[Senate Report 111-138]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                       Calendar No. 288
111th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session                                                     111-138

======================================================================
 
             WALLOWA FOREST SERVICE COMPOUND CONVEYANCE ACT

                                _______
                                

                 March 2, 2010.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

   Mr. Bingaman, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 1139]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 1139) to require the Secretary of 
Agriculture to enter into a property conveyance with the city 
of Wallowa, Oregon, and for other purposes, having considered 
the same, reports favorably thereon with an amendment and 
recommends 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 ``Wallowa Forest Service Compound 
Conveyance Act''.

SEC. 2. CONVEYANCE TO CITY OF WALLOWA, OREGON.

  (a) Definitions.--In this Act:
          (1) City.--The term ``City'' means the city of Wallowa, 
        Oregon.
          (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
        Agriculture.
          (3) Wallowa forest service compound.--The term ``Wallowa 
        Forest Service Compound'' means the approximately 1.11 acres of 
        National Forest System land that--
                  (A) was donated by the City to the Forest Service on 
                March 18, 1936; and
                  (B) is located at 602 First Street, Wallowa, Oregon.
  (b) Conveyance.--On the request of the City submitted to the 
Secretary by the date that is not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act and subject to the provisions of this Act, the 
Secretary shall convey to the City all right, title, and interest of 
the United States in and to the Wallowa Forest Service Compound.
  (c) Conditions.--The conveyance under subsection (b) shall be--
          (1) by quitclaim deed;
          (2) for no consideration; and
          (3) subject to--
                  (A) valid existing rights; and
                  (B) such terms and conditions as the Secretary may 
                require.
  (d) Use of Wallowa Forest Service Compound.--As a condition of the 
conveyance under subsection (b), the City shall--
          (1) use the Wallowa Forest Service Compound as a historical 
        and cultural interpretation and education center;
          (2) ensure that the Wallowa Forest Service Compound is 
        managed by a nonprofit entity; and
          (3) agree to manage the Wallowa Forest Service Compound with 
        due consideration and protection for the historic values of the 
        Wallowa Forest Service Compound.
  (e) Reversion.--In the quitclaim deed to the City, the Secretary 
shall provide that the Wallowa Forest Service Compound shall revert to 
the Secretary, at the election of the Secretary, if any of the 
conditions under subsection (c) or (d) are violated.

                                PURPOSE

    The purpose of S. 1139 is to provide for the conveyance of 
a Forest Service administrative site to the city of Wallowa, 
Oregon.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    In 1936, the city of Wallowa donated to the Forest Service 
approximately one acre of land in downtown Wallowa where the 
Forest Service sought to construct a ranger station and 
associated buildings. The Civilian Conservation Corps 
subsequently built a ranger station, bunkhouse, warehouse, 
storage building, and gas house on the site. The Wallowa Ranger 
Station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places 
on October 28, 2009.
    The site was used for many decades by the Forest Service, 
but now sits vacant and has accumulated hundreds of thousands 
of dollars in deferred maintenance needs. The Forest Service 
recently identified the property for sale under the Forest 
Service Facility Realignment and Enhancement Act, which 
requires fair market value for any conveyance.
    The Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center has proposed 
using the compound for local historical and cultural 
preservation, interpretation, and education. The Center is a 
nonprofit organization whose mission is to collect, preserve, 
and interpret the rich early 1900's history of the 
multicultural railroad logging community of Maxville, Oregon, 
and similar communities in the Pacific Northwest. However, the 
Forest Service needs legislative authorization to convey the 
property for anything less than its fair market value.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    S. 1139 was introduced by Senator Wyden on May 21, 2009. 
The Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests held a hearing on 
the bill on June 17, 2009 (S. Hrg. 111-65). At its business 
meeting on December 16, 2009, the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources ordered S. 1139 favorably reported with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute.

                        COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open 
business session on December 16, 2009, by a voice vote of a 
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 1139, if 
amended as described herein.

                          COMMITTEE AMENDMENT

    During its consideration of S. 1139, the Committee adopted 
an amendment in the nature of a substitute. The amendment 
includes a number of technical changes and new provisions 
subjecting the conveyance to various conditions. The amendment 
is explained in detail in the section-by-section analysis, 
below.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    Section 1 provides the short title for the bill.
    Section 2(a) provides the definitions for the bill. 
Subsection (b) directs the Forest Service to convey the Wallowa 
Forest Service Compound to the city of Wallowa, if the city 
requests the conveyance within 1 year after the date of 
enactment of the bill. Subsection (c) requires the conveyance 
to be made by quitclaim deed for no consideration and subject 
to valid existing rights and such terms and conditions as the 
Secretary may require. Subsection (d) includes a number of 
conditions for the use of the compound by the city, and 
subsection (e) provides the Secretary with discretion to 
exercise a reversionary interest if the conditions in 
subsections (c) and (d) are not followed.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

    The following estimate of costs of this measure has been 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office:

S. 1139--Wallowa Forest Service Compound Conveyance Act

    S. 1139 would direct the Forest Service to convey, without 
consideration, about 1 acre of land in Oregon to the city of 
Wallowa. Based on information provided by the Forest Service, 
CBO estimates that implementing the bill would have no net 
effect on the federal budget. Because the affected land (and 
related structures) would probably have been sold under 
existing authority, enacting the bill would reduce offsetting 
receipts, but the loss in receipts would be offset by lower 
direct spending of a similar amount. (CBO estimates that the 
value of the land would be less than $500,000.) Enacting the 
bill would not affect revenues.
    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.

                      REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION

    In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following 
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in 
carrying out S. 1139.
    The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of 
imposing Government-established standards or significant 
economic responsibilities on private individuals and 
businesses.
    No personal information would be collected in administering 
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal 
privacy.
    Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the 
enactment of S. 1139, as ordered reported.

                   CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

    S. 1139, as reported, does not contain any congressionally 
directed spending items, limited tax benefits, or limited 
tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the Standing Rules 
of the Senate.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    The views of the Administration were included in testimony 
received by the Committee at a hearing on S. 1139 on June 17, 
2009, which is provided below.

Statement of Joel Holtrop, Deputy Chief, National Forest System, Forest 
                   Service, Department of Agriculture

    Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, thank you for 
the opportunity to appear before you today to provide the 
Department of Agriculture's views on two bills that would 
legislate land transactions: S.409, would provide for an 
exchange of federal land containing a proposed copper mine for 
non-federal land containing riparian areas in Arizona and 
S.1139, would convey an administrative site in Wallowa, Oregon. 
We defer to the Department of the Interior on provisions 
relating to lands to be managed by the BLM.


                   s. 409--resolution copper exchange


    S. 409 is a complex bill that directs the Secretary of 
Agriculture to convey to Resolution Copper Mining, LLC 
(Resolution Copper), lands on the Tonto National Forest if 
certain conditions are met. The federal lands to be exchanged 
may contain a sizeable copper ore body and are adjoining an 
existing copper mine. In exchange the bill provides the Forest 
Service certain lands in the state of Arizona. The Department 
has not completed its analysis of this complex bill and the 
Administration will provide its views and concerns to the 
Committee upon completion of this work. Nevertheless, there are 
still a number of preliminary concerns with the bill as 
introduced.
    The bill requires the agency to conduct an environmental 
impact statement after the agency no longer owns the property 
on which the mine would be located. The purpose of the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is to inform the decision maker 
about potential impacts prior to making a decision. Given the 
current language, we would assume that we would only be 
analyzing impacts from mining activities on the surrounding 
National Forest land, not the land to be conveyed. Consistent 
with Administration policy, NEPA should be done before moving 
forward on the land exchange.
    The bill proposes to use any cash equalization payment for 
multiple purposes including management. Any equalization 
payment by the exchange proponent should be deposited into the 
Federal Land Disposal Account.
    The bill proposes that Resolution Copper replace the Oak 
Flat Campground. We have been unable to locate a suitable 
replacement site for a campground in the vicinity. Funding 
provided in the bill to replace the campground provided to the 
Tonto National Forest should instead address deferred 
maintenance needs of existing recreation facilities.
    The bill directs Resolution Copper to convey a parcel of 
land known as ``the Pond parcel.'' We are concerned about 
recreation related liability issues, access, and facilities 
needed to manage this parcel. A public interest determination 
analysis under NEPA should be required and provide the basis 
for determining whether to proceed with the conveyance.
    We understand there are concerns about management of the 
Apache Leap area and in addition, the acreage that would be 
added to this area. We are concerned about adding another 
planning process as prescribed in the bill because it is 
duplicative of an ongoing Tonto National Forest Planning 
process which can analyze and provide for, if necessary and 
appropriate, a special management area.
    Many of the lands to be exchanged in the bill hold 
significant cultural value to Indian Tribes. In particular, the 
Apache Leap area, the Oak Flat Campground, and Devil's Canyon 
are culturally significant to the San Carlos Apache Tribe and 
the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation. There are also other 
neighboring Tribes with cultural interests in the area. We will 
continue to work with these Tribes as we move forward with the 
analysis.
    The bill states that Resolution Copper will surrender the 
right to commercially extract minerals under Apache Leap ``or'' 
the Pond parcel but not both. This language should be clarified 
by changing the word ``or'' to ``and.''
    The bill would provide that it is the sense of Congress 
that the exchange to be completed in one year. We appreciate 
the sponsors' interest in expediting this project. However, if 
an environmental impact statement is required on the mining 
operation on the parcel to be conveyed, prior to conveyance, we 
will most likely exceed this time frame. We anticipate that 
there will be considerable concern with any decision and there 
is a likelihood of administrative appeal and litigation.


                      s. 1139--wallowa conveyance


    S. 1139 would require the Secretary of Agriculture to enter 
into a property conveyance with the City of Wallowa, Oregon to 
convey without consideration the Wallowa Ranger Station located 
at 602 West First Street, Wallowa, Oregon. The Department 
appreciates the Committee's efforts to assist the City of 
Wallowa, Oregon with historic, cultural and economic 
development. However, we have significant concerns with 
conveyance of the Compound without compensation to the taxpayer 
and would ask the committee defer consideration of this 
conveyance at this time.
    The Forest Service has identified the Wallowa Forest 
Service Compound as a site that should be sold under the Forest 
Service Facility Realignment and Enhancement Act (FSFREA), 
allowing the proceeds from the sale to be used to address other 
administrative site needs. Therefore, conveyance without 
consideration would remove the proceeds from the sale. In 
addition, the Forest Service has expended funds to repair and 
improve the Compound, as required by the FSFREA. The Forest 
Service desires to re-invest proceeds from the sale in other 
deteriorating infrastructure on the forest as provided for in 
the Act.
    In addition, S. 1139 includes a requirement for reversion 
to the Secretary if the facility is used for other purposes or 
managed by the City of Wallowa in a manner that is inconsistent 
with an interpretative center or non-profit status. Further, 
this bill would set a precedent for conveyance of similar 
properties across the nation contrary to the intent of the 
Facilities Realignment and Enhancement Act. Finally we would 
request that the subcommittee defer consideration of this bill 
while we continue to explore options with the City of Wallowa, 
in an attempt to address their interests.
    This concludes my statement and I would be happy to answer 
any questions you may have.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no 
changes in existing law are made by the bill S. 1139, as 
ordered reported.

                                  
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