[Senate Report 106-241]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 457
106th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session                                                     106-241

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                 WASHINGTON COUNTY, UTAH LAND EXCHANGE

                                _______
                                

                 March 9, 2000.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 2862]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the Act (H.R. 2862) to direct the Secretary of the 
Interior to release reversionary interests held by the United 
States in certain parcels of land in Washington County, Utah to 
facilitate an anticipated land exchange, having considered the 
same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and 
recommends that the Act do pass.

                         purpose of the measure

    The purpose of H.R. 2862 is to direct the Secretary of the 
Interior to release reversionary interests held by the United 
States in certain parcels of land in Washington County, Utah, 
to facilitate an anticipated land exchange.

                          background and need

    The lands in question were granted to the State of Utah 
pursuant to the Recreation and Public Purposes Act (R&PPA) for 
inclusion in Snow Canyon State Park. The State now wishes to 
exchange this land with a private party in order to acquire 
other lands that will be used for desert tortoise habitat. 
However, under the R&PPA, the State is precluded from making 
such an exchange because the State park land carries a clause 
reverting the lands back to the United States if it is used for 
other than a public purpose. This bill would remove those 
reversionary clauses so that the State could pass clear title 
in the land exchange.

                          legislative history

    H.R. 2862 passed the House of Representatives on November 
16, 1999 and was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources on November 19, 1999. The Committee held a 
hearing on H.R. 2862 on February 10, 2000. At the business 
meeting on February 23, 2000, the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources ordered H.R. 2862 reported favorably without 
amendment.

            committee recommendation and tabulation of votes

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 
open business session on February 23, 2000, by a voice vote of 
a quorum present recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 2862.

                      section-by-section analysis

    Section 1(a) directs the Secretary of the Interior to 
release the reversionary interests in certain property in 
Washington County, Utah, to facilitate a land exchange.
    Subsection (b) requires the Secretary to file an 
appropriate instrument to effect the release.

                   cost and budgetary considerations

    The Congressional Budget Office estimate of the costs of 
this measure follows:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                     Washington, DC, March 1, 2000.
Hon. Frank H. Murkowski,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 2862, an act to 
direct the Secretary of the Interior to release reversionary 
interests held by the United States in certain parcels of land 
in Washington County, Utah, to facilitate an anticipated land 
exchange.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis.
            Sincerely,
                                          Barry B. Anderson
                                    (For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
    Enclosure.

H.R. 2862--An act to direct the Secretary of the Interior to release 
        reversionary interests held by the United States in certain 
        parcels of land in Washington County, Utah, to facilitate an 
        anticipated land exchange

    CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2862 would have no impact 
on the federal budget. The act would not affect direct spending 
or receipts; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would not 
apply. H.R. 2862 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.
    H.R. 2862 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to 
release the federal government's reversionary rights to reclaim 
about 352 acres of land in Washington County, Utah. This land 
was previously conveyed by the United States to the state of 
Utah. Under existing law, title to the land would revert to the 
federal government if the property is not used for recreation 
or other public uses. Upon enactment of H.R. 2862, this land is 
expected to be transferred by Utah to private landowners in 
exchange for other property.
    The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis. This estimate was 
approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for 
Budget Analysis.

                      regulatory impact evaluation

    In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following 
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in 
carrying out H.R. 2862.
    The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of 
imposing Government-established standards or significant 
economic responsibilities on private individuals and 
businesses.
    No personal information would be collected in administering 
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal 
privacy.
    Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the 
enactment of H.R. 2862, as ordered reported.

                        executive communications

    On February 23, 2000 the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources requested legislative reports from the Department of 
Interior and the Office of Management and Budget setting forth 
Executive agency recommendations on H.R. 2862. These reports 
had not been received at the time the report on H.R. 2862 was 
filed. When the reports become available, the Chairman will 
request that they be printed in the Congressional Record for 
the advice of the Senate. The testimony provided by the Bureau 
of Land Management at the House Subcommittee hearing follows:

     Statement of Henri Bisson, Assistant Director, Bureau of Land 
                               Management

    Mr. Chairman, members of the subcommittee, I appreciate the 
opportunity to appear before you today to testify on S. 1665, a 
bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to release 
reversionary interests held by the United States in certain 
parcels of land in Washington County, Utah, to facilitate an 
anticipated land exchange, and its companion bill in the House, 
H.R. 2862.
    These bills would support the implementation of the Red 
Cliffs Desert Reserve which was created in February of 1996 
near the City of St. George, Utah when the US Fish and Wildlife 
Service issued a permit to Washington County, Utah under 
section 10(a) of the Endangered Species Act. The permit 
approved the Washington County Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) 
which calls for long-term management of approximately 61,000 
acres within a reserve to be set aside for the protection and 
recovery of the federally listed Desert Tortoise. The HCP as 
developed by a steering committee comprised of local residents, 
businesses, interest groups and local, state and Federal 
government representatives.
    S. 1665 and H.R. 2862 involve 98 acres of land within Snow 
Canyon, a unit of the Utah State Park System, which were 
originally transferred to the State by BLM under the Recreation 
and Public Purposes Act (R&PP). These lands, on the east 
periphery of the Park, remain undeveloped. The Park has entered 
into two proposed land exchanges with private land owners that 
would achieve important management objectives including 
acquisition of critical habitat for the Desert Tortoise, a high 
priority under the HCP, and other important recreational and 
aesthetic amenities on the present Park boundary. These 
amenities are at imminent risk from urban development taking 
place north of St. George. Lands to be exchanged out of the 
Park were selected so as to minimize adverse impacts to the 
Park's core mission and to be compatible with surrounding 
developments on adjacent lands. The lands would become subject 
to private development in accordance with local zoning. While 
processing the exchanges, the State determined that portions of 
the lands identified within the Park for exchange are 
encumbered by R&PP reverter clauses which were intended to 
prevent unauthorized transfers from taking place. Each of the 
exchanges is encumbered by 49 acres of land within the Park 
trade base which contain reverter clauses. This bill if passed 
would remove the reverter clauses and allow the exchanges to 
move forward. BLM does not object to the provisions of the 
bill. Not only would the public interest be served by the 
exchanges, but one of the exchanges would have the state 
acquire 217 acres of tortoise habitat that otherwise would have 
to be acquired by the Federal government under the terms of the 
HCP at a cost in excess of $4 million. The exchanges are 
supported by local and state governments and local 
environmental groups including the Grand Canyon Trust and the 
Virgin River Land Preservation Association.
Conclusion
    The BLM and the local communities and governments support 
these bills to further the species recovery goals of the 
Washington County HCP.

                        changes in existing law

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no 
changes in existing law are made by H.R. 2862, as ordered 
reported.

                                
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