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[Senate Report 110-354]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                       Calendar No. 786
110th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session                                                     110-354

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               TURNABOUT RANCH, ESCALANTE, UTAH SALE ACT

                                _______
                                

                 June 16, 2008.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

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

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 832]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 832) to provide for the sale of 
approximately 25 acres of public land to the Turnabout Ranch, 
Escalante, Utah, at fair market value, having considered the 
same, reports favorably thereon with amendments and recommends 
that the bill, as amended, do pass.
    The amendments are as follows:
    1. On page 2, line 17, insert ``of 1976'' after ``Act''.
    2. On page 2, line 17, insert ``1712,'' after ``U.S.C.''.
    3. On page 3, lines 16 and 17, strike ``subsection (a)'' 
and insert ``this Act''.
    4. On page 3, line 22, strike ``, Public Law 106-248'' and 
insert ``(43 U.S.C. 2305)''.

                                PURPOSE

    The purpose of S. 832 is to direct the Secretary of the 
Interior to sell approximately twenty-five acres of public 
land, currently managed by the Bureau of Land Management, to 
the Turnabout Ranch in Escalante, Utah.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    The Turnabout Ranch is a private, Christian boarding school 
and residential treatment center for at-risk youth in 
Escalante, Utah. For many years, a portion of the school's 
facilities have been located on a twenty-five acre parcel of 
land that, in the past, was state-owned land.
    In 1996, President Clinton created the Grand Staircase-
Escalante National Monument, managed by the Bureau of Land 
Management. The twenty-five acre parcel at issue is located 
within the boundaries of the monument. The Utah Schools and 
Lands Exchange Act of 1998, Public Law 105-335, included a 
transfer of ownership of the parcel from the state to the BLM.
    The BLM does not have existing authority to sell the parcel 
because it is located within the monument boundaries. 
Therefore, S. 832 directs the Secretary of the Interior to sell 
the land to the school for an amount equal to the fair market 
value, based on a federally approved appraisal.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    S. 832 was introduced by Senator Hatch and Senator Bennett 
on March 9, 2007. The Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests 
held a hearing on S. 832 on February 27, 2008. The Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources ordered the bill favorably 
reported on May 7, 2008.

                        COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open 
business session on May 7, 2008, by a voice vote of a quorum 
present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 832, if amended as 
described herein.

                          COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS

    The Committee recommends four technical or clarifying 
amendments: (1) to cite the full short title of the Federal 
Land Policy and Management Act; (2) to provide a citation to 
the United States Code; (3) to clarify that the Turnabout Ranch 
be required to pay for any costs associated with the 
conveyance, including the appraisal; and (4) to cite the 
Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act to the United States 
Code.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    Section 1 defines several key terms used in the 
legislation.
    Section 2(a) requires the Secretary of the Interior, upon 
receiving an offer from the Turnabout Ranch to acquire the 
parcel for the appraised value, to convey approximately twenty-
five acres to Turnabout Ranch if the ranch.
    Subsection (b) requires the Secretary to complete an 
appraisal of the federal land not later than 90 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act. This subsection also requires 
that the appraisal be completed in accordance with the 
``Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions'' 
and the ``Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal 
Practice.''
    Subsection (c) requires the Turnabout Ranch to pay the 
Secretary an amount equal to the appraised value of the Federal 
land as a condition of the conveyance.
    Subsection (d) states that, as a condition of the 
conveyance, any costs of the conveyance shall be paid by the 
Turnabout Ranch.
    Subsection (e) requires the Secretary to deposit the 
proceeds from the conveyance of the Federal land in the Federal 
Land Deposit Account established by section 206 of the Federal 
Land Transaction Facilitation Act.
    Section 3 modifies the boundaries of the Grand Staircase-
Escalante National Monument to exclude the federal land 
conveyed to the Turnabout Ranch upon completion of the 
conveyance.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

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

S. 832--A bill to provide for the sale of approximately 25 acres of 
        public land to the Turnabout Ranch, Escalante, Utah, at fair 
        market value

    S. 832 would authorize the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 
to sell about 25 acres of land in the Grand Staircase-Escalante 
National Monument in Utah. Proceeds from the sale would be 
deposited into the federal land disposal account and could be 
spent, without further appropriation, to acquire other land.
    Implementing S. 832 would have no net effect on the federal 
budget and no significant impact in any fiscal year. Based on 
information provided by BLM, CBO estimates that selling the 25 
acres identified by the bill would increase offsetting receipts 
(a credit against direct spending) by less than $50,000 in 
2009. That amount would be offset over the following five years 
by additional direct spending for land acquisition. We estimate 
that implementing the legislation would have no effect on 
revenues or discretionary spending. As required by the bill, 
appraisal expenses and other costs associated with the sale 
would be paid by the prospective buyer, the Turnabout Ranch.
    S. 832 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would have no significant impact on the budgets of state, 
local, or tribal governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis. 
The estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, 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. 832. 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. 832, as ordered reported.

                   CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

    S. 832, as reported, does not contain any congressionally 
directed spending items, limited tax benefits, or limited 
tariff benefits as defined by rule XLIV of the Standing Rules 
of the Senate.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    The views of the Administration were included in testimony 
received by the Committee at a hearing on S. 832 on February 
27, 2008.

 Statement of Luke Johnson, Deputy Director, Bureau of Land Management

    Thank you for the opportunity to testify on S. 832, a bill 
to convey approximately 25 acres of lands managed by the Bureau 
of Land Management (BLM) to Turnabout Ranch in Utah. The BLM 
supports this legislation.

                               background

    Turnabout Ranch is both a working ranch and a residential 
treatment center for troubled teens. Located north of 
Escalante, Utah the ranch is adjacent to Grand Staircase-
Escalante National Monument (Monument). Several years ago, the 
owners of Turnabout Ranch realized that they were using a field 
that is on BLM-managed lands within the Monument for pasture 
and a corral and approached the BLM about purchasing these 
lands. It is clear that this long-standing trespass was 
inadvertent. (These lands were originally owned by the state of 
Utah and were exchanged to the BLM following the Monument 
designation under the provisions of Public Law 105-335.) These 
approximately 25 acres, which are on the edge of the Monument, 
are critical to the effective functioning of the ranch and 
treatment center. The BLM cannot undertake a sale of this 
parcel to the Ranch because the acres are within the Monument 
boundary.

                                 s. 832

    S. 832 provides for a legislated sale of the 25 acres on 
which Turnabout Ranch is in trespass to the ranch for appraised 
fair market value. The bill specifIes that the appraisal be 
completed in accordance with the Uniform Appraisal Standards 
for Federal Land Acquisitions and the Uniform Standards of 
Professional Appraisal Practice. It further provides that all 
costs related to the sale be borne by Turnabout Ranch. Finally, 
following the sale of the land, the boundary of the Monument is 
modified to exclude just these 25 acres from the edge of the 
Monument.
    The BLM has taken a close look at the land proposed for 
sale to the Ranch under S. 832. It is our belief that sale of 
these lands will not undermine the purposes for which the 
Monument was established. Therefore, we support this 
legislative remedy to clear title issues with a suggestion for 
one very technical modification.
    Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

                        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 S. 832 as ordered 
reported.

                                  
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