90–006 

108TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 108–740 

IDAHO PANHANDLE NATIONAL FOREST IMPROVEMENT 

ACT OF 2003 

OCTOBER 6, 2004.—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 S. 434] 

The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred to the bill 

(S. 434) to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to sell or exchange all or part of the certain parcels of National Forest System 

land in the State of Idaho and use the proceeds derived from the 

sale or exchange for National Forest System purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and 

recommend that the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of S. 434 is to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture 

to sell or exchange all or part of certain parcels of National Forest 

System land in the State of Idaho and use the proceeds derived 

from the sale or exchange for National Forest System purposes. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

S. 434 would sell or exchange roughly 150 acres of National Forest System lands in Idaho, comprised of three separate parcels, and 

deposit the proceeds in the fund established under the ‘Sisk Act’ 

(Public Law 90–171). Primarily, the revenue would be used to fund 

rehabilitation or construction of a ranger district office in the Silver 

Valley of the Idaho Panhandle National Forest. The bill also allows 

excess proceeds to be used to acquire land, or to construct or rehabilitate other facilities in the Panhandle National Forest. The 

tracts identified for sale or exchange are no longer needed for agency administrative purposes and conveyance of these tracts will reduce the long-term cost of administering related special use permits. 

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The bill provides an exception to the Federal Land Policy and 

Management Act of 1976, allowing the Secretary of Agriculture to 

accept a cash equalization payment in excess of 25% of the value 

of the land exchanged. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

S. 434 was introduced on February 25, 2003, by Senator Larry 

Craig (R–ID). The Senate passed the bill by unanimous consent on 

November 24, 2003. In the House of Representatives, the bill was 

referred to the Committee on Resources, and within the Committee 

to the Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health. On April 28, 

2004, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On September 

15, 2004, the Full Resources Committee met to consider the bill. 

The Subcommittee was discharged from further consideration by 

unanimous consent. No amendments were offered and the bill was 

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, S. 434 would increase both offsetting receipts and the spending of such receipts, but it estimates that the 

net impact of direct spending would not exceed $500,000. 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 

clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or objective 

of this bill is to is to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to sell 

or exchange all or part of certain parcels of National Forest System 

land in the State of Idaho and use the proceeds derived from the 

sale or exchange for National Forest System purposes. 

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 ComVerDate Aug 04 2004 04:09 Oct 09, 2004 Jkt 039006 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR740.XXX HR740
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mittee 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 20, 2004. 

Hon. RICHARD W. POMBO, 

Chairman, Committee on Resources, 

House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 434, the Idaho Panhandle 

National Forest Improvement 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, who can 

be reached at 226–2860. 

Sincerely, 

ELIZABETH ROBINSON

(For Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Director). 

Enclosure. 

S. 434—Idaho Panhandle National Forest Improvement Act of 2003 

CBO estimates that enacting S. 434 would not significantly affect 

the federal budget. The legislation would increase both offsetting 

receipts and the spending of such receipts, but we estimate that 

the net impact on direct spending would not exceed $500,000. S. 

434 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as 

defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose 

no significant costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 

S. 434 would authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to sell or exchange certain federal land in Idaho. The act would authorize the 

Secretary to spend, without further appropriation, any proceeds 

from lands sales to acquire, construct, or rehabilitate administrative facilities within the Idaho Panhandle National forest. 

According to the Forest Service, the federal land to be sold or exchanged currently does not generate significant receipts and is not 

expected to do so over the next 10 years. By providing authority for 

the Secretary to sell that land, CBO expects that enacting S. 434 

would increase offsetting receipts (a credit against direct spending) 

from land sales. Based on information from the Forest Service regarding the value of the affected land, CBO estimates that the proceeds from such sales would total between $500,000 and $750,000 

in fiscal year 2005. We also estimate that those proceeds would 

largely be spent in the same year they are received; hence, we estimate that the net change in direct spending would be negligible. 

On August 1, 2003, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 434 

as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on July 23, 2003. The two versions of S. 434 are 

similar, and our estimates of sale proceeds and direct spending are 

the same under both versions. Differences in our estimates reflect 

a change in the assumed enactment date. 

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

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

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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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