[House Report 110-398]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



110th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    110-398

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             DOUGLAS COUNTY, WASHINGTON, PUD CONVEYANCE ACT

                                _______
                                

October 22, 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. 523]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 523) to require the Secretary of the Interior to 
convey certain public land located wholly or partially within 
the boundaries of the Wells Hydroelectric Project of Public 
Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County, Washington, to the 
utility district, 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 ``Douglas County, Washington, PUD 
Conveyance Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

  In this Act:
          (1) Public land.--The term ``public land'' means the 
        approximately 622 acres of Federal land managed by the Bureau 
        of Land Management and identified for conveyance on the map 
        prepared by the Bureau of Land Management entitled ``Douglas 
        County Public Utility District Proposal'' and dated March 2, 
        2006.
          (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
        the Interior.
          (3) PUD.--The term ``PUD'' means the Public Utility District 
        No. 1 of Douglas County, Washington.
          (4) Wells hydroelectric project.--The term ``Wells 
        Hydroelectric Project'' means Federal Energy Regulatory 
        Commission Project No. 2149.

SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF PUBLIC LAND, WELLS HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT, PUBLIC 
                    UTILITY DISTRICT NO. 1 OF DOUGLAS COUNTY, 
                    WASHINGTON.

  (a) Conveyance Required.--Notwithstanding the land use planning 
requirements of sections 202 and 203 of the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712, 1713), and notwithstanding 
section 24 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 818) and Federal Power 
Order for Project 2149, and subject to valid existing rights, if not 
later than 45 days after the date of completion of the appraisal 
required under subsection (b), the Public Utility District No. 1 of 
Douglas County, Washington, submits to the Secretary of the Interior an 
offer to acquire the public land for the appraised value, the Secretary 
shall convey, not later than 30 days after the date of the offer, to 
the PUD all right, title, and interest of the United States in and to 
the public land.
  (b) Appraisal.--Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary shall complete an appraisal of the public land. 
The appraisal shall be conducted in accordance with the ``Uniform 
Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions'' and the ``Uniform 
Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice''.
  (c) Payment.--Not later than 30 days after the date on which the 
public land is conveyed under this section, the PUD shall pay to the 
Secretary an amount equal to the appraised value of the public land as 
determined under subsection (b).
  (d) Map and Legal Descriptions.--As soon as practicable after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall finalize legal 
descriptions of the public land to be conveyed under this section. The 
Secretary may correct any minor errors in the map referred to in 
section 2 or in the legal descriptions. The map and legal descriptions 
shall be on file and available for public inspection in appropriate 
offices of the Bureau of Land Management.
  (e) Costs of Conveyance.--As a condition of conveyance, any costs 
related to the conveyance under this section shall be paid by the PUD.
  (f) Disposition of Proceeds.--The Secretary shall deposit the 
proceeds from the sale in the Federal Land Disposal Account established 
by section 206 of the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act (43 
U.S.C. 2305) to be expended to improve access to public lands 
administered by the Bureau of Land Management in the State of 
Washington.

SEC. 4. SEGREGATION OF LANDS.

  (a) Withdrawal.--Except as provided in section 3(a), effective 
immediately upon enactment of this Act, and subject to valid existing 
rights, the public land is withdrawn from--
          (1) all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under the 
        public land laws, and all amendments thereto;
          (2) location, entry, and patenting under the mining laws, and 
        all amendments thereto; and
          (3) operation of the mineral leasing, mineral materials, and 
        geothermal leasing laws, and all amendments thereto.
  (b) Duration.--This section expires two years after the date of 
enactment of this Act or on the date of the completion of the 
conveyance under section 3, whichever is earlier.

SEC. 5. RETAINED AUTHORITY.

  The Secretary shall retain the authority to place conditions on the 
license to insure adequate protection and utilization of the public 
land granted to the Secretary in section 4(e) of the Federal Power Act 
(16 U.S.C. 797(e)) until the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has 
issued a new license for the Wells Hydroelectric Project, to replace 
the original license expiring May 31, 2012, consistent with section 15 
of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 808).

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 523 is to require the Secretary of the 
Interior to convey certain public land located wholly or in 
part within the boundaries of the Wells Hydroelectric Project 
of Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County, Washington, 
to the utility district.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The Wells Hydroelectric Project, operated by Public Utility 
District (PUD) #1 of Douglas County, Washington, provides 
electricity to approximately 17,000 customers in Washington 
State. The central feature of the project is a dam on the 
Columbia River.
    The PUD is in the early stages of the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission (FERC) hydroelectric dam relicensing 
process. The project was first licensed for 50 years in 1962. 
That license expires May 31, 2012 and an application for 
relicensing must be submitted by 2010.
    According to the PUD, consolidation of ownership of several 
federal parcels located within the project's boundaries would 
assist in the relicensing, though no specific management issues 
regarding these parcels have ever been raised.
    As introduced, H.R. 523 directs the Secretary of the 
Interior to convey all right, title and interest of the United 
States in and to eight parcels of public land located partially 
or entirely within the boundary of the project to the PUD. The 
parcels are currently managed by the Bureau of Land Management 
and total approximately 622 acres. The legislation requires an 
appraisal of the land and the PUD would be required to pay the 
appraised value of the land in order to receive the parcels.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 523 was introduced on January 17, 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 May 10, 2007, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. 
On October 10, the Subcommittee was discharged from further 
consideration of H.R. 523 and the full Natural Resources 
Committee met to consider the bill. Representative Raul 
Grijalva (D-AZ) offered an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute requiring that, although the federal government 
under the terms of the legislation would no longer own land 
within the project boundary, the Secretary of the Interior 
would retain authority granted him under the Federal Power Act 
to place conditions on the new license being issued to the PUD. 
Further, the substitute specifies that proceeds from the sale 
are to be deposited in a specific public land account and used 
to provide improved access to public lands in Washington State. 
The Grijalva substitute was adopted by unanimous consent. The 
bill, as amended, was then ordered favorably reported to the 
House of Representatives by unanimous consent.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title

    Section 1 entitles the legislation the ``Douglas County, 
Washington PUD Conveyance Act.''

Section 2. Definitions

    This section defines several key terms used in the 
legislation.

Section 3. Conveyance of public land, Wells Hydroelectric Project, 
        Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County, Washington

    Section 3(a) requires the Secretary of the Interior to 
convey all right, title, and interest of the United States in 
the land identified in the bill to the PUD, notwithstanding 
certain provisions of law which would prohibit such a sale 
administratively. This section gives the PUD 45 days after 
completion of an appraisal to make an offer to purchase the 
acreage. The Secretary is then required to make the conveyance 
within 30 days of receiving the offer to buy the land at the 
appraised value.
    Section 3(b) requires the Secretary to complete an 
appraisal of the land within 60 days after the date of 
enactment of H.R. 523. The appraisal is to be conducted 
according to the ``Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land 
Acquisition'' and the ``Uniform Standards of Professional 
Appraisal Practice.''
    Section 3(c) requires the PUD to pay the Secretary the 
appraised value of the land within 30 days after the date on 
which the land is conveyed to the PUD.
    Section 3(d) requires the Secretary to finalize a map and 
legal descriptions of the public land to be conveyed under the 
bill and Section 3(e) specifies that the PUD will pay all costs 
associated with this transaction.
    Section 3(f) directs the Secretary to deposit the proceeds 
from the conveyance into the Federal Land Deposit Account 
established by section 206 of the Federal Land Transaction 
Facilities Act (Public Law 106-248) to be expended ``to improve 
access to public lands administered by the Bureau of Land 
Management in Washington State.''

Section 4. Segregation of lands

    This section prohibits filing of any mining or other 
development claims during pendency of the conveyance authorized 
by this legislation.

Section 5. Retained authority

    This section requires that, although the federal government 
will no longer own land within the project boundary after the 
conveyance, the Interior Secretary retains authority granted 
him under the Federal Power Act to place conditions on the new 
license being issued to the PUD. Such conditions will insure 
adequate protection of resources located on the land.
    During the hearing on this measure, the Committee received 
testimony from several witnesses pointing out that allowing a 
non-federal entity to avoid the authority granted federal land 
managers under the Federal Power Act by simply privatizing 
federal lands within project boundaries would set a negative 
precedent and could incentivize such sales. Further, the Bureau 
of Land Management urged the Committee to ``provide safeguards 
to protect the known resource values on these lands.'' Section 
5 addresses these concerns.

            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. 523--Douglas County, Washington, PUD Conveyance Act

    H.R. 523 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 
convey, at fair market value, 622 acres of federal land to the 
Douglas County Public Utility District No. 1 (PUD). Any federal 
administrative costs of the conveyance would be borne by the 
PUD. CBO estimates that any net budgetary impact from enacting 
this legislation would be negligible.
    Four percent of the proceeds of the conveyance, classified 
as offsetting receipts, would be transferred to the state of 
Washington for education expenses or to build public 
infrastructure. The remaining receipts would be deposited into 
the Federal Land Deposit Account, which was created by the 
Federal Land Transaction Facilities Act. Those receipts would 
be available without further appropriation, to the Secretary of 
the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to purchase land 
inholdings (parcels of land that are entirely surrounded by 
federally owned land).
    The sale of federal land could result in forgone offsetting 
receipts if, under current law, those lands would generate 
income from activities such as mineral leasing and mining. 
According to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), that land 
currently generates no significant receipts and BLM does not 
anticipate any receipts from it over the next 10 years.
    H.R. 523 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 bill would benefit the PUD, and any costs that it 
might incur in association with the conveyance of land would be 
incurred voluntarily.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Tyler Kruzich. 
This estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                           EARMARK STATEMENT

    H.R. 523 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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