[House Report 104-372]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



104th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 1st Session                                                    104-372
_______________________________________________________________________


 
                HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP INVESTMENT ACT OF 1995

                                _______


 November 30, 1995.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

_______________________________________________________________________


 Mr. Shuster, from the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 308]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, to whom 
was referred the bill (H.R. 308) to provide for the conveyance 
of certain lands and improvements in Hopewell Township, 
Pennsylvania, to a nonprofit organization known as the ``Beaver 
County Corporation for Economic Development'' to provide a site 
for economic development, having considered the same, report 
favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill 
do pass.
    H.R. 308, the ``Hopewell Township Investment Act of 1995'' 
was introduced in Congress for the worthwhile purpose of making 
certain property productive for the benefit of the community of 
Hopewell Township, Beaver County, Pennsylvania. The bill will 
accomplish this by requiring the General Services 
Administration (GSA) to transfer this land, at no cost, to the 
Beaver County Corporation for Economic Development. This is a 
non-profit corporation certified by the Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania. The goal of the Corporation, in cooperation with 
Hopewell Township, is to utilize this property as the 
centerpiece of a Hopewell Aliquippa Airport Industrial Park and 
thereby promote economic development and create needed jobs for 
the people of Hopewell Township.
    As of September 23, 1993, this property was designated as 
surplus and placed in GSA's surplus property inventory. The 
term surplus property is a reference to any excess property 
that is not required to meet the needs and discharge the 
responsibility of any Federal agencies, as determined by the 
GSA Administrator. As such, it may be conveyed pursuant to the 
provisions of the Federal Property and Administrative Services 
Act of 1949.

                               background

    On September 28, 1981, this land was purchased by the 
Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration to 
house its emergency mine operations. This field operation was 
expected to employ some 200 Federal workers, who would assist 
recovery efforts in mine emergencies. The Township of Hopewell 
invested some $225,000 in infrastructure improvements in 
anticipation of the commencement of operations of this Federal 
facility. However, the facility never opened, as the field 
operation was transferred to a neighboring state. Subsequently, 
the Mine Safety and Health Administration reported the property 
as excess and it was transferred to GSA.
    The property is 15.94 acres of narrow-shaped land which 
runs in an east-west direction. The property is situated 
approximately seven miles northwest of Pittsburgh International 
Airport. It is improved primarily by a concrete block building 
of 43,000 square feet containing warehouse space. The building 
was originally used to manufacture small aircraft.
    Hearings were held on H.R. 308 on June 15, 1995. The bill 
was marked up by the Subcommittee on Public Buildings and 
Economic Development on June 20, 1995 and the Full Committee on 
November 16, 1995. The key provisions of the legislation are 
conveyance of property at no charge to the Beaver County 
Corporation for Economic Development no later than 90 days 
after enactment; and revision of the property to GSA if it is 
used for a purpose other than economic development during the 
first thirty years it is held by the Corporation. A similar 
bill passed the House in the 103rd Congress but the Senate 
failed to take action.
    Property transfer by the Federal government to local 
entities in efforts to revitalize local economies are of great 
interest to Congress. H.R. 308 authorizes such a transfer. The 
General Services Administration (GSA) is urged to expedite 
another transfer, that of the Social Security Office from GSA 
to the City of Dubois, Pennsylvania. For over a year, the city 
has expressed continued interest in acquiring the building, and 
GSA is in the process of declaring the building excess. When 
that process is complete, the City and GSA should take every 
step to expedite this transfer. In addition, the General 
Services Administration is directed to expedite negotiations to 
transfer the United States Bureau of Mines, Twin Cities 
Research Center; Minneapolis, Minnesota to be used in 
conjunction with the University of Minnesota.

                       section-by-section summary

Section 1. Short title

    This section provides that the Act may be cited as the 
``Hopewell Township Investment Act of 1995''.

Sec. 2. Conveyance of land

    Subsection (a) provides that the Administrator of General 
Services shall convey, at no cost, to the Beaver County 
Corporation for Economic Development all right, title, and 
interests of the United States in and to the property in 
Hopewell Township, Pennsylvania, described in subsection (b) 
which contains a legal description of the property together 
with improvements. The conveyance is made subject to section 2 
and section 3 (limitation on conveyance). The last sentence of 
subsection (a) states that the purpose of the conveyance is to 
provide a site for economic development in Hopewell Township.
    Subsection (b) provides a complete legal description of 
property which is the subject of the conveyance in subsection 
(a) and is located in Hopewell Township, Beaver County, 
Pennsylvania.
    Subsection (c) provides that the date of conveyance of the 
property to be transferred under this Act shall be no more than 
90 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
    Subsection (d)(1) provides that the conveyance of the 
property under subsection (a) shall be subject to specific 
terms and conditions to be set forth by the Administrator and 
designed to protect the interests of the United States. These 
terms and conditions shall be consistent with the terms and 
conditions of this Act.
    Subsection (d)(2) provides that the conveyance of the 
property shall be by quitclaim deed. This form of deed passes 
title without any guarantee by the Federal government that 
there are not any clouds on the title.

Sec. 3. Limitation on conveyance

    This section requires that no part of the conveyed property 
may be used for any purpose other than economic development 
during the 30-year period beginning on the date of the 
conveyance.

Sec. 4. Reversionary interest

    Subsection (a) provides that on the day any of the property 
is not used as required in section 3, the property shall revert 
to the United States. Subsection (b) provides that the 
Administrator shall have all authority necessary to enforce a 
reversion.
    Subsection (c) provides that property that reverts to the 
United States, pursuant to section 4 shall be placed under the 
control of the General Services Administration.

                        compliance with rule xi

    With respect to the requirements of clause 2(l)(3) of rule 
XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives:
          (1) The Committee held hearings on this legislation 
        on June 15, 1995.
          (2) The requirements of section 308(a)(1) of the 
        Congressional Budget Act of 1974 are applicable to this 
        legislation.
          (3) The Committee has received no report from the 
        Committee on Government Operations of oversight 
        findings and recommendations arrived at under clause 
        4(C)(2) of rule X of the Rules of the House of 
        Representatives.
          (4) With respect to clause 2(l)(3)(C) of rule XI of 
        the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 
        403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, a cost 
        estimate by the Congressional Budget Office was 
        received by the Committee. The report follows:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                 Washington, DC, November 22, 1995.
Hon. Bud Shuster,
Chairman, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of 
        Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
reviewed H.R. 308, the Hopewell Township Investment Act of 
1995, as ordered by the House Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure on November 16, 1995. CBO estimates that 
enacting this bill would result in a loss of the federal 
government in fiscal year 1996 of between $500,000 and $700,000 
of offsetting receipts from the sale of property. Since that 
loss of offsetting receipts would constitute an increase in 
direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures would apply to the 
bill.
    H.R. 308 would direct the General Services Administration 
(GSA) to convey, without compensation, a building and about 16 
acres of property in Hopewell Township, Pennsylvania, to the 
Beaver County Corporation for Economic Development. Prior to 
the introduction of similar legislation last year, GSA has been 
negotiating with Hopewell Township to sell the property, which 
is in GSA's surplus property inventory. GSA's asking price at 
that time was $667,000; presently, GSA estimates that the value 
of the property is slightly higher than last year's estimate. 
Under current law, GSA expects that it would sell the property 
to the township or to some other purchaser in fiscal year 1996. 
Because this bill would prevent GSA from selling this property, 
we estimate that it would result in a loss of offsetting 
receipts to the federal government, and thus an increase in 
outlays, of between $500,000 and $700,000 in fiscal year 1996. 
The following table summarizes the estimated pay-as-you-go 
impact of H.R. 308.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                   1996    1997    1998 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Change in outlays...............................       1       0       0
Change in receipts..............................   (\1\)   (\1\)   (\1\)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Not applicable.                                                     

    Other than the potential savings to the Hopewell Township 
for receiving the property at no cost, enacting H.R. 308 would 
have no impact on the budgets of state and local governments.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is John R. 
Righter.
            Sincerely,
                                              James L. Blum
                                   (For June E. O'Neill, Director).

                     inflationary impact statement

    Under (2)(l)(4) of rule XI of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives, the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure estimates that enactment of H.R. 308 will have 
no significant inflationary impact on prices and costs in the 
operation of the national economy.

                          cost of legislation

    Clause 7(a) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives requires a statement of the estimated cost to 
the United States which will be incurred in carrying out H.R. 
308, as reported, in fiscal year 1996, and each of the 
following 5 years.

                       committee actions and vote

    In compliance with clause (2)(l)(2) (A) and (B) of rule XI 
of the Rules of the House of Representatives, at a meeting of 
the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on November 
16, 1995, a quorum being present, H.R. 308 was unanimously 
approved by a voice vote and ordered reported.