[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 28 (Wednesday, February 11, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S2148]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BENNETT (for himself and Mr. Hatch):
  S. 411. A bill to authorize the Secretary of Transportation to 
release restrictions on the use of certain property conveyed to the 
City of St. George, Utah for airport purposes; to the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, I, along with the senior senator from 
Utah, am introducing today legislation to authorize the Secretary of 
Transportation to release restrictions on the use of certain property 
conveyed to the city of St. George, Utah for airport purposes.
  On October 17, 2008, the City of St. George, UT, and the Federal 
Aviation Administration, FAA, broke ground on the construction of a new 
replacement airport, which will provide enhanced air service to the 
over 300,000 residents of southern Utah. The total project will cost 
$168 million and the start of operations at the replacement airport is 
scheduled for January 1, 2011.
  The project is being funded largely through Federal grants covered by 
a letter of intent from the FAA in the amount of $119 million.
  The City of St. George is financing its $44 million local share of 
the replacement airport through the sale of the existing airport 
property totaling 274 acres to Anderson Development Services Inc.
  Recently it was discovered that 40 acres of the existing airport site 
was acquired by the City of St. George under Section 16 of the Federal 
Airport Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 173; 49 U.S.C. 1115) and can only be used 
for airport purposes.
  The United States Secretary of the Interior issued a patent to the 
city of St. George in 1951 for the 40 acres and the city signed a deed 
to the land dated August 28, 1973, which contains a reverter deed 
restriction that if the land ceased to be used for airport purposes, 
the title would revert back to the United States Secretary of 
Transportation.
  Federal legislation is required to authorize the Secretary of 
Transportation to release this reverter deed restriction on the use of 
this 40 acre parcel so the sale of the entire 274 acre airport can go 
through. A similar legislation (Public Law 94-244) releasing identical 
deed restrictions was enacted for the City of Grand Junction, CO; in 
1976.
  The legislation requires that upon release from these restrictions, 
the City of St. George, UT, must sell the 40 acre parcel for fair 
market value, which is estimated at $5 million, and the proceeds must 
be given to the FAA for the development, improvement, operation, or 
maintenance of the replacement airport as part of St. George's local 
contribution.
  I urge my colleagues to support this straight-forward legislation. 
All funds will still be directed to the FAA. However, this minor 
correction will go a long way in assisting one of the fastest growing 
counties in the United States.
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