[Senate Report 114-313]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 585
114th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 114-313
======================================================================
REMOVAL OF THE USE RESTRICTIONS ON CERTAIN LAND TRANSFERRED TO
ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, VIRGINIA
_______
August 30, 2016.--Ordered to be printed
Filed, under authority of the order of the Senate of July 14, 2016
_______
Ms. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 2288]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (H.R. 2288) to remove the use restrictions on
certain land transferred to Rockingham County, Virginia, and
for other purposes, having considered the same, reports
favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the
bill do pass.
Purpose
The purpose of H.R. 2288 is to remove the use restrictions
on certain land transferred to Rockingham County, Virginia.
Background and Need
In 1989, the Department of the Interior deeded a small
parcel of land to Rockingham County, Virginia, for public
purposes. This land includes a garage that had previously been
used by the National Park Service. The County allows the non-
profit Plains Area Day Care Center in Broadway, Virginia, which
provides childcare, to use the garage as a child care center.
In 1990, Congress enacted legislation to allow a certain
parcel of land in Rockingham County, Virginia, to be used for a
child care center (Public Law 101-479). The law authorized the
County of Rockingham, Virginia, to permit the use of
approximately 3.03 acres of land for the purpose of a child
care center. The Act further specified that use should be
confined to the building in existence as of the date of
enactment; involve fencing or enclosing of no more than 3,500
square feet of the open space portions of the lands; and not
preclude use of any of the land for other permissible purposes
(subject to reasonable restrictions necessary to allow a use
authorized under the Act).
Because of the deed restrictions resulting from Public Law
101-479, the non-profit that operates the day care is unable to
obtain loans to make improvements and renovations to the
property. H.R. 2288 would release the deed restrictions on a
one-acre portion of the property already authorized by law to
be used for a child care facility. The other two acres would
continue to be subject to the existing deed's use restriction
and reversionary clause.
Legislative History
H.R. 2288 was introduced by Representative Goodlatte on May
13, 2015. On September 10, 2015, the House Committee on Natural
Resources ordered H.R. 2288 to be reported, as amended, by
unanimous consent. The House of Representatives passed H.R.
2288 by a vote of 407-0 on November 30, 2015. H.R. 2288 was
received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Energy
and Natural Resources on December 1, 2015.
Senator Kaine introduced a similar bill, S. 1329, on May
13, 2015. The Subcommittee on National Parks held a hearing on
both S. 1329 and H.R. 2288 on March 17, 2016.
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open
business session on July 13, 2016, and ordered H.R. 2288
favorably reported.
Committee Recommendation
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in
open business session on July 13, 2016, by a majority voice
vote of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass H.R.
2288.
Section-by-Section Analysis
Section 1. Removal of use restrictions
Section 1 amends Public Law 101-479 by striking the use
restriction provision in section 2(d) and inserting a new
section 4. The new section 4 removes the land use restrictions
on approximately one acre of land that is used for purposes of
a child care center and requires the Secretary to execute an
instrument to enact this section upon the Act's enactment.
Cost and Budgetary Considerations
The following estimate of costs of this measure has been
provided by the Congressional Budget Office:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, July 28, 2016.
Hon. Lisa Murkowski,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Madam Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 2288, an act to
remove the use restrictions on certain land transferred to
Rockingham County, Virginia, and for other purposes.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Jeff LaFave.
Sincerely,
Keith Hall.
Enclosure.
H.R. 2288--An act to remove the use restrictions on certain land
transferred to Rockingham County, Virginia, and for other
purposes
H.R. 2288 would remove restrictions in the deed for a
parcel of land that was conveyed by the National Park Service
(NPS) to Rockingham County, Virginia. That restriction
stipulates that the land can only be used for a public park and
a child care center. Based on information provided by the NPS,
CBO estimates that implementing the act would have no effect on
the federal budget. Because enacting H.R. 2288 would not affect
direct spending or revenues, pay-as-you-go procedures do not
apply.
CBO estimates that enacting the legislation would not
increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of
the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.
H.R. 2288 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.
On October 5, 2015, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for
H.R. 2288, a bill to remove the use restrictions on certain
land transferred to Rockingham County, Virginia, and for other
purposes, as ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural
Resources on September 10, 2015. The two versions of the
legislation are similar and CBO's estimates of the budgetary
effects are the same.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The
estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papanfuss, 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 H.R. 2288. 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 H.R. 2288, as ordered reported.
Congressionally Directed Spending
H.R. 2288, as ordered 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 testimony provided by the National Park Service at the
March 17, 2016, Subcommittee on National Parks hearing on H.R.
2288 follows:
Statement of Peggy O'Dell, Deputy Director for Operations, National
Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior
Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank you for
the opportunity to present the Department of the Interior's
views on S. 1329 and H.R. 2288, bills to remove the use
restrictions on certain land transferred to Rockingham County,
Virginia, and for other purposes.
The Department supports H.R. 2288 and would support S. 1329
if amended to conform to H.R. 2288. H.R. 2288 as passed by the
House addresses the concerns the Department had with the bills
as introduced about the potential loss of public park and
recreation land in Rockingham County. The Department
appreciates the work of Senator Kaine and Representative
Goodlatte in making the changes in the legislation that are
reflected in the House-passed bill.
S. 1329 and H.R. 2288 as introduced would require the
removal of all deed restrictions imposed by the transfer of the
surplus federal property formerly known as the Broadway Work
Center A-VA-681 in Rockingham County, Virginia, under the terms
of the National Park Service's Federal Lands to Parks (FLP)
Program. In 1989, the National Park Service conveyed this 3.03-
acre property at no cost to Rockingham County under the
authority of the Federal Property and Administrative Services
Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 550(b) and (e)) on the condition that it
be used in perpetuity for public park and recreation purposes.
The purpose of the FLP program is to help communities
increase opportunities for public recreation by increasing park
and recreation areas. By conveying this land at no cost, the
federal government provided a public benefit to the citizens of
Rockingham County by increasing the quantity of the county's
public park land.
Public Law 101-479, enacted in 1990, allowed a specified
portion of 3.03 acres of the transferred land to be used for a
child care center. However, it left in place the use
restriction (enforced by a reverter clause) that was part of
the deed. As introduced, H.R. 2288 and S. 1329 would release
the entire property from the use restriction in the deed in an
effort to enhance the child care center operator's ability to
finance repairs even though, consistent with the terms of
Public Law 101-479, only about 1 acre of the 3-acre site is
used for the facility. As passed by the House, H.R. 2288 would
limit the deed release to the 1-acre portion of the property
already authorized by law to be used for a child care facility.
The other 2 acres would continue to be subject to the existing
deed's use restriction and reverter clause.
By limiting the deed release to the portion of the property
already determined by Congress to be appropriate for a child
care facility, the amended legislation would accomplish its
intent while also ensuring that a community that received
Federal land at no cost for the purpose of public recreation
would continue to benefit from having the land dedicated to
that purpose. This solution helps protect the integrity of the
FLP program and avoids setting a precedent for other
communities that may want a legislated release from obligations
for use of federally conveyed land.
H.R. 2288 as passed by the House also eliminates the
requirement in section 2(d) of Public Law 101-479 for
Rockingham County to report biennially to the Secretary of the
Interior about the use of the property for a child care center,
as well as other language in that section that is inconsistent
with releasing the center from the deed restriction.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. I would be happy
to answer any questions you or any members of the subcommittee
may have.
Changes in Existing Law
In compliance with paragraph 12 of Rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by
the original bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing
law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
PUBLIC LAW 101-479
* * * * * * *
SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS.
* * * * * * *
[(d)(1) If the county, pursuant to this Act, authorizes use
of the lands for a child care center, the county shall include
information concerning such use in the biennial reports to the
Secretary of the Interior required under the terms of the
conveyance of the land to the county by the United States and
shall also provide a copy of such information to appropriate
officials of the United States and the Commonwealth of Virginia
responsible for implementation of laws concerning the operation
of child care centers.
[(2) Any violation of the provisions of this Act shall be
deemed to be a breach of the conditions and covenants under
which the lands were conveyed to the county by the United
States, and shall have the same effect, as provided in the deed
whereby the United States conveyed the lands to the county.]
SEC. 3. LAND DESCRIPTION.
The land referred to in sections 1 and 2 is that parcel
comprised of approximately 3.03 acres of land transferred by
the United States on April 11, 1989, to the county of
Rockingham, Virginia, in deed book number 953 at page 600,
together with improvements thereon.
SEC. 4. REMOVAL OF USE RESTRICTION.
(a) The approximately 1-acre portion of the land referred
to in section 3 that is used for purposes of a child care
center, as authorized by this Act, shall not be subject to the
use restriction imposed in the deed referred to in section 3.
(b) Upon enactment of this section, the Secretary of the
Interior shall execute an instrument to carry out subsection
(a).
[all]