[House Report 106-308]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



106th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    106-308

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CONVEYANCE OF NATIONAL FOREST LANDS TO ELKO COUNTY, NEVADA, FOR USE AS 
                                CEMETERY

                                _______
                                

 September 8, 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. 1231]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 1231) to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey 
certain National Forest lands to Elko County, Nevada, for 
continued use as a cemetery, 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 OF NATIONAL FOREST LANDS TO ELKO COUNTY, NEVADA, 
                    FOR USE AS CEMETERY.

    (a) Requirement To Convey.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall 
convey, without consideration, to Elko County, Nevada, all right, 
title, and interest of the United States in and to the real property 
described in subsection (b), for use as a cemetery.
    (b) Description of Property.--
          (1) In general.--The property referred to in subsection (a) 
        consists of (A) a parcel of National Forest lands (including 
        any improvements thereon) in Elko County, Nevada, known as 
        Jarbidge Cemetery, consisting of approximately 2 acres and 
        described as follows: NE\1/4\ SW\1/4\ NW\1/4\, S. 9 T. 46 N, R. 
        58 E., MDB&M and (B) the existing bridge over the Jarbidge 
        River that provides access to that parcel, and the road from 
        the bridge to the parcel as depicted on the map entitled `Elko 
        County Road and Bridge Conveyance' dated July 27, 1999.
          (2) Survey.--The exact acreage and legal description of the 
        property to be conveyed under subsection (a) shall be 
        determined by a survey satisfactory to the Secretary. As a 
        condition of any conveyance under this section, the Secretary 
        shall require that the cost of the survey shall be borne by the 
        County.
    (c) Additional Terms and Conditions.--The Secretary may require 
such additional terms and conditions with respect to the conveyance 
under subsection (a) as the Secretary considers appropriate to protect 
the interests of the United States, except that the Secretary may not 
retain for the United States any reversionary interest in property 
conveyed under this section.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 1231 is to direct the Secretary of 
Agriculture to convey certain National Forest lands to Elko 
County, Nevada, for continued use as a cemetery.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The town of Jarbidge, in Elko County, Nevada, is a historic 
community of some 25 permanent residents that is surrounded by 
National Forest lands in what is known as the Jarbidge 
Wilderness. Near the town, situated on National Forest land, is 
a small cemetery where Jarbidge residents have been buried 
since the early 1900s. The Jarbidge Cemetery is permitted to 
Elko County by a special use authorization from the Forest 
Service. At times, this permit has run for 10 and 20 year 
periods.
    The residents of Jarbidge have long expressed an interest 
in having two acres, containing the cemetery, conveyed to the 
County so they might have a permanent, private cemetery. Many 
of those buried there were miners and their families who 
founded the town. The residents feel that conveyance of the 
National Forest land will insure that they will always have 
full use of this property.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    Congressman Jim Gibbons (R-NV) introduced H.R. 1231 on 
March 23, 1999. The legislation was referred to the Committee 
on Resources and subsequently within the Committee to the 
Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health. The Subcommittee on 
Forests and Forest Health held a hearing on H.R. 1231 on June 
17, 1999. Congressman Gibbons and the U.S. Forest Service 
testified. On August 4, 1999, the Committee on Resources met to 
consider the bill. The Subcommittee on Forests and Forest 
Health was discharged from further consideration of the bill by 
unanimous consent. Congressman Gibbons offered an amendment 
that also conveyed a small bridge and road to the County, as 
requested by the Forest Service. It was adopted by voice vote. 
The bill, as amended, was then ordered favorably reported to 
the House of Representatives by voice vote.

            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 
revenues or tax expenditures.
    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, August 6, 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. 1231, a bill to 
direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain National 
Forest lands to Elko County, Nevada, for continued use as a 
cemetery.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Victoria 
Heid Hall (for federal costs), and Marjorie Miller (for the 
state and local impact).
            Sincerely,
                                          Barry B. Anderson
                                    (For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
    Enclosure.

H.R. 1231--A bill to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey 
        certain National Forest lands to Elko County, Nevada, for 
        continued use as a cemetery

    CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 1231 would have no 
impact on the federal budget. Because the bill would not affect 
direct spending or receipts, pay-as-you-go procedures would not 
apply. H.R. 1231 would direct the Secretary of Agriculture to 
convey to Elko County, Nevada, about two acres of national 
forest land for use as a cemetery, as well as a bridge and part 
of a road that provide access to that land. The conveyance 
would be at no cost to the county. According to the Forest 
Service, the county currently uses the two acres of federal 
property for a cemetery free of charge under a special use 
permit. Therefore, conveying the property to the county would 
not result in a loss of permit fee receipts.
    H.R. 1231 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. This 
conveyance, and all costs associated with it, would be 
voluntary on the part of the county. The only cost incurred by 
the county would be for a survey to determine exact acreage and 
description of the property. The bill would have no other 
significant impact on the budgets of state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    The CBO staff contacts are Victoria Heid Hall (for federal 
costs), and Marjorie Miller (for the state and local impact). 
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.

                PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

    This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or 
tribal law.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

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

                                  
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