[House Report 109-634]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
109th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 109-634
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DOUGLAS COUNTY, WASHINGTON, PUD CONVEYANCE ACT
_______
September 6, 2006.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Pombo, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 4789]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 4789) to require the Secretary of the Interior to convey
certain public land located wholly or partially within the
boundaries of the Wells Hydroelectric Project of Public Utility
District No. 1 of Douglas County, Washington, to the utility
district, 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 ``Douglas County, Washington, PUD
Conveyance Act.''
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Public land.--The term ``public land'' means the
approximately 622 acres of Federal land managed by the Bureau
of Land Management and identified on the map as ``_____''.
(2) Map.--The term ``map'' means the map entitled
``_______'', prepared by the Bureau of Land Management and
dated ____, 2006.
(3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of
the Interior.
(4) Pud.--The term ``PUD'' means the Public Utility District
No. 1 of Douglas County, Washington.
SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF PUBLIC LAND TO DOUGLAS COUNTY, WA, PUD.
(a) In General.--Notwithstanding the land use planning requirements
of sections 202 and 203 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act
of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712, 1713), and notwithstanding section 24 of the
Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 818) and Federal Power Order for Project
2149, and subject to valid existing rights, if not later than 45 days
after the date of completion of the appraisal required under subsection
(b), the PUD submits to the Secretary an offer to acquire the public
land for the appraised value, the Secretary shall, not later than 30
days after the date of the offer, convey to the PUD all right, title,
and interest to the public land.
(b) Appraisal.--Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Secretary shall complete an appraisal of the public land.
The appraisal shall be conducted in accordance with the ``Uniform
Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions'' and the ``Uniform
Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice''.
(c) Payment.--Not later than 30 days after the date on which the
public land is conveyed under this section, the PUD shall pay to the
Secretary an amount equal to the appraised value of the public land as
determined under subsection (b).
(d) Costs of Conveyance.--As a condition of conveyance, any costs
related to the conveyance under this section shall be paid by the PUD.
(e) Disposition of Proceeds.--The Secretary shall deposit the
proceeds from the sale in the working capital fund of the Bureau of
Land Management established by section 306 of the Federal Land Policy
and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1736).
SEC. 4. SEGREGATION OF LANDS.
(a) Withdrawal.--Except as provided in section 3(a), effective
immediately upon enactment of this Act, and subject to valid existing
rights, the public land is withdrawn from
(1) all forms or entry, appropriation, or disposal under the
public land laws, and all amendments thereto;
(2) location, entry, and patenting under the mining laws, and
all amendments thereto; and
(3) operation of the mineral leasing, mineral materials, and
geothermal leasing laws, and all amendments thereto.
(b) Term.--This section expires two years from the date of enactment
of this Act or on the date of the completion of the sale contemplated
in section 3 of this Act, whichever is earlier.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 4789 is to require the Secretary of the
Interior to convey certain public land located wholly or
partially within the boundaries of the Wells Hydroelectric
Project of Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County,
Washington, to the utility district.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The Wells Hydroelectric Project, located in Azwell,
Washington, on the Columbia River, provides power for Douglas
and Okanogan Counties, as well as power companies in coastal
Oregon and Washington. The Project also provides several
recreation opportunities including: a boat ramp, park, wildlife
areas, fish piers, marinas, playgrounds, campgrounds, picnic
areas, canoe launching areas and trails. Most of the land
within the Project is owned by Public Utility District No. 1
(PUD) of Douglas County, Washington.
Currently, there are approximately eight small, isolated
parcels of public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management
(BLM) within or partially included in the Project boundary. Due
to the isolation of these parcels, the BLM has difficulty
managing the areas and has generally deferred management,
including recreation management, to the PUD. Nonetheless, the
PUD is still required to go through BLM for all actions on BLM
land. H.R. 4789 would remedy this problem by conveying these
parcels to the PUD within 90 days after enactment. The PUD is
required to pay the BLM fair market value for the land and the
PUD would continue to provide recreation opportunities. The
proceeds received by the BLM would be deposited into the
working capital fund to address some of the agency's
maintenance backlog.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 4789 was introduced on February 16, 2006, by
Congressman Doc Hastings (R-WA). The bill was referred to the
Committee on Resources, and within the Committee to the
Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health. On March 9, 2006,
the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On July 19, 2006,
the Full Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The
Subcommittee was discharged from further consideration of the
bill by unanimous consent. Congressman Greg Walden (R-OR)
offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute making minor
substantive and technical changes requested by BLM. It was
adopted by unanimous consent and the bill, as amended, was then
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 Resources' oversight findings and recommendations
are reflected in the body of this report.
CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT
Article I, section 8, clause 3, and Article IV, section 3,
clause 2 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. The Committee has requested
but not received the cost estimate. However, the Committee
believes that enactment of this bill would have little effect
on the federal budget. Proceeds from the land sale authorized
by H.R. 4789 would be considered offsetting receipts. The
Committee believe this sale would occur in fiscal year 2007.
Because of the isolated nature of these parcels and their
limited size, the Committee does not believe these proceeds
would be substantial. These receipts would be retained in the
BLM working capital fund and later spent by BLM if authorized
by appropriation. Therefore, the net effect on the budget would
be a small increase in offsetting receipts during fiscal year
2007.
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 requested but not received a cost
estimate for this bill from the Director of the Congressional
Budget Office.
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.