[House Report 110-461]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
110th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 110-461
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RELEASE OF REVERSIONARY INTERESTS IN CERTAIN RAILROAD LANDS
_______
December 4, 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. 2246]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 2246) to validate certain conveyances made by the
Union Pacific Railroad Company of lands located in Reno,
Nevada, that were originally conveyed by the United States to
facilitate construction of transcontinental railroads, and for
other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably
thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill as amended
do pass.
The amendments are as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. RAILROAD LANDS DEFINED.
For the purposes of this Act, the term ``railroad lands'' means those
lands within the City of Reno, Nevada, located within portions of
sections 10, 11, and 12 of T.19 N., R. 19 E., Mount Diablo Meridian,
Nevada, that were originally granted to the Union Pacific Railroad
under the provisions of the Act of July 1, 1862, commonly known as the
Union Pacific Railroad Act.
SEC. 2. RELEASE OF REVERSIONARY INTEREST.
Any reversionary interests of the United States (including interests
under the Act of July 1, 1862, commonly known as the Union Pacific
Railroad Act) in and to the railroad lands as defined in section one of
this Act are hereby released.
Amend the title so as to read:
A bill to provide for the release of any reversionary interest of
the United States in and to certain lands in Reno, Nevada.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 2246, as ordered reported, is to
release any reversionary interest of the United States in and
to certain lands in Reno, Nevada.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The Union Pacific Railroad operates a rail line passing
through downtown Reno, Nevada. The rail corridor was created
across federal land in the 19th century to facilitate
development of a transcontinental rail system and settlement of
the western United States. The grant to the railroad includes a
requirement that the land revert back to federal ownership if
it ceases to be used for rail purposes.
The City of Reno has undertaken a massive project to move
approximately two miles of the rail line into a concrete trench
constructed alongside the existing track to improve safety and
traffic flow through downtown. As part of the project, the
railroad apparently conveyed a portion of the right of way to
the City for construction of the trench. It is not clear
whether Union Pacific had authority to make such a conveyance
given the federal reversionary interest.
H.R. 2246 as introduced would validate the conveyances made
as part of this project ``to the extent that the conveyances
would have been valid had the land involved in the conveyances
been held by the Union Pacific Railroad Company in absolute or
fee-simple title at the time of the conveyances.'' The bill
also releases the federal reversionary interest to the City of
Reno.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 2246 was introduced on May 9, 2007 by Representative
Dean Heller (R-NV). The bill was referred to the Committee on
Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee
on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands. The Subcommittee
held a hearing on the bill on October 23, 2007. On November 11,
2007, the Subcommittee was discharged and the Full Natural
Resources Committee met to mark up the bill. Subcommittee
Chairman Grijalva offered an amendment in the nature of a
substitute narrowing the bill to simply release any
reversionary interest the Federal Government may have had in
the specific parcels at issue. The Grijalva substitute was
adopted by unanimous consent. H.R. 2246 was then ordered
favorably reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous
consent.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Railroad lands defined
Section 1 defines the term ``railroad lands'' as used in
H.R. 2246 to refer to specific parcels within the City of Reno
granted to the Union Pacific Railroad in 1862.
Section 2. Release of reversionary interest
Section 2 releases any reversionary interest held by the
Federal Government to the railroad lands described in Section
1.
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. 2246--A bill to provide for the release of any reversionary
interest of the United States in and to certain lands in Reno,
Nevada
H.R. 2246 would release a reversionary interest held by the
United States in certain lands located in Reno, Nevada. (Under
a reversionary interest, ownership of land that has been
disposed of by the federal government may revert to it in
certain situations, such as abandonment of the property by a
new owner.)
Based on information provided by the Bureau of Land
Management, CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2246 would have no
effect on the federal budget, including revenues or direct
spending. The United States does not currently own the property
affected by the bill and is unlikely to exercise its
reversionary interest in the future. The property consists of
portions of several land parcels in Reno, Nevada, originally
granted to the Union Pacific Railroad and later sold to the
city.
H.R. 2246 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 contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis.
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director of the Budget Analysis Division.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
EARMARK STATEMENT
H.R. 2246 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.