[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3079 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3079

 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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 18, 2023

 Ms. Cortez Masto introduced the following bill; which was read twice 
     and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 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. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (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 ending on the date on which the applicable 
        report is submitted under section 3(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.

SEC. 3. APPRAISAL AND VALUATION SERVICES FOR REAL PROPERTY.

    (a) License, Certification Requirement.--A covered appraiser shall 
be required 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 the State in which the real property that is the 
        subject of the transaction is located if a non-Federal covered 
        appraiser described in paragraph (1), as determined by the 
        Secretary--
                    (A) is unavailable;
                    (B) is not qualified for the assignment; or
                    (C) is not cost-competitive.
    (c) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act, and annually thereafter for a minimum of 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--
                            (i) during the reporting period; and
                            (ii) 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--
                            (i) before the date of enactment of this 
                        Act; and
                            (ii) after the date of enactment of this 
                        Act.
            (2) A qualitative assessment of the impact of subsection 
        (a) in providing flexibility to the Secretary in 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 
        respect 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.
    (d) Statutory Clarifications.--
            (1) Applicability of relevant laws and regulations.--Except 
        as provided in paragraph (3), nothing in this section affects 
        the application of any Federal or State law (including a 
        regulation) to a non-Federal covered appraiser with respect to 
        the performance by the non-Federal covered appraiser of 
        appraisal and valuation services for real property.
            (2) Jurisdiction requirement.--Nothing in this section 
        authorizes a non-Federal covered appraiser to perform appraisal 
        and valuation services for real property in a State in which 
        the 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 
        (including a regulation) enacted before the date of enactment 
        of this Act that requires a covered appraiser to be licensed or 
        certified in a specific State to perform appraisal or valuation 
        services for real property in the State shall not apply to any 
        transaction over which the Secretary has jurisdiction.
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