[House Report 110-249]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



110th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    110-249
====================================================================
 
                  SNOQUALMIE PASS LAND CONVEYANCE ACT

                                _______
                                

 July 23, 2007.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Rahall, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 1285]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 
bill (H.R. 1285) to provide for the conveyance of a parcel of 
National Forest System land in Kittitas County, Washington, to 
facilitate the construction of a new fire and rescue station, 
and for other purposes, 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 ``Snoqualmie Pass Land Conveyance Act''.

SEC. 2. LAND CONVEYANCE, NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LAND, KITTITAS COUNTY, 
                    WASHINGTON.

  (a) Conveyance Required.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall convey, 
without consideration, to the King and Kittitas Counties Fire District 
#51 of King and Kittitas Counties, Washington (in this section referred 
to as the ``District''), all right, title, and interest of the United 
States in and to a parcel of National Forest System land in Kittitas 
County, Washington, consisting of approximately 1.5 acres within the 
SW\1/4\ of the SE\1/4\ of section 4, township 22 north, range 11 east, 
Willamette meridian, for the purpose of permitting the District to use 
the parcel as a site for a new Snoqualmie Pass fire and rescue station.
  (b) Reversionary Interest.--If the Secretary determines at any time 
that the real property conveyed under subsection (a) is not being used 
in accordance with the purpose of the conveyance specified in such 
subsection, all right, title, and interest in and to the property shall 
revert, at the option of the Secretary, to the United States, and the 
United States shall have the right of immediate entry onto the 
property. Any determination of the Secretary under this subsection 
shall be made on the record after an opportunity for a hearing.
  (c) Survey.--If necessary, the exact acreage and legal description of 
the lands to be conveyed under subsection (a) shall be determined by a 
survey satisfactory to the Secretary. The cost of a survey shall be 
borne by the District.
  (d) Additional Terms and Conditions.--The Secretary may require such 
additional terms and conditions in connection with the conveyance under 
subsection (a) as the Secretary considers appropriate to protect the 
interests of the United States.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 1285 is to provide for the conveyance 
of a parcel of National Forest System land in Kittitas County, 
Washington, to facilitate the construction of a new fire and 
rescue station.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The Snoqualmie Pass Fire and Rescue Station serves King and 
Kittitas Counties Fire District #51. Fire District #51 is 
managed by a three-person Board of Commissioners elected by the 
voters of Snoqualmie Pass. The Fire District consists of 24 
volunteer firefighter/EMT's that service a community of 350 
full-time residents.
    Snoqualmie Pass Fire and Rescue currently operates a fire 
and rescue station on National Forest System property, at a 
facility that they lease from the Forest Service. The leased 
facility was built in the 1930's as a maintenance shed for the 
Department of Transportation. The current facility has numerous 
deficiencies such as a non-compliant electrical system and no 
smoke alarm or sprinkler system.
    Snoqualmie Pass Fire and Rescue was approached last year by 
the Forest Service to ask if they would be interested in 
purchasing the land that the fire and rescue station currently 
sits on. Because they find the current facility to be 
inadequate, they instead are asking to have a separate 1.5 acre 
parcel conveyed to them in order to build a new fire and rescue 
station. Snoqualmie Pass Fire and Rescue also lacks the funding 
to purchase the parcel in question.
    There were efforts in the past to resolve this matter 
administratively through selling one acre of a three acre tract 
to Snoqualmie Pass Fire and Rescue using the Townsite Act 
(Public Law 85-569) but those efforts never came to fruition 
due to funding constraints of Snoqualmie Pass Fire and Rescue. 
The 1.5 acres in question are currently being used as a parking 
lot.
    H.R. 1285, as amended, conveys approximately 1.5 acres of 
National Forest System lands in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie 
National Forest in Kittitas County, Washington, to facilitate 
the construction of a new fire and rescue station. H.R. 1285 
also specifies that if the property conveyed is not being used 
in accordance with the purpose of the conveyance, the property 
shall revert back to the United States.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 1285 was introduced on March 1, 2007, by 
Representative Doc Hastings (R-WA). The bill was referred to 
the Committee on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to 
the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands. 
On April 17, 2007, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. 
At the Full Committee markup on June 28, 2007, the Subcommittee 
was discharged from further consideration of the bill.
    National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee 
Chairman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) offered an amendment to make a 
technical change to the map description and limit the acreage 
of the parcel being conveyed to 1.5 acres. The Grijalva 
amendment was adopted by voice vote. The bill, as amended, was 
then ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives 
by voice vote.

            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 Natural 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. 1285--Snoqualmie Pass Land Conveyance Act

    H.R. 1285 would provide for the conveyance, without 
consideration, of 1.5 acres of Forest Service land to the King 
and Kittitas Counties Fire District #51. The land would be 
available only to the fire district to be used to construct a 
new firehouse. Based on information from the Forest Service, 
CBO expects that any cost to the government of implementing 
this legislation would not be significant. Enacting H.R. 1285 
would not affect direct spending or revenues.
    H.R. 1285 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 staff contact for this estimate is Tyler Kruzich. 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.

                           EARMARK STATEMENT

    H.R. 1285 does not contain any congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in 
clause 9(d), 9(e) or 9(f) of rule XXI.

                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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