[House Report 106-132]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



106th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    106-132

======================================================================



 
                        EDUCATION LAND GRANT ACT

                                _______
                                

  May 10, 1999.--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. 150]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 150) to amend the Act popularly known as the Recreation 
and Public Purposes Act to authorize disposal of certain public 
lands or national forest lands to local education agencies for 
use for elementary or secondary schools, including public 
charter schools, and for other purposes, having considered the 
same, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend 
that the bill as amended do pass.
  The amendments are as follows:
  Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu 
thereof the following:

SECTION. 1. SHORT TITLE.

  This Act may be cited as the ``Education Land Grant Act''.

SEC. 2. CONVEYANCE OF NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS FOR EDUCATIONAL 
                    PURPOSES.

  (a) Authority to Convey.--Upon application, the Secretary of 
Agriculture may convey National Forest System lands for use for 
educational purposes if the Secretary determines that--
          (1) the entity seeking the conveyance will use the conveyed 
        land for a public or publicly funded elementary or secondary 
        school, to provide grounds or facilities related to such a 
        school, or for both purposes;
          (2) the conveyance will serve the public interest;
          (3) the land to be conveyed is not otherwise needed for the 
        purposes of the National Forest System; and
          (4) the total acreage to be conveyed does not exceed the 
        amount reasonably necessary for the proposed use.
  (b) Acreage Limitation.--A conveyance under this section may not 
exceed 80 acres. However, this limitation shall not be construed to 
preclude an entity from submitting a subsequent application under this 
section for an additional land conveyance if the entity can demonstrate 
to the Secretary a need for additional land.
  (c) Costs and Mineral Rights.--A conveyance under this section shall 
be for a nominal cost. The conveyance may not include the transfer of 
mineral rights.
  (d) Review of Applications.--When the Secretary receives an 
application under this section, the Secretary shall--
          (1) before the end of the 14-day period beginning on the date 
        of the receipt of the application, provide notice of that 
        receipt to the applicant; and
          (2) before the end of the 120-day period beginning on that 
        date--
                  (A) make a final determination whether or not to 
                convey land pursuant to the application, and notify the 
                applicant of that determination; or
                  (B) submit written notice to the applicant containing 
                the reasons why a final determination has not been 
                made.
  (e) Reversionary Interest.--If at any time after lands are conveyed 
pursuant to this section, the entity to whom the lands were conveyed 
attempts to transfer title to or control over the lands to another or 
the lands are devoted to a use other than the use for which the lands 
were conveyed, without the consent of the Secretary, title to the lands 
shall revert to the United States.

  Amend the title so as to read:

    A bill to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to convey 
National Forest System lands for use for educational purposes, 
and for other purposes.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 150 is to authorize the Secretary of 
Agriculture to convey National Forest System lands for use for 
educational purposes, and for other purposes.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    In 1954 Congress passed the Recreation and Public Purposes 
Act (R&PPA) which authorized the sale or lease of Bureau of 
Land Management (BLM) land to State and local governments and 
qualified non-profit organizations for public purposes. 
Typically, the R&PPA has been used for schools, parks, 
fairgrounds, campgrounds, historic monument sites, hospitals, 
and municipal facilities.
    The R&PPA served the public well and has allowed many 
communities to build needed public facilities that couldn't 
have been built otherwise. Unfortunately, many of the 
``landlocked'' towns of the west (those that are completely 
surrounded by Federal land) are surrounded by Forest Service 
land, not BLM land. Since Forest Service land may not be 
conveyed by under the R&PPA, these towns are at a disadvantage. 
Because private land within National Forests is so scarce, it 
is becoming extremely expensive, and often school districts 
cannot afford to purchase private land for schools.
    On several occasions Congress has passed individual bills 
to transfer Forest Service land to local governments or 
education agencies for public purposes. Unfortunately, for 
Congress to pass an individual bill for each small western 
community that needs Forest Service land is labor intensive and 
cost prohibitive. The obvious solution is to give the Forest 
Service the statutory authority to discretionarily make such 
transfers. H.R. 150 was designed for this purpose, and would 
have originally accomplished it by bringing Forest Service land 
under the R&PPA.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 150 was introduced on January 6, 1999, by Congressman 
J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ). The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on 
National Parks and Public Lands and to the Subcommittee on 
Forests and Forest Health. On February 4, 1999, the 
Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands held a hearing 
on the bill, where witnesses from several small western 
communities testified in support of H.R. 150. The Forest 
Service testified that the Administration did not support the 
bill as currently constituted, but expressed a willingness to 
work with the Committee to craft an acceptable substitute. On 
February 25, 1999, the Subcommittee on National Parks and 
Public Lands met to mark up the bill. Both Subcommittee 
Chairman Jim Hansen (R-UT) and Ranking Member Carlos Romero-
Barcelo (D-PR) offered amendments in the nature of a 
substitute. These amendments were subsequently withdrawn with 
the agreement that the Majority and Minority would work 
together to craft an acceptable amendment to offer at Full 
Committee. The bill was then ordered favorably reported to the 
Full Committee by voice vote. On April 28, 1999, the Full 
Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee 
on Forests and Forest Health was discharged from further 
consideration of the bill by unanimous consent. Congressman 
Hansen offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute that 
created a free-standing program that would allow the Forest 
Service to transfer land for educational purposes at nominal 
cost. Delegate Romero-Barcelo then offered an amendment to the 
amendment that changed some of the reversionary language. The 
amendment to the amendment was adopted by voice vote. And the 
Hansen amendment, as amended, was adopted by voice vote. The 
bill was then ordered favorably reported to the House of 
Representatives by voice vote.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title
    This section designates the title of the Act as the 
``Education Land Grant Act.''
Section 2. Conveyance of National Forest System lands for educational 
        purposes
    Subsection (a) authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to 
convey Forest Service Lands for educational purposes if the 
Secretary determines that certain conditions are met:
    Subsection (a)(1) requires that the entity seeking the 
conveyance will use the conveyed land for a public or publicly 
funded elementary or secondary school, to provide grounds or 
facilities related to such a school, or for both purposes. The 
original bill specified that conveyances could be made to 
charter schools. During negotiations between the Majority and 
Minority on H.R. 150 it was agreed that this language should be 
dropped since ``charter school'' is a vague term that will 
likely differ from State to State. The Committee instead chose 
to adopt the term ``public or publicly funded.'' The Committee 
did not feel it was the appropriate role of Congress to inject 
itself into State policy debates on charter schools, vouchers, 
and various other programs that provide public funds to 
schools. Nor did the Committee feel that it was appropriate for 
Congress to force the Secretary of Agriculture to promulgate 
regulations defining ``charter school.'' The phrase ``publicly 
funded'' was therefore substituted to avoid these problems. 
This preserves the intent of the original bill. The intent of 
the Act is to help provide education to young people, not to 
split hairs over semantics.
    Subsection (a)(2) requires that the conveyance will serve 
the public interest.
    Subsection (a)(3) requires that the land to be conveyed is 
not otherwise needed for the purposes of the National Forest 
System. This phrase should not be interpreted too literally. 
Almost any parcel of National Forest land could be said to be 
``needed'' for habitat protection, watershed enhancement, 
timber production, etc. The intent of this subsection is to 
insure that the Secretary does not transfer lands that have 
extraordinary features or values that might be lost if the 
parcels were used for school purposes. The section should be 
interpreted in light of the importance of elementary and 
secondary education to society and may often, therefore, 
require the Secretary to perform a cost benefit analysis.
    Subsection (a)(4) requires that the total acreage to be 
conveyed not exceed the amount reasonably necessary for the 
proposed use. This section insures that the Secretary not 
transfer more Forest Service land than is needed for school 
purposes. Schools and related facilities are often built in 
phases as funds become available or as enrollment rises. It is 
often desirable to transfer the land for these schools all at 
once instead of in phases to provide certainty for funding 
purposes. When applicants make these issues known, the 
Secretary should be sensitive to these concerns. Transfers for 
school-related facilities such as playgrounds, ball fields, 
parks, etc. are also anticipated and approved of by this Act.
    Subsection (b) limits the acreage of conveyances under this 
Act to 80 acres. This should be more than enough land for most 
schools and facilities. The Act does anticipate that there may 
be rare cases where additional transfers may be warranted and 
provides for additional transfers if the entity seeking the 
additional conveyance can demonstrate such a need to the 
Secretary.
    Subsection (c) provides that conveyances under this Act 
shall be for a nominal cost. The phrase ``nominal'' was 
specifically chosen over the term ``discount,'' reflecting the 
desire of Congress that appraised value not be an issue in such 
transfers. The regulations for the R&PPA provide that such 
transfers be made at $10 per acre and the Committee feels that 
similar pricing would be appropriate under the Education Land 
Grant Act. Subsection (c) also prohibits the Secretary from 
transferring mineral rights to parcels of land transferred 
pursuant to this Act.
    Subsection (d) would require expedited review of 
applications under this Act. The Secretary would be required to 
acknowledge within 14 days that the application has been 
received. The Secretary would then be required to make a final 
determination whether to convey the land pursuant to the 
application and notify the applicant within 120 days. If the 
Secretary cannot make a determination within the 120 day 
period, the Secretary is required to submit written notice to 
the applicant containing the reasons why the final 
determination has not been made.
    Subsection (e) addresses the reversionary interest of the 
United States in land transferred pursuant to the Education 
Land Grant Act. The Act requires that land transferred pursuant 
to this Act be used for education purposes. As such, a 
reversionary interest in the land will be retained by the 
United States. The Committee recognizes, however, that land use 
patterns change over time. The Committee spends a good portion 
of its time going through the arduous legislative process to 
pass individual public laws to relinquish reversionary 
interests held by the United States in parcels of land 
transferred often as much as over a century ago. This is not a 
productive use of Congressional time, especially if there is 
any way to avoid it. The Committee, therefore, chose to vest in 
the Secretary discretion over the disposal of the reversionary 
interest retained in Education Land Grant Act transfers.

            COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

    Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of 
rule XIII 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 this bill.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

    1. Cost of Legislation.--Clause 3(d)(2) 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 this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) 
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 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
    2. Congressional Budget Act.--As required by clause 3(c)(2) 
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this 
bill 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 this bill could result in a loss of offsetting 
receipts but any such loss would total less than $500,000 per 
year.
    3. Government Reform Oversight Findings.--Under clause 
3(c)(4) of rule XIII 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 on this bill.
    4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate.--Under clause 
3(c)(3) of rule XIII 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 this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                       Washington, DC, May 5, 1999.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 150, a bill to 
authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to convey National 
Forest System lands for use for educational purposes, and for 
other purposes.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Victoria Heid 
Hall.
            Sincerely,
                                          Barry B. Anderson
                                    (For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
    Enclosure.
H.R. 150--A bill to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to convey 
        National Forest System lands for educational purposes, and for 
        other purposes
    CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 150 would have no 
significant impact on the federal budget. Because the bill 
could result in a loss of offsetting receipts, pay-as-you-go 
procedures would apply; however, CBO estimates that any such 
effects would total less than $500,000 each year. H.R. 150 
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as 
defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no 
costs on state, local, or tribal governments. This bill would 
benefit some local governments by giving them the opportunity 
to acquire National Forest land for public schools at a nominal 
cost.
    H.R. 150 would authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to 
convey up to 80 acres of land in the National Forest System 
(NFS) for use by public or publicly funded schools for a 
nominal payment. Once land not otherwise needed for NFS 
purposes would be made available, and any such conveyances 
would not include the transfer of mineral rights. Title to the 
land would revert to the federal government if the recipient 
attempts to transfer it or use it for other than educational 
purposes. The bill would require the Secretary to notify an 
applicant within 120 days of receiving the application as to 
whether the land will be conveyed, or provide a written 
explanation as to why such a determination has not been made.
    CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 150 would result in 
forgone offsetting receipts if land that the Secretary would 
likely sell at fair market value under current law would, under 
the bill, be conveyed at a discount. However, CBO estimates 
that any such loss of receipts from land sales would total less 
than $500,000 each year. While the opportunity to use NFS land 
for schools at a nominal cost might be a popular option if H.R. 
150 were enacted, such NFS land is rarely sold under current 
law. Thus, we expect that enacting the bill would not result in 
any significant loss of federal receipts.
    The CBO staff contact is Victoria Heid Hall. This estimate 
was approved by Robert A. Sunshine, Deputy Assistant Director 
for Budget Analysis.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing 
law.

                                  
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