69–006 

115TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 115–236 

ESCAMBIA COUNTY LAND CONVEYANCE ACT 

JULY 20, 2017.—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 

DISSENTING VIEWS 

[To accompany H.R. 2370] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 2370) to authorize Escambia County, Florida, to convey 

certain property that was formerly part of Santa Rosa Island National Monument and that was conveyed to Escambia County subject to restrictions on use and reconveyance, 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. 2370 is to authorize Escambia County, Florida, to convey certain property that was formerly part of Santa 

Rosa Island National Monument and that was conveyed to 

Escambia County subject to restrictions on use and reconveyance. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

In the Act of July 30, 1946 (Public Law 564, Ch. 699), Congress 

abolished the Santa Rosa National Monument and directed the 

Secretary of the Interior to convey the federal land in the monument to Escambia County, Florida. On January 15, 1947, the federal government deeded the land to the county. Under the terms 

of the conveyance, Escambia County was given the authority to 

lease the property on Santa Rosa Island; however, it was not alVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:44 Jul 21, 2017 Jkt 069006 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR236.XXX HR236
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lowed to issue title on the property or otherwise dispose of or reconvey it. 

In 1956, Escambia County leased a portion of Santa Rosa Island 

lying within the political jurisdiction of Santa Rosa County (the 

Navarre area) to that county, under a perpetually renewing, nominal-consideration lease. Both counties have subleased properties on 

the Island to residents and business owners. 

In the intervening years, Santa Rosa Island experienced enormous growth. This growth prompted county leaders to assess ad 

valorem taxes on the leased lands. The imposition of taxes led to 

several lawsuits centered on the question of whether Island residents and business owners paying lease fees for their land could be 

taxed, despite not having outright ownership of the property. 

Courts have reached different conclusions based on differences in 

the language of particular leases, which has created fairness issues 

for the county governments of Santa Rosa and Escambia. One property may be subject to ad valorem taxes while a virtually identical 

property next door may not. 

This uneven treatment has prompted interest in removing the 

deed restriction prohibiting reconveyance, thus allowing the county 

governments to convey ownership and create a uniform tax treatment for all properties at the beach. Recently, both Escambia 

County and Santa Rosa County passed resolutions asking for a federal solution to allow current Santa Rosa Island leaseholders the 

option of attaining fee simple title while protecting public access to 

the beaches and conservation areas on the Island. A previous 

version of this bill was included as title I of H.R. 2954 (113th Congress), which passed the House of Representatives on February 6, 

2014, by a bipartisan 220–194 vote. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 2370 was introduced on May 4, 2017, by Congressman Matt 

Gaetz (R–FL). The bill was referred to the Committee on Natural 

Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on Federal Lands. On June 22, 2017, the Full 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 

voice vote on June 27, 2017. 

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: 

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U.S. CONGRESS, CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, Washington, DC, July 19, 2017. 

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. 2370, the Escambia 

County Land Conveyance Act. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Janani Shankaran. 

Sincerely, 

MARK P. HADLEY

(For Keith Hall, Director). 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 2370—Escambia County Land Conveyance Act 

H.R. 2370 would authorize Escambia County in Florida to convey 

to private entities certain property that it received front the federal 

government. The specified properties were formerly part of the 

Santa Rosa Island National Monument and were transferred from 

the National Park Service (NPS) to Escambia County in 1947 for 

public purposes. Under the terms of that conveyance, Escambia 

County may re-convey the properties to the federal government or 

to the state of Florida. H.R. 2370 would remove that condition and 

add new conditions. First, the bill would require Escambia County 

to convey to Santa Rosa County, Florida, any of the property that 

falls within the jurisdictional boundary of Santa Rosa County. Second, any proceeds above the direct or incidental costs of the conveyances would be transferred to the federal government. 

CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would result in 

no costs to the federal government. Enacting H.R. 2370 could affect 

revenues because any proceeds collected above the direct and incidental costs associated with a land conveyance would be deposited 

into the general fund of the Treasury. Therefore pay-as-you-go procedures apply. However, based upon information provided by 

Escambia County and Santa Rosa County, CBO expects that the 

proceeds, net of the conveyance costs, would not be significant. 

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2370 would not increase net 

direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 

10-year periods beginning in 2028. 

H.R. 2370 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandate Reform Act and would 

impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Janani Shankaran. 

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 Escambia County, Florida, to convey certain property that was formerly part of Santa Rosa Island National 

Monument and that was conveyed to Escambia County subject to 

restrictions on use and reconveyance. 

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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 in existing law. 

(5) 

DISSENTING VIEWS 

H.R. 2370 removes the reversionary interest from certain land on 

Santa Rosa Island, a 40-mile barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico 

off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. Settled by Spanish explorer 

Tristan De Luna in 1559, it’s the site of the earliest European settlement in North America and an eventual home to Fort Pickens, 

an important U.S. military base throughout much of early American history. 

In 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt recognized the historical significance of the island and used the Antiquities Act to 

proclaim the Santa Rosa Island National Monument. The monument was abolished by Congress in 1946 and the Department of Interior conveyed a portion of the island to Escambia County. The 

conveyance included a reversionary clause, which states that the 

land is to be used for public purposes and prohibits further conveyance of the land, except to the State of Florida or back to the federal government. The island, excluding Navarre Beach and Pensacola Beach, is now managed as part of the Gulf Islands National 

Seashore, which Congress established in 1971. The national seashore receives over five million annual visitors and is an important 

engine for the local tourism economy. 

In 1956, Escambia County granted a 100-year lease of Navarre 

Beach to neighboring Santa Rosa County. The counties have since 

re-zoned to place Navarre Beach within Santa Rosa County, but it 

is still owned by Escambia County because of the use restrictions 

put in place by Congress. H.R. 2370 would convey, without restriction, land associated with the former Santa Rosa Island National 

Monument to the County of Escambia to be used at their discretion, removing the reversionary interest so that Escambia County 

can then transfer the deed to Santa Rosa County. 

Santa Rosa County is considering plans to enhance a marina at 

Navarre Beach. The proposed enhancements include dredging a 

channel through Santa Rosa Island, which could cut off public access to local beaches and have sizable impacts on the estuaries and 

wetlands that support wildlife habitat at Gulf Island National Seashore. Not only would this destroy estuaries, wetlands and negatively impact fisheries and water quality, but it would, at the 

American taxpayer’s expense, further destabilize an already unstable strip of sand, putting lives, private property, and public infrastructure at risk. 

Barrier islands form to protect coastal areas. They are critical to 

healthy environments. Intact islands are important protection from 

rising waters, tides, and storm damage, so artificially breaching a 

barrier island is rarely good ecological practice. 

The National Park Service, in a statement for the record on a 

similar bill in the 113th Congress, recommended several amendments to the bill that would authorize the conveyance in a manner 

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consistent with Congressional intent. Those changes have not been 

made. 

We understand that a lot of development has happened on Santa 

Rosa Island in the sixty years since the land was first conveyed to 

Escambia County, but Congressional intent remains the same: federal land conveyed to Escambia must be used for a public purpose. 

H.R. 2370 undermines that intent. 

We would support legislation to assist Escambia County and 

Santa Rosa County with zoning and ownership, but this is not that. 

We are opposed to any bill that does not include safeguards to ensure ongoing public access and prevent the channelization of Santa 

Rosa Island. 

RAU ́ L M. GRIJALVA, 

Ranking Member, House 

Natural Resources Committee. 

JARED HUFFMAN, 

Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Water, Power 

and Oceans. 

COLLEEN HANABUSA, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Federal 

Lands. NANETTE DIAZ BARRAGA ́ N, Member of Congress. 

GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, Member of Congress. 

A. DONALD MCEACHIN, 

Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Oversight 

and Investigations. 

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