69–006 

110TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 110–398 

DOUGLAS COUNTY, WASHINGTON, PUD CONVEYANCE 

ACT 

OCTOBER 22, 2007.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State 

of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. RAHALL, from the Committee on Natural Resources, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 523] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 523) to require the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain public land located wholly or partially within the boundaries 

of the Wells Hydroelectric Project of Public Utility District No. 1 

of Douglas County, Washington, to the utility district, 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 ‘‘Douglas County, Washington, PUD Conveyance 

Act’’. 

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

In this Act: 

(1) PUBLIC LAND.—The term ‘‘public land’’ means the approximately 622 acres 

of Federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management and identified for 

conveyance on the map prepared by the Bureau of Land Management entitled 

‘‘Douglas County Public Utility District Proposal’’ and dated March 2, 2006. 

(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the Interior. 

(3) PUD.—The term ‘‘PUD’’ means the Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas 

County, Washington. 

(4) WELLS HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT.—The term ‘‘Wells Hydroelectric Project’’ 

means Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Project No. 2149. 

SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF PUBLIC LAND, WELLS HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT, PUBLIC UTILITY 

DISTRICT NO. 1 OF DOUGLAS COUNTY, WASHINGTON. 

(a) CONVEYANCE REQUIRED.—Notwithstanding the land use planning requirements of sections 202 and 203 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 

1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712, 1713), and notwithstanding section 24 of the Federal Power 

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Act (16 U.S.C. 818) and Federal Power Order for Project 2149, and subject to valid 

existing rights, if not later than 45 days after the date of completion of the appraisal 

required under subsection (b), the Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County, 

Washington, submits to the Secretary of the Interior an offer to acquire the public 

land for the appraised value, the Secretary shall convey, not later than 30 days after 

the date of the offer, to the PUD all right, title, and interest of the United States 

in and to the public land. 

(b) APPRAISAL.—Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

the Secretary shall complete an appraisal of the public land. The appraisal shall be 

conducted in accordance with the ‘‘Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land 

Acquisitions’’ and the ‘‘Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice’’. 

(c) PAYMENT.—Not later than 30 days after the date on which the public land is 

conveyed under this section, the PUD shall pay to the Secretary an amount equal 

to the appraised value of the public land as determined under subsection (b). 

(d) MAP AND LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.—As soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall finalize legal descriptions of the public land 

to be conveyed under this section. The Secretary may correct any minor errors in 

the map referred to in section 2 or in the legal descriptions. The map and legal descriptions shall be on file and available for public inspection in appropriate offices 

of the Bureau of Land Management. 

(e) COSTS OF CONVEYANCE.—As a condition of conveyance, any costs related to the 

conveyance under this section shall be paid by the PUD. 

(f) DISPOSITION OF PROCEEDS.—The Secretary shall deposit the proceeds from the 

sale in the Federal Land Disposal Account established by section 206 of the Federal 

Land Transaction Facilitation Act (43 U.S.C. 2305) to be expended to improve access 

to public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management in the State of 

Washington. 

SEC. 4. SEGREGATION OF LANDS. 

(a) WITHDRAWAL.—Except as provided in section 3(a), effective immediately upon 

enactment of this Act, and subject to valid existing rights, the public land is withdrawn from—

(1) all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws, 

and all amendments thereto; 

(2) location, entry, and patenting under the mining laws, and all amendments 

thereto; and 

(3) operation of the mineral leasing, mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws, and all amendments thereto. 

(b) DURATION.—This section expires two years after the date of enactment of this 

Act or on the date of the completion of the conveyance under section 3, whichever 

is earlier. 

SEC. 5. RETAINED AUTHORITY. 

The Secretary shall retain the authority to place conditions on the license to insure adequate protection and utilization of the public land granted to the Secretary 

in section 4(e) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 797(e)) until the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission has issued a new license for the Wells Hydroelectric Project, 

to replace the original license expiring May 31, 2012, consistent with section 15 of 

the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 808). 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 523 is to require the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain public land located wholly or in part within 

the boundaries of the Wells Hydroelectric Project of Public Utility 

District No. 1 of Douglas County, Washington, to the utility district. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The Wells Hydroelectric Project, operated by Public Utility District (PUD) #1 of Douglas County, Washington, provides electricity 

to approximately 17,000 customers in Washington State. The central feature of the project is a dam on the Columbia River. 

The PUD is in the early stages of the Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission (FERC) hydroelectric dam relicensing process. The 

project was first licensed for 50 years in 1962. That license expires 

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May 31, 2012 and an application for relicensing must be submitted 

by 2010. 

According to the PUD, consolidation of ownership of several federal parcels located within the project’s boundaries would assist in 

the relicensing, though no specific management issues regarding 

these parcels have ever been raised. 

As introduced, H.R. 523 directs the Secretary of the Interior to 

convey all right, title and interest of the United States in and to 

eight parcels of public land located partially or entirely within the 

boundary of the project to the PUD. The parcels are currently managed by the Bureau of Land Management and total approximately 

622 acres. The legislation requires an appraisal of the land and the 

PUD would be required to pay the appraised value of the land in 

order to receive the parcels. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 523 was introduced on January 17, 2007 by Representative 

Doc Hastings (R–WA). The bill was referred to the Committee on 

Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee 

on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands. On May 10, 2007, 

the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On October 10, the 

Subcommittee was discharged from further consideration of H.R. 

523 and the full Natural Resources Committee met to consider the 

bill. Representative Raul Grijalva (D–AZ) offered an amendment in 

the nature of a substitute requiring that, although the federal government under the terms of the legislation would no longer own 

land within the project boundary, the Secretary of the Interior 

would retain authority granted him under the Federal Power Act 

to place conditions on the new license being issued to the PUD. 

Further, the substitute specifies that proceeds from the sale are to 

be deposited in a specific public land account and used to provide 

improved access to public lands in Washington State. The Grijalva 

substitute was adopted by unanimous consent. The bill, as amended, was then ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous consent. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title 

Section 1 entitles the legislation the ‘‘Douglas County, Washington PUD Conveyance Act.’’

Section 2. Definitions 

This section defines several key terms used in the legislation. 

Section 3. Conveyance of public land, Wells Hydroelectric Project, 

Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County, Washington 

Section 3(a) requires the Secretary of the Interior to convey all 

right, title, and interest of the United States in the land identified 

in the bill to the PUD, notwithstanding certain provisions of law 

which would prohibit such a sale administratively. This section 

gives the PUD 45 days after completion of an appraisal to make 

an offer to purchase the acreage. The Secretary is then required to 

make the conveyance within 30 days of receiving the offer to buy 

the land at the appraised value. 

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Section 3(b) requires the Secretary to complete an appraisal of 

the land within 60 days after the date of enactment of H.R. 523. 

The appraisal is to be conducted according to the ‘‘Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisition’’ and the ‘‘Uniform 

Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice.’’

Section 3(c) requires the PUD to pay the Secretary the appraised 

value of the land within 30 days after the date on which the land 

is conveyed to the PUD. 

Section 3(d) requires the Secretary to finalize a map and legal 

descriptions of the public land to be conveyed under the bill and 

Section 3(e) specifies that the PUD will pay all costs associated 

with this transaction. 

Section 3(f) directs the Secretary to deposit the proceeds from the 

conveyance into the Federal Land Deposit Account established by 

section 206 of the Federal Land Transaction Facilities Act (Public 

Law 106–248) to be expended ‘‘to improve access to public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management in Washington 

State.’’

Section 4. Segregation of lands 

This section prohibits filing of any mining or other development 

claims during pendency of the conveyance authorized by this legislation. 

Section 5. Retained authority 

This section requires that, although the federal government will 

no longer own land within the project boundary after the conveyance, the Interior Secretary retains authority granted him under 

the Federal Power Act to place conditions on the new license being 

issued to the PUD. Such conditions will insure adequate protection 

of resources located on the land. 

During the hearing on this measure, the Committee received testimony from several witnesses pointing out that allowing a non-federal entity to avoid the authority granted federal land managers 

under the Federal Power Act by simply privatizing federal lands 

within project boundaries would set a negative precedent and could 

incentivize such sales. Further, the Bureau of Land Management 

urged the Committee to ‘‘provide safeguards to protect the known 

resource values on these lands.’’ Section 5 addresses these concerns. 

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. 

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 comparimstockstill on PROD1PC66 with HEARING

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son 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, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. 

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 

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: 

H.R. 523—Douglas County, Washington, PUD Conveyance Act 

H.R. 523 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey, 

at fair market value, 622 acres of federal land to the Douglas 

County Public Utility District No. 1 (PUD). Any federal administrative costs of the conveyance would be borne by the PUD. CBO estimates that any net budgetary impact from enacting this legislation 

would be negligible. 

Four percent of the proceeds of the conveyance, classified as offsetting receipts, would be transferred to the state of Washington 

for education expenses or to build public infrastructure. The remaining receipts would be deposited into the Federal Land Deposit 

Account, which was created by the Federal Land Transaction Facilities Act. Those receipts would be available without further appropriation, to the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of 

Agriculture to purchase land inholdings (parcels of land that are 

entirely surrounded by federally owned land). 

The sale of federal land could result in forgone offsetting receipts 

if, under current law, those lands would generate income from activities such as mineral leasing and mining. According to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), that land currently generates no 

significant receipts and BLM does not anticipate any receipts from 

it over the next 10 years. 

H.R. 523 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. Enacting this 

bill would benefit the PUD, and any costs that it might incur in 

association with the conveyance of land would be incurred voluntarily. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Tyler Kruzich. This estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director 

for Budget Analysis. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

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EARMARK STATEMENT

H.R. 523 does not contain any congressional earmarks, limited 

tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in clause 9(d), 9(e) 

or 9(f) of rule XXI. 

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. 

Æ 

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