[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 133 (Wednesday, September 16, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H5995-H5996]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
NATIONAL FOREST SMALL TRACTS ACT AMENDMENTS ACT OF 2015
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 1214) to amend the Small Tracts Act to expand the authority
of the Secretary of Agriculture to sell or exchange small parcels of
National Forest System land to enhance the management of the National
Forest System, to resolve minor encroachments, and for other purposes,
as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 1214
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 ``National Forest Small Tracts
Act Amendments Act of 2015''.
SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY FOR SALE OR EXCHANGE OF SMALL
PARCELS OF NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LAND.
(a) Increase in Maximum Value of Small Parcels.--Section 3
of Public Law 97-465 (commonly known as the Small Tracts Act;
16 U.S.C. 521e) is amended in the matter preceding paragraph
(1) by striking ``$150,000'' and inserting ``$500,000''.
(b) Additional Conveyance Purposes.--Section 3 of Public
Law 97-465 (16 U.S.C. 521e) is further amended--
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking
``which are--'' and inserting ``which involve any one of the
following:'';
(2) in paragraph (1)--
(A) by striking ``parcels'' and inserting ``Parcels''; and
(B) by striking the semicolon at the end and inserting a
period;
(3) in paragraph (2)--
(A) by striking ``parcels'' the first place it appears and
inserting ``Parcels''; and
(B) by striking ``; or'' at the end and inserting a period;
(4) in paragraph (3), by striking ``road'' and inserting
``Road''; and
(5) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
``(4) Parcels of 40 acres or less which are determined by
the Secretary to be physically isolated, to be inaccessible,
or to have lost their National Forest character.
``(5) Parcels of 10 acres or less which are not eligible
for conveyance under paragraph (2), but which are encroached
upon by permanent habitable improvements for which there is
no evidence that the encroachment was intentional or
negligent.
``(6) Parcels used as a cemetery, a landfill, or a sewage
treatment plant under a special use authorization issued by
the Secretary. In the case of a cemetery expected to reach
capacity within 10 years, the sale, exchange, or interchange
may include, in the sole discretion of the Secretary, up to
one additional acre abutting the permit area to facilitate
expansion of the cemetery.''.
(c) Disposition of Proceeds.--Section 2 of Public Law 97-
465 (16 U.S.C. 521d) is amended--
(1) by striking ``The Secretary is authorized'' and
inserting the following:
``(a) Conveyance Authority; Consideration.--The Secretary
is authorized'';
(2) by striking ``The Secretary shall insert'' and
inserting the following:
``(b) Inclusion of Terms, Covenants, Conditions, and
Reservations.--The Secretary shall insert'';
(3) by striking ``convenants'' and inserting ``covenants'';
and
(4) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(c) Disposition of Proceeds.--
``(1) Deposit in sisk fund.--The net proceeds derived from
any sale or exchange conducted under the authority of
paragraph (4), (5), or (6) of section 3 shall be deposited in
the fund established by Public Law 90-171 (commonly known as
the Sisk Act; 16 U.S.C. 484a).
``(2) Use.--Amounts deposited under paragraph (1) shall be
available to the Secretary until expended for--
``(A) the acquisition of land or interests in land for
administrative sites for the National Forest System in the
State from which the amounts were derived;
``(B) the acquisition of land or interests in land for
inclusion in the National Forest System in that State,
including land or interests in land which enhance
opportunities for recreational access;
``(C) the performance of deferred maintenance on
administrative sites for the National Forest System in that
State or other deferred maintenance activities in that State
which enhance opportunities for recreational access; or
``(D) the reimbursement of the Secretary for costs incurred
in preparing a sale conducted under the authority of section
3 if the sale is a competitive sale.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
California (Mr. McClintock) and the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs.
Dingell) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
General Leave
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1214 would amend the Small Tracts Act to allow for
the sale of small, isolated, federally owned parcels outside of the
main body of a national forest as well as parcels encumbered with
certain special uses such as cemeteries. The management
[[Page H5996]]
of these isolated and encumbered parcels takes considerable resources
away from the core mission of the Forest Service. Proceeds from the
sale of these parcels would be deposited into a Sisk Act fund and may
be used for deferred maintenance, acquisition of lands for
administrative sites or recreational access, or to reimburse the Forest
Service for administrative costs in preparing the sales.
The U.S. Forest Service has a challenging mission. Enabling it to
develop a more manageable land base is simply good government, which is
why this bill has such broad-based support.
I also want to thank Chairman Conaway of the Agriculture Committee
for his assistance in expediting this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
House of Representatives,
Committee on Natural Resources,
Washington, DC, June 5, 2015.
Hon. K. Michael Conaway,
Chairman, Committee on Agriculture,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: On April 30, 2015, the Committee on
Natural Resources ordered reported without amendment H.R.
1214, the National Forest Small Tracts Act Amendments Act of
2015, by unanimous consent. The bill was referred primarily
to the Committee on Natural Resources, with an additional
referral to the Committee on Agriculture.
I ask that you allow the Committee on Agriculture to be
discharged from further consideration of the bill so that it
may be scheduled by the Majority Leader. This discharge in no
way affects your jurisdiction over the subject matter of the
bill, and it will not serve as precedent for future
referrals. In addition, should a conference oh the bill be
necessary, I would support your request to have the Committee
on Agriculture represented on the conference committee.
Finally, I would be pleased to include this letter and any
response in the bill report filed by the Committee on Natural
Resources to memorialize our understanding.
Thank you for your consideration of my request, and for
your continued strong cooperation between our committees.
Sincerely,
Rob Bishop,
Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources.
____
House of Representatives,
Committee on Agriculture,
Washington, DC, June 5, 2015.
Hon. Rob Bishop,
Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: I am writing concerning H.R. 1214, the
National Forest Small Tracts Act Amendments Act of 2015. It
is my understanding that, on April 30, 2015, the Committee on
Natural Resources ordered the bill reported without amendment
and by unanimous consent.
This legislation contains provisions within the Committee
on Agriculture's Rule X jurisdiction. As a result of your
having consulted with the Committee and in order to expedite
this bill for floor consideration, the Committee on
Agriculture will forego action on the bill. This is being
done on the basis of our mutual undemanding that doing so
will in no way diminish or alter the jurisdiction of the
Committee on Agriculture with respect to the appointment of
conferees, or to any future jurisdictional claim over the
subject matters contained in the bill or similar legislation.
I would appreciate your response to this letter confirming
this understanding, and would request that you include a copy
of this letter and your response in the Committee Report and
in the Congressional Record during the floor consideration of
this bill. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
K. Michael Conaway,
Chairman.
Mrs. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1214 amends the Small Tracts Act to provide the
Forest Service with more flexibility to sell or exchange small parcels
of national forest land. This increased flexibility will allow the
Forest Service to identify opportunities where the sale or exchange of
small parcels of land will increase efficiency and improve the overall
integrity and health of our national forests.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mr. Amodei, the sponsor of this
legislation, for working with the Forest Service to update this bill so
that it could be supported by both sides of the aisle.
Mr. Speaker, I support adoption of H.R. 1214.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to
the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Amodei), my good friend and Nevada
neighbor, the author of this bill.
Mr. AMODEI. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you Madam Ranking
Member. I also want to thank the chairman of the full committee as well
as my cosponsors in this measure: Mr. Polis from Colorado, Mr. Shimkus
from Illinois, and Mr. Jones from North Carolina.
So as not to risk snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, I will
be brief. I would like to say that this was my idea and it is a
wonderful thing, but this represents taking care of business that has
been knocking around for probably a decade or more as far as the Forest
Service is concerned. We are not moving the frontier into national
forests; we are simply giving them the ability to administratively
dispose of those lands that have become not attached to the national
forest and have no management or land use characteristics with respect
to the managing of a national forest.
{time} 1545
The other thing I want to point out is that it will allow them the
ability to dispose of well into six figures' worth of acres,
potentially, over the next few years, much more than last year, which
was almost nothing.
The most interesting thing is that the resources generated by this
will stay with the Forest Service for use under their various charges
as opposed to disappearing into that sometimes black hole in space,
referred to as the ``United States Treasury.''
I urge nationwide bipartisan support.
Mrs. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I urge all Members to support
this bill.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I, too, would urge the adoption of the
bill.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1214, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
____________________