79–006

106TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 106–699

CONVEYANCE OF LANDS TO THE GREATER YUMA PORT

AUTHORITY

JUNE 26, 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 H.R. 3023]

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill

(H.R. 3023) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior, acting

through the Bureau of Reclamation, to convey property to the

Greater Yuma Port Authority of Yuma County, Arizona, for use as

an international port of entry, 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 out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof

the following:

SECTION 1. CONVEYANCE OF LANDS TO THE GREATER YUMA PORT AUTHORITY.

(a) AUTHORITY TO CONVEY.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of

Reclamation, may, in the 5-year period beginning on the date of the enactment

of this Act and in accordance with the conditions specified in subsection (b) convey to the Greater Yuma Port Authority the interests described in paragraph

(2).

(2) INTERESTS DESCRIBED.—The interests referred to in paragraph (1) are the

following:

(A) All right, title, and interest of the United States in and to the lands

comprising Section 23, Township 11 South, Range 24 West, G&SRBM, Lots

1–4, NE1⁄4, N1⁄2 NW1⁄4, excluding lands located within the 60-foot border

strip, in Yuma County, Arizona.

(B) All right, title, and interest of the United States in and to the lands

comprising Section 22, Township 11 South, Range 24 West, G&SRBM, East

300 feet of Lot 1, excluding lands located within the 60-foot border strip,

in Yuma County, Arizona.

(C) All right, title, and interest of the United States in and to the lands

comprising Section 24, Township 11 South, Range 24 West, G&SRBM, West

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300 feet, excluding lands in the 60-foot border strip, in Yuma County, Arizona. (D) All right, title, and interest of the United States in and to the lands

comprising the East 300 feet of the Southeast Quarter of Section 15, Township 11 South, Range 24 West, G&SRBM, in Yuma County, Arizona.

(E) The right to use lands in the 60-foot border strip excluded under subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), for ingress to and egress from the international boundary between the United States and Mexico.

(b) DEED COVENANTS AND CONDITIONS.—Any conveyance under subsection (a)

shall be subject to the following covenants and conditions:

(1) A reservation of rights-of-way for ditches and canals constructed or to be

constructed by the authority of the United States, this reservation being of the

same character and scope as that created with respect to certain public lands

by the Act of August 30, 1890 (26 Stat. 391; 43 U.S.C. 945), as it has been, or

may hereafter be amended.

(2) A leasehold interest in Lot 1, and the west 100 feet of Lot 2 in Section

23 for the operation of a Cattle Crossing Facility, currently being operated by

the Yuma-Sonora Commercial Company, Incorporated. The lease as currently

held contains 24.68 acres, more or less. Any renewal or termination of the lease

shall be by the Greater Yuma Port Authority.

(3) Reservation by the United States of a 245-foot perpetual easement for operation and maintenance of the 242 Lateral Canal and Well Field along the

northern boundary of the East 300 feet of Section 22, Section 23, and the West

300 feet of Section 24 as shown on Reclamation Drawing Nos. 1292–303–3624,

1292–303–3625, and 1292–303–3626.

(4) A reservation by the United States of all rights to the ground water in

the East 300 feet of Section 15, the East 300 feet of Section 22, Section 23, and

the West 300 feet of Section 24, and the right to remove, sell, transfer, or exchange the water to meet the obligations of the Treaty of 1944 with the Republic of Mexico, and Minute Order No. 242 for the delivery of salinity controlled

water to Mexico.

(5) A reservation of all rights-of-way and easements existing or of record in

favor of the public or third parties.

(6) A right-of-way reservation in favor of the United States and its contractors, and the State of Arizona, and its contractors, to utilize a 33-foot easement

along all section lines to freely give ingress to, passage over, and egress from

areas in the exercise of official duties of the United States and the State of Arizona.

(7) Reservation of a right-of-way to the United States for a 100-foot by 100-

foot parcel for each of the Reclamation monitoring wells, together with unrestricted ingress and egress to both sites. One monitoring well is located in Lot

1 of Section 23 just north of the Boundary Reserve and just west of the Cattle

Crossing Facility, and the other is located in the southeast corner of Lot 3 just

north of the Boundary Reserve.

(8) An easement comprising a 50-foot strip lying North of the 60-foot International Boundary Reserve for drilling and operation of, and access to, wells.

(9) A reservation by the United States of 15⁄16 of all gas, oil, metals, and mineral rights.

(10) A reservation of 1⁄16 of all gas, oil, metals, and mineral rights retained

by the State of Arizona.

(11) Such additional terms and conditions as the Secretary considers appropriate to protect the interests of the United States.

(c) CONSIDERATION.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—As consideration for the conveyance under subsection (a),

the Greater Yuma Port Authority shall pay the United States consideration

equal to the fair market value on the date of the enactment of this Act of the

interest conveyed.

(2) DETERMINATION.—For purposes of paragraph (1), the fair market value of

any interest in land shall be determined—

(A) taking into account that the land is undeveloped, that 80 acres of the

land is intended to be dedicated to use by the Federal Government for Federal governmental purposes, and that an additional substantial portion of

the land is dedicated to public right-of-way, highway, and transportation

purposes; and

(B) deducting the cost of compliance with applicable Federal laws pursuant to subsection (e).

(d) USE.—The Greater Yuma Port Authority and its successors shall use the interests conveyed solely for the purpose of the construction and operation of an international port of entry and related activities.

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(e) COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS.—Before the date of the conveyance, actions required

with respect to the conveyance under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969

(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et

seq.), the National Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.), and other applicable Federal laws must be completed at no cost to the United States.

(f) USE OF 60-FOOT BORDER STRIP.—Any use of the 60-foot border strip shall be

made in coordination with Federal agencies having authority with respect to the 60-

foot border strip.

(g) DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY.—The exact acreage and legal description of property conveyed under this section, and of any right-of-way that is subject to a right

of use conveyed pursuant to subsection (a)(2)(E), shall be determined by a survey

satisfactory to the Secretary. The cost of the survey shall be borne by the Greater

Yuma Port Authority.

(h) DEFINITIONS.—

(1) 60-FOOT BORDER STRIP.—The term ‘‘60-foot border strip’’ means lands in

any of the Sections of land referred to in this Act located within 60 feet of the

international boundary between the United States and Mexico.

(2) GREATER YUMA PORT AUTHORITY.—The term ‘‘Greater Yuma Port Authority’’ means Trust No. 84–184, Yuma Title & Trust Company, an Arizona Corporation, a trust for the benefit of the Cocopah Tribe, a Sovereign Nation, the

County of Yuma, Arizona, the City of Somerton, and the City of San Luis, Arizona, or such other successor joint powers agency or public purpose entity as

unanimously designated by those governmental units.

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

acting through the Bureau of Reclamation.

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 3023 is to authorize the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, to convey property to the Greater Yuma Port Authority of Yuma County, Arizona,

for use as an international port of entry.

BACKGROUND

Since the early 1990s, automobile and truck traffic at the United

States Port of Entry in Yuma County, Arizona, began to experience

serious delays, particularly with commercial traffic. The current

Port is located directly in the heart of the City of San Luis, just

south of downtown Yuma. With the passage of the North American

Free Trade Agreement, traffic has become a more serious problem

in the area.

On April 3, 2000, the Arizona Department of Transportation

wrote the Subcommittee on Water and Power of the Committee on

Resources expressing need for legislation. The following is an excerpt of the letter:

At present, the volume of commercial and private vehicles crossing the border at San Luis—a crossing between

the United States and Mexico is exceeding the capacity of

the existing port of entry. The solution developed among

local governments and affected state and federal agencies

is to move the commercial vehicle crossing to an undeveloped area five miles east of San Luis. The solution will enhance efficiency, health and safety by pulling heavy truck

traffic out of the downtown areas of the twin cities of San

Luis, Mexico, Rio Colorado and San Luis, Arizona.

To construct this new commercial port of entry, the

Greater Yuma Port authority was formed. The Port Authority identified 328 acres of undeveloped desert land currently owned by the Bureau of Reclamation, which has

been declared as surplus by the agency.

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H.R. 3023 would convey the Bureau of Reclamation land referred

to in the above letter to the Greater Yuma Port Authority at fair

market value to construct the new commercial Port of Entry.

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 3023 was introduced on October 5, 1999, by Congressman

Ed Pastor (D–AZ). The bill was referred to the Committee on Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on Water

and Power. On May 11, 2000, the Subcommittee met to consider

the bill. Congressman Calvin Dooley (D–CA) offered an amendment

in the nature of a substitute to clarify certain land boundaries. The

amendment was adopted by voice vote. The bill, as amended, was

then ordered to be reported to the Full Committee by voice vote.

On May 24, 2000, the Full Resources Committee met to consider

the bill. No additional amendments were offered and the bill was

ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by voice

vote.

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Conveyance of Lands to the Greater Yuma Port Authority

This section designates the location of each parcel of land to be

transferred from the Bureau of Reclamation to the Greater Yuma

Port Authority.

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 and Article IV, section 3 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.

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, sale of this land would bring

approximately $300,000 to the federal treasury.

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 recVerDate 11-MAY-2000 03:57 Jun 27, 2000 Jkt 079006 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR699.XXX pfrm03 PsN: HR699
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ommendations 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, June 23, 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 H.R. 3023, a bill to authorize

the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, to convey property to the Greater Yuma Port Authority

of Yuma County, Arizona, for use as an international port of entry.

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

to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Rachel Applebaum (for

federal costs) and Marjorie Miller (for the state and local impact).

Sincerely,

BARRY B. ANDERSON,

(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).

Enclosure.

H.R. 3023—A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior, acting

through the Bureau of Reclamation, to convey property to the

Greater Yuma Port Authority of Yuma County, Arizona, for use

as an international port of entry

H.R. 3023 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey

certain lands to the Greater Yuma Port Authority of Yuma County,

Arizona. As a condition of conveyance, the port authority would

have to pay the fair market value of the land, as of the date of the

bill’s enactment. The bill would require the port authority to use

these lands only for the construction and operation of an international port of entry and related activities.

CBO estimates that H.R. 3023 would not have a significant effect

on the federal budget. Based on information from the Bureau of

Reclamation and the General Services Administration, CBO estimates that the federal government would receive about $300,000

from the sale of lands to the Greater Yuma Port Authority. Currently, this property does not generate any receipts for the federal

government; however, the agency plans to sell the property in the

future. CBO expects that sale of the property for the fair market

value in 2001 would offset any forgone receipts from sale under

current law at a later date. Because enacting H.R. 3023 would affect offsetting receipts (a form of direct spending), pay-as-you-go

procedures would apply.

H.R. 3023 contains no private-sector or intergovernmental mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. State and

local governments would probably incur some costs as a result of

the bill’s enactment, but these costs would be voluntary. Further,

the surrounding communities would benefit from the purchase of

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the land, which would enable them to construct a new port of entry

for commercial traffic between the United States and Mexico. This

new port of entry would reduce delays at the existing border crossing at San Luis, Arizona.

The CBO staff contacts are Rachel Applebaum (for federal costs)

and Marjorie Miller (for the state and local impact). 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 as described in Public

Law 104–4.

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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