79–006

106TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 106–871

EXCHANGES OF LAND EXCESS TO CASCADE RESERVOIR

RECLAMATION PROJECT

SEPTEMBER 20, 2000.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the

State of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, from the Committee on Resources,

submitted the following

R E P O R T

[To accompany S. 1778]

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill (S.

1778) to provide for equal exchanges of land around the Cascade

Reservoir, having considered the same, report favorably thereon

without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of S. 1778 is to provide for equal exchanges of land

around the Cascade Reservoir.

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

Public Law 86–92, approved July 17, 1959, prohibits the Bureau

of Reclamation (BOR) from exchanging land within 300 feet of the

Cascade Reservoir in Idaho. While private property does not exist

within 300 feet of the Reservoir, several agricultural easements

were reserved by landowners within that zone at the time BOR acquired lands for the Reservoir. To ensure that ranching activities

do not conflict with BOR’s management of the Reservoir, S. 1778

authorizes the BOR to enter into land exchanges with these operators for their rights at, or near, the water’s edge. S. 1778 provides

the BOR with the legal authority necessary for more efficient management and better environmental protection of the Reservoir.

For additional information, see Senate Report 106–271.

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COMMITTEE ACTION

S. 1778 was introduced on October 25, 1999, by Senator Larry

Craig (R-ID). On April 13, 2000, the Senate passed S. 1778 with

an amendment by unanimous consent. The bill was referred to the

Committee on Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on Water and Power. On July 27, 2000, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On September 13, 2000, the

Full Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee on Water and Power was discharged from further consideration of the measure by unanimous consent. No amendments

were offered and the bill was ordered favorably reported to the

House of Representatives by voice vote.

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Exchanges of land excess to Cascade Reservoir reclamation project

This section amends section 5 of Public Law 86–92 (73 Stat. 219),

an act to add certain lands located in Idaho to the Boise and

Payette National Forest, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior

to enter into equal value land exchanges around the Cascade Reservoir in accordance with the Uniform Relocation Assistance and

Real Property Acquisitions Policies Act of 1970. The bill authorizes

cash payments to equalize the values of lands to be exchanged, if

necessary.

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

to the Congressional Budget Office, enactment of this bill could affect direct spending and receipts by authorizing the payment and

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acceptance of cash equalization payments for land exchanges. However, any impact on the federal budget would be ‘‘insignificant’’.

3. Government Reform Oversight Findings. Under clause 3(c)(4)

of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee has received no report of oversight findings and recommendations from the Committee on Government Reform on this

bill.

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:

U.S. CONGRESS,

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE,

Washington, DC, September 18, 2000.

Hon. DON YOUNG,

Chairman, Committee on Resources,

House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1778, an act to provide for

equal exchanges of land around the Cascade Reservoir.

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

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Rachel Applebaum.

Sincerely,

BARRY B. ANDERSON

(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).

Enclosure.

S. 1778—An act to provide for equal exchanges of land around the

Cascade Reservoir

CBO estimates that enacting S. 1778 would have no significant

impact on the federal budget. The act could affect direct spending;

thus, pay-as-you-go procedures would apply, but CBO expects any

such impact to be insignificant over the 2000–2005 period. S. 1778

contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would have no

significant effect on the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.

S. 1778 would amend current law to allow the Secretary of the

Interior to negotiate exchanges of land of approximately equal

value around the Cascade Reservoir in Idaho. According to the Bureau of Reclamation, the lands that would be exchanged under the

act have already been identified to be in excess of the needs of the

reservoir. Those lands do not currently generate any significant receipts, and the agency does not expect them to generate any significant receipts over the next 10 years. If lands exchanged under S.

1778 are not of equal value, the legislation would require either the

federal government or the grantor to make a cash payment equal

to the difference. Based on information from the Bureau of Reclamation, CBO estimates that any such payments would be insignificant.

On April 12, 2000, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 1778

as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and NatVerDate 11-MAY-2000 06:09 Sep 21, 2000 Jkt 079006 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR871.XXX pfrm01 PsN: HR871
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ural Resources on April 5, 2000. The two versions of the legislation

are similar and our estimates of their costs are the same.

The CBO staff contact is Rachel Applebaum. 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 MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of the

House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill,

as reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italic,

existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman):

SECTION 5 OF THE ACT OF JULY 17, 1959

AN ACT To add certain lands located in Idaho to the Boise and Payette National

Forests.

SEC. 5. (a) * * *

ø(b) The Secretary may exchange lands of either class for nonFederal lands of not less than approximately equal value situated

within three hundred feet of the shoreline established by the normal water surface elevation of four thousand eight hundred and

twenty eight feet of the Cascade Reservoir and outside the exterior

boundaries of the Boise and Payette National Forests as extended

by this Act.¿

(b) LAND EXCHANGES.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may exchange land of either

class described in subsection (a) for non-Federal land of not less

than approximately equal value, as determined by an appraisal

carried out in accordance with—

(A) the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property

Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C. 4601 et seq.);

and

(B) the publication entitled ‘‘Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions’’, as amended by the

Interagency Land Acquisition Conference in consultation

with the Department of Justice.

(2) EQUALIZATION.—If the land exchanged under paragraph

(1) is not of equal value, the values shall be equalized by the

payment of funds by the Secretary or the grantor, as appropriate, in an amount equal to the amount by which the values

of the land differ.

* * * * * * *

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