[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5443 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5443


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              July 9, 2024

   Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
 To establish a policy regarding appraisal and valuation services for 
    real property for a transaction over which the Secretary of the 
           Interior has jurisdiction, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Accelerating Appraisals and 
Conservation Efforts Act'' or the ``AACE Act''.

SEC. 2. APPRAISAL AND VALUATION SERVICES FOR REAL PROPERTY.

    (a) License, Certification Requirement.--A covered appraiser needs 
to be licensed or certified in only 1 State to perform appraisal or 
valuation services for real property in any State for a transaction 
over which the Secretary has jurisdiction.
    (b) Use of Non-Federal Covered Appraisers.--If the Secretary uses a 
non-Federal covered appraiser to perform appraisal or valuation 
services for real property for a transaction described in subsection 
(a), the Secretary--
            (1) shall, to the maximum extent practicable, use a non-
        Federal covered appraiser who is a certified general real 
        property appraiser licensed in a State in which the real 
        property that is the subject of the transaction is located; and
            (2) may only use a non-Federal covered appraiser who is a 
        certified general real property appraiser licensed in a State 
        other than one in which the real property that is the subject 
        of the transaction is located if a non-Federal covered 
        appraiser described in paragraph (1) is, as determined by the 
        Secretary--
                    (A) unavailable to complete an assignment within a 
                reasonable period of time;
                    (B) not assignment qualified; or
                    (C) not cost competitive.
    (c) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 
of this section, and annually thereafter for at least the following 4 
years, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that includes 
the following:
            (1) A comparison using quantitative data of--
                    (A) the number of requests for appraisal and 
                valuation services received by the Department during 
                the reporting period and the number of requests for 
                such services received by the Department in each of the 
                5 years before the reporting period; and
                    (B) the amount of time required for the Department 
                to complete a request for appraisal or valuation 
                services before the date of the enactment of this 
                section and after the date of the enactment of this 
                section.
            (2) A qualitative assessment of the impact of subsection 
        (a) in providing flexibility to the Secretary when contracting 
        with non-Federal covered appraisers.
            (3) Recommendations, if any, for congressional action that 
        could help the Department operate more efficiently or overcome 
        challenges with respect to timely completion of requests for 
        appraisal or valuation services while ensuring the 
        independence, impartiality, and objectivity of such services.
            (4) An overview of the workforce of the Department with 
        regard to appraisal and valuation services provided by the 
        Department, including hiring and staffing during the reporting 
        period with respect to employees and contractors of the 
        Department.
            (5) A complete list of cases in which the authority granted 
        under section 2 of this Act was used during the reporting 
        period, describing for each case the specific criteria used to 
        satisfy the conditions of this Act.
    (d) Statutory Clarifications.--
            (1) Applicability of relevant laws and regulations.--Except 
        as provided in paragraph (3), nothing in this section shall be 
        interpreted to affect the application of any Federal or State 
        law or regulation to a non-Federal covered appraiser with 
        regard to the performance by such non-Federal covered appraiser 
        of appraisal and valuation services for real property.
            (2) Jurisdiction requirement.--Nothing in this section 
        shall be interpreted to authorize a non-Federal covered 
        appraiser to perform appraisal and valuation services for real 
        property in a State in which such non-Federal covered appraiser 
        is not licensed or certified to perform such services except to 
        the extent that such services are performed for a transaction 
        over which the Secretary has jurisdiction.
            (3) Nonapplicability of certain relevant laws and 
        regulations.--Any provision of a Federal or State law or 
        regulation enacted before the date of the enactment of this 
        section that requires a covered appraiser to be licensed or 
        certified in a specific State to perform appraisal or valuation 
        services for real property in that State shall not apply to any 
        transaction over which the Secretary has jurisdiction.
    (e) Public Availability.--Not later than 90 days after the 
enactment of this Act, the text of all policies (including any 
successor policies), including reference manuals, guidance documents, 
handbooks, standard operating procedures, and statements of policy 
specific to the scoping, contracting, and review of appraisals 
performed for the Department by Federal or non-Federal covered 
appraisers, shall be made publicly available online and provided upon 
request.
    (f) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Covered appraiser.--The term ``covered appraiser'' 
        means a State-licensed or -certified real property appraiser.
            (2) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the 
        Department of the Interior.
            (3) Reporting period.--The term ``reporting period'' means 
        the 1-year period before the date on which a report is 
        submitted under subsection (c).
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
            (5) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the several 
        States, the District of Columbia, and each territory and 
        possession of the United States.

            Passed the House of Representatives July 8, 2024.

            Attest:

                                             KEVIN F. MCCUMBER,

                                                                 Clerk.