[House Report 106-871]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



106th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     106-871

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



 
   EXCHANGES OF LAND EXCESS TO CASCADE RESERVOIR RECLAMATION PROJECT

                                _______
                                

 September 20, 2000.--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 S. 1778]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill (S. 
1778) to provide for equal exchanges of land around the Cascade 
Reservoir, having considered the same, report favorably thereon 
without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

                          Purpose of the Bill

    The purpose of S. 1778 is to provide for equal exchanges of 
land around the Cascade Reservoir.

                  Background and Need for Legislation

    Public Law 86-92, approved July 17, 1959, prohibits the 
Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) from exchanging land within 300 
feet of the Cascade Reservoir in Idaho. While private property 
does not exist within 300 feet of the Reservoir, several 
agricultural easements were reserved by landowners within that 
zone at the time BOR acquired lands for the Reservoir. To 
ensure that ranching activities do not conflict with BOR's 
management of the Reservoir, S. 1778 authorizes the BOR to 
enter into land exchanges with these operators for their rights 
at, or near, the water's edge. S. 1778 provides the BOR with 
the legal authority necessary for more efficient management and 
better environmental protection of the Reservoir.
    For additional information, see Senate Report 106-271.

                            Committee Action

    S. 1778 was introduced on October 25, 1999, by Senator 
Larry Craig (R-ID). On April 13, 2000, the Senate passed S. 
1778 with an amendment by unanimous consent. The bill was 
referred to the Committee on Resources, and within the 
Committee to the Subcommittee on Water and Power. On July 27, 
2000, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On September 
13, 2000, the Full Resources Committee met to consider the 
bill. The Subcommittee on Water and Power was discharged from 
further consideration of the measure by unanimous consent. No 
amendments were offered and the bill was ordered favorably 
reported to the House of Representatives by voice vote.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis


Section 1. Exchanges of land excess to Cascade Reservoir reclamation 
        project

    This section amends section 5 of Public Law 86-92 (73 Stat. 
219), an act to add certain lands located in Idaho to the Boise 
and Payette National Forest, to authorize the Secretary of the 
Interior to enter into equal value land exchanges around the 
Cascade Reservoir in accordance with the Uniform Relocation 
Assistance and Real Property Acquisitions Policies Act of 1970. 
The bill authorizes cash payments to equalize the values of 
lands to be exchanged, if necessary.

            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 of the Constitution of the United 
States grants 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 affect direct spending and 
receipts by authorizing the payment and acceptance of cash 
equalization payments for land exchanges. However, any impact 
on the federal budget would be ``insignificant''.
    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, September 18, 2000.
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 S. 1778, an act to 
provide for equal exchanges of land around the Cascade 
Reservoir.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Rachel 
Applebaum.
            Sincerely,
                                          Barry B. Anderson
                                    (For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
    Enclosure.

S. 1778--An act to provide for equal exchanges of land around the 
        Cascade Reservoir

    CBO estimates that enacting S. 1778 would have no 
significant impact on the federal budget. The act could affect 
direct spending; thus, pay-as-you-go procedures would apply, 
but CBO expects any such impact to be insignificant over the 
2000-2005 period. S. 1778 contains no intergovernmental or 
private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates 
Reform Act and would have no significant effect on the budgets 
of state, local, or tribal governments.
    S. 1778 would amend current law to allow the Secretary of 
the Interior to negotiate exchanges of land of approximately 
equal value around the Cascade Reservoir in Idaho. According to 
the Bureau of Reclamation, the lands that would be exchanged 
under the act have already been identified to be in excess of 
the needs of the reservoir. Those lands do not currently 
generate any significant receipts, and the agency does not 
expect them to generate any significant receipts over the next 
10 years. If lands exchanged under S. 1778 are not of equal 
value, the legislation would require either the federal 
government or the grantor to make a cash payment equal to the 
difference. Based on information from the Bureau of 
Reclamation, CBO estimates that any such payments would be 
insignificant.
    On April 12, 2000, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 
1778 as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources on April 5, 2000. The two versions of the 
legislation are similar and our estimates of their costs are 
the same.
    The CBO staff contact is Rachel Applebaum. This estimate 
was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, 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 Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new 
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

                 SECTION 5 OF THE ACT OF JULY 17, 1959

 AN ACT To add certain lands located in Idaho to the Boise and Payette 
                           National Forests.

  Sec. 5. (a) * * *
  [(b) The Secretary may exchange lands of either class for 
non-Federal lands of not less than approximately equal value 
situated within three hundred feet of the shoreline established 
by the normal water surface elevation of four thousand eight 
hundred and twenty eight feet of the Cascade Reservoir and 
outside the exterior boundaries of the Boise and Payette 
National Forests as extended by this Act.]
  (b) Land Exchanges.--
          (1) In general.--The Secretary may exchange land of 
        either class described in subsection (a) for non-
        Federal land of not less than approximately equal 
        value, as determined by an appraisal carried out in 
        accordance with--
                  (A) the Uniform Relocation Assistance and 
                Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 
                (42 U.S.C. 4601 et seq.); and
                  (B) the publication entitled ``Uniform 
                Appraisal Standards for Federal Land 
                Acquisitions'', as amended by the Interagency 
                Land Acquisition Conference in consultation 
                with the Department of Justice.
          (2) Equalization.--If the land exchanged under 
        paragraph (1) is not of equal value, the values shall 
        be equalized by the payment of funds by the Secretary 
        or the grantor, as appropriate, in an amount equal to 
        the amount by which the values of the land differ.

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