[House Report 107-676]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



107th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     107-676

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 DISCLAIMING OF FEDERAL INTEREST IN LANDS ADJACENT TO SPIRIT LAKE AND 
                           TWIN LAKES, IDAHO

                                _______
                                

 September 24, 2002.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Hansen, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 4874]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 4874) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to disclaim 
any Federal interest in lands adjacent to Spirit Lake and Twin 
Lakes in the State of Idaho resulting from possible omission of 
lands from an 1880 survey, having considered the same, report 
favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill 
do pass.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 4874 is to direct the Secretary of the 
Interior to disclaim any Federal interest in lands adjacent to 
Spirit Lake and Twin Lakes in the State of Idaho resulting from 
possible omission of lands from an 1880 survey.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    In 1880, a public land survey was prepared by John B. Davis 
with the General Land Office around Spirit Lake and Twin Lakes 
in Kootenai County, Idaho. While the survey of the south end of 
Spirit Lake was fairly accurate, the survey of the northern 
region grossly misrepresented portions of the actual lakeshore. 
In some areas, measurements are off by as much as a half mile. 
The errors were discovered only recently when a Kootenai County 
surveyor and a private surveyor discovered the miscalculations 
and contacted the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
    Today, the shoreline is heavily developed with residential 
homes. Many individuals claim ownership of the property and 
hold titles that go back over 100 years. More than 400 people 
claim to be ``property owners'' of the 600 acres of shoreline 
land in question. The proposed legislation would allow the 
current owners to retain ownership without imposing the expense 
of correcting it on the affected property owners. The 
legislation would allow the BLM to issue a quit-claim deed, or 
``disclaimer of interest'' to the affected lands so title 
companies and Kootenai County could proceed with ownership 
matters to clear title to the lands in question. In addition, 
the legislation provides the necessary funding for the BLM to 
conduct a contract survey and perform required administrative 
procedures.
    The standard BLM procedure would be to resurvey the 
shoreline, and then deal with the problem through BLM's 
established omitted lands process. Under this process, the 
landowners would be required to purchase the land at fair 
market value. The property owners and landowners would bear the 
cost of this process. BLM agrees that this process is 
unnecessary and burdensome.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 4874 was introduced on June 5, 2002, by Congressman 
C.L. ``Butch'' Otter (R-ID). The bill was referred to the 
Committee on Resources, and within the Committee to the 
Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation, and Public Lands. 
On July 9, 2002, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. 
On July 18, 2002, the Subcommittee met to mark up the bill. No 
amendments were offered and the bill was ordered favorably 
reported to the Full Resources Committee by voice vote. On 
September 12, 2002, the Full Committee met to consider the 
bill. No amendments were offered and the bill was ordered 
favorably reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous 
consent.

            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 
revenues or tax expenditures.
    3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or 
objective of this bill is to direct the Secretary of the 
Interior to disclaim any Federal interest in lands adjacent to 
Spirit Lake and Twin Lakes in the State of Idaho resulting from 
possible omission of lands from an 1880 survey.
    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 23, 2002.
Hon. James V. Hansen,
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. 4874, a bill to 
direct the Secretary of the Interior to disclaim any federal 
interest in lands adjacent to Spirit Lake and Twin Lakes in the 
state of Idaho resulting from possible omission of lands from 
an 1880 survey.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Megan 
Carroll.
            Sincerely,
                                          Barry B. Anderson
                                    (For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
    Enclosure.

H.R. 4874--A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to disclaim 
        any federal interest in lands adjacent to Spirit Lake and Twin 
        Lakes in the state of Idaho resulting from possible omission of 
        lands from an 1880 survey

    CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 4874 would cost 
$400,000 in fiscal year 2003, assuming appropriation of the 
authorized amounts. The bill would not affect direct spending 
or receipts; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would not 
apply. H.R. 4874 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. 4874 would authorize the appropriation of $400,000 for 
the Secretary of the Interior to survey certain lands in Idaho. 
Assuming appropriation of that amount, we estimate that the 
Bureau of Land Management would complete that work during 
fiscal year 2003. Once the surveys have been finalized, H.R. 
4874 would direct the Secretary to issue a disclaimer of 
interest to some of the surveyed lands which have long been 
claimed by private landowners based on an erroneous federal 
survey prepared in 1880. By issuing such a disclaimer, the 
Secretary would allow those landowners to establish clear title 
to their lands.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate 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.

                                
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