[Senate Report 117-284]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                     Calendar No. 686
117th Congress      }                           {         Report
                                SENATE
 2d Session         }                           {         117-284
_______________________________________________________________________



 
          UNIVERSITY OF UTAH REVERSIONARY INTEREST CONVEYANCE

                                _______
                                

               December 20, 2022.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

   Mr. Manchin, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 3370]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 3370), to release the reversionary 
interest of the United States in certain non-Federal land in 
Salt Lake City, Utah, 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. 3370 is to release the reversionary 
interest of the United States in a 593-acre parcel of land in 
Salt Lake City, Utah.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    The Recreation and Public Purposes Act (R&PP Act) 
authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to convey up to 640 
acres of public land to a State, local government, or State 
instrumentality for public purposes. (43 U.S.C. 869). Although 
the Act does not define the term ``public purpose,'' the 
Department of the Interior's regulations implementing the Act 
say that it ``means for the purpose of providing facilities or 
services for the benefit of the public in connection with . . . 
public health, safety or welfare.'' The lands can be used for 
commercial or residential purposes only if the use is 
``necessary for and integral to,'' and an ``essential part 
of,'' the public purpose. (43 C.F.R. 2740.0-5(d)).
    The grantee must show ``that the land will be used for an 
established or definitely proposed project'' before the land 
can be conveyed under the R&PP Act. (43 U.S.C. 869). The 
grantee ``may not change the use specified in the conveyance to 
another or additional use except, with the consent of the 
Secretary'' for other public purposes. ``If at any time after 
the lands are conveyed by the Government, . . . the lands are 
devoted to a use other than that for which the lands were 
conveyed, without the consent of the Secretary, title to the 
lands shall revert to the United States.'' (43 U.S.C. 869-2).
    The Secretary of the Interior conveyed 593 acres of public 
land to the University of Utah under the R&PP Act in 1968. The 
patent states that the land was conveyed ``for purposes of 
academic expansion of the University of Utah, for an arboretum, 
and for highway and utility rights-of-way to serve those 
purposes.'' More specifically, the patent required the 
University to ``comply with the provisions of [an] approved 
management plan of development and management,'' filed with the 
Bureau of Land Management in 1968, ``or with any revision 
approved by the Secretary. . . .''
    The patent further stated that it was ``issued under the 
provision that, if . . . the lands are devoted to a use other 
than that for which the lands were conveyed, without the 
consent of the Secretary of the Interior or his delegate, title 
shall revert to the United States.'' Alternatively, the patent 
provided that, instead of forfeiting title, the University 
could ``pay the United States an amount equal to the difference 
between the price paid for the land,'' which was $2.50 per 
acre, ``and 50 percent of the fair market value of the patented 
lands'' in 1968 plus interest.
    The University of Utah established and is currently 
operating an academic research park on a large portion of the 
patented lands. Although the patent does not specifically 
mention a research park, the University's application for the 
land and the management plan approved in 1968 ``show that a 
research park was one of the uses intended by the University.'' 
The Acting Secretary of the Interior, Fred Russell, 
acknowledged ``that the Department has been fully cognizant of 
the intended use of the land for research park purposes'' in a 
letter to the University in December 1970. The Acting Secretary 
plainly stated that ``the Department approved the University's 
development plan and therefore approved such use,'' and ``in 
effect, incorporates'' the research park, in effect, by 
reference. He also found ``that use of the land for a Research 
Park is a valid public purpose. . . .''
    ``Thus,'' the Acting Secretary concluded, ``we see no 
problem with use of the land for the Research Park, provided 
that such use is in conformity with the development plan. 
Whether any particular phase of development conforms to that 
plan is a matter for separate consideration.'' In other words, 
while the Department of the Interior approved use of the 
patented lands for the research park more than 50 years ago, it 
reserved for ``separate consideration'' whether future phases 
of development would conform to the approved development plan.
    For over 50 years, the University of Utah has built and 
operated the research park in the belief that it is in 
compliance with the terms of the land conveyance. Recently, 
however, the Bureau of Land Management has raised concerns that 
activities previously authorized by the Bureau including use of 
the land for a research park, and some proposed updates to the 
development plan desired by the University, may not be allowed 
under the R&PP Act.
    S. 3370 would release the reversionary interest of the 
United States in the land, thereby vesting fee title in the 
University.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    S. 3370 was introduced by Senators Lee and Romney on 
December 9, 2021. The Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, 
and Mining held a hearing on S. 3370 on June 7, 2022. 
Representative Stewart introduced a companion measure in the 
House of Representatives, H.R. 6240. The House Natural 
Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Mining 
held a hearing on H.R. 6240 on June 23, 2022.

            COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION AND TABULATION OF VOTES

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 
open business session on July 21, 2022, by a majority vote of a 
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 3370.
    The roll call vote on reporting the measure was 12 yeas, 8 
nays as follows:

        YEAS                          NAYS
Mr. King                            Mr. Manchin
Mr. Kelly                           Mr. Wyden
Mr. Barrasso                        Ms. Cantwell
Mr. Risch                           Mr. Sanders*
Mr. Lee                             Mr. Heinrich
Mr. Daines                          Ms. Hirono
Ms. Murkowski                       Ms. Cortez Masto*
Mr. Hoeven                          Mr. Hickenlooper
Mr. Lankford
Mr. Cassidy
Ms. Hyde-Smith
Mr. Marshall

    *Indicates vote by proxy.

                                SUMMARY

    S. 3370 releases to the University of Utah, without 
consideration, the revisionary interest of the United States in 
approximately 593 acres of land located in Salt Lake, Utah.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

    The following estimate of costs of this measure has been 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office.

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                 Washington, DC, November 21, 2022.
Hon. Joe Manchin,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed table summarizing estimated budgetary 
effects and mandates information for some of the legislation 
that has been ordered reported by the Senate Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources during the 117th Congress.
    If you wish further details, we will be pleased to provide 
them. The CBO staff contact for each estimate is listed on the 
enclosed table.
            Sincerely,
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

           SUMMARY ESTIMATES OF LEGISLATION ORDERED REPORTED

    The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 requires the 
Congressional Budget Office, to the extent practicable, to 
prepare estimates of the budgetary effects of legislation 
ordered reported by Congressional authorizing committees. In 
order to provide the Congress with as much information as 
possible, the attached table summarizes information about the 
estimated direct spending and revenue effects of some of the 
legislation that has been ordered reported by the Senate 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources during the 117th 
Congress. The legislation listed in this table generally would 
have small effects, if any, on direct spending or revenues, CBO 
estimates. Where possible, the table also provides information 
about the legislation's estimated effects on spending subject 
to appropriation and on intergovernmental and private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.

                                                                      ESTIMATED BUDGETARY EFFECTS AND MANDATES INFORMATION
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                                                           Increases On-
                                                                                                                          Spending Subject  Pay-As-You-Go     Budget
   Bill          Title         Status        Last Action       Budget Function    Direct Spending,     Revenues, 2023-   to Appropriation,    Procedures     Deficits      Mandates     Contact
  Number                                                                              2023-2032             2032             2023-2027          Apply?     Beginning In
                                                                                                                                                               2033?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S. 3370     University of   Ordered               07/21/22                 300                   0                   0   Not estimated      No             No            No           Lilia
             Utah Research   reported                                                                                                                                                  Ledezma
             Park Act
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S. 3370 would release the federal government's reversionary interest on a 593-acre parcel of land commonly called ``Research Park'' to the University of Utah without consideration. CBO
  estimates that enacting S. 3370 would not affect direct spending or revenues. CBO has not estimated the discretionary costs of implementing the bill. The bill contains no intergovernmental
  or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.

                      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. 3370. 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. 3370, as ordered reported.

                   CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

    S. 3370, 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 June 7, 2022, hearing on S. 3370 follows:

  Statement of Nada Wolff Culver, Deputy Director, Policy & Programs, 
       Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior

    S. 3370, the University of Utah Research Park Act, would 
release, without consideration, the Federal government's 
reversionary interest in a 593-acre parcel conveyed by patent 
to the University of Utah (University) under the R&PP Act.


                                analysis


    The BLM regularly transfers public land to local 
governments and nonprofits for a variety of public purposes. 
These transfers are typically accomplished under the provisions 
of the R&PP Act or through direction supplied through specific 
Acts of Congress. The R&PP Act is a statute frequently used by 
the BLM to help States, local communities, and nonprofit 
organizations obtain lands--at no or low cost--for important 
public purposes such as parks, schools, hospitals and other 
health facilities, fire and law enforcement facilities, 
courthouses, social services facilities, and public works.
    Because these public purpose lands are conveyed at far 
below market value, R&PP Act conveyances and many similar 
legislated conveyances include a reversionary clause requiring 
that lands be used for public purposes or revert to the Federal 
government. Over the years, the BLM has consistently required 
the payment of fair market value for the reversionary interest, 
in accordance with FLPMA requirements for disposal of lands or 
interests in land.
    In the 1930s, the U.S. Department of the Army 
decommissioned Fort Douglas near Salt Lake City, Utah, and 
transferred ownership of this property to the Department. On 
October 18, 1968, the BLM issued to the University a R&PP 
patent, numbered 43-99-0012, ``for purposes of academic 
expansion of the University of Utah, in Salt Lake City Utah, 
for an arboretum, and for highway and utility rights-of-way to 
serve those purposes.'' Today, the lands identified in S.3370--
commonly referred to as ``Research Park''--contains a complex 
of technology, education, and medical buildings, among other 
uses. Over the years, the University has approached the BLM to 
request additional uses on the property, which in some cases 
were for uses not allowed under the R&PP Act.
    FLPMA, which is the authority under which the BLM generally 
disposes of public land or interests without limit, requires 
receipt of fair market value for public lands or interests 
transferred out of public ownership. This serves to ensure that 
taxpayers are fairly compensated for the conveyance of public 
lands or interests out of Federal ownership. The BLM supports 
the bill's goal of conveying the reversionary interest in this 
parcel to the University. As with previous such proposals, we 
recommend amending S. 3370 to ensure the payment of fair market 
value for the reversionary interest. However, the Department 
recognizes that there may be circumstances, as determined by 
Congress, in which the public benefits of a proposed transfer 
outweigh financial considerations.

                        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.

                                  [all]