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[House Report 109-634]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

109th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     109-634

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             DOUGLAS COUNTY, WASHINGTON, PUD CONVEYANCE ACT

                                _______
                                

 September 6, 2006.--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 H.R. 4789]

  The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 4789) 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 on the map as ``_____''.
          (2) Map.--The term ``map'' means the map entitled 
        ``_______'', prepared by the Bureau of Land Management and 
        dated ____, 2006.
          (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
        the Interior.
          (4) Pud.--The term ``PUD'' means the Public Utility District 
        No. 1 of Douglas County, Washington.

SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF PUBLIC LAND TO DOUGLAS COUNTY, WA, PUD.

  (a) In General.--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 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 PUD submits to the Secretary an offer to acquire the public 
land for the appraised value, the Secretary shall, not later than 30 
days after the date of the offer, convey to the PUD all right, title, 
and interest 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) Costs of Conveyance.--As a condition of conveyance, any costs 
related to the conveyance under this section shall be paid by the PUD.
  (e) Disposition of Proceeds.--The Secretary shall deposit the 
proceeds from the sale in the working capital fund of the Bureau of 
Land Management established by section 306 of the Federal Land Policy 
and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1736).

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 or 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) Term.--This section expires two years from the date of enactment 
of this Act or on the date of the completion of the sale contemplated 
in section 3 of this Act, whichever is earlier.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 4789 is 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.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The Wells Hydroelectric Project, located in Azwell, 
Washington, on the Columbia River, provides power for Douglas 
and Okanogan Counties, as well as power companies in coastal 
Oregon and Washington. The Project also provides several 
recreation opportunities including: a boat ramp, park, wildlife 
areas, fish piers, marinas, playgrounds, campgrounds, picnic 
areas, canoe launching areas and trails. Most of the land 
within the Project is owned by Public Utility District No. 1 
(PUD) of Douglas County, Washington.
    Currently, there are approximately eight small, isolated 
parcels of public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management 
(BLM) within or partially included in the Project boundary. Due 
to the isolation of these parcels, the BLM has difficulty 
managing the areas and has generally deferred management, 
including recreation management, to the PUD. Nonetheless, the 
PUD is still required to go through BLM for all actions on BLM 
land. H.R. 4789 would remedy this problem by conveying these 
parcels to the PUD within 90 days after enactment. The PUD is 
required to pay the BLM fair market value for the land and the 
PUD would continue to provide recreation opportunities. The 
proceeds received by the BLM would be deposited into the 
working capital fund to address some of the agency's 
maintenance backlog.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 4789 was introduced on February 16, 2006, by 
Congressman Doc Hastings (R-WA). The bill was referred to the 
Committee on Resources, and within the Committee to the 
Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health. On March 9, 2006, 
the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On July 19, 2006, 
the Full Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The 
Subcommittee was discharged from further consideration of the 
bill by unanimous consent. Congressman Greg Walden (R-OR) 
offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute making minor 
substantive and technical changes requested by BLM. It was 
adopted by unanimous consent and the bill, as amended, was then 
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, clause 3, and Article IV, section 3, 
clause 2 of the Constitution of the United States grant 
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. The Committee has requested 
but not received the cost estimate. However, the Committee 
believes that enactment of this bill would have little effect 
on the federal budget. Proceeds from the land sale authorized 
by H.R. 4789 would be considered offsetting receipts. The 
Committee believe this sale would occur in fiscal year 2007. 
Because of the isolated nature of these parcels and their 
limited size, the Committee does not believe these proceeds 
would be substantial. These receipts would be retained in the 
BLM working capital fund and later spent by BLM if authorized 
by appropriation. Therefore, the net effect on the budget would 
be a small increase in offsetting receipts during fiscal year 
2007.
    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 requested but not received a cost 
estimate for this bill from the Director of the Congressional 
Budget Office.

                    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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