[Senate Report 108-14]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                        Calendar No. 26
108th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session                                                     108-14

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



 
              GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK LAND EXCHANGE ACT

                                _______
                                

                 March 5, 2003.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

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

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 273]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 273) to provide for the expeditious 
completion of the acquisition of land owned by the State of 
Wyoming within the boundaries of Grand Teton National Park, and 
for other purposes, having considered the same, reports 
favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the 
bill do pass.

                         PURPOSE OF THE MEASURE

    The purpose of S. 273 is to provide for the acquisition of 
approximately 1,366 acres of land and 40 acres of mineral 
interests owned by the State of Wyoming within the boundaries 
of Grand Teton National Park.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    At the time of statehood, Wyoming was granted two sections 
and a third smaller parcel of school trust lands in what later 
became Grand Teton National Park. The Wyoming Constitution 
directs the State to generate a reasonable income from these 
trust lands to support its public schools. Any revenue or 
proceeds from school trust lands must be used for the 
educational trust fund. The State has been leasing the lands 
identified in the bill for grazing and wildlife purposes, 
raising approximately $2,000 annually in fees. In response to a 
recent Wyoming Supreme Count decision,\1\ the State is 
reevaluating the revenue streams from its school trust lands. 
Because the State land in Grand Teton National Park is near the 
town of Jackson, the State may be facing future legal 
challenges to obtain maximum value for the lands and sell them 
for development.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ Campbell County School District v. Wyoming, 907 P.2d 1238 (Wyo. 
1995) (holding Wyoming's public school finance system 
unconstitutional).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Three parcels of land and a 40-acre tract of subsurface 
mineral interests would be exchanged under the terms of S. 273. 
The 40-acre mineral interest is located near the center of the 
park near Jackson Lake. The smallest land parcel of State land 
comprises 85 acres and is located in the southwestern part of 
the park across the Snake River from the Jackson Hole Airport. 
The two largest parcels are each 640 acres. One is in the 
southern part and the other is in the eastern part of the park. 
Both are close to the park's developed road system. Enactment 
of S. 273 will allow for the continued protection of these 
properties within Grand Teton National Park while ensuring that 
the State of Wyoming meets its constitutional mandate to 
maximize revenues from its school trust lands.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    S. 273 was introduced by Senators Thomas and Enzi on 
February 4, 2003. A similar bill, S. 1105, was introduced by 
Senators Thomas and Enzi during the 107th Congress on March 1, 
2001. The Subcommittee on National Parks held a hearing on S. 
1105 on July 31, 2001. At its business meeting on August 2, 
2001, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered S. 
1105 favorably reported with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute. S. 1105 passed the Senate, as amended, on October 
17, 2001. The House passed S. 1105 with additional unrelated 
provisions September 24, 2002. On November 20, 2003, the Senate 
disagreed to the House amendment. The Senate also adopted the 
text of S. 1005 as part of amendment 4971 to S. 941, which 
passed the Senate, on November 19, 2002.
    At the business meeting on February 26, 2003, the Committee 
on Energy and Natural Resources ordered S. 273 favorably 
reported.

                       COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open 
business session on February 26, 2003, by a unanimous vote of a 
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 273 as 
described herein.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    Section 1 entitles the bill ``Grand Teton National Park 
Land Exchange Act.''
    Section 2 defines key terms used in the bill.
    Section 3 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior (the 
``Secretary'') to acquire approximately 1,406 acres of State 
lands and interests in land within Grand Teton National Park by 
donation, purchase with donated or appropriated funds, or 
exchange.
    Section 4 requires that the State lands and interests be 
valued by one of the following methods: the Secretary and the 
Governor are to mutually agree on the selection of a qualified 
appraiser to conduct an appraisal of the State lands; or if 
they are unable to agree on an appraiser, then they are each to 
select an appraiser, and the two appraisers will select a third 
qualified appraiser to value the State lands. The Secretary and 
the State of Wyoming are each required to pay one-half of the 
appraisal costs.
    Section 5 provides that the lands and interests acquired 
from the State are to be administered as part of Grand Teton 
National Park and are to be managed in accordance with the Act 
of August 25, 1916 (16 U.S.C. 1, commonly known as the National 
Park Service Organic Act) and other laws and regulations 
applicable to units of the National Park System.
    Section 6 authorizes the appropriations necessary to carry 
out this Act.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

    The following estimate of the cost of this measure has been 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                 Washington, DC, February 28, 2003.
Hon. Pete V. Domenici,
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 S. 273, the Grand Teton 
National Park Land Exchange Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Megan 
Carroll.
            Sincerely,
                                       Douglas Holtz-Eakin,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

S. 273--Grand Teton National Park Land Exchange Act

    Summary: S. 273 would authorize the Secretary of the 
Interior to acquire about 1,400 acres of state-owned lands and 
associated interests that lie within the boundaries of the 
Grand Teton National Park in Teton County, Wyoming. The 
Secretary could acquire those lands by donation, purchase, or, 
under certain conditions, by exchanging them for other federal 
lands and interests. The Secretary would manage any lands 
acquired under S. 273 as part of the Grand Teton National Park.
    CBO estimates that implementing S. 273 would cost $1 
million in 2004, assuming appropriation of the necessary 
amounts. The legislation would affect direct spending 
(including offsetting receipts), but we estimate that any net 
change in direct spending would be negligible.
    S. 273 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) 
and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal 
governments. This exchange would be voluntary on the part of 
the Wyoming state government.
    Estimated cost to the Federal Government: For this 
estimate, CBO assumes that S. 273 will be enacted by the end of 
fiscal year 2003 and that amounts necessary to implement this 
legislation will be provided soon thereafter. The estimated 
budgetary impact of S. 273 is shown in the following table. The 
costs of this legislation fall within budget function 300 
(natural resources and environment).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                     By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
                                                                   2003    2004    2005    2006    2007    2008
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION \1\

Estimated Authorization Level...................................       0       1       0       0       0       0
Estimated Outlays...............................................       0       1       0       0       0       0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Enacting S. 273 could affect direct spending, but CBO estimates that any such effects would be negligible.

    Basis of estimate: S. 273 would authorize the Secretary of 
the Interior to acquire state-owned lands through donation or 
purchase, or, under certain conditions, by exchanging them for 
other federal lands. The act does not specify the federal lands 
to be exchanged but does require that they be identified for 
disposal under approved land use plans in effect on the date of 
the bill's enactment. If lands eligible for exchange under S. 
273 are not sufficient to acquire the state's lands, S. 273 
would authorize the Secretary to identify other federal lands 
or interests, including mineral rights, that may be used to 
complete the exchange. Under S. 273, however, a subsequent act 
of the Congress would be necessary to authorize the Secretary 
to proceed with an exchange of other such lands or interests.

Spending subject to appropriation

    Assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts and based 
on information from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), CBO 
estimates that the agency would spend $1 million for 
administrative and analytical work associated with the 
acquisition authorized by S. 273. We estimate that most of that 
spending would occur during 2004.

Direct spending

    Based on information from BLM, CBO assumes that the agency 
would most likely attempt to acquire the state's lands through 
an exchange of federal lands that have been identified for 
disposal. Under current law, the agency has authority to sell 
such lands and to keep and spend the proceeds for various 
purposes. Hence, we estimate that conveying lands that have 
been identified for disposal as part of a land exchange with 
Wyoming would result in forgone offsetting receipts from the 
sale of such lands but that any such forgone receipts would be 
fully offset by a corresponding decrease in direct spending of 
sale proceeds. Thus, CBO estimates that the net change in 
direct spending under S. 273 would be negligible.
    Alternatively, CBO estimates that conveying other federal 
lands and interests that are not identified for disposal cold 
result in a net increase in direct spending. Because S. 273 
does not authorize the conveyance of such lands and interests, 
however, any such effects would be contingent on a future act 
of the Congress.
    Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: S. 273 
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as 
defined in UMRA and would impose no costs on state, local, or 
tribal governments. This exchange would be voluntary on the 
part of the Wyoming state government.
    Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Megan Carroll; Impact 
on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Majorie Miller; and 
Impact on the Private Sector: Lauren Marks.
    Estimate 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 S. 273. 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 S. 273, as ordered reported.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    On February 26, 2003, the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources requested legislative reports from the Department of 
the Interior and the Office of Management and Budget setting 
forth Executive agency recommendations on S. 273. These reports 
had not been received at the time the report on S. 273 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.

                        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 the bill S. 273, as ordered 
reported.

                                
