[Senate Report 108-5]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                        Calendar No. 13
108th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session                                                      108-5

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          FLORIDA NATIONAL FOREST LAND MANAGEMENT ACT OF 2003

                                _______
                                

               February 11, 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. 117]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 117) to authorize the Secretary of 
Agriculture to sell or exchange certain land in the State of 
Florida, 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. 117 is to authorize the Secretary of 
Agriculture to sell or exchange certain land in the State of 
Florida.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    Early Spanish explorers were impressed by the tall stately 
trees and lawn-like underbrush typical of the Southeast's 
longleaf pine forests, which now occupy just 3 million of their 
original 90 million acres. Today, thick palmetto and other 
undergrowth have fundamentally changed the landscape's 
character.
    In the Apalachicola National Forest in Florida, the Forest 
Service is trying to bring back the longleaf pine forests. The 
tool of choice to clear away palmetto and other undergrowth is 
prescribed fire, which leaves only the thick-barked longleaf 
pines and wiregrass. Prescribed fire mimics the work of 
lightning-caused fires in the era before recent decades of fire 
suppression.
    Prescribed burns, however, are difficult to implement 
because private inholders are concerned that their homes could 
be at risk. Acquisition of these parcels is important because 
private inholdings adjacent to Post Office Bay are being 
considered for sale as small acreage second homes and vacation 
sites. Just recently, 1,180 acres of a major 2,500 acre 
inholding has been purchased.
    S. 117 would assist the Secretary of Agriculture's efforts 
to acquire this inholding, as part of the Forest Service's 
effort to use prescribed fire to restore longleaf pine forests 
by allowing sale or exchange of certain lands.
    S. 117 would authorize the Forest Service to sell or 
exchange 17 noncontiguous parcels of land in Okaloosa County, 
in Florida's Panhandle, that have been returned to the Forest 
Service by the Department of Defense. These parcels are high in 
value, some have potential buyers, and several are encumbered 
with urban structures, such as baseball fields and the county 
fairgrounds.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    S. 117 was introduced by Senator Graham on January 9, 2003. 
A similar bill, S. 2652, was introduced by Senator Graham in 
the 107th Congress. The Subcommittee on Public Lands and 
Forests held a hearing on S. 2652 on July 30, 2002. The 
Committee favorably reported the bill with amendments on 
October 3, 2002 and the Senate passed S. 2652, as amended, as 
part of amendment 4975 to S. 198 on November 19, 2002. At its 
business meeting on February 5, 2003, the Committee ordered S. 
117 favorably reported without amendment.

                       COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 
open business session on February 5, 2003, by a voice vote of a 
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 117 as 
described herein.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    Section 1 entitles the bill the ``Florida National Forest 
Land Management Act of 2003''.
    Section 2 defines key terms used in the bill.
    Section 3 authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to sell 
or exchange 17 parcels of Federal land in the State of Florida 
and is self-explanatory.
    Section 4 specifies that land acquired by the United States 
will be administered in accordance with laws and regulations 
applicable to the National Forest System, and is self-
explanatory.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

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

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                  Washington, DC, February 6, 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. 117, the Florida 
National Forest Land Management Act of 2003.
    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. 117--Florida National Forest Land Management Act of 2003

    CBO estimates that enacting S. 117 would not significantly 
affect the federal budget. The bill would increase offsetting 
receipts and the spending of such receipts, but we estimate 
that the net impact on direct spending would not exceed 
$500,000 a year. S. 117 contains no intergovernmental or 
private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates 
Reform Act and would have no significant impact on the budgets 
of state, local, or tribal governments.
    S. 117 would authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to sell 
or exchange certain federal lands in Florida. The bill would 
authorize the Secretary to spend, without further 
appropriation, any proceeds from land sales to acquire 
nonfederal lands and interests in that state and to reimburse 
federal administrative costs incurred under the bill.
    According to the Forest Service, the federal lands to be 
sold or exchanged currently generate no significant receipts 
and are not expected to do so over the next 10 years. By 
providing authority for the Secretary to sell those lands, CBO 
expects that enacting S. 117 would increase offsetting receipts 
(a credit against direct spending) from land sales. Based on 
information from the Forest Service regarding the value of the 
affected lands, CBO estimates that the proceeds from such sales 
would total $2 million in each of fiscal years 2004 through 
2006. We also estimate that those amounts would largely be 
spent in the same year they are received; hence, we estimate 
that the net change in direct spending would not exceed 
$500,000 a year.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Megan Carroll. 
This estimate was approved by Paul R. Cullinan, Chief for Human 
Resources Cost Estimates Unit of the Budget Analysis Division.

                      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. 117. The bill is not a regulatory measure in 
the sense of imposing government-established standards or 
significant 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. 117, as ordered reported.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    On, February 5, 2003, the Committee requested legislative 
reports from the Department of Agriculture and the Office of 
Management and Budget setting forth Executive Agency 
recommendations on S. 117. These reports had not been received 
at the time the report on S. 117 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. 117, as ordered 
reported.

                                
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