[House Report 117-678]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


117th Congress    }                                   {        Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session       }                                   {       117-678

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



 
            FEDERAL LAND ASSET INVENTORY REFORM ACT OF 2021

                                _______
                                

 December 30, 2022.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Grijalva, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 5522]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 5522) to require the Secretary of the Interior 
to develop and maintain a cadastre of Federal real property, 
having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without 
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 5522 is to require the Secretary of the 
Interior to develop and maintain a cadastre of federal real 
property.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    H.R. 5522 directs the Department of the Interior (DOI) to 
develop and maintain a current, centralized inventory of 
federal land to assist with land management activities like 
resource development and conservation, agricultural use, active 
forest management, environmental protection, and real estate 
transactions. The FLAIR Act allows DOI to enter into cost-
sharing agreements with states to include non-federal lands in 
the inventory. The inventory will be made publicly available.
    There is no current centralized inventory of federal 
property. In 2012, the GAO asked multiple DOI agencies for more 
than 100 types of data on federal lands ranging from potential 
quantities of fossil fuels to the number of cultural and 
historic sites. DOI was unable to provide any information for 
33 of the data points and could provide a complete response to 
only four.\1\ As of 2005, DOI used over 100 different land 
management systems across multiple agencies\2\--a scenario that 
has not greatly improved over the past seventeen years. In 
2014, CBO estimated that it would cost $1.4 billion over five 
years to carry out the bill.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\GAO-12-691T. Availability and Potential Reliability of Selected 
Data Elements at Five Agencies.
    \2\National Land Parcel Data: A Vision for the Future. 2007. 
National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
    \3\https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/113th-congress-2013-
2014/costestimate/hr9160.pdf; H. Rept. 113-688.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    H.R. 5522 was included in H.R. 2617, the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2023,\4\ which Congress passed on December 
23, 2022. As of the writing of this report, President Biden is 
expected to sign the bill into law.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\Division DD, Title I, Section 103.
    \5\https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/
2022/12/23/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-passage-of-the-
bipartisan-year-end-omnibus/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 5522 was introduced on October 8, 2021, by 
Representative Ron Kind (D-WI). The bill was referred solely to 
the Committee on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to 
the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources and the 
Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands. On 
July 19, 2022, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources 
held a hearing on the bill. On December 8, 2022, the Natural 
Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee 
was discharged by unanimous consent. The bill was adopted and 
ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by 
unanimous consent.

                                HEARINGS

    For the purposes of clause 3(c)(6) of House rule XIII, the 
following hearing was used to develop or consider this measure: 
hearing by the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources 
held on July 19, 2022.

            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) of rule XIII 
of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 308(a) 
of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and with respect to 
requirements of clause (3)(c)(3) and clause 3(d) of rule XIII 
of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 402 of 
the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has 
requested but not received a cost estimate for this bill from 
the Director of Congressional Budget Office. The Committee 
adopts as its own cost estimate the forthcoming cost estimate 
of the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, should such 
cost estimate be made available before House passage of the 
bill. The Committee has requested but not received from the 
Director of the Congressional Budget Office a statement as to 
whether this bill contains any new budget authority, spending 
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in 
revenues or tax expenditures.
    2. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goals and 
objectives of this bill are to require the Secretary of the 
Interior to develop and maintain a cadastre of federal real 
property.

                           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.

                 UNFUNDED MANDATES REFORM ACT STATEMENT

    An estimate of federal mandates prepared by the Director of 
the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 423 of the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act was not made available to the 
Committee in time for the filing of this report. The Chair of 
the Committee shall cause such estimate to be printed in the 
Congressional Record upon its receipt by the Committee, if such 
estimate is not publicly available on the Congressional Budget 
Office website.

                           EXISTING PROGRAMS

    This bill does not establish or reauthorize a program of 
the federal government known to be duplicative of another 
program.

                  APPLICABILITY TO LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to 
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.

               PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL, OR TRIBAL LAW

    Any preemptive effect of this bill over state, local, or 
tribal law is intended to be consistent with the bill's 
purposes and text and the Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the 
U.S. Constitution.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    If enacted, this bill would make no changes to existing 
law.

        SUPPLEMENTAL, MINORITY, ADDITIONAL, OR DISSENTING VIEWS

    None.

                                  [all]