[House Report 104-763]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



104th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 2d Session                                                     104-763
_______________________________________________________________________


 
             LAND CONVEYANCE, DEL NORTE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

                                _______
                                

 September 4, 1996.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

_______________________________________________________________________


  Mr. Young of Alaska, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 2709]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 2709) to provide for the conveyance of certain land to 
the Del Norte County Unified School District of Del Norte 
County, California, having considered the same, report 
favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill 
as amended do pass.
  The amendment is as follows:
  Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu 
thereof the following:

SECTION 1. CONVEYANCE.

  As soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of Agriculture shall convey to the Del Norte County 
Unified School District of Del Norte County, California, in accordance 
with this Act, all right, title, and interest of the United States in 
and to the property described in section 2.

SEC. 2. PROPERTY DESCRIPTION.

  The property referred to in section 1 is that portion of Township 17 
North, Range 2 East, Humboldt Meridian in Del Norte County, California, 
which is further described as follows:
          Beginning at Angle Point No. 3 of Tract 41 as resurveyed by 
        the Bureau of Land Management under survey Group No. 1013, 
        approved August 13, 1990, and shown on the official plat 
        thereof;
          thence on the line between Angle Points No. 3 and No. 4 of 
        Tract 41, North 89 degrees, 24 minutes, 20 seconds East, a 
        distance of 345.44 feet to Angle Point No. 4 of Tract 41;
          thence on the line between Angle Points No. 4 and No. 5 of 
        Tract 41, South 00 degrees, 01 minutes, 20 seconds East, a 
        distance of 517.15 feet;
          thence West, a distance of 135.79 feet;
          thence North 88 degrees, 23 minutes, 01 seconds West, a 
        distance of 61.00 feet;
          thence North 39 degrees, 58 minutes, 18 seconds West, a 
        distance of 231.37 feet to the East line of Section 21, 
        Township 17 North, Range 2 East;
          thence along the East line of Section 21, North 00 degrees, 
        02 minutes, 20 seconds West, a distance of 334.53 feet to the 
        point of beginning.

SEC. 3. CONSIDERATION.

  The conveyance provided for in section 1 shall be without 
consideration except as required by this Act.

SEC. 4. CONDITIONS OF CONVEYANCE.

  The conveyance provided for in section 1 shall be subject to the 
following conditions:
          (1) Del Norte County shall be provided, for no consideration, 
        an easement for County Road No. 318 which crosses the Northeast 
        corner of the property conveyed.
          (2) The Pacific Power and Light Company shall be provided, 
        for no consideration, an easement for utility equipment as 
        necessary to maintain the level of service provided by the 
        utility equipment on the property as of the date of the 
        conveyance.
          (3) The United States shall be provided, for no 
        consideration, an easement to provide access to the United 
        States property that is south of the property conveyed.

SEC. 5. LIMITATIONS ON CONVEYANCE.

  The conveyance authorized by section 1 is subject to the following 
limitations:
          (1) Encumbrances.--Such conveyance shall be subject to all 
        encumbrances on the land existing as of the date of enactment 
        of this Act.
          (2) Re-entry right.--The United States shall retain a right 
        of re-entry in the land described for conveyance in section 2. 
        If the Secretary determines that the conveyed property is not 
        being used for public educational or related recreational 
        purposes, the United States shall have a right to re-renter the 
        property conveyed therein without consideration.

SEC. 6. ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

  The conveyance provided for in section 1 shall be subject to such 
additional terms and conditions as the Secretary of Agriculture and the 
Del Norte County Unified School District agree are necessary to protect 
the interests of the United States.

                          purpose of the bill

    The purpose of H.R. 2709 is to provide for the conveyance 
of certain land to the Del Norte County Unified School District 
of Del Norte County, California.

                  background and need for legislation

    The Gasquet Mountain School is located on 4.32 acres of 
national forest land in Del Norte County, California. H.R. 2709 
would transfer ownership of the land to the Del Norte County 
Unified School District.
    Gasquet is a small rural community located in the middle of 
national forest and national park lands in Northwest 
California. The school district has leased the land in question 
for $900 per year for a school since 1961. While technically 
part of the Six Rivers National Forest, the parcel is actually 
in a town setting and would otherwise be unused by the Forest 
Service.
    Because the school district does not own title to the land, 
it has been unable to qualify for funding to upgrade or add to 
the school. There is no indoor facility for children in 
inclement weather. In addition, Gasquet is over 20 miles from 
the nearest community facility available for social or 
recreational purposes. If the transfer is approved, the school 
would build a multipurpose room to be used as a cafeteria, 
gymnasium and meeting room.
    In a July 31, 1995, letter, the Supervisor of the Six 
Rivers National Forest noted that the Forest Service would have 
no objection to the proposed method for conveying the site to 
the school district ``due to its close proximity to the town of 
Gasquet, long range need, location outside the [Smith River] 
National Recreation Area, overall development of the site, and 
the difficulty of the Forest Service to manage the site for 
other National Forest purposes.''

                            committee action

    H.R. 2709 was introduced on December 5, 1995, by 
Congressman Frank Riggs (R-CA). The bill was referred to the 
Committee on Resources, and within the Committee to the 
Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Lands. On June 6, 
1996, the Subcommittee held a hearing on H.R. 2709, where the 
Administration testified in support of the objectives of the 
bill but requested amendments to address several concerns. On 
June 27, 1996, the Subcommittee met to mark up H.R. 2709. An 
amendment in the nature of a substitute to reserve for the 
Federal Government all mineral rights in the land, and to 
subject the conveyance to a reversionary interest if the land 
ceases to be used for public education or recreational 
purposes, was offered by Congressman James V. Hansen (R-UT) and 
adopted by voice vote. The bill was then ordered favorably 
reported to the Full Committee. On July 17, 1996, the Full 
Resources Committee met to consider H.R. 2709. An amendment, 
requested by the Forest Service, to delete the Federal 
Governments retention of mineral rights and to change the 
retention of a reversionary interest to a right of re-entry, 
was offered by Congressman Hansen and adopted by voice vote. 
The bill as amended was then ordered favorably reported to the 
House of Representatives by voice vote in the presence of a 
quorum.

                      section-by-section analysis

Section 1. Conveyance

    This section directs the Secretary of Agriculture to convey 
the lands described in Section 2 to the Del Norte County 
Unified School District as soon as possible after the date of 
enactment of this Act.

Section 2. Property description

    This section describes the location of properties to be 
conveyed from the Six Rivers National Forest to the Del Norte 
County Unified School District.

Section 3. Consideration

    This section provides that the lands shall be conveyed to 
the school district without consideration except as required by 
the Act.

Section 4. Conditions of conveyance

    This section describes the conditions for conveyance, 
including: (1) an easement for a road provided to Del Norte 
County; (2) an easement for utility equipment to the Pacific 
Power and Light Company; and (3) an easement to provide the 
Federal Government access to lands south of the property 
conveyed.

Section 5. Limitations on conveyance

    This section makes the conveyance subject to certain 
limitations, including all encumbrances existing as of the date 
of enactment of the Act, and retention of a re-entry right in 
the land to be held by the Federal Government if the land 
ceases to be used for public educational or recreational 
purposes.

Section 6. Additional terms and conditions

    This section provides for such additional terms and 
conditions as the Secretary of Agriculture and the Del Norte 
County Unified School District agree are necessary to protect 
the interests of the Federal Government.

            committee oversight findings and recommendations

    With respect to the requirements of clause 2(l)(3) of rule 
XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, and clause 
2(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives 
the Committee on Resources' oversight findings and 
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.

                     inflationary impact statement

    Pursuant to clause 2(l)(4) of rule XI of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee estimates that the 
enactment of H.R. 2709 will have no significant inflationary 
impact on prices and costs in the operation of the national 
economy.

                        cost of the legislation

    Clause 7(a) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the 
Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out 
H.R. 2709. However, clause 7(d) of that rule provides that this 
requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in 
its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill 
prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office 
under section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

                     compliance with house rule xi

    1. With respect to the requirement of clause 2(l)(3)(B) of 
rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, H.R. 
2709 does not contain any new budget authority, spending 
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in tax 
expenditures. The bill would decrease receipts to the federal 
Government by less than $5,000 per year.
    2. With respect to the requirement of clause 2(l)(3)(D) of 
rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee has received no report of oversight findings and 
recommendations from the Committee on Government Reform and 
Oversight on the subject of H.R. 2709.
    3. With respect to the requirement of 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, the 
Committee has received the following cost estimate for H.R. 
2709 from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office.

               congressional budget office cost estimate

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                     Washington, DC, July 29, 1996.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
reviewed H.R. 2709, a bill to provide for the conveyance of 
certain land to Del Norte County Unified School District of Del 
Norte County, California, as ordered reported by the House 
Committee on Resources on July 17, 1996. Enacting the bill 
would affect direct spending; therefore, pay-as-you-go 
procedures would apply. However, we estimate that any change in 
direct spending would be insignificant.
    H.R. 2709 would authorize and direct the Secretary of 
Agriculture to transfer about 4 acres of federally owned land 
in the Six Rivers National Forest to the Del Norte County 
Unified School District. The school district currently leases 
the land and has a school located on it. Based on information 
from the Forest Service, CBO estimates this exchange would 
cause the federal government to lose receipts from fees for the 
current lease totaling less than $1,500 a year. The federal 
government would not receive any compensation for the land. We 
estimate that enacting this bill would have no significant 
effect on direct spending by the Forest Service.
    H.R. 2709 contains no private-sector or intergovernmental 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 
(Public Law 104-4) and would impose no costs on state, local, 
or tribal governments. The school district would not be 
required to provide any compensation for this conveyance and 
any costs that the district might subsequently incur to improve 
the property would be incurred voluntarily.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Victoria 
Heid and Jonathan Womer (for federal costs), and Marjorie 
Miller (for the state and local impact).
            Sincerely,
                                          June E. O'Neil, Director.

                    compliance with public law 104-4

    H.R. 2709 contains no unfunded mandates.

                        changes in existing law

    If enacted, H.R. 2709 would make no changes in existing 
law.