[House Report 110-554]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



110th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     110-554

======================================================================



 
                   UTAH NATIONAL GUARD READINESS ACT

                                _______
                                

 March 31, 2008.--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. 3651]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 
bill (H.R. 3651) to require the conveyance of certain public 
land within the boundaries of Camp Williams, Utah, to support 
the training and readiness of the Utah National Guard, 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 ``Utah National Guard Readiness Act''.

SEC. 2. LAND CONVEYANCE, CAMP WILLIAMS, UTAH.

  (a) Conveyance Required.--Not later than 120 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior, acting 
through the Bureau of Land Management, shall convey, without 
consideration, to the State of Utah all right, title, and interest of 
the United States in and to certain lands comprising approximately 431 
acres, as generally depicted on a map entitled ``Proposed Camp Williams 
Land Transfer'' and dated March 7, 2008, which are located within the 
boundaries of the public lands currently withdrawn for military use by 
the Utah National Guard and known as Camp Williams, Utah, for the 
purpose of permitting the Utah National Guard to use the conveyed land 
as provided in subsection (c).
  (b) Revocation of Executive Order.--Executive Order 1922 of April 24, 
1914, as amended by section 907 of the Camp W.G. Williams Land Exchange 
Act of 1989 (title IX of Public Law 101-628; 104 Stat. 4501), shall be 
revoked, only insofar as it affects the lands identified for conveyance 
to the State of Utah under subsection (a).
  (c) Reversionary Interest.--The lands conveyed to the State of Utah 
under subsection (a) shall revert to the United States if the Secretary 
of the Interior determines that the land, or any portion thereof, is 
sold or attempted to be sold, or that the land, or any portion thereof, 
is used for non-National Guard or non-national defense purposes. Any 
determination by the Secretary of the Interior under this subsection 
shall be made in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the 
Governor of Utah and on the record after an opportunity for comment.
  (d) Hazardous Materials.--With respect to any portion of the land 
conveyed under subsection (a) that the Secretary of the Interior 
determines is subject to reversion under subsection (c), if the 
Secretary of the Interior also determines that the portion of the 
conveyed land contains hazardous materials, the State of Utah shall pay 
the United States an amount equal to the fair market value of that 
portion of the land, and the reversionary interest shall not apply to 
that portion of the land.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 3651 is to require the conveyance of 
certain public land within the boundaries of Camp Williams, 
Utah to support the training and readiness of the Utah National 
Guard.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    Camp W.G. Williams, located 25 miles south of Salt Lake 
City, Utah, is comprised of 24,000 acres of both federal and 
state lands. Of that acreage, some 18,000 acres of federal land 
are withdrawn for military purposes and operated primarily by 
the Utah Army National Guard; the U.S. Army also operates 
there. Although Camp Williams was once considered remote, Salt 
Lake City has grown significantly in the past few decades, and 
residential development has encroached on the site resulting in 
increased land values.
    H.R. 3651, as amended, directs the Secretary of the 
Interior to convey 431 acres of public land, administered by 
the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), to the state of Utah, 
without consideration, for use by the Utah National Guard. The 
bill includes a provision directing that the land revert to 
federal ownership if it stops being used for National Guard or 
national defense purposes.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 3651 was introduced September 25, 2007, by 
Representative Rob Bishop (R-UT). 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 
March 6, 2008, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill, 
during which a representative from the Interior Department 
testified that the BLM generally supports the bill and the 
conveyance of the land at no cost if the land is used for 
important national security and defense purposes. However, the 
agency also expressed substantive and technical concerns with 
the bill.
    On March 12, 2008, the Natural Resources Committee met to 
consider the bill. The subcommittee was discharged from further 
consideration of H.R. 3651. Representative Rob Bishop (R-UT) 
offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute. The 
amendment clarified that the land conveyed under this Act would 
revert to federal ownership if any portion of the land is sold, 
or if it ever stops being used for National Guard or national 
defense purposes. The amendment further provided that the State 
of Utah shall pay fair market value to the U.S. for the land, 
if the land, or any portion of it, is subject to reversion but 
contains hazardous materials. The amendment also included 
technical changes addressing the BLM's concerns. The Bishop 
amendment 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 this Act the ``The Utah National Guard 
Readiness Act.''

Section 2. Land conveyance, Camp Williams, Utah

    Subsection 2(a) requires that, not later than 120 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 
Interior shall convey, without consideration, to the State of 
Utah, all right, title and interest of the United States in and 
to 431 acres of public land. The land to be conveyed is 
generally depicted on a map entitled ``Proposed Camp Williams 
Land Transfer'' dated March 7, 2008 and is located within the 
boundaries of the public lands currently withdrawn for military 
uses by the Utah National Guard and known as ``Camp Williams, 
Utah.'' The conveyed lands are then to be permitted to the Utah 
National Guard, by the State of Utah, to be used for National 
Guard or national defense purposes.
    Subsection 2(b) revokes Executive Order 1922 of April 24, 
1914 as amended by section 907 of the Camp W.G. Williams Land 
Exchange Act of 1989 (title IX of Public Law 101-628; 104 Stat. 
4501) as it applies to the lands identified for conveyance in 
this Act. This subsection provides a technical fix. Since some 
of the land to be conveyed under this Act were previously 
withdrawn under Executive Order 1922 for military use, the BLM 
does not have the authority to convey those withdrawn lands. 
With revocation of the Executive Order, the Secretary can 
convey all rights, interest, and title in the lands described 
in subsection 2(a), unencumbered.
    Subsection 2(c) is a reversionary clause that provides that 
the lands conveyed under this Act shall revert to the Secretary 
of the Interior if the land, or any portion of the land, is 
sold or if it is not used for National Guard or national 
defense purposes. This determination shall be made by the 
Secretary of the Interior in consultation with the Secretary of 
Defense and the Governor of Utah, and it shall be made on the 
record and after an opportunity for comment.
    Subsection 2(d) provides that the land, or any portion of 
the land that would otherwise revert under this Act, contains 
hazardous materials, the State of Utah shall pay the United 
States an amount equal to the fair market value for that 
portion of the land. Further the reversionary interest shall 
not apply to that portion of the land that is found to contain 
hazardous materials.

            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 and Article IV, section 3, 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. As required by 
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or 
objective of this bill is to require the conveyance of certain 
public land within the boundaries of Camp Williams, Utah to 
support the training and readiness of the Utah National Guard.
    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. 3651--Utah National Guard Readiness Act

    H.R. 3651 would direct the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 
to convey, without consideration, about 430 acres of land in 
Utah to the state. The conveyed property would be used by Utah 
for activities of the state national guard.
    CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 3651 would have no 
effect on the federal budget. The land to be conveyed to Utah 
is already reserved for military purposes of the U.S. Army and 
the Utah National Guard and does not produce income for the 
federal government.
    H.R. 3651 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 state of Utah.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis. 
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. 3651 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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