I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2595 

To authorize the Administrator of General Services and the Secretary of 

the Interior to convey certain Federal property to the District of Columbia to increase the District’s taxable property base as compensation 

for a structural fiscal imbalance caused by Federal mandates. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 24, 2005 

Ms. NORTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To authorize the Administrator of General Services and the 

Secretary of the Interior to convey certain Federal property to the District of Columbia to increase the District’s 

taxable property base as compensation for a structural 

fiscal imbalance caused by Federal mandates. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fair Land Transfer 

5 Compensation Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) This Act is based on— 

4 (A) the findings of a report prepared by 

5 the Government Accountability Office (referred 

6 to in this section as the ‘‘GAO’’) in May 2003, 

7 that found that the District of Columbia has a 

8 structural fiscal imbalance caused by Federal 

9 mandates; and 

10 (B) a bill, the District of Columbia Fair 

11 Federal Compensation Act of 2005, as intro12 duced in this Congress, that authorizes Federal 

13 compensation for this structural imbalance. 

14 (2) The GAO found that the District’s struc15 tural imbalance is the difference between the costs 

16 to the District of providing an average level of serv17 ices and the District’s total revenue capacity. 

18 (3) In addition to the 2003 GAO study, two 

19 other studies (McKinsey, March 2002, and Brook20 ings, October 2002), also have determined that the 

21 District of Columbia has a substantial structural fis22 cal imbalance. 

23 (4) The District’s structural fiscal imbalance, is 

24 exclusively Federal in origin and beyond the ability 

25 of the District government to correct through im26 proved management or other means. 
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1 (5) The cost to the District of providing an av2 erage level of services significantly exceeds— 

3 (A) the national average, as well as the av4 erage of all 50 States for providing such serv5 ices; and 

6 (B) the District’s capacity to raise the nec7 essary revenue. 

8 (6) The gap between the cost for average serv9 ices and tax revenue raised in the District is an an10 nual structural imbalance of between $470,000,000 

11 and $1,100,000,000. 

12 (7) The causes of the District’s fiscal imbal13 ance, in part, are— 

14 (A) the costs to the District of providing 

15 services to the Federal Government; 

16 (B) the tax exempt status of more than 40 

17 percent of real property in the District, which 

18 is either owned or specifically exempted by the 

19 Federal Government; and 

20 (C) the District’s responsibility for the cost 

21 of several State functions such as special edu22 cation, although the District is a city without 

23 the broad tax base of a State. 

24 (8) The District, to cover the cost of the struc25 tural fiscal imbalance, assumes unique burdens that 
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1 inhibit economic and population stability and 

2 growth, including— 

3 (A) a tax burden that ranks among the 

4 highest in the country; 

5 (B) the highest debt service in the country 

6 among all of the State and local jurisdictions; 

7 and 

8 (C) the inability to make major capital im9 provements and investments in schools, roads, 

10 and other necessary facilities. 

11 (9) According to the GAO, the options available 

12 to address the structural imbalance are— 

13 (A) to expand the District’s tax base; 

14 (B) to provide additional Federal financial 

15 support to the District; and 

16 (C) to increase the role of the Federal 

17 Government in helping the District maintain 

18 fiscal balance. 

19 (10) The land transfers authorized in this Act 

20 would create a significantly new revenue stream that 

21 would be equivalent to a partial payment to the Dis22 trict for the annual structural imbalance provided 

23 for in the District of Columbia Fair Federal Com24 pensation Act of 2005, as introduced in this Con25 gress. 
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1 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

2 The purpose of this Act is to provide an efficient 

3 mechanism for the conveyance of Federal property to the 

4 District of Columbia in order to decrease the structural 

5 imbalance by increasing the District’s taxable property 

6 base and opportunities by the District to pursue economic 

7 development. 

8 SEC. 4. CONVEYANCE OF RESERVATION 13 TO DISTRICT OF 

9 COLUMBIA. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the requirements of 

11 this Act, the Administrator of General Services shall con12 vey to the District of Columbia, without consideration, all 

13 right, title, and interest of the United States in and to 

14 United States Reservation 13, the property consisting of 

15 65.73 acres of land in the District of Columbia bounded 

16 by Independence Avenue Southeast on the north; 19th 

17 Street Southeast on the west; G Street Southeast on the 

18 south; and United States Reservation 343 on the east. 

19 (b) APPRAISAL.—The Administrator, in consultation 

20 with the District of Columbia, shall— 

21 (1) not later than 30 days after the date of en22 actment of this Act, conduct an appraisal of the 

23 property described in subsection (a) based on fair 

24 market value; and 
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1 (2) not later than 180 days after the appraisal 

2 is completed, transmit to Congress a report con3 taining— 

4 (A) the results of the appraisal, including 

5 an estimate of all financial benefits to be gen6 erated on an annual basis to the District of Co7 lumbia; and 

8 (B) an assessment of the impact the con9 veyance will have in reducing the structural fi10 nancial imbalance of the District. 

11 SEC. 5. CONVEYANCE OF POPLAR POINT TO DISTRICT OF 

12 COLUMBIA. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the requirements of 

14 this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall convey to the 

15 District of Columbia, without consideration, all right, title, 

16 and interest of the United States in and to Poplar Point, 

17 Anacostia Park, the property in the District of Columbia 

18 bounded by the Anacostia River on the west; the Weeks 

19 Memorial Bridge on the north; the Anacostia Freeway on 

20 the east; and Howard Road and the Frederick Douglas 

21 Bridge on the south. 

22 (b) APPRAISAL.—The Secretary, in consultation with 

23 the District of Columbia, shall— 

24 (1) not later than 30 days after the date of en25 actment of this Act, conduct an appraisal of the 
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1 property described in subsection (a), including any 

2 improvements thereto, based on fair market value; 

3 and 

4 (2) not later than 180 days after the appraisal 

5 is completed, transmit to Congress a report con6 taining— 

7 (A) the results of the appraisal, including 

8 an estimate of all benefits to be generated on 

9 an annual basis to the District of Columbia; 

10 and 

11 (B) an assessment of the impact the con12 veyance will have in reducing the structural fi13 nancial imbalance of the District. 

14 SEC. 6. LIMITATIONS ON CONVEYANCES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—A conveyance under section 4 or 

16 5 shall contain the covenants required by section 120(h) 

17 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Com18 pensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9620). 

19 (b) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.—The United States 

20 shall not be liable or responsible pursuant to subsection 

21 (a) for any additional remedial action— 

22 (1) with respect to hazardous substances not 

23 existing on the property as of the date of convey24 ance, unless the presence of such hazardous sub-
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1 stances on the property was caused by the United 

2 States; or 

3 (2) caused, required, or arising out of actions of 

4 the District of Columbia or any of the District’s 

5 agents, contractors, or assigns. 

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