[House Report 109-285]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



109th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    109-285

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                   CONVEYANCE TO BEAVER COUNTY, UTAH

                                _______
                                

 November 10, 2005.--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. 679]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 679) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey a 
parcel of real property to Beaver County, Utah, 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. 679 is to direct the Secretary of the 
Interior to convey a parcel of real property to Beaver County, 
Utah.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    Minersville State Park is located on the shore of 
Minersville Reservoir along State Highway 21 between the towns 
of Beaver and Minersville, Utah. The Park is approximately 200 
acres, 20 of which have the following improvements: campground 
facilities, a boat launch ramp, a park, a pavilion, an entrance 
station, and a maintenance building. The remainder of the 
property is either sagebrush rangeland or under water 
(depending on reservoir water levels). The Park was acquired 
from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) with authority under 
the Recreation and Public Purposes Act (43 U.S.C. 869 et. 
seq.), which allows for the lease or purchase of BLM land 
typically for parks, schools, hospitals, community buildings 
and fairgrounds.
    In April 2002, the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation 
Board notified Beaver County that the State was going to close 
the Park in June 2002 due to budgetary problems and the Park's 
loss of revenue (roughly $90,000 per year). However, according 
to a warranty deed for the property, if the State ceased to 
operate the facility as a state park the property would revert 
back to Beaver County. As such, on July 1, 2002, Beaver County 
took over management of the Park. Shortly thereafter, the 
County was notified that the warranty deed was invalid. 
Currently Beaver County is operating the Park with an informal 
agreement with the State.
    H.R. 679 seeks to remedy the situation by conveying the 
property to Beaver County. With title to the land, the County 
will have the flexibility to manage the Park in an economically 
feasible manner. Without the conveyance, BLM will, by statute, 
require the State to remove all improvements to the Park.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 679 was introduced on February 9, 2005, by Congressman 
Chris Cannon (R-UT). The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on 
Forests and Forest Health. On September 27, 2005, the 
Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On October 19, 2005, 
the Full Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The 
Subcommittee was discharged from further consideration of the 
bill by unanimous consent. 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. This bill does 
not authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives does not 
apply.
    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:

H.R. 679--A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey a 
        parcel of real property to Beaver County, Utah

    CBO estimates that H.R. 679 would not significantly affect 
the federal budget. The bill would direct the Secretary of the 
Interior to convey to Beaver county, Utah, for no 
consideration, approximately 200 acres of federal land in that 
county. The county currently manages that land as a park under 
a lease from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). According to 
BLM, the land currently generates no significant receipts and 
is not expected to do so over the next 10 years. Therefore, CBO 
estimates that conveying it would not significantly affect 
offsetting receipts (a credit against direct spending). 
Enacting the bill would not affect revenues. Based on 
information from BLM, we also estimate that the agency's costs 
to complete the proposed conveyance would be minimal; any such 
costs would be subject to the availability of appropriated 
funds.
    H.R. 679 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 legislation would benefit Beaver County.
    On February 23, 2005, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for 
S. 52, similar legislation, as ordered reported by the Senate 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on February 16, 2005. 
The two bills are substantively similar, and our cost estimates 
are the same.
    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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