[Senate Report 115-39]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                         Calendar No. 53
                                                        
115th Congress     }                                         {    Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session       }                                         {    115-39

======================================================================



 
     TO REMOVE THE USE RESTRICTIONS ON CERTAIN LAND TRANSFERRED TO 
          ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, VIRGINIA, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

                                _______
                                

                  May 3, 2017.--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 S. 331]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 331) 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 S. 331 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 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. S. 331 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

    S. 331 was introduced by Senator Kaine on February 7, 2017.
    In the 114th Congress, 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.
    In the 115th Congress, an identical bill, H.R. 954, was 
introduced in the House of Representatives by Representative 
Goodlatte on February 7, 2017.
    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open 
business session on March 30, 2017 and ordered the S. 331 
favorably reported.

                        Committee Recommendation

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 
open business session on March 30, 2017, by a majority voice 
vote of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 
331.

                      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:
    S. 331 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 bill would have no effect on the federal 
budget.
    Enacting S. 331 would not affect direct spending or 
revenues; 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.
    S. 331 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.
    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 S. 331. 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 S. 331, as ordered reported.

                   Congressionally Directed Spending

    S. 331, 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

    Because S. 331 is similar to legislation considered by the 
Committee in the 114th Congress, the Committee did not request 
Executive Agency views. The testimony provided by the National 
Park Service at the hearing before the Subcommittee on National 
Parks on March 17, 2016, 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).