[House Report 105-561]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



105th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 2d Session                                                     105-561
_______________________________________________________________________


 
                      ROGUE RIVER NATIONAL FOREST

                                _______
                                

  June 3, 1998.--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. 3796]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 3796) to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to convey 
the administrative site for the Rogue River National Forest and 
use the proceeds for the construction or improvement of offices 
and support buildings for the Rogue River National Forest and 
the Bureau of Land Management, having considered the same, 
report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that 
the bill do pass.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 3796 is to authorize the Secretary of 
Agriculture to convey the administrative site for the Rogue 
River National Forest and use the proceeds for the construction 
or improvement of offices and support buildings for the Rogue 
River National Forest and the Bureau of Land Management.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The bill provides for the conveyance of the McAndrews 
Service Center in the Rogue River National Forest in exchange 
for facility improvements at the Medford Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM) office to facilitate collocation of the two 
offices. The fair market compensation received through sale or 
exchange transactions would be authorized for construction or 
improvement of offices and support buildings that the staff of 
the Rogue River National Forest will share with the staff of 
the BLM Medford District Office. The conveyance and 
improvements would be implemented in a manner consistent with 
all applicable laws.
    The Forest Service and the BLM in Medford have been working 
cooperatively for many years. This cooperative relationship has 
resulted in improved customer service and the consolidation of 
office space will provide further efficiencies and improvements 
in public service. The McAndrews Service Center includes 
facilities being used as an automotive shop, radio shop, survey 
crew headquarters, road maintenance office and forest-wide 
support warehouses. These facilities are currently being used 
by the staff of the Rogue River National Forest but would 
become surplus to their needs should they collocate with the 
BLM in existing BLM facilities.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 3796 was introduced on May 5, 1998, by Congressman 
Robert Smith (R-CO). The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on 
Forests and Forest Health. On April 28, 1998, the Subcommittee 
held an oversight hearing on the concept of conveying the 
administrative site to improve facilities for the Medford 
Forest Service/BLM office in Oregon, where the Administration 
testified in support. On May 7, 1998, the Subcommittee met to 
mark up H.R. 3796. No amendments were offered and the bill was 
ordered favorably reported to the Full Committee by voice vote. 
On May 20, 1998, the Full Resources Committee met to consider 
H.R. 3796. No amendments were offered and the bill was ordered 
favorably reported to the House of Representatives by voice 
vote.

            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.

                   CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

    Article I, section 8 and Article IV, section 3 of the 
Constitution of the United States grant Congress the authority 
to enact H.R. 3796.

                        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. 3796. 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. 
3796 does not contain any new budget authority, spending 
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in tax 
expenditures. According to the Congressional Budget Office, 
enactment of H.R. 3796 could result in additional offsetting 
receipts of about $2 million in fiscal year 1999, and the U.S. 
Forest Service would spend any receipts received to construct 
or improve other facilities on federal land.
    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. 3796.
    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. 
3796 from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office.

               CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                      Washington, DC, June 2, 1998.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 3796, a bill to 
authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to convey the 
administrative site for the Rogue River National Forest and use 
the proceeds for the construction or improvement of offices and 
support buildings for the Rogue River National Forest and the 
Bureau of Land Management.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Victoria V. 
Heid.
            Sincerely,
                                              James L. Blum
                                             (For June E. O'Neill).
    Enclosure.

H.R. 3796--A bill to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to convey 
        the administrative site for the Rouge River National Forest and 
        use the proceeds for the construction or improvement of offices 
        and support buildings for the Rogue River National Forest and 
        the Bureau of Land Management

    Summary.--H.R. 3796 would authorize the Secretary of 
Agriculture to sell or exchange an administrative site 
comprising about five acres in the Rogue River National Forest 
and to acquire other administrative facilities through purchase 
or exchange.
    CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 3796 would result in an 
outlay savings of $2 million in 1999, but would have no net 
effect on federal spending over the 1999-2003 period. Because 
enacting the bill would affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go 
procedures would apply. H.R. 3796 contains no intergovernmental 
or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates 
Reform Act (UMRA) and would have no significant impact on the 
budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
    Estimated cost to the Federal Government.--The estimated 
budgetary impact of H.R. 3796 is shown in the following table. 
The costs of this legislation fall within budget function 300 
(natural resources and the environment).

                                    [By fiscal year, in millions of dollars]                                    
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              1998     1999     2000     2001     2002     2003 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           CHANGES IN DIRECT SPENDING                                           
                                                                                                                
Estimated budget authority................................        0        0        0        0        0        0
Estimated outlays.........................................        0       -2        1        1    (\1\)        0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Less than $500,000.                                                                                         

    Basis of estimate.--H.R. 3796 would authorize the Secretary 
of Agriculture to sell or exchange about five acres in the 
Rogue River National Forest that is currently used as an 
administrative site. As part of such an exchange, the bill 
would authorize the Secretary to either accept cash 
equalization payments that exceed 25 percent of the value of 
the site, or to acquire existing or future administrative 
facilities and improvements in exchange for conveying the site. 
The bill provides that any proceeds from sale or exchange of 
the site be deposited into an existing fund in the Treasury and 
that the funds be available, until expended, for the 
construction or improvement of offices and support buildings 
for combined use by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land 
Management.
    Based on information from the Forest Service, CBO estimates 
that enacting the bill could result in additional offsetting 
receipts from sale of the federal administrative site of about 
$2 million in fiscal year 1999. CBO estimates that the Forest 
Service would spend, without further appropriation, any 
receipts from a sale of the site to construct or improve other 
facilities on federal land. Therefore, we estimate that the net 
effect on direct spending would be zero over the 1999-2003 
period.
    Pay-as-you-go considerations.--Section 252 of the Balanced 
Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act sets up pay-as-you-go 
procedures for legislation affecting direct spending or 
receipts. Under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, proceeds from 
a nonroutine asset sale may be counted for purposes of pay-as-
you-go scorekeeping only if the sale would entail no net 
financial cost to the government. Selling the Rogue River 
administrative site would not entail a net financial cost; 
therefore, the proceeds would be counted for pay-as-you-go 
purposes.
    The net changes in outlays receipts that are subject to 
pay-as-you-go procedures are shown in the following table.

                                                        [By fiscal year, in millions of dollars]                                                        
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                   1998    1999    2000    2001    2002    2003    2004    2005    2006    2007    2008 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changes in outlays..............................................       0      -2       1       1       0       0       0       0       0       0       0
Changes in receipts \1\.........................................                                                                                        
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Not applicable.                                                                                                                                     

    Intergovernmental and private-sector impact.--H.R. 3796 
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as 
defined in the UMRA and would have no significant impact on the 
budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
    Estimate prepared by.--Victoria V. Heid.
    Estimate approved by.--Robert A. Sunshine, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                    compliance with public law 104-4

    H.R. 3796 contains no unfunded mandates.

                        changes in existing law

    If enacted, H.R. 3796 would make no changes in existing 
law.