69–006 

115TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 115–280 

UDALL PARK LAND EXCHANGE COMPLETION ACT 

AUGUST 29, 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 

ADDITIONAL VIEWS 

[To accompany H.R. 1547] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 1547) to provide for the unencumbering of title to nonFederal land owned by the city of Tucson, Arizona, for purposes of 

economic development by conveyance of the Federal reversionary 

interest to the City, 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. 1547 is to provide for the unencumbering of 

title to non-Federal land owned by the city of Tucson, Arizona, for 

purposes of economic development by conveyance of the Federal reversionary interest to the City. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

In 1980, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued a Recreation and Public Purposes lease for approximately 173 acres of land 

to the City of Tucson for the purpose of operating a public park. 

As a part of the lease, BLM included a reversionary interest that 

specified it could take back the park if the City no longer used the 

land for public purposes or if the City used the park for commercial 

purposes. After acquiring the land through the lease, the City of 

Tucson began making improvements to the park (named Udall 

2 

1 Rep. Martha McSally, ‘‘Udall Park Land Exchange Completion Act’’, https:// 

mcsally.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/us-rep-mcsally-introduces-bipartisan-bill-help-improve-udall-park. 2 Information provided by the City of Tucson to the Committee on Natural Resources. 

3 City of Tucson, ‘‘Summary of Recent Historical Records of Udall Park Issue’’, pg. 2. 

4 Information provided by the City of Tucson to the Committee on Natural Resources. 

5 Id. 

Park) and invested millions of dollars to establish a large community recreation and senior center, swimming pool, walking track, 

athletic fields and picnic areas. 

While making these improvements, the City of Tucson and BLM 

began negotiating a deal in 1989 to give the City clear title to the 

park and remove the reversionary interest in exchange for 297 

acres of land owned by the City valued at $4 million.1 After accepting this land from the City, BLM participated in further land exchanges with other entities to obtain an area that included office 

buildings for BLM’s Tucson headquarters, and environmentally 

sensitive parcels in the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area 

and Empirita Ranch Multi Species Conservation Area.2 In addition 

to the exchange, the City agreed to resolve a long-standing legal 

dispute between BLM, Browne/Tankersley Trust and Pioneer Trust 

regarding a sand and gravel trespass on an adjacent parcel of land 

to the park.3 Despite a clear agreement between the City of Tucson 

and BLM, the City never received clear title to Udall Park even 

after transferring the 297 acres of land and resolving the trespass 

issue for BLM. 

For nearly three decades, officials in the City of Tucson believed 

the agreement from 1989 removed the United States’ reversionary 

interest in Udall Park. However, in 2010, BLM sent a letter to the 

City of Tucson threatening to invoke the reversionary interest if 

the City did not stop a small farmer’s market located within the 

park.4 The prohibition on commercial uses in the park also prevented the City from siting cellular towers in the park to offset the 

cost of its maintenance.5 Following the letter from BLM, the City 

began pursuing legislative options to resolve the reversionary interest issue to have clear title to the land and complete control over 

the use of the park. 

H.R. 1547, Udall Park Land Exchange Completion Act, removes 

the United States’ reversionary interest in Udall Park so the City 

of Tucson can continue to make improvements and expand amenities and activities within the park, including commercial uses. The 

bill directs BLM to make this conveyance without further consideration, reflecting the completion of the deal the City and BLM negotiated over 28 years ago. The bipartisan bill is supported by the entire Arizona Congressional delegation, with the exception of one 

member. Senators Jeff Flake (R–AZ) and John McCain (R–AZ) introduced a Senate companion bill, S. 612, on March 13, 2017. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 1547 was introduced on March 15, 2017, by Congresswoman 

Martha McSally (R–AZ). The bill was referred to the Committee on 

Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee 

on Federal Lands. On July 14, 2017, the Subcommittee held a 

hearing on the bill. On July 25, 2017, the Natural Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee was discharged 

by unanimous consent. No amendments were offered, and the bill 

3 

was ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by 

unanimous consent on July 26, 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: 

U.S. CONGRESS, 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, 

Washington, DC, August 18, 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. 1547, the Udall Park 

Land Exchange Completion Act. 

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

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Jeff LaFave. 

Sincerely, 

KEITH HALL. 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 1547—Udall Park Land Exchange Completion Act 

H.R. 1547 would require the Secretary of the Interior to convey 

the reversionary interest of the United States in 173 acres of land 

to the city of Tucson, Arizona. Under current law, the city holds 

title to those lands and will retain title as long as the lands are 

used for public purposes. If the city stops using the lands for such 

purposes, title would revert back to the federal government. 

Based on information provided by the city of Tucson, CBO expects that, under current law, the city will continue to use the affected lands for public purposes and will hold title to those lands 

over the next 10 years. Furthermore, under the bill, any administrative costs associated with conveying the reversionary interest in 

those lands would be paid by the city; therefore, CBO estimates 

that implementing the bill would have no effect on the federal 

budget. 

Because enacting H.R. 1547 would not affect direct spending or 

revenues, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. 

CBO estimates that enacting the bill would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 

10-year periods beginning in 2028. 

4 

H.R. 1547 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

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

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, 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 provide for the unencumbering of title to non-Federal land owned by the city of Tucson, Arizona, for purposes of economic development by conveyance of the Federal reversionary interest to the City. 

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) 

ADDITIONAL VIEWS 

H.R. 1547 transfers the reversionary interest associated with 

Udall Park to the City of Tucson, Arizona (Tucson). Udall Park was 

originally leased in 1980 to Tucson by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act, a program that conveys federal land to local governments and non-profits, free of charge, to establish parks and other allowable public 

purposes. These conveyances include what is known as reversionary interest, which stipulates that the land must permanently 

remain in use for a public purpose or ownership reverts back to the 

United States. 

BLM only has the authority to convey reversionary interest if it 

receives fair market value for the land in question. This is a critical 

component of the law that ensures fair use of taxpayer owned assets. However, in the case of Udall Park, Tucson executed a land 

exchange with the BLM to compensate the federal government for 

the reversionary interest. Unfortunately, Congress never completed 

the exchange. 

At the July 14, 2017, Federal Lands Subcommittee hearing on 

the bill, Michael Ortega, Tucson City Manager, Arizona, presented 

testimony regarding the 1989 land exchange between Tucson and 

the BLM that led to the patent transfer of Udall Park. In exchange 

for the patent and reversionary interest on Udall Park, the City of 

Tucson provided the BLM with a 297 acre parcel known as the 

‘‘Freeman Road Property,’’ which was then valued at $4 million. As 

evidence that the land exchange was part of the agreement to 

transfer the reversionary interest, the testimony points to a 1989 

letter from the BLM State Director. The letter recognized the 

‘‘agreement between the City and Bureau of Land Management regarding Udall Park’’ and emphasized BLM’s commitment to ‘‘support legislative efforts to eliminate the reverter clause.’’ Elimination of the reversionary interests without payment of fair market 

value requires an act of Congress. Congress never ratified the 1989 

land exchange by eliminating the reversionary interest. 

6 

H.R. 1547 honors the federal government’s long forgotten commitment. The unique circumstances of Udall Park justify transferring the reversionary interest without further consideration or compensation. 

RAU ́ L M. GRIJALVA, Ranking Member, 

House Natural Resources 

Committee. 

NANETTE DIAZ BARRAGA ́ N. DARREN SOTO. GRACE F. NAPOLITANO. A. DONALD MCEACHIN. 

COLLEEN HANABUSA. 

Æ