[House Report 111-250]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


111th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    111-250

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  PROVIDING FOR THE CONVEYANCE OF NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LAND IN THE 
                           STATE OF LOUISIANA

                                _______
                                

 September 10, 2009.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

    Mr. Peterson, from the Committee on Agriculture, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 940]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Agriculture, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 940) to provide for the conveyance of National Forest 
System land in the State of Louisiana, having considered the 
same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend 
that the bill do pass.

                           BRIEF EXPLANATION

    H.R. 940 provides for the conveyance of National Forest 
System land in the State of Louisiana.

                            PURPOSE AND NEED

    H.R. 940 authorizes the sale of certain federally owned 
land in the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana. The 
Secretary of Agriculture is given the authority to sell two 
parcels of land consisting of 50.08 acres--which includes 47.92 
acres containing campsites plus an adjoining 2.16 acre parcel 
of land that also contains campsites.
    The Forest Service is interested in the sale of this land 
so it will no longer be obligated to provide maintenance to the 
area that the campsites occupy.
    Money from the sale will be placed in account for Forest 
Service to purchase additional land in Kisatchie National 
Forest in the future.

                           SECTION-BY-SECTION

Section 1. Findings and definitions

    Provides that Congress finds it is in the public interest 
to authorize the sale, for market value consideration, certain 
federally owned land located in the Kisatchie National Forest 
in Louisiana.
    Defines ``Collins Camp Properties'' to mean Collins Camp 
Properties, Inc., a corporation existing under the laws of the 
State of Louisiana.
    Defines ``Secretary'' to mean the Secretary of Agriculture.

Section 2. Authorization to sell land

    Authorizes the Secretary to sell, by quitclaim deed, at a 
public or private sale, including by competitive sale by 
auction, bid, or otherwise: (1) all federally owned lands 
within section 9, Township 10 North, Range 5 West, in Winn 
Parish, Louisiana; and (2) a parcel of land consisting of 2.16 
acres in Winn Parish, Louisiana.
    Authorizes the Secretary, for a period of one year after 
the date of enactment of the legislation, upon tender of 
consideration from Collins Camp Properties, to sell to the 
corporation all right, title and interest of the United States 
in: (1) up to 47.92 acres located within section 9; and (2) the 
2.16 acre parcel.
    Provides the Secretary with the discretion to configure the 
lands to maximize their marketability or achieve management 
objectives; the Secretary may prescribe such terms and 
conditions on the land sales as would be deemed in the public 
interest.
    Mandates that the land sales are to be for cash 
consideration equal to the market value of the land.
    Requires that the market value of the land to be sold is to 
be determined by an appraisal that is approved by the Secretary 
and conforms with the Universal Appraisal Standards for Federal 
Land Acquisition; or, if the land is not sold to Collins Camp 
Properties, as outlined in the legislation, provides that 
market value can be determined by competitive sale.
    Mandates that, with respect to any disposal of the lands, 
the Secretary must meet disclosure requirements for hazardous 
substances; however, the Secretary is not required to either 
remediate or abate those substances.

Section 3. Proceeds from the sale of land

    Requires that the consideration received by the Secretary 
for the sale of the lands are to be deposited in a Treasury 
account established by the Sisk Act.
    Monies deposited in the Treasury account are to be made 
available until expended, without further appropriation, for 
the acquisition of lands and interests in land in the Kisatchie 
National Forest.

Section 4. Miscellaneous provisions

    Authorizes the Secretary to require Collins Camp Properties 
to pay, at closing, the reasonable costs of appraisal and any 
administrative and environmental analyses required by law or 
regulation.
    Requires an offer by Collins Camp Properties to be 
accompanied by written statements from holders of Forest 
Service special use authorizations agreeing to relinquish their 
authorizations upon a sale to the corporation; for any holder 
not providing a written authorization, the Secretary is 
authorized to require Collins Camp Properties to administer the 
authorization according to its terms until the date of 
expiration.

                        COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION

    The Committee on Agriculture met, pursuant to notice, with 
a quorum present, on July 29, 2009, to consider H.R. 940 and 
other pending legislation.
    Members were recognized and each made a statement in 
support of the legislation.
    There being no amendments, Mr. Lucas moved that H.R. 940 be 
reported favorably to the House with the recommendation that it 
do pass.
    By a voice vote, and in the presence of a quorum, H.R. 940 
was ordered favorably reported to the House.
    Chairman Peterson then advised Members that pursuant to the 
rules of the House of Representatives that Members have 2 
calendar days to file such views with the Committee. No Members 
came forth with intent to file additional views.
    Without objection, staff was given permission to make any 
necessary clerical, technical or conforming changes to reflect 
the intent of the Committee.
    Chairman Peterson thanked all the Members and adjourned the 
meeting subject to the call of the chair.

                   REPORTING THE BILL--ROLLCALL VOTES

    In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, H.R. 940 was reported by voice 
vote with a majority quorum present. There was no request for a 
recorded vote.

                      COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee on Agriculture's 
oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in the 
body of this report.

           BUDGET ACT COMPLIANCE (SECTIONS 308, 402, AND 423)

    The provisions of clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives and section 308(a)(1) of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (relating to estimates of new 
budget authority, new spending authority, new credit authority, 
or increased or decreased revenues or tax expenditures) are not 
considered applicable. The estimate and comparison required to 
be prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office 
under clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives and sections 402 and 423 of the Congressional 
Budget Act of 1974 submitted to the Committee prior to the 
filing of this report are as follows:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                    Washington, DC, August 6, 2009.
Hon. Collin C. Peterson,
Chairman, Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives, 
        Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 940, a bill to 
provide for the conveyance of National Forest System land in 
the state of Louisiana.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis.
            Sincerely,
                                      Douglas W. Elmendorf,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

H.R. 940--A bill to provide for the conveyance of National Forest 
        System land in the State of Louisiana

    H.R. 940 would direct the Forest Service to sell about 80 
acres of land within the Kisatchie National Forest in 
Louisiana. Under the bill, Collins Camp Properties, 
Incorporated, would have right of first refusal on the property 
and would be responsible for the administrative costs of the 
sale. Proceeds from the sale of the property would be available 
to the Forest Service without further appropriation to acquire 
other lands and interests in the Kisatchie National Forest.
    CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 940 would have no net 
impact on the federal budget. Any offsetting receipts earned 
from the sale--which we estimate would be less than $1 
million--would be offset by additional spending, most of which 
would occur over the next five years. Moreover, we expect that 
the property to be sold currently generates no significant 
receipts from commercial activities such as timber sales and is 
not expected to do so over the next 10 years. Therefore, 
selling the land would not result in any loss of income to the 
Forest Service.
    The bill 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 for Budget Analysis.

                    PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

    With respect to the requirement of clause 3(c)(4) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
performance goals and objections of this legislation are to 
provide for the conveyance of National Forest System land in 
the State of Louisiana.

                   CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

    Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee finds the 
Constitutional authority for this legislation in Article I, 
clause 8, section 18, that grants Congress the power to make 
all laws necessary and proper for carrying out the powers 
vested by Congress in the Constitution of the United States or 
in any department or officer thereof.

                        COMMITTEE COST ESTIMATE

    Pursuant to clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee report incorporates the 
cost estimate prepared by the Director of the Congressional 
Budget Office pursuant to sections 402 and 423 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

                      ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT

    No advisory committee within the meaning of section 5(b) of 
the Federal Advisory Committee Act was created by this 
legislation.

                APPLICABILITY TO THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to 
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act (Public Law 
104-1).

                       FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT

    The Committee adopted as its own the estimate of Federal 
mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform 
Act (Public Law 104-4).

  EARMARK STATEMENT REQUIRED BY CLAUSE 9 OF RULE XXI OF THE RULES OF 
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

    H.R. 940 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 of the Rules of the 
House Representatives.

                                  
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