69–006 

110TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 110–532 

TO AUTHORIZE THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR TO 

LEASE CERTAIN LANDS IN VIRGIN ISLANDS NATIONAL 

PARK, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2008.—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. 1143] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 1143) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to lease 

certain lands in Virgin Islands National Park, 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. DEFINITIONS. 

In this Act, the following definitions apply: 

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

(2) RUE.—The term ‘‘RUE’’ means the retained use estate entered into by the 

Jackson Hole Preserve and the United States on September 30, 1983. 

(3) PARK.—The term ‘‘park’’ means Virgin Islands National Park. 

(4) CBI.—The term ‘‘CBI’’ means CBI Acquisitions, LLC. 

(5) RESORT.—The term ‘‘Resort’’ means Caneel Bay Resort on the island of St. 

John in Virgin Islands National Park. 

SEC. 2. LEASE AGREEMENT. 

(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary may enter into a lease agreement with CBI 

governing the use of property for the continued management and operation of the 

Resort. 

(b) ADDITIONAL LANDS.—Any lease entered into pursuant to this Act shall include 

the property covered by the RUE and any associated property owned by CBI donated to the National Park Service. 

(c) TERMS.—The lease agreement authorized under subsection (a) shall— 

(1) require that operations and maintenance of the Resort are conducted in 

a manner consistent with the preservation and conservation of the resources 

and values of the Park as well as the best interests of the Resort; 


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(2) be for the minimum number of years practicable to enable the lessee to 

secure financing for any necessary improvements to the Resort, taking into account the financial obligations of CBI, but in any event shall not exceed 40 

years; 

(3) prohibit any transfer, assignment or sale of the lease or otherwise convey 

or pledge any interest in the lease without prior written notification to and approval by the Secretary; 

(4) prohibit any increase in the number of guest accommodations available at 

the Resort; 

(5) prohibit any increase in the overall size of the Resort; 

(6) prohibit the sale of partial ownership shares or timeshares in the Resort; 

(7) be designed to facilitate transfer of all property covered by the lease to 

Federal administration upon expiration of the lease; and 

(8) include any other provisions determined by the Secretary to be necessary 

to protect the Park and the public interest. 

(d) APPRAISALS.—The Secretary shall require appraisals to determine the fair 

market value of all property covered by the RUE and any property, including the 

value, if any, of the surrendered term of the RUE, owned by CBI to be donated, 

or otherwise conveyed, to the National Park Service. Such appraisals shall be conducted pursuant to the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisition. 

(e) COMPENSATION.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—The lease authorized by this Act shall—

(A) require payment to the United States of the property’s fair market 

value rent, taking into account the value of any associated property transferred by CBI as well as the value, if any, of the surrendered term of the 

RUE; 

(B) include a provision—

(i) allowing recalculation of the amount of the payment required 

under this subsection, at the request of the Secretary or CBI, in the 

event of extraordinary unanticipated changes in conditions anticipated 

at the time the lease was finalized; and 

(ii) providing for binding arbitration in the event the Secretary and 

CBI are unable to agree upon an adjustment to the payment in these 

circumstances. 

(2) DISTRIBUTION.—Eighty percent of the payment to the United States required by this subsection shall be available to the Secretary, without further appropriation, for expenditure within the Park. The remaining twenty percent 

shall be deposited in the Treasury. 

(3) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN LAW.—Section 321 of the Act of June 30, 1932 

(40 U.S.C. 1302), relating to the leasing of buildings and property of the United 

States, shall not apply to the lease entered into by the Secretary pursuant to 

this Act. 

SEC. 3. RETAINED USE ESTATE. 

As a condition of the lease, CBI shall relinquish to the Secretary all rights under 

the RUE and transfer, without compensation, ownership of improvements covered 

by the RUE to the United States. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 1143 is to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to lease certain lands in Virgin Islands National Park, and 

for other purposes. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

Caneel Bay is a luxury resort operated pursuant to a Retained 

Use Estate (RUE) on federal land within Virgin Islands National 

Park. The RUE expires in 2023, when any improvements on the 

land will revert to the National Park Service. 

The current holder of the RUE has embarked on major renovations to Caneel Bay. However, the operators claim that the remaining life of the RUE does not afford sufficient time to provide the 

capital and attract the long-term financing for the improvements 

which are necessary to reverse the recent decline of the facilities 

at the resort. 


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H.R. 1143 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, after expiration of the RUE, to enter into a lease with the holders of the RUE 

for continued operation of the resort on terms and conditions determined by the Secretary to be reasonable. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 1143 was introduced on February 16, 2007, by Rep. Donna 

Christensen (D–VI). 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 October 30, 

2007, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill, during which 

the Administration testified in support of the bill’s concept but requested the opportunity to work with the Committee regarding the 

bill’s provisions. 

On February 13, 2008, the full Natural Resources Committee 

met to mark up the bill. Subcommittee Chairman Rau ́l Grijalva 

(D–AZ) offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute that retained the original intent of the bill while placing additional conditions on the lease authority authorized under the bill. The Grijalva 

amendment 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. Definitions 

Section 1 defines the terms used in this act. 

Section 2. Lease agreement 

Subsection 2(a) authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to enter 

into the lease agreement with the current operators of Caneel Bay 

Resort. Subsection 2(b) defines the property covered by the lease. 

Subsection 2(c) sets the terms of the lease. In particular, Section 

2(c)1 requires resort operations and maintenance to be consistent 

with the preservation and conservation values of the Park and the 

best interests of the Resort. Section 2(c)2 sets the term of the lease 

as the minimum number of years necessary for the lessee to secure 

financing for improvements to the Resort, not to exceed 40 years. 

Section 2(c)3 prohibits any transfer or sale of the lease by the current lessee without approval by the Secretary. Section 2(c)4 prohibits any increase in the number of guest accommodations at the 

Resort. Section 2(c)5 prohibits expansion of the size of the Resort. 

Section 2(c)6 prohibits the sale or ownership of timeshares in the 

Resort. Section 2(c)7 states that the lease shall be designed to facilitate transfer of all facilities to Federal management upon expiration. Section 2(c)8 permits the inclusion of other provisions determined by the Secretary to be necessary to protect the Park and the 

public interest. 

Subsection 2(d) requires the appraisal of all property covered by 

the RUE as well as any property to be donated or otherwise conveyed to the Federal government. 

Section 2(e)1 requires the payment of fair market value rent to 

the United States by the lessee and permits recalculation of the 

rental payment in the event of unexpected circumstances and arbitration if the Secretary and the lessee disagree upon adjustments 


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to the rental payment. Section 2(e)2 requires that 80% of the rental 

payments be made available without further appropriation for expenditure within the Park and the remaining 20% deposited in the 

Treasury. 

Section 3. Retained Use Estate 

Section 3 directs the lessee to relinquish to the Secretary all 

rights under the RUE and transfer, without compensation, ownership of improvements covered by the RUE to the United States. 

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 and Article IV, section 3, 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, 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. 1143—A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to lease 

certain lands in Virgin Islands National Park 

H.R. 1143 would authorize the National Park Service (NPS) to 

execute a lease with the owners of the Caneel Bay Resort on St. 

John in the Virgin Islands. Based on information provided by the 

NPS, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would have no effect on discretionary spending. Enacting the bill would increase 

both offsetting receipts (from lease payments) and direct spending 

of those receipts beginning in fiscal year 2009, but CBO estimates 

that any net effect on the federal budget would be negligible. 


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H.R. 1143 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments. 

Under the lease authorized by H.R. 1143, the owners of Caneel 

Bay would continue to operate the resort, which is located within 

the boundary of the Virgin Islands National Park, for up to 40 

years. The resort is currently operated under a retained use estate 

(RUE) that will expire at the end of fiscal year 2023. The RUE was 

granted by the original owners of the resort when they donated the 

land under that facility to the NPS in 1983. The original RUE 

agreement did not provide for any lease payments to the federal 

government; the lease authorized by H.R. 1143 would. In addition, 

the bill would authorize the NPS to spend, without further appropriation, 80 percent of any new lease receipts. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis. The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director 

for Budget Analysis. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

EARMARK STATEMENT

H.R. 1143 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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