79–006

106TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 106–744

LAND CONVEYANCE SAN BERNARDINO NATIONAL FOREST,

CALIFORNIA

JULY 17, 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. 3657]

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill

(H.R. 3657) to provide for the conveyance of a small parcel of public

domain land in the San Bernardino National Forest in the State

of California, 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 out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof

the following:

SECTION 1. LAND CONVEYANCE AND SETTLEMENT, SAN BERNARDINO NATIONAL FOREST,

CALIFORNIA.

(a) CONVEYANCE REQUIRED.—Subject to valid existing rights and settlement of

claims as provided in this section, the Secretary of Agriculture shall convey to

KATY 101.3 FM (in this section referred to as ‘‘KATY’’) all right, title and interest

of the United States in and to a parcel of real property consisting of approximately

1.06 acres within the San Bernardino National Forest in Riverside County, California, generally located in the north 1⁄2 of section 23, township 5 south, range 2

east, San Bernardino meridian.

(b) LEGAL DESCRIPTION.—The Secretary and KATY shall, by mutual agreement,

prepare the legal description of the parcel of real property to be conveyed under subsection (a), which is generally depicted as Exhibit A–2 in an appraisal report of the

subject property dated August 26, 1999, by Paul H. Meiling.

(c) CONSIDERATION.—Consideration for the conveyance under subsection (a) shall

be equal to the appraised fair market value of the parcel to be conveyed. Any appraisal to determine the fair market value of the parcel shall be prepared in conformity with the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions and

approved by the Secretary.

(d) SETTLEMENT.—In addition to the consideration referred to in subsection (c),

upon the receipt of $16,600 paid by KATY to the Secretary, the Secretary shall release KATY from any and all claims of the United States arising from the occupancy

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and use of the San Bernardino National Forest by KATY for communication site

purposes.

(e) ACCESS REQUIREMENTS.—Notwithstanding section 1323(a) of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3210(a)) or any other law, the

Secretary is not required to provide access over National Forest System lands to the

parcel of real property conveyed under subsection (a).

(f) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Any costs associated with the creation of a subdivided

parcel, recordation of a survey, zoning, and planning approval, and similar expenses

with respect to the conveyance under this section, shall be borne by KATY.

(g) INDEMNIFICATION.—By acceptance of the conveyance under this Act, KATY

agrees—

(1) to indemnify for any buildings or personal property belonging to GTE (also

known as General Telephone and Electronics Corporation) and any other third

party which are located on the parcel referred to in subsection (a) as of the date

the acceptance of the conveyance by KATY; and

(2) to indemnify and hold harmless the United States for liability to GTE and

any third party for any buildings or personal property located on the parcel referred to in subsection (a).

(h) TREATMENT OF RECEIPTS.—All funds received pursuant to this section shall be

deposited in the fund established under Public Law 90–171 (16 U.S.C. 484a; commonly known as the Sisk Act), and the funds shall remain available to the Secretary, until expended, for the acquisition of lands, waters, and interests in land for

the inclusion in the San Bernardino National Forest.

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 3657 is to provide for the conveyance of a

small parcel of public domain land in the San Bernardino National

Forest in the State of California, and for other purposes.

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

KATY 101.3 is a small radio station that serves a number of people living in the mountainous region of Idyllwild, California. In

1995, KATY subleased a small wooden communications tower that

had been operated by GTE for 30 years under a Forest Service special use permit in the San Bernardino National Forest. The Forest

Service claimed this was in violation of GTE’s special use permit

and asked KATY to vacate the site.

In 1996, the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act

included a provision requiring the Secretary of Agriculture to consider whether maintaining the KATY site was in the public interest and to report his findings to Congress. This report was never

submitted because the draft suggested that KATY move to another

site which was in violation of several Federal Communications

Commission regulations.

Finally, the Forest Service approached KATY about the prospect

of purchasing the land. KATY agreed to pay the Forest Service fair

market value for 1.06 acres of federal land located in the San

Bernardino National Forest. Congressional action is required for

land conveyances by the Forest Service.

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 3657 was introduced on February 15, 2000, by Congresswoman Mary Bono (R–CA). The bill was referred to the Committee

on Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on

Forests and Forest Health. On May 3, 2000, the Subcommittee held

a hearing on the bill. On May 16, 2000, the Subcommittee met to

mark up the bill. Congressman Helen Chenoweth-Hage (R–ID) offered an amendment to require KATY to provide the Forest Service

with evidence that it has clear title to all structures on the site to

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be conveyed (as requested by the Forest Service) and correct a technical error in the description of the radio station. It was adopted

by voice vote. The bill was then ordered favorably reported to the

Full Committee. On June 7, 2000, the Full Resources Committee

met to consider the bill. No further amendments were offered and

the bill, as amended, was then ordered favorably reported to the

House of Representatives by voice vote.

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, credit authority, or an increase

or decrease in tax expenditures. According to the Congressional

Budget Office, enactment of this bill could result in offsetting receipts of approximately $150,000 which can be spent by the Secretary of Agriculture without further appropriation.

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, June 15, 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. 3657, a bill to provide for

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the conveyance of a small parcel of public domain land in the San

Bernardino National Forest in the state of California, and for other

purposes.

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

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Megan Carrol.

Sincerely,

BARRY B. ANDERSON

(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).

Enclosure.

H.R. 3657—A bill to provide for the conveyance of a small parcel

of public domain land in the San Bernardino National Forest

in the state of California, and for other purposes

CBO estimates that enacting this legislation would have no significant net affect on the federal budget. Because the bill would affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures would apply, but the

impact on direct spending would be negligible. H.R. 3657 contains

no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would have no significant impact on the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.

Since 1995, KATY 101.3 FM (KATY), a small radio station, has

operated a communication tower on approximately 1 acre of land

that it leases within the San Bernardino National Forest in California. H.R. 3657 would direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey that property to KATY in return for a payment equal to the

land’s appraised full market value. The bill also would require the

Secretary, upon receipt of a payment by KATY of $16,600 (the estimated amount of arrears owed by KATY to the federal government), to release KATY from all claims arising from its lease of the

site. Under the bill, the Secretary would not be required to provide

access to the site. KATY would bear all administrative costs associated with the conveyance and would have to agree to indemnify the

United States against future claims regarding the property.

H.R. 3657 would authorize the Secretary to spend, without further appropriation, funds received from KATY to acquire other

property for the San Bernardino National Forest. Based on information from the Forest Service, CBO expects that the federal government would receive as much as $150,000 from KATY in 2001.

Those payments would be recorded as offsetting receipts (a credit

against direct spending), and would be spent over the 2001–2002

period.

The CBO staff contact is Megan Carroll. This estimate was approved by Robert A. Sunshine, 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.

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CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing law.

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