[House Report 115-302]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



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115th Congress     }                                   {       Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session       }                                   {       115-302
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        GULF ISLANDS NATIONAL SEASHORE LAND EXCHANGE ACT OF 2017

                                _______
                                

 September 11, 2017.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Bishop of Utah, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted 
                             the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 2615]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 2615) to authorize the exchange of certain land 
located in Gulf Islands National Seashore, Jackson County, 
Mississippi, between the National Park Service and the Veterans 
of Foreign Wars, 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. 2615 is to authorize the exchange of 
certain land located in Gulf Islands National Seashore, Jackson 
County, Mississippi, between the National Park Service and the 
Veterans of Foreign Wars.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5699, in Ocean Springs, 
Mississippi, owns an approximately 3.3-acre lot adjacent to 
Gulf Islands National Seashore's Davis Bayou Area. The Post's 
property is essentially landlocked, with the only access via a 
one-lane dirt road across National Park Service (NPS) property. 
Under a previous informal agreement with the National Seashore, 
the NPS allowed the Post to construct and maintain the access 
road, but no right-of-way or special use permit was issued for 
it.
    In 2015, the Post approached NPS with a proposal to 
exchange 2.16 acres of undeveloped land adjacent to the NPS 
land at the south end of their property for 1.54 acres of NPS 
land that would connect the Post's property to the public road. 
The land exchange authorized by H.R. 2615 would formalize the 
existing land use, provide the Post with ownership and 
permanent access, and provide the Gulf Islands National 
Seashore undeveloped acreage adjacent to other undeveloped, 
NPS-owned lands.
    In the 114th Congress, a similar bill, H.R. 4119, passed 
the House of Representatives by voice vote under suspension of 
the rules.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 2615 was introduced on May 23, 2017, by Congressman 
Steven M. Palazzo (R-MS). The bill was referred to the 
Committee on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the 
Subcommittee on Federal Lands. On July 25, 2017, the Natural 
Resources Committee met to consider the bill. No amendments 
were offered, and the bill was ordered favorably reported to 
the House of Representatives by unanimous consent on July 26, 
2017.

            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 and the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974. With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) and 
(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives 
and sections 308(a) and 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974, the Committee has received the enclosed cost estimate for 
the bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                 Washington, DC, September 8, 2017.
Hon. Rob Bishop,
Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 2615, the Gulf 
Islands National Seashore Land Exchange Act of 2017.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Janani 
Shankaran.
            Sincerely,
                                                        Keith Hall.
    Enclosure.

H.R. 2615--Gulf Islands National Seashore Land Exchange Act of 2017

    H.R. 2615 would authorize the National Park Service (NPS) 
to exchange about 2 acres of land within the Gulf Islands 
National Seashore in Mississippi with the Veterans of Foreign 
Wars (VFW) Post 5699. The exchange would provide the VFW with 
an access road.
    If appraisals indicate that the value of the parcels to be 
exchanged are different, the bill would require that the party 
receiving the more valuable land provide a cash equalization 
payment or adjust the acreage of the land exchange. If the NPS 
were to acquire land of a higher value than the federal land 
exchanged, the NPS could make a cash payment to the VFW, Based 
on information provided by the NPS, CBO expects that the 
properties to be exchanged are of roughly equal value and that 
any such payment would not exceed $500,000; such spending would 
be subject to the availability of appropriated funds. The bill 
would require the VFW to cover all administrative costs 
associated with the land exchange.
    Enacting H.R. 2615 could affect direct spending; therefore, 
pay-as-you-go procedures apply. Under the bill, if the NPS were 
to acquire land of a lower value than the federal land 
exchanged, the NPS could receive a cash payment to equalize the 
values; any such payments would be recorded as offsetting 
receipts, which are treated as reductions in direct spending. 
However, CBO estimates that any such payment would not exceed 
$500,000. Enacting H.R. 2615 would not affect revenues.
    CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2615 would not increase 
net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four 
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
    H.R. 2615 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). 
The exchange authorized in the bill would have a small 
incidental effect on property taxes collected by local 
governments in Mississippi. That effect, however, would not 
result from an intergovernmental mandate as defined in the 
UMRA.
    The CBO staff contacts for this estimate arc Janani 
Shankaran (for federal costs) and Jon Sperl (for 
intergovernmental mandates). The estimate was approved by 
Theresa Gullo, Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
    2. 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 authorize the exchange of certain 
land located in Gulf Islands National Seashore, Jackson County, 
Mississippi, between the National Park Service and the Veterans 
of Foreign Wars.

                           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. This bill does not contain any 
directed rule makings.
    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 to existing 
law.

                                  [all]