[Senate Report 109-38]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                        Calendar No. 53
109th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session                                                     109-38
======================================================================


 
                  DANDINI RESEARCH PARK CONVEYANCE ACT

                                _______
                                

                March 14 , 2005.--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. 252]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 252) to direct the Secretary of the 
Interior to convey certain land in Washoe County, Nevada, to 
the Board of Regents of the University and Community College 
System of Nevada, having considered the same, reports favorably 
thereon without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                         PURPOSE OF THE MEASURE

    The purpose of S. 252 is to direct the Secretary of the 
Interior to convey approximately 467 acres of land in Washoe 
County, Nevada, to the Board of Regents of the University and 
Community College System of Nevada.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    S. 252 directs the Secretary of the Interior to convey, 
without consideration, approximately 467 acres of land in 
Washoe County, Nevada, to the Board of Regents of the 
University and Community College System of Nevada. The land in 
question, which is located in Reno, Nevada, was patented to the 
University and Community College System of Nevada in the 1970's 
and is now known as the Dandini Research Park. The site is used 
by the Desert Research Institute and Truckee Meadows Community 
College.
    Because patents were issued under the authority of the 
Recreation and Public Purposes Act, the Board of Regents is 
limited by the terms of the patents as to how it can use the 
property. The patent terms and conditions prohibit the Board of 
Regents from transferring control of the property or using it 
for other than public purposes. These limitations are 
preventing the Board of Regents from developing a University-
sponsored research park that would provide for technology 
transfer, science-based economic development and partnering 
among academic, governmental and industrial sectors in Nevada. 
The terms of the patents also restrict the Board of Regents 
from using the land as security or collateral for private 
financing of buildings on the site.
    S. 252 will allow the Board of Regents to continue with the 
development of the Dandini Research Park while ensuring that 
the net proceeds of any future sale of the site be returned to 
the Secretary of the Interior for use by the Bureau of Land 
Management in Nevada.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    S. 252 was introduced by Senators Reid and Ensign on 
February 1, 2005. The Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests 
held a hearing on a similar bill, S. 1826, on May 5, 2004. S. 
Hrg. 108-575. The text of S. 1826 was included in S. Amdt. 4084 
to H.R. 620, which passed the Senate on December 7, 2004.
    At the business meeting on February 9, 2005, the Committee 
on Energy and Natural Resources ordered S. 252 favorably 
reported.

                        COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in an open 
business session on February 9, 2005, by a unanimous vote of a 
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 252.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    Section 1 provides the short title of the bill, the 
``Dandini Research Park Conveyance Act.''
    Section 2 defines key terms used in the bill.
    Section 3 provides for the conveyance of approximately 467 
acres of land, already patented to University of Nevada under 
the Recreation and Public Purposes Act, to the Board of Regents 
of the University and Community College System of Nevada. The 
section requires the Board of Regents to reimburse the 
Secretary for the costs of the conveyance. It also directs that 
should any portion of land be sold by the Board of Regents it 
reflect fair market value and the proceeds be paid to the 
Secretary for use by the Director of the Bureau of Land 
Management in Nevada, without further appropriation.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

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

                                                 February 14, 2004.
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. 252, the Dandini 
Research Park Conveyance Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Deborah 
Reis and Megan Carroll.
            Sincerely,
                                       Douglas Holtz-Eakin,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

S. 252--Dandini Research Park Conveyance Act

    S. 252 would direct the Department of the Interior to 
convey to the Board of Regents of the University and Community 
College System of Nevada approximately 467 acres of land in 
Washoe County, Nevada. The bill would require the board to 
reimburse the department for any costs associated with the 
conveyance of the property. If the board sells the property in 
the future, it would also have to pay the department the net 
proceeds of the sale, which would then be available to the 
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) without further appropriation.
    CBO estimates that enacting S. 252 would have no 
significant impact on the federal budget and no effect on 
revenues. According to BLM, the land to be conveyed under the 
bill is already leased to the Board of Regents, which operates 
university-constructed research facilities on that site. It is 
very unlikely that the property would have been sold under 
current law; therefore, donating it to the university would not 
reduce future offsetting receipts from surplus land sales. We 
estimate that any reimbursements made by the board would be 
minimal. For this estimate, we assume that the conveyed land 
would remain in the university system.
    S. 252 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.
    The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Deborah Reis 
and Megan Caroll. This estimate was 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. 252.
    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. 252, as ordered reported.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    Views of the Administration were included in testimony 
received by the Committee on a substantially similar bill at a 
hearing on May 5, 2004.

Statement of Bob Anderson, Deputy Assistant Director, Minerals, Realty 
           and Resource Protection Bureau of Land Management

    Thank you for inviting me to testify regarding a number of 
land conveyance bills of interest to the Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM).


                                s. 1826


    The BLM originally patented the lands referenced in S. 1826 
to the Board of Regents of the University and Community College 
System of Nevada in 1972 and 1974. Subsequent legislation, 
Public Law 99-358, provided for the development of a research 
park on the conveyed lands. P.L. 99-358 restricts the Board of 
Regents' use of the patented lands to research and development 
activities. S. 1826 would provide the remaining right, title 
and interest of the United States in these lands to the Board 
of Regents, which would allow the University full discretion in 
the use or sale of these lands, with proceeds returned to the 
Secretary of the Interior. The Administration supports S. 1826, 
but requests technical corrections to add specificity to the 
conveyance, clarify ``market value,'' and modify the 
disposition of ``net proceeds'' in Section 2(c)(2) of the bill 
as introduced.
    We look forward to working with the Committee and local 
interests to address the concerns we have identified in S. 
1826.
    Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I'll be happy to 
answer any questions.


                        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. 252, as ordered 
reported.

                                  
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