19–006

108TH CONGRESS REPORT " HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ! 1st Session 108–256

SIERRA NATIONAL FOREST LAND EXCHANGE ACT OF 

2003

SEPTEMBER 3, 2003.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State 

of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. POMBO, from the Committee on Resources, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 1651] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 

(H.R. 1651) to provide for the exchange of land within the Sierra 

National Forest, California, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and 

recommend that the bill as amended do pass. 

The amendment is as follows: 

Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sierra National Forest Land Exchange Act of 2003’’. 

SEC. 2. LAND EXCHANGE, SIERRA NATIONAL FOREST, CALIFORNIA. 

(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

(1) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ means the parcels of land and 

improvements thereon comprising approximately 160 acres and located in township 9 south, range 25 east, section 30, E1⁄2SW1⁄4 and W1⁄2 SE1⁄4, Mt. Diablo 

Meridian, California. 

(2) NON-FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘non-Federal land’’ means a parcel of land 

comprising approximately 80 acres and located in township 8 south, range 26 

east, section 29, N1⁄2NW1⁄4, Mt. Diablo Meridian, California. 

(b) EXCHANGE AUTHORIZED.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—If, during the one-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the owner of the non-Federal land offers the United States 

the exchange of the non-Federal land and a cash equalization payment of 

$50,000, the Secretary shall convey, by quit claim deed, all right, title, and interest of the United States in and to the Federal land. The conveyance of the 

Federal land shall be subject to valid existing rights and under such terms and 

conditions as the Secretary may prescribe. 

(2) ACCEPTABLE TITLE.—Title to the non-Federal land shall conform with the 

title approval standards of the Attorney General applicable to Federal land acquisitions and shall be acceptable to the Secretary. 

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(3) CORRECTION AND MODIFICATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.—The Secretary, 

in consultation with the owner of the non-Federal land, may make corrections 

to the legal descriptions of the Federal land and non-Federal land. The Secretary and the owner of the non-Federal land may make minor modifications 

to such descriptions insofar as such modifications do not affect the overall value 

of the exchange by more than five percent. 

(c) VALUATION OF LAND TO BE CONVEYED.—For purposes of this section, during 

the period referred to in subsection (b)(1), the value of the non-Federal land shall 

be deemed to be $200,000 and the value of the Federal land shall be deemed to be 

$250,000. 

(d) ADMINISTRATION OF LAND ACQUIRED BY UNITED STATES.—Once acquired, the 

Secretary shall manage the non-Federal land in accordance with the Act of March 

1, 1911 (commonly known as the Weeks Act; 16 U.S.C. 480 et seq.), and in accordance with the other laws and regulations pertaining to National Forest System 

lands. 

(e) RECONVEYANCE REQUIRED.—The conveyance under subsection (b) shall be subject to the condition that the recipient of the Federal land convey all 160 acres of 

the Federal land to the Sequoia Council of the Boy Scouts of America not later than 

four months after the date on which the recipient receives the Federal land from 

the Secretary under subsection (b). 

(f) DISPOSITION AND USE OF CASH EQUALIZATION FUNDS.—The Secretary shall deposit the cash equalization payment received under subsection (b) in the fund established by Public Law 90–171 (commonly known as the Sisk Act; 16 U.S.C. 484a). 

The cash equalization payment shall be available to the Secretary until expended, 

without further appropriation, for the acquisition of lands and interests in lands for 

the National Forest System in the State of California. 

(g) COST COLLECTION FUNDS.—The owner of the non-Federal land shall be responsible for all direct costs associated with processing the land exchange under this section and shall pay the Secretary the necessary funds, which shall be deposited in 

a cost collection account. Funds so deposited shall be available to the Secretary until 

expended, without further appropriation, for the cost associated with the land exchange. Any funds remaining after completion of the land exchange, which are not 

needed to cover expenses, shall be refunded to the owner of the non-Federal land.

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 1651 is to provide for the exchange of land 

within the Sierra National Forest, California, and for other purposes. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The Sequoia Council Boy Scouts currently have a Special Use 

Permit that allows it to operate a summer camp on 160 acres of 

the Sierra National Forest, California, only 15 of which are above 

water. The remaining 145 acres are submerged under Shaver Lake, 

a reservoir operated by Southern California Edison under a U.S. 

Forest Service Special Use Permit where the company produces 

hydroelectricity. A private citizen currently owns an 80-acre 

inholding of property surrounded by the Sierra National Forest. 

H.R. 1651 would exchange the privately-owned 80-acre inholding 

for the 160-acre Forest Service land surrounded by Shaver Lake. 

The private citizen would then convey the 160 acres to the Sequoia 

Council Boy Scouts. 

The Forest Service would like to acquire the 80 acre inholding 

of private land, while the 160 acres on Shaver Lake is ideal for the 

Boy Scout camp. The Forest Service land has been used by the Boy 

Scouts for the past 30 years, and is surrounded by private land. 

This matter has languished for several years. In June 1998, the 

parties signed an agreement to initiate the exchange. However, appraisal values of the land were a point of contention. In 2003, the 

Forest Service and the private inholder came to an agreement 

where the Forest Service 160-acre parcel is valued at $250,000 and 

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the 80-acre inholding is valued at $200,000. The private inholder 

has agreed to pay the difference of $50,000 to the Forest Service 

to finalize the land transfer. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 1651 was introduced on April 7, 2003, by Congressman 

George P. Radanovich (R–CA). The bill was referred to the Committee on Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health. On June 19, 2003, the 

Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On July 9, 2003, the Full 

Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee 

was discharged from further consideration of the measure by unanimous consent. Mr. Radanovich offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute to the bill. It was adopted by unanimous consent with the understanding that before the bill is considered by 

the House of Representatives, additional corrections would be made 

to alleviate access concerns of Southern California Edison, and others based on further negotiations between the Sequoia Council Boy 

Scouts and Southern California Edison. The bill as amended was 

then ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by 

unanimous consent. 

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 Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in 

the body of this report. 

CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United States 

grants Congress the authority to enact this bill. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of 

the House of Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) of that rule provides 

that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. 

2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by 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, this bill does not 

contain any new budget authority, credit authority, or an increase 

or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. According to the Congressional Budget Office, enactment of this bill would increase offsetting receipts and direct spending by $50,000 (no net impact on 

the federal budget) in 2004. 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. This bill does not 

authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the 

Rules of the House of Representatives does not apply. 

4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause 

3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 

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section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate for this bill from the 

Director of the Congressional Budget Office:

U.S. CONGRESS, 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, 

Washington, DC, July 17, 2003. 

Hon. RICHARD POMBO, 

Chairman, Committee on Resources, 

House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1651, the Sierra National 

Forest Land Exchange Act of 2003. 

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

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Megan Carroll. 

Sincerely, 

DOUGLAS HOLTZ-EAKIN, Director. 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 1651—Sierra National Forest Land Exchange Act of 2003 

CBO estimates that H.R. 1651 would increase offsetting receipts 

and direct spending by $50,000—for no net impact—in 2004. The 

bill would not affect revenues. H.R. 1651 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. 

H.R. 1651 would authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to exchange 160 acres of federal land in California for 80 acres of privately owned land in the state. According to the Forest Service, the 

affected federal land currently generates no significant receipts and 

is not expected to do so over the next 10 years. Hence, CBO estimates that conveying the property would not result in forgone offsetting receipts from programs to develop natural resources. Under 

the bill, the Secretary would receive $50,000 from the private landowner to equalize the value of lands involved in the exchange. H.R. 

1651 would authorize the Secretary to spend that amount, without 

further appropriation, to acquire other lands and interests in California. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Megan Carroll. This 

estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

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.

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