Secretary of
War, first ``set apart'' 20 acres of what was then a military
reservation ``to be used as a public cemetery . . . which
shall be forever devoted for the purpose of the burial of the
dead'' (Act of May 16, 1874). Subsequently, in 1909, the
Congress provided for the conveyance of an adjacent 50 acres to
the Mount Olivet Cemetery Association (under the Act of January
23, 1909). The 1909 Act provided that conveyance was contingent
upon the Association first conveying to the United States a
specified parcel of land, of approximately 150 acres, outside
of Salt Lake City. However, the legislation also included a
reverter clause, requiring that the land conveyed under the
1909 act could be used only as a cemetery:
Said land to be by the said Mount Olivet Cemetery
Association permanently used as a cemetery for the
burial of the dead: Provided, That when it shall cease
to be used for such purpose it shall revert to the
United States.
The purpose of this reversionary clause is not established
in the legislation. Whether it was due to an unequal exchange
of lands, or for some other reason, is not stated, nor has the
BLM been able to make any determination through the review of
historical records.
In 1992, Congress took further action regarding Mount
Olivet Cemetery with the enactment of legislation (Public Law
102-347), which allows the Cemetery Association to lease tracts
of the lands conveyed in 1909 for up to 70 years, to the extent
that such leases would not prevent future use as a cemetery.
Public Law 102-347 speaks only to the possibility of 70-year
leases, and the BLM has interpreted the 1909 reverter clause
still to be in effect. Therefore, upon application by the
Cemetery Association, in December of 1993, the BLM issued a
``Certificate of Approval'' for the lease of 15 acres to the
adjacent East High School for a football field, and in January
of 1996, an additional certificate was issued for the lease of
lands for a nursing and retirement facility which was never
built.
In recent years, the Cemetery Association has sought to
sell, rather than lease, some of the acres conveyed under the
1909 Act to Rowland Hall/St. Mark's School. Because the
proposal is for a sale, rather than a lease of up to 70 years,
the BLM does not have the authority to approve such a
conveyance by the Cemetery Association. Specific authority for
the BLM to dispose of the reversionary interest, established in
1909, to the Cemetery Association, as well as any additional
direction respecting valuation of this reversionary interest
through appraisal, would facilitate resolution of this
adjustment in land tenure.
s. 865 and h.r. 1442
The House of Representatives passed H.R. 1442 on July 16,
2009; our testimony addresses the House-passed bill.
H.R. 1442 is a reasonable solution to the desire of the
Mount Olivet Cemetery Association to be able not only to lease,
but also to sell, the cemetery lands. Under H.R. 1442, the
Secretary of the Interior (acting through the Department's
Appraisal Service Directorate) will undertake an appraisal of
the reverter clause attached to the 1909 lands. Upon receiving
that appraisal, the Cemetery Association may purchase the
reverter, thus owning all right, title, and interest in the
land. All costs associated with this conveyance, including the
appraisal, would be the responsibility of the Association.
A number of amendments were made to H.R. 1442 to address
concerns raised by the Department in testimony before the House
Natural Resources Committee on May 14, 2009. We support the
House legislation, as amended, and encourage the Committee to
amend the Senate bill accordingly.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no
changes in existing law are made by the Act S. 1140 as ordered
reported.