[House Report 115-579]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


115th Congress }                                          { REPORT
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
  2d Session   }                                          { 115-579

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      TULARE YOUTH RECREATION AND WOMEN'S HISTORY ENHANCEMENT ACT

                                _______
                                

 February 26, 2018.--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

                             together with

                            ADDITIONAL VIEWS

                        [To accompany H.R. 805]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 805) to authorize the conveyance of and remove 
the reversionary interest of the United States in certain lands 
in the City of Tulare, California, 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. 805 is to authorize the conveyance of 
and remove the reversionary interest of the United States in 
certain lands in the City of Tulare, California.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    In 1998, Public Law 105-127 provided for the conveyance of 
a number of properties along the railroad right-of-way owned by 
the Union Pacific Railroad. This legislation inadvertently 
missed two parcels of land that hold historic and cultural 
significance to the City of Tulare, which currently leases them 
from Union Pacific as part of a railroad right of way. The 
United States retains a reversionary interest in these parcels 
which it has not exercised.\1\
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    \1\Information provided by the office of Congressman Devin Nunes.
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    The Women's Clubhouse and the Rotary Skate Park are located 
on two small but important pieces of land for the City of 
Tulare and its residents. The Clubhouse has been a meeting and 
event site since the 1800s. For many years it housed the Tulare 
library as well as the Salvation Army. The Tulare Women's Club 
gained ownership of the building in 1912. In recent years the 
site has been used for city-sponsored events and community 
gatherings.
    The Skate Park, historically known as Railroad Park, has 
always been a park for people of Tulare to gather in. In recent 
years, the Tulare Rotary Club has made the park even more 
appealing by turning it into a skate park that has been a 
popular recreation area.
    H.R. 805 authorizes the conveyance of, and relinquishes the 
reversionary interest in, specified land parcels that were 
retained as a right-of-way for the construction of a railroad 
and telegraph to the Pacific coast in 1866. The relinquishment 
of the U.S. reversionary interest will be effective once the 
Union Pacific Railroad conveys the parcels to the City of 
Tulare. The Union Pacific Railroad has agreed to allow the 
purchase of these parcels and has provided a letter of support 
for this legislation.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 805 was introduced on February 1, 2017, by Congressman 
Devin Nunes (R-CA). The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee 
on Federal Lands. On December 7, 2017, the Subcommittee held a 
hearing on the bill. On January 17, 2018, the Natural Resources 
Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee was 
discharged by unanimous consent. No amendments were offered, 
and the bill was 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 AND CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT

    1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act. 
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 following estimate for the 
bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                  Washington, DC, February 8, 2018.
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. 805, the Tulare 
Youth Recreation and Women's History Enhancement Act.
    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,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

H.R. 805--Tulare Youth Recreation and Women's History Enactment Act

    H.R. 805 would direct the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 
to convey, without consideration, a reversionary interest in 
two small parcels of land in Tulare, California, to the Union 
Pacific Railroad. The city of Tulare currently leases the 
affected parcels from the Union Pacific Railroad and is seeking 
to purchase the parcels under the condition that BLM's 
reversionary interest is extinguished.
    Because CBO expects that the railroad would retain 
ownership of the parcels over the next 10 years and that the 
federal government would receive no proceeds from those parcels 
over that period, we estimate that enacting the bill would not 
affect the federal budget. Therefore, 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 2028.
    H.R. 805 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The 
estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy 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 conveyance of and 
remove the reversionary interest of the United States in 
certain lands in the City of Tulare, California.

                           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.

                            ADDITIONAL VIEWS

    H.R. 805 releases the reversionary interest on two parcels 
of land (approximately 2 acres) in Tulare County, California. 
The parcels are currently leased from Union Pacific Railroad 
and contain a skate park and historic women's club owned and 
operated by the city. City officials want to make improvements 
to both facilities but are unable to secure financing without 
clean and free titles to the property.
    In the 19th Century, Congress granted the land to Southern 
Pacific Railroad--the predecessor of Union Pacific--for use as 
a railroad right of way. Congress subsequently authorized the 
railroad to lease the land to Tulare for other public purposes. 
However, the land remains encumbered with a reversionary 
interest.
    Congress passed a law in 1998 (P.L. 105-195) that released 
the reversionary interest on 12 parcels in Tulare. H.R. 805 
deals with two additional parcels, allowing Union Pacific to 
sell the land to Tulare and clear the way for the planned 
improvements. P.L. 105-195 was the first time Congress 
authorized the release of a reversionary interest for 
redevelopment purposes. At the time, the railroad had already 
sold the land to Tulare--even though it belonged to taxpayers--
and Congress had to intervene to remedy the situation.
    Unlike the situation in 1998, the two parcels referenced in 
H.R. 805 have not been sold, and under normal circumstances, 
the federal government, not Union Pacific, should receive 
payment for the parcels if they are no longer used as 
originally intended by Congress. However, the history of 
Congressional involvement in Tulare justifies an exception to 
this standard.

                                   Raul M. Grijalva,
                                           Ranking Member, Committee on 
                                               Natural Resources.

                                  [all]