[House Report 104-816]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



104th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 2d Session                                                     104-816
_______________________________________________________________________


 
       SNOQUALMIE NATIONAL FOREST BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT ACT OF 1996

                                _______
                                

 September 23, 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. 3497]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 3497) to expand the boundary of the Snoqualmie National 
Forest, and for other purposes, having considered the same, 
report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that 
the bill as amended do pass.
    The amendment (stated in terms of the page and line number 
of the introduced bill) is as follows:
    Page 3, line 4, insert ``July 1,'' before ``1996.''.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 3497 is to expand the boundary of the 
Snoqualmie National Forest.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The ``Snoqualmie National Forest Boundary Adjustment Act of 
1996'' modifies the boundary of the Snoqualmie National Forest 
to facilitate a land exchange. This bipartisan legislation is 
needed to complete the exchange because 6,278 acres of land 
that would be added to the Snoqualmie National Forest is 
outside the Forest boundary.
    The land exchange involves approximately 7,200 acres of 
national forest land and 33,000 acres of private lands owned by 
the Weyerhaeuser Company, including 6,278 acres which are 
outside the present boundary of the Snoqualmie National Forest. 
All of the land in the agreement area is west of the Cascade 
Crest in King and Pierce Counties, Washington. In addition to 
the exchange, the agreement includes a substantial donation of 
land from Weyerhaeuser to the Forest Service. The donated lands 
(approximately 1,900 acres) are located in King County and 
include an addition of approximately 900 acres to the Alpine 
Lakes Wilderness.
    By consolidating ownership, an additional connecting 
corridor of wildlife habitat between the Alpine Lakes 
Wilderness and the Mount Si Conservation Area will be created. 
The exchange will also add substantial acreage to the I-90 
freeway viewshed (the area visible to the public from 
Interstate 90) to support the objectives of the Mountain to 
Sound Greenway Trust. The Trust is a nonprofit organization 
whose sole purpose is to create and permanently protect a 
multipurpose greenway along Interstate 90 from the eastern 
foothills of the Cascade Mountains across Snoqualmie Pass to 
Puget Sound.
    In July, 1996, the Forest Service completed a draft 
environmental impact statement (EIS) for the land exchange and 
to requested public comment on the proposal. Three public 
meetings have been held to discuss the land exchange and the 
draft EIS. The Forest Service expects to complete a final EIS 
and Record of Decision by the end of the year. To give the 
Forest Service authority to administer the lands it will 
acquire outside the current Forest boundary, passage of 
legislation modifying the boundary is needed.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 3497 was introduced on May 21, 1996, by Mrs. Jennifer 
Dunn (R-WA) and the entire Washington delegation. The bill was 
referred to the Committee on Resources, and within the 
Committee to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and 
Lands. On July 25, 1996, the Subcommittee held a hearing on 
H.R. 3497, where the Administration supported the bill. The 
Full Committee on Resources met on September 18, 1996, to 
consider H.R. 3497. The Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests 
and Lands was discharged from further consideration of the 
bill. Congressman Joel Hefley (R-CO) offered a unanimous 
consent motion to amend the bill to insert a date in a map 
reference; no objections were heard. The bill, as amended, was 
ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by 
voice vote.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title

    This section designates the short title of the bill, the 
``Snoqualmie National Forest Boundary Adjustment Act of 1996.''

Section 2. Findings

    This section explains that certain private lands in 
Washington are logical extensions of the Snoqualmie National 
Forest; the boundary adjustment will facilitate a land exchange 
of 7,200 acres of national forest land for 33,000 acres of 
private land, including 6,278 acres outside the present forest 
boundary; and Weyerhaeuser Company (the private owner) and the 
U.S. Forest Service are prepared to exchange these lands to 
consolidate their respective landownership holdings, reduce 
each party's management costs, and increase recreation 
opportunities for the public.

Section 3. Boundary modification

    This section directs the Secretary of Agriculture to modify 
the boundary of the Snoqualmie National Forest to include an 
additional 10,589.47 acres, as described on a map. It also 
specifies that for the purposes of Section 7 of the Land and 
Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965, the modified boundary 
shall be considered to be the boundary of the Snoqualmie 
National Forest as of January 1, 1965.

            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. 3497 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. 3497. 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. 
3497 does not contain any new budget authority, spending 
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in tax 
expenditures. Enactment of H.R. 3497 could decrease offsetting 
receipts by less than $100,000 a year, but also reduce 
discretionary spending by less than $500,000 a 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. 3497.
    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. 
3497 from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office.

               CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                Washington, DC, September 20, 1996.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
reviewed H.R. 3497, the Snoqualmie National Forest Boundary 
Adjustment Act of 1996, as ordered reported by the House 
Committee on Resources on September 18, 1996. Enacting H.R. 
3497 would affect direct spending; therefore, pay-as-you-go 
procedures would apply, but the bill would have no significant 
budgetary impact.
    H.R. 3497 would expand the boundary of the Snoqualmie 
National Forest to encompass an additional 10,589 acres, 
thereby allowing the U.S. Forest Service to carry out a land 
exchange with the Weyerhaeuser Company. If the boundary is 
expanded as proposed, then the Forest Service would likely 
exchange about 7,200 acres of federal land for about 33,000 
acres of Weyerhaeuser land. Based on information from the 
Forest Service, CBO estimates that enacting the bill could 
increase direct spending by reducing offsetting receipts from 
timber harvesting over the 1997-2002 period, but we estimate 
that any such change would total less than $100,000 a year. 
Implementing the land exchanges could also reduce discretionary 
spending by the agency by minimizing the checkerboard pattern 
of land ownership, but we estimate that any such savings would 
be less than $500,000 a year.
    H.R. 3497 contains no private-sector or intergovernmental 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 
(Public Law 104-4). The state of Washington could lose a small 
amount of income because it receives 25 percent of the receipts 
from timber harvesting within its borders. The bill would 
impose no other costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Victoria V. 
Heid (for federal costs), and Marjorie Miller (for the state 
and local impact).
            Sincerely,
                                         June E. O'Neill, Director.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4

    H.R. 3497 contains no unfunded mandates.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    If enacted, H.R. 3497 would make no changes in existing 
law.