[Senate Report 115-312]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 540
115th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 115-312
======================================================================
CONFIRMING STATE LAND GRANTS FOR EDUCATION ACT
_______
July 31, 2018--Ordered to be printed
_______
Ms. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 2582]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (H.R. 2582) to authorize the State of Utah to
select certain lands that are available for disposal under the
Pony Express Resource Management Plan to be used for the
support and benefit of State institutions, 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. 2582 is to authorize the State of Utah
to select certain lands that are available for disposal under
the Pony Express Resource Management Plan to be used for the
support and benefit of State institutions.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
The 1894 Utah Enabling Act (28 Stat. 107) granted the State
of Utah the right to select public lands for the support and
benefit of state institutions, including an agricultural
college (now Utah State University), in addition to the more
familiar school land grants. Lands granted to Utah under this
Act are managed by the Utah School and Institutional Trust
Lands Administration (SITLA), which is an independent state
agency that manages Utah's 3.4 million acres of trust lands.
According to SITLA, several thousand acres of unfulfilled
selection rights are currently outstanding. In 1998, SITLA
filed an application with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
to select 444.05 acres of BLM land near the City of Eagle
Mountain in Utah County for the benefit of the Utah State
University land trust. This selection application was
subsequently modified to add an additional 80 acres near the
City of Saratoga Springs.
For several years, BLM worked to process this application,
and SITLA has incurred significant expenses in obtaining
necessary archaeological clearances for the selection. However,
in 2006, BLM determined that the applicable federal land
management plan did not allow for the selection. The basis for
this decision was that, although the subject lands were
classified in the land management plan for disposal by land
exchange, the disposal language did not expressly refer to
state selections, so selections (as opposed to land exchanges)
could not be processed.
SITLA believes that under applicable legal authority, state
selections are in fact authorized under the land management
plan, but BLM disagrees. SITLA has also requested that BLM
consider a plan amendment to authorize the proposed selections,
but BLM declined to do so due to inadequate staff and funding
to process the plan amendment.
H.R. 2582 would correct the legal technicality, and confirm
that BLM may process the current 500-acre selection, and future
state selections in the immediate area, without further land
use planning. The selected lands would still be subject to
environmental reviews before they are transferred to SITLA.
This will allow the United States to fulfill commitments made
in the Utah Enabling Act to provide land for support of higher
education and other public purposes.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Representative Love introduced H.R. 2582 in the House of
Representatives on May 22, 2017. H.R. 2582 was reported, as
amended, by the Committee on Natural Resources (H. Rept. 115-
305) on September 12, 2017. The House of Representatives passed
H.R. 2582 by voice vote on October 2, 2017.
Senator Hatch introduced S. 1665, companion legislation, on
July 27, 2017. The Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and
Mining held a legislative hearing on S. 1665 and H.R. 2582 on
February 7, 2018.
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open
business session on May 17, 2018, and ordered H.R. 2582
favorably reported.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in
open business session on May 17, 2018, by a majority voice vote
of a quorum present recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 2582.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Short title
Section 1 contains the short title.
Section 2. Authorization
Subsection (a) authorizes the State of Utah, subject to
valid existing rights, to select any lands in T6S and T7S, R1W,
Salt Lake Base and Meridian, administered by BLM and identified
as available for disposal by land exchange in the applicable
Record of Decision for the Pony Express Resource Management
Plan and Rangeland Program Summary for Utah County (January
1990), as amended by the Pony Express Plan Amendment (November
1997), and as generally depicted on the map entitled,
``Proposed Utah County Quantity Grants'' (June 27, 2017). This
subsection also states that these selections are to be used to
further the purposes of STILA without added use planning action
by the BLM.
Subsection (b) states the criteria listed in Decision 3 of
the Lands Program of the resource management plan described in
subsection (a) shall not apply to any selected land.
Subsection (c) notes that nothing in this Act affects the
limitation established under section 2815(d) of the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (Public Law 106-
65).
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The following estimate of the costs of this measure has
been provided by the Congressional Budget Office:
H.R. 2582 would allow the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
to process the selection of 520 acres of federal land in Utah
under the Utah Enabling Act of 1894. That act authorized the
state of Utah to select certain federal lands to be held in
trust by the School and Institutional Trust Lands
Administration (SITLA), an independent state agency, for the
benefit of the state. The state used that authority to select
520 acres of land that BLM identified for disposal. However,
because BLM's land use plan for the area containing the
selected lands does not allow land to be disposed of through
the land selection process, the agency cannot transfer those
lands to the state without revising its existing plan. Using
information from BLM, CBO does not expect the agency to make
the necessary revisions to that plan within the next 10 years.
Under H.R. 2582, BLM would be authorized to process SITLA's
land selections without revising its existing land use plan.
The affected lands currently generate receipts from grazing
allotments, rights-of-way, and gravel pits. Based on historical
collections, CBO estimates receipts from those sources will
total less than $25,000 a year over the next 10 years. Thus,
CBO estimates that allowing SITLA to take the affected lands
into trust would not have a significant effect on offsetting
receipts (which are recorded in the budget as reductions in
direct spending) over the 2019-2028 period. Because enacting
H.R. 2582 would affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go
procedures apply. The legislation would not affect revenues.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2582 would not
significantly increase net direct spending or on-budget
deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods
beginning in 2029.
H.R. 2582 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would benefit the state of Utah and local governments by
expediting the transfer of federal lands to the state. The
transfer could increase revenue from resource development on
state trust lands; those revenues are used to fund public
schools in Utah. Any costs incurred by the State of Utah or
local governments associated would result from voluntary
commitments.
On September 11, 2017, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for
H.R. 2582, the Confirming State Land Grants for Education Act,
as ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources
on July 26, 2017. The two versions of the legislation are
similar, and CBO's estimates of their budgetary effects are the
same.
The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Jeff LaFave
(for federal costs) and Zachary Byrum (for mandates). The
estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, 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. 2582. 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. 2582, as ordered reported.
CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING
H.R. 2582, 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 Department of the Interior at
the February 7, 2018, hearing on S. 1665, the companion
legislation for H.R. 2582, follows:
Statement of Brian Steed, Deputy Director for Policy & Programs, Bureau
of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior
Thank you for inviting the Department of the Interior
(Department) to testify on S. 1665, the Confirming State Land
Grants for Education Act. S. 1665 authorizes the State of Utah
(State) to select certain public lands managed by the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) in fulfillment of the land grants made
under the Utah Enabling Act of 1894 (28 Stat. 107) without
further land use planning action by the BLM. S. 1665 is
consistent with Secretary Zinke's priority of serving the
American family by enhancing our relationships with States and
local communities. The Department has no objection to the
State's selection of these lands and supports the goals of S.
1665 to fulfill these specific land grants. We would like the
opportunity to work with the sponsor and Subcommittee on a
clarifying amendment.
Background
Under the Utah Enabling Act of 1894, the State is
authorized to select certain lands for the support of common
schools, the establishment and support of a state university
and agricultural college, the establishment of permanent water
reservoirs for irrigating purposes, and the establishment and
support of various other state health institutions and schools.
In 1998, the State made an application for selection of
approximately 440 acres of BLM-managed public lands in Utah
County, Utah, for an agricultural college (Utah State
University) in partial fulfillment of the grant authorized
under the Utah Enabling Act of 1894. In 2004, the State amended
its application to include an additional 80 acres of BLM-
managed public lands in the County. In 2007, the BLM ultimately
determined, based on a review of existing law and in
consultation with the Department's Office of the Solicitor,
that the lands in question were not available for State
selection because they had been identified in the 1997 Pony
Express Resource Management Plan (RMP) as potentially suitable
for exchange, but not other forms of disposal. The Department
notes that the Pony Express RMP would need to be amended to
enable State selection of the lands in question.
S. 1665
S. 1665 is identical to H.R. 2582 as reported by the House
Natural Resources Committee on September 12, 2017. S. 1665
authorizes the State to select certain BLM-managed public lands
in Utah County, Utah, in fulfillment of the land grants made
under sections 6, 8, and 12 of the Utah Enabling Act and as
generally depicted on the legislative map. In addition, the
bill exempts the lands authorized for selection from the
exchange limitation in the Pony Express RMP making further land
use planning by the BLM unnecessary. The State selections would
be subject to valid existing rights.
The Department has no objection to the State's selection of
these lands, which we understand correspond to the State's 1998
and 2004 applications and would be for the purpose of
supporting Utah State University. The Department believes S.
1665 represents a creative solution to a complex issue. We
recommend the inclusion of language further clarifying that the
lands to be selected would be used for the support of Utah
State University, as intended under the Utah Enabling Act of
1894.
In addition, the Department notes that the lands authorized
for selection contain several inactive community rock pits,
where the BLM could authorize the sale of landscape rock. These
lands also contain a number of existing rights-of-way,
including highways and roads, natural gas pipelines, fiber
optic lines, and communication sites. Additionally, we note
that there are a number of identified ancient petroglyph sites
known to exist on some of the lands to be authorized for
selection. The Department understands that the State would be
required to work with the State Historic Preservation Office to
ensure protection of these and other cultural resources that
may be present on these lands. Finally, the Department notes
that these lands are part of two grazing allotments. State
selection of these parcels would reduce acreage in the
allotments and the amount of forage available to two
permittees.
Conclusion
Thank you again for the opportunity to testify in support
of S. 1665, the Confirming State Land Grants for Education Act.
We appreciate the work of Senator Hatch on this legislation,
and we look forward to collaborating with him and the
Subcommittee as the bill moves through the legislative process.
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 as ordered
reported.