[House Report 108-571]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



108th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     108-571
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 NEWLANDS PROJECT HEADQUARTERS AND MAINTENANCE YARD FACILITY TRANSFER 
                                  ACT

                                _______
                                

 June 25, 2004.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

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

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 2831]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 2831) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 
convey the Newlands Project Headquarters and Maintenance Yard 
Facility to the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District, 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 all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

   This Act may be cited as the ``Newlands Project Headquarters and 
Maintenance Yard Facility Transfer Act''.

SEC. 2. CONVEYANCE OF NEWLANDS PROJECT HEADQUARTERS AND MAINTENANCE 
                    YARD FACILITY.

  (a) Conveyance.--The Secretary of the Interior shall convey to the 
Truckee-Carson Irrigation District, Nevada, as soon as practicable 
after the date of the enactment of this Act and in accordance with all 
applicable law and the terms of the memorandum of agreement between the 
District and the Secretary dated June 9, 2003 (Contract No. 3-LC-20-
8052), all right, title, and interest of the United States in and to 
real property within the Newlands Projects, Nevada, known as 2666 
Harrigan Road, Fallon, Nevada, and identified for disposition on the 
map entitled ``Newlands Project Headquarters and Maintenance Yard 
Facility''.
  (b) Treatment of Proceeds From Fallon Freight Yard as 
Consideration.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the 
contrary, amounts received by the United States for the lease and sale 
of Newlands Project lands comprising the Fallon Freight Yard shall, for 
purposes of this section, be treated as payment in full of 
consideration for the property conveyed under subsection (a).
  (c) Report.--If the Secretary has not completed such conveyance 
within 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
shall submit a report to the Congress explaining the reasons the 
conveyance has not been completed and stating the date by which the 
conveyance will be completed.
  (d) Environmental Review, Remediation, and Removal.--The Secretary 
may not make any conveyance under this section until the completion 
with respect to the conveyance, in accordance with the memorandum of 
agreement referred to in subsection (a), of--
          (1) compliance with requirements relating to the National 
        Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. et seq. 4321 et 
        seq.) and cultural resources; and
          (2) environmental site assessments, remediation, or removal.
  (e) Liability.--The United States shall not be liable for damages of 
any kind arising out of any act or omission by, or occurrence relating 
to, the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District or its employees, agents, or 
contractors relating to the property conveyed under this section and 
occurring prior to, on, or after the date of such conveyance.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 2831 is to authorize the Secretary of 
the Interior to convey the Newlands Project Headquarters and 
Maintenance Yard Facility to the Truckee-Carson Irrigation 
District.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The Newlands Project (Project), one of the oldest Bureau of 
Reclamation projects, provides Truckee and Carson River waters 
to approximately 73,000 irrigated acres near Fallon, Nevada. 
The Truckee-Carson Irrigation District (TCID) operates and 
maintains the Project. Since August 1972, TCID has leased 40 
acres of land from the Bureau of Reclamation to have a site for 
office headquarters and an operation and maintenance yard. 
Since the lease agreement will soon expire, TCID has expressed 
a desire to have title to 35.6 acres of the land. Acquiring 
title to this land would allow TCID to obtain a loan for 
purposes of expanding its headquarters. The Bureau of 
Reclamation would retain 4.4 acres of the land for its Fallon 
office.
    H.R. 2831 directs the Interior Secretary to convey all 
right, title and interest of the 36.5 acres of the property 
within the Newlands Project to TCID, pursuant to the terms of a 
June 9, 2003, memorandum of agreement between TCID and the 
Secretary of the Interior. The conveyance of the land would be 
subject to the terms, conditions, and identified tasks 
(including National Environmental Policy Act compliance) as 
stipulated in the memorandum of agreement. The Bureau of 
Reclamation and TCID will each pay 50 percent of the cost of 
the necessary environmental assessment. TCID will pay all other 
costs of additional environmental analyses and any remediation. 
As amended, the bill provides that the federal government is 
paid in full for the property. The United States will not be 
liable for damages of any kind arising out of any action by 
TCID relating to the facilities conveyed under the bill.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 2831 was introduced by Congressman Jim Gibbons (R-NV) 
on July 23, 2003. The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on 
Water and Power. On October 15, 2003, the Subcommittee held a 
hearing on the bill. On May 19, 2004, the Committee met to 
consider the bill. The Subcommittee was discharged from further 
consideration of the bill by unanimous consent. Mr. Gibbons 
offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute which 
provides that the federal government will be paid in full from 
amounts received from the lease and sale of the Newlands 
Project lands comprising the Fallon Freight yard. The amendment 
was adopted by unanimous consent, and the bill as amended was 
ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by 
unanimous consent.

                           SECTION-BY-SECTION

    Section 1 cites the short title as the ``Newlands Project 
Headquarters and Maintenance Yard Facility Transfer Act.''
    Section 2 directs the Secretary of the Interior to convey, 
as soon as practicable after the date of bill enactment, all 
right, title and interest of the United States property at 2666 
Harrigan Road (Newlands Project Headquarters and Maintenance 
Yard Facility and as identified under Churchill County 
Assessor's Parcel Number 006-732-01) in Fallon, Nevada. The 
conveyance would take place in accordance under applicable law 
and under the terms of memorandum of agreement (Contract No. 3-
LC-20-8052) between TCID and the Interior Secretary. The 
Committee expects the conveyance to take place immediately upon 
completion of the terms of the memorandum of agreement.
    Upon completion of the terms of the memorandum of 
agreement, all funds associated with the current lease and 
future sale of the Newlands Project's Fallon Freight Yard (as 
stipulated in Public Law 107-339) will be considered as TCID's 
payment in full to the federal government for the value of the 
35.6 acres of the Newlands Project Headquarters and Maintenance 
Yard Facility.
    Section 2 also directs the Interior Secretary to submit a 
report to Congress explaining the reasons the conveyance has 
not been completed and stating the date by which the conveyance 
will be completed if the conveyance has not occurred within 12 
months after the date of the bill's enactment. The Interior 
Secretary may not convey the property until environmental 
requirements, including the National Environmental Policy Act 
of 1969, are completed in accordance with the memorandum of 
agreement. The section further stipulates that the United 
States shall not be liable for damages of any kind relating to 
any TCID act relating to the property prior to, on, or after 
the date of conveyance.

            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. According to the Congressional 
Budget Office, enactment of this bill would result in a 
negligible loss of receipts ($10/year) to the federal treasury.
    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 authorize the Secretary of the 
Interior to convey the Newlands Project Headquarters and 
Maintenance Yard Facility to the Truckee-Carson Irrigation 
District.
    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, May 28, 2004.
Hon. Richard W. Pombo,
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. 2831, the Newlands 
Project Headquarters and Maintenance Yard Facility Transfer 
Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Julie 
Middleton.
            Sincerely,
                                      Elizabeth M. Robinson
                               (For Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Director).
    Enclosure.

H.R. 2831--Newlands, Project Headquarters and Maintenance Yard Facility 
        Transfer Act

    H.R. 2831 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 
treat the payment authorized under Public Law 107-339 as a 
payment for the conveyance of an additional 35.6 acres of the 
Newlands Reclamation Project to the Truckee-Carson Irrigation 
District. Under that law, the Secretary will convey 6.3 acres 
of the Newlands Project, known as the Fallon rail freight 
loading facility, to the city of Fallon, Nevada, at fair market 
value. The current fair market value of this facility is 
estimated to be $115,000.
    CBO estimates that enacting this bill would have no 
significant impact on the federal government. Currently, the 
bureau leases 35.6 acres of property to the Truckee-Carson 
Irrigation District for $10 a year. Therefore, enacting H.R. 
2831 would result in a negligible loss of receipts over the 
2005-2009 period. In addition, assuming the availability of 
appropriated funds, CBO estimates that the Bureau of 
Reclamation would pay $3,000 for an environmental property 
assessment and a survey of the property.
    H.R. 2831 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. 
Enacting this bill would benefit the Truckee-Carson Irrigation 
District.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Julie Middleton. 
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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