[House Report 106-885]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



106th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     106-885

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



 
   CONVEYANCE OF CERTAIN FOREST SERVICE LAND IN THE LAKE TAHOE BASIN

                                _______
                                

 September 22, 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

                             together with

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

                        [To accompany H.R. 4656]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 4656) to authorize the Forest Service to convey certain 
lands in the Lake Tahoe Basin to the Washoe County School 
District for use as an elementary school site, having 
considered the same, reports favorably thereon without 
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                          purpose of the bill

    The purpose of H.R. 4656 is to authorize the Forest Service 
to convey certain lands in the Lake Tahoe Basin to the Washoe 
County District for use as an elementary school site.

                  background and need for legislation

    The Incline Village Elementary School in Washoe County, 
Nevada, was constructed in 1964. The school site is 
approximately 6.4 acres in size, which is much smaller than the 
10 acres normally needed for an elementary school. The small 
size of the current site limits outdoor playgrounds, parking 
areas, and snow removal storage. Incline Elementary has a 
maximum capacity of 708 students. The 1999-2000 school year 
enrollment was 671 students. Unlike all of the other elementary 
schools in the District, Incline Elementary has only grades K-
5. The sixth grade was moved to the middle school because of 
the lack of room at the elementary school. To meet the 
increasing student population, a modular school addition was 
built in 1994, and the school's capacity has been augmented by 
the addition of a two classroom ``portable'' unit. Every 
available space is being used for classrooms or teacher 
preparation areas. There is no further room for expansion. 
Additionally, there is no feasible way to re-zone the children 
to other schools in the County.
    The Board of Trustees of the Washoe County School District 
created a committee comprised of school officials and other 
interested community members to review the problem of school 
overcrowding and to recommend a solution. After considerable 
research, a site was chosen to construct a ``satellite school'' 
to operate in conjunction with the existing elementary school. 
The site is located on U.S. Forest Service land in the Lake 
Tahoe Basin Management Unit. The Washoe County School District 
has been working closely with the U.S. Forest Service, as well 
as regional interest groups (including the League to Save Lake 
Tahoe), on this matter. All parties involved support the land 
purchase and agree that the funds from the purchase are to be 
reserved for acquiring further sensitive lands at Lake Tahoe. 
Furthermore, the School District and the Forest Service have 
agreed to the sale of the land at fair market value for limited 
use.
    Additionally, the land under consideration was originally 
acquired by the federal government under the Santini-Burton 
acquisition program as being environmentally sensitive because 
a small portion is a stream environment zone. However, the 
School District has determined that the small portion of the 
site that is classified as sensitive land can be protected, and 
the protected elements can be incorporated into existing 
environmental education programs to instruct students on the 
importance of stream environment zones to protect the 
environment and water quality of Lake Tahoe. The Forest Service 
determined that, since the land was purchased under the 
Santini-Burton acquisition program, it lacks the authority to 
allow the use of the parcel for other than water quality or 
recreation purposes (as defined by the Santini-Burton Act) 
without express authorization from Congress. Therefore, 
authorizing legislation needs to be passed by Congress for this 
conveyance to occur.

                            committee action

    H.R. 4656 was introduced on June 14, 2000, by Congressman 
Jim Gibbons (R-NV). The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Resources and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on 
Forests and Forest Health. Senate companion legislation (S. 
2728) was also introduced on June 14, 2000, by Senator Richard 
Byran (D-NV). On July 25, 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 Forests 
and Forest Health was discharged by unanimous consent from 
further consideration of the bill. Congressman Adam Smith (WA) 
offered an amendment to allow the Secretary to determine fair 
market value of the site; the amendment failed by voice vote. 
No further amendments were offered and the bill was 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 the 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, credit 
authority, or an increase or decrease in tax expenditures. 
According to the Congressional Budget Office, enactment of this 
bill would affect direct spending (including offsetting 
receipts), but that ``any such effects would total less than 
$500,000 each 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, September 20, 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 H.R. 4656, a bill to 
authorize the Forest Service to convey certain lands in the 
Lake Tahoe basin to the Washoe County School District for use 
as an elementary school site.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Megan Carrol.
            Sincerely,
                                         Barry B. Anderson,
                                    (For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
    Enclosure.

H.R. 4656--A bill to authorize the Forest Service to convey certain 
        lands in the Lake Tahoe basin to the Washoe County School 
        District for use as an elementary school site

    CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 4656 would have no 
significant impact on the federal budget. Because the bill 
would affect direct spending (including offsetting receipts), 
pay-as-you-go procedures would apply, but we estimate that any 
such effects would total less than $500,000 each year.
    H.R. 4656 would authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to 
convey to the Washoe County School District in Nevada about 8.7 
acres of federal land located within the Lake Tahoe basin and 
administered by the Forest Service. The district would pay fair 
market value for the land, subject to the restriction that the 
land could be used only as the site of an elementary school 
facility and would revert back to the federal government if 
used for any other purpose. H.R. 4656 would authorize the 
Secretary to retain and spend, without further appropriation, 
proceeds from the sale to acquire environmentally sensitive 
land in the Lake Tahoe basin.
    Under current law, the agency has no plans to sell the 
land, which presently generates no significant receipts and is 
not expected to do so over the next 10 years. Based on 
information from the agency, we estimate that, under H.R. 4656, 
the land would be conveyed in 2001 in exchange for a cash 
payment of less than $500,000, and that those receipts would be 
spend during 2002.
    H.R. 4656 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. This 
purchase would be voluntary on the part of the Washoe County 
School District, and any costs the district would incur as a 
result also would be voluntary. The bill would have no 
significant impact on the budgets of other state, local, or 
tribal governments.
    The CBO staff contact is Megan Carroll. 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

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

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

    H.R. 4656 directs the Forest Service to convey 8.7 acres of 
Tahoe National Forest land to the Washoe County School District 
in Incline Village, Nevada. According to the Forest Service, 
the land is valued at between $2-4 million, but deed 
restrictions and a reversionary clause set forth in the bill 
may reduce the value by 75%. While this bill would result in a 
windfall for Washoe County, the public interest is harmed when 
artificially low values for national forest land result in 
fewer dollars for the Forest Service to acquire comparable 
lands.
    The land to be conveyed was originally acquired for 
$500,000 by the Forest Service in 1981, as environmentally 
sensitive property under the Santini-Burton Act (``the Act''). 
As is the case with other property in the popular Lake Tahoe 
area, this land has appreciated considerably in the last twenty 
years. To dispose of this land at what amounts to less than 
actual fair market value fails to provide a fair return to the 
taxpayers for their investment. It also undercuts the Santini-
Burton Act's goals of protecting environmentally sensitive land 
around Lake Tahoe. Because of the inflated land prices in the 
Lake Tahoe area, $500,000 in 2000 would not be close to 
sufficient to purchase land comparable to what could be 
purchased for $500,000 in 1981.
    This bill further undermines the intent of the Santini-
Burton Act which requires that if transfers of land are made to 
local governments, deed restrictions must protect the 
environmental quality and public recreational purposes of the 
land. Legislation is needed in this instance to override the 
Act's safeguards. Unlike other sites conveyed for less than 
fair market value with reversionary clauses, this land was not 
public domain or surplus land. Rather, this land was 
specifically purchased for its value in protecting and 
enhancing the natural resources of the Lake Tahoe basin. By 
rejecting the amendment that would have allowed the Forest 
Service to obtain full value for the land, the Majority has not 
only deprived the public of a fair return for its tax dollars, 
but also has not offset the loss of this environmentally 
significant property with sufficient funds to purchase 
comparable lands.

                                   George Miller.
                                   Adam Smith.

                                  
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