[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 157 (Monday, October 2, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H7643-H7645]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONFIRMING STATE LAND GRANTS FOR EDUCATION ACT
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the
rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2582) to authorize the State of Utah to
select certain lands that are available for disposal under the Pony
Express Resource
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Management Plan to be used for the support and benefit of State
institutions, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 2582
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 ``Confirming State Land Grants
for Education Act''.
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION.
(a) In General.--Subject to valid existing rights, the
State of Utah may select any lands in T6S and T7S, R1W, Salt
Lake Base and Meridian, that are owned by the United States,
under the administrative jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land
Management, and identified as available for disposal by land
exchange in the Record of Decision for the Pony Express
Resource Management Plan and Rangeland Program Summary for
Utah County (January 1990), as amended by the Pony Express
Plan Amendment (November 1997), in fulfillment of the land
grants made in sections 6, 8, and 12 of the Act of July 16,
1894 (28 Stat. 107) as generally depicted on the map entitled
``Proposed Utah County Quantity Grants'' and dated June 27,
2017, to further the purposes of the State of Utah School and
Institutional Trust Lands Administration, without further
land use planning action by the Bureau of Land Management.
(b) Application.--The criteria listed in Decision 3 of the
Lands Program of the resource management plan described in
subsection (a) shall not apply to any land selected under
subsection (a).
(c) Effect on Limitation.--Nothing in this Act affects the
limitation established under section 2815(d) of the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (Public Law
106-65).
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr.
McEachin) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.
General Leave
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent
that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and
extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
There was no objection.
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time
as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2582, introduced by the gentlewoman from Utah (Mrs.
Love), seeks to resolve an ongoing standoff between the State of Utah
and the Bureau of Land Management over statehood-era land grants to
promote responsible land management and enable the United States to
fulfill its commitments to provide land for the support of Utah's
higher education system.
Since 1998, the Bureau of Land Management has cited an administrative
technicality to favor land exchanges over State selections of land,
which has held up the State of Utah's selection of roughly 500 acres of
Bureau of Land Management land classified for disposal.
The land in question has been selected by the State for the benefit
of Utah State University, and this bill makes it clear that State
selections are equally acceptable as land exchanges and would confirm
that the Bureau of Land Management may process the State's current
selection as well as future State selections in the immediate area.
Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the measure, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. McEACHIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2582 authorizes the Bureau of Land Management to
process the State of Utah's land claims without amending existing
planning documents.
The Utah State Enabling Act of 1894 authorized the State of Utah to
select certain lands to support schools and other public purposes.
Approximately 2,000 acres of authorized grants are unfilled.
In 1998, the State started the application to acquire 440 acres of
land in Utah County, Utah, to support Utah State University. BLM
eventually rejected the application because the lands are identified
for disposal by exchange, which only allows BLM to convey the land
under certain conditions.
This bill allows the agency to process these specific claims without
updating the underlying planning documents, something that would take a
significant amount of time and money. BLM testified in support of this
legislation but requested an amendment to clarify that the lands will
be used for Utah State University and the addition of a legislative
map.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentlewoman from Utah (Mrs.
Love), the State of Utah, and the Republican Committee staff for
working with us to address these concerns. Thanks to their
consideration, we were able to amend this bill in markup to address
these concerns.
There are many fights over public lands in this country, but this
does not have to be one of them. Mr. Speaker, I support the bill and
urge its adoption, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she
may consume to the gentlewoman from Utah (Mrs. Love).
Mrs. LOVE. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues from both sides of the
aisle for supporting this legislation.
More than 120 years ago, the Utah Enabling Act, which enabled my
State--now the greatest State in the country--to be admitted into the
Union, was approved. This granted Utah the right to select acreage to
support various public institutions, including public schools and
universities. Now, 123 years later, much of the acreage made available
for State selection remains outstanding.
The BLM's Pony Express Resource Management Plan governs management
practices for public lands in Utah's Tooele, Utah, and Salt Lake
Counties. It has identified thousands of acres within the plan's area
as available for disposal. The State can presently obtain these lands
via land exchange. However, the resource management plan does not
explicitly state that these lands can be obtained using the unfulfilled
land credits granted by the Utah Enabling Act.
{time} 1730
My bill, the Confirming State Land Grants for Education Act, would
simply amend the Pony Express RMP to allow the State of Utah to use
outstanding land grant credits to obtain lands within the limited area
of RMP that already has been identified available for disposal.
This solution would satisfy both the State and Federal Government and
help to keep the promises made to the State of Utah for more than 120
years. More importantly, it would ultimately raise funds for the
benefit of Utah students by allowing Utah's School and Institutional
Trust Lands Administration, SITLA, to manage these lands for the
benefit of students. As Utah finds more ways to fund public schools and
public education, this bill helps provide much-needed resources.
Notably, the passage of H.R. 2582 would not convey any land on its
own. Existing conveyance processes would still apply.
Additionally, my bill does not dictate land use policies once the
land is conveyed. As a former mayor, I respect the State and local
officials and processes, and I certainly have no desire to supersede
them. My bill is merely meant to facilitate the process that enables
conveyance through the use of available selection credits. It was voted
out of committee by unanimous consent, and I urge this body to show
similar support today.
Mr. McEACHIN. Mr. Speaker, I would just remind the gentlewoman from
Utah that the only reason that she can suggest that Utah is the
greatest State in the Nation is because Virginia is a Commonwealth.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, being from the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2582, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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