[House Report 113-281]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
113th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 113-281
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TO FACILITATE A LAND EXCHANGE INVOLVING CERTAIN NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM
LANDS IN THE INYO NATIONAL FOREST, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
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December 2, 2013.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
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Mr. Hastings of Washington, from the Committee on Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 1241]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 1241) to facilitate a land exchange involving
certain National Forest System lands in the Inyo National
Forest, and for other purposes, having considered the same,
report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that
the bill do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 1241 is to facilitate a land exchange
involving certain National Forest System lands in the Inyo
National Forest.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
H.R. 1241 authorizes the U.S. Forest Service to acquire two
parcels of land outside the boundary of the Inyo National
Forest in exchange for conveyance of 20 acres of national
forest land to the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area (MMSA). The main
base of the MMSA currently operates under a special-use permit
from the Forest Service and has been working to acquire
ownership of the parcel to allow for needed renovations. The
Inyo National Forest currently operates facilities on land that
is owned by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
outside the boundary of the forest. H.R. 1241 authorizes the
Inyo National Forest to acquire those parcels in the process of
exchanging lands with the MMSA. In addition, the value of the
parcels to be acquired by the MMSA exceeds the value of the
lands to be exchanged to the Forest Service so the legislation
authorizes the Forest Service to accept a cash equalization
payment greater than the 25 percent cap under current law.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 1241 was introduced on March 18, 2013, by Congressman
Paul Cook (R-CA). The bill was referred to the Committee on
Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee
on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation. On April 24,
2013, the Full Natural Resources Committee met to consider the
bill. The Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental
Regulation was discharged by unanimous consent. No amendments
were offered, and the bill was then adopted and ordered
favorably reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous
consent.
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.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) 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)(2)(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. 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. 1241--A bill to facilitate a land exchange involving certain
National Forest System lands in the Inyo National Forest, and
for other purposes
H.R. 1241 would authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to
accept certain nonfederal lands in exchange for 20 acres of
federal land within the Inyo National Forest in California.
Based on information provided by the Forest Service, CBO
estimates that implementing the legislation would increase
offsetting receipts and associated direct spending; therefore,
pay-as-you-go procedures apply. However, CBO expects that those
changes would have no net impact on the deficit over the 2014-
2023 period. Enacting H.R. 1241 would not affect revenues.
H.R. 1241 would authorize the Secretary to accept private
lands located outside of the Inyo National Forest in exchange
for federal lands located within the forest. In addition, the
bill would allow the Secretary to accept a cash payment of any
size to equalize the values of the properties that would be
exchanged. Under current law, the Secretary can only exchange
federal lands within a national forest for nonfederal lands
located within that forest and cannot accept a cash
equalization payment greater than 25 percent of the value of
the federal lands exchanged.
Formal appraisals of the properties have not been
completed; however, based on information provided by the Forest
Service, CBO estimates that the cash equalization payment would
be several million dollars because the federal land is probably
more valuable than the private land. Under the bill, amounts
received from such a payment would be retained by the agency
and spent, without further appropriation, to acquire other
lands in California. CBO estimates that those amounts would be
spent within five years of the bill's enactment.
H.R. 1241 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 Jeff LaFave.
This estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
2. Section 308(a) of 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. Based on
information provided by the Forest Service, CBO estimates that
implementing the legislation would increase offsetting receipts
and associated direct spending; therefore, pay-as-you-go
procedures apply. However, CBO expects that those changes would
have no net impact on the deficit over the 2014-2023 period.
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 facilitate a land exchange
involving certain National Forest System lands in the Inyo
National Forest.
EARMARK STATEMENT
This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of
the House of Representatives.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5
Directed Rule Making. The Chairman does not believe that
this bill directs any executive branch official to conduct any
specific rule-making proceedings.
Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not
establish or reauthorize a program of the federal government
known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was
not included in any report from the Government Accountability
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139
or identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program
Information Act (Public Law 95-220, as amended by Public Law
98-169) as relating to other programs.
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.