[House Report 111-198]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
111th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 111-198
======================================================================
PROVIDING FOR THE SALE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S REVERSIONARY
INTEREST IN APPROXIMATELY 60 ACRES OF LAND IN SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH,
ORIGINALLY CONVEYED TO THE MOUNT OLIVET CEMETERY ASSOCIATION UNDER THE
ACT OF JANUARY 23, 1909
_______
July 10, 2009.--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. 1442]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 1442) to provide for the sale of the Federal
Government's reversionary interest in approximately 60 acres of
land in Salt Lake City, Utah, originally conveyed to the Mount
Olivet Cemetery Association under the Act of January 23, 1909,
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. CONVEYANCE OF FEDERAL REVERSIONARY INTEREST, MT. OLIVET
CEMETERY, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH.
(a) Conveyance Required.--If, within one year after the completion of
the appraisal required by subsection (c), the Mount Olivet Cemetery
Association of Salt Lake City, Utah (in this section referred to as the
``Association''), submits to the Secretary of the Interior an offer to
acquire the Federal reversionary interest in all of the approximately
60 acres of land in Salt Lake City, Utah, conveyed to the Association
under the Act of January 23, 1909 (chapter 37, 35 Stat. 589), the
Secretary shall convey to the Association such reversionary interest in
the lands covered by the offer. The Secretary shall complete the
conveyance not later than 30 days after the date of the offer.
(b) Survey.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Secretary shall complete a survey of the lands
described in subsection (a) to determine the precise boundaries and
acreage of the lands subject to the Federal reversionary interest.
(c) Appraisal.--Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Secretary shall complete an appraisal of the Federal
reversionary interest in the lands identified by the survey in
subsection (b). The appraisal shall be completed in accordance with the
``Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions'' and the
``Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice''.
(d) Consideration.--As consideration for the conveyance of the
Federal reversionary interest under subsection (a), the Association
shall pay to the Secretary an amount equal to the appraised value of
the Federal interest, as determined under subsection (c). The
consideration shall be paid not later than 30 days after the date the
conveyance is made.
(e) Costs of Conveyance.--As a condition of the conveyance under
subsection (a), all costs associated with the conveyance under
subsection (a), including the cost of the survey required by subsection
(b) and the appraisal required by subsection (c), shall be paid by the
Association.
(f) Deposit and Use of Proceeds.--The Secretary shall deposit the
proceeds from the conveyance under subsection (a) in the Federal Land
Disposal Account established by section 206 of the Federal Land
Transaction Facilitation Act (43 U.S.C. 2305). The proceeds so
deposited shall be available to the Secretary for expenditure in
accordance with subsection (c) of such section.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 1442 is to provide for the sale of the
federal government's reversionary interest in approximately 60
acres of land in Salt Lake City, Utah, originally conveyed to
the Mount Olivet Cemetery Association under the Act of January
23, 1909.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
In 1877, the U.S. Congress enacted legislation authorizing
the Secretary of War to set aside 20 acres of federal land to
be used as a public cemetery in Salt Lake City, Utah. The
Secretary established a Board of Trustees to oversee the
cemetery, which was named the Mount Olivet Cemetery Association
(Association).
The Act of January 23, 1909 (Chapter 37, 35 Stat. 5890)
enabled the Association to acquire an additional 60 acres,
which were adjacent to the cemetery, as part of an exchange
with the federal government, with the condition that the
interest in the land would revert to the federal government if
any of those 60 acres were not used for the purpose of a
cemetery. This reversionary interest is currently held by the
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) within the Department of the
Interior.
This legislation is prompted by the fact that the Rowland
Hall-St. Marks School, situated adjacent to the Cemetery, has
contracted with the Association to purchase 13 acres of its
land to expand its facility. However, the sale is subject to
removal of the federal government's reversionary interest.
H.R. 1442 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to
convey the government's reversionary interest in the land to
the Association for fair market value. Costs of the conveyance
must also be paid by the Association.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 1442 was introduced on March 11, 2009 by
Representative Matheson (D-UT). The bill was referred to the
Committee on Resources, and within the Committee to the
Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands. On
May 14, 2009, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the
legislation during which the Administration testified in favor
of the bill with several proposed amendments.
On June 10, 2009, the Subcommittee was discharged from
further consideration of H.R. 1442 and the Full Natural
Resources Committee met to consider the bill. Subcommittee
Chairman Grijalva (D-AZ) offered an amendment in the nature of
a substitute to require that a land survey be completed before
the appraisal, that the conveyance of the reversionary interest
include the entire parcel rather than just a portion, and
mandating that the conveyance be completed within 12 months of
the completion of the appraisal. The 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. Conveyance of Federal Reversionary Interest, Mt. Olivet
Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Utah
Subsection (a) requires the Secretary of the Interior
(Secretary) to convey the federal reversionary interest in
approximately 60 acres of land in Salt Lake City, Utah within
30 days of an offer from the Mount Olivet Cemetery Association
(Association) provided that the offer is made within one year
of the completion of an appraisal of the property.
Subsection (b) requires the Secretary to complete a survey
of the property within 90 days of enactment to determine
precise boundaries and acreage.
Subsection (c) requires the Secretary to complete an
appraisal of the property within 180 days of enactment, with
all costs borne by the Association.
Subsection (d) provides that the Association shall pay to
the Secretary the appraised value of the federal interest
within 30 days of conveyance.
Subsection (e) requires that all associated costs of the
conveyance be paid by the Association.
Subsection (f) directs the deposit of proceeds from the
transaction into the Federal Land Disposal Account and makes
them available for expenditure in accordance with the Federal
Land Transaction Facilitation Act.
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 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 provide for the sale of the
federal government's reversionary interest in approximately 60
acres of land in Salt Lake City, Utah, originally conveyed to
the Mount Olivet Cemetery Association under the Act of January
23, 1909.
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. 1442--A bill to provide for the sale of the federal government's
reversionary interest in approximately 60 acres of land in Salt
Lake City, Utah, originally conveyed to the Mount Olivet
Cemetery Association under the Act of January 23, 1909
H.R. 1442 would direct the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
to sell the federal government's reversionary interest in about
60 acres of land in Salt Lake City. CBO estimates that enacting
H.R. 1442 would have no net effect on direct spending and no
effect on revenues.
The legislation contains no intergovernmental or private-
sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal
governments.
The land affected by H.R. 1442 was conveyed to the Mount
Olivet Cemetery Association in 1909 under a law that specified
that any portion of the conveyance not used for burials would
revert to the United States. (Later statutes permitted the
association to lease the land for commercial purposes but not
sell it.) By authorizing BLM to sell the reversionary interest
in a 60-acre portion of the original conveyance to the cemetery
association, H.R. 1442 would allow the land to be subsequently
sold by the association. Proceeds from the sale would be
available to BLM without further appropriation to acquire other
lands in Utah. Administrative costs related to the transaction
would be borne by the association.
Enacting H.R. 1442 would increase both offsetting receipts
from proceeds of land sales and associated spending of those
proceeds, resulting in no net change in direct spending. CBO
cannot estimate the amount of such receipts and spending
precisely in the absence of an appraisal to determine the value
of the government's reversionary interest in the affected land.
However, we expect that BLM would receive and spend less than
$1 million, probably in fiscal year 2010.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis.
The 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. 1442 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.