69–010 

Calendar No. 53 

115TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 1st Session 115–39 

TO REMOVE THE USE RESTRICTIONS ON CERTAIN LAND 

TRANSFERRED TO ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, VIRGINIA, 

AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 

MAY 3, 2017.—Ordered to be printed 

Ms. MURKOWSKI, from the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 331] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the bill (S. 331) to remove the use restrictions on certain 

land transferred to Rockingham County, Virginia, and for other 

purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 

without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE

The purpose of S. 331 is to remove the use restrictions on certain 

land transferred to Rockingham County, Virginia. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

In 1989, the Department of the Interior deeded a small parcel of 

land to Rockingham County, Virginia, for public purposes. This 

land includes a garage that had previously been used by the National Park Service. The County allows the non-profit Plains Area 

Day Care Center in Broadway, Virginia to use the garage as a 

child care center. 

In 1990, Congress enacted legislation to allow a certain parcel of 

land in Rockingham County, Virginia, to be used for a child care 

center (Public Law 101–479). The law authorized the County of 

Rockingham, Virginia, to permit the use of approximately 3.03 

acres of land for the purpose of a child care center. The Act further 

specified that use should be confined to the building in existence 

2 

as of the date of enactment; involve fencing or enclosing of no more 

than 3,500 square feet of the open space portions of the lands; and 

not preclude use of any of the land for other permissible purposes 

(subject to reasonable restrictions necessary to allow a use authorized under the Act). 

Because of the deed restrictions resulting from Public Law 101– 

479, the non-profit that operates the day care is unable to obtain 

loans to make improvements and renovations to the property. S. 

331 would release the deed restrictions on a one-acre portion of the 

property already authorized by law to be used for a child care facility. The other two acres would continue to be subject to the existing 

deed’s use restriction and reversionary clause. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

S. 331 was introduced by Senator Kaine on February 7, 2017. 

In the 114th Congress, H.R. 2288 was introduced by Representative Goodlatte on May 13, 2015. On September 10, 2015, the House 

Committee on Natural Resources ordered H.R. 2288 to be reported, 

as amended, by unanimous consent. The House of Representatives 

passed H.R. 2288 by a vote of 407–0 on November 30, 2015. H.R. 

2288 was received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on 

Energy and Natural Resources on December 1, 2015. 

Senator Kaine introduced a similar bill, S. 1329, on May 13, 

2015. The Subcommittee on National Parks held a hearing on both 

S. 1329 and H.R. 2288 on March 17, 2016. The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open business session on July 

13, 2016, and ordered H.R. 2288 favorably reported. 

In the 115th Congress, an identical bill, H.R. 954, was introduced 

in the House of Representatives by Representative Goodlatte on 

February 7, 2017. 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open 

business session on March 30, 2017 and ordered the S. 331 favorably reported. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 

open business session on March 30, 2017, by a majority voice vote 

of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 331. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Removal of use restrictions 

Section 1 amends Public Law 101–479 by striking the use restriction provision in section 2(d) and inserting a new section 4. The 

new section 4 removes the land use restrictions on approximately 

one acre of land that is used for purposes of a child care center and 

requires the Secretary to execute an instrument to enact this section upon the Act’s enactment. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of costs of this measure has been provided 

by the Congressional Budget Office: 

S. 331 would remove restrictions in the deed for a parcel of land 

that was conveyed by the National Park Service (NPS) to RockingVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:02 May 05, 2017 Jkt 069010 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR039.XXX SR039
3 

ham County, Virginia. That restriction stipulates that the land can 

only be used for a public park and a child care center. Based on 

information provided by the NPS, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would have no effect on the federal budget. 

Enacting S. 331 would not affect direct spending or revenues; 

therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO estimates 

that enacting the legislation would not increase net direct spending 

or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods 

beginning in 2028. 

S. 331 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates 

as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not 

affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papanfuss, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION

In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following evaluation 

of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in carrying out 

S. 331. The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of imposing Government-established standards or significant economic responsibilities on private individuals and businesses. 

No personal information would be collected in administering the 

program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal privacy. 

Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the enactment of S. 331, as ordered reported. 

CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

S. 331, as ordered reported, does not contain any congressionally 

directed spending items, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the Standing Rules of the Senate. 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

Because S. 331 is similar to legislation considered by the Committee in the 114th Congress, the Committee did not request Executive Agency views. The testimony provided by the National Park 

Service at the hearing before the Subcommittee on National Parks 

on March 17, 2016, follows: 

STATEMENT OF PEGGY O’DELL, DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT

OF THE INTERIOR

Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank 

you for the opportunity to present the Department of the 

Interior’s views on S. 1329 and H.R. 2288, bills to remove 

the use restrictions on certain land transferred to Rockingham County, Virginia, and for other purposes. 

The Department supports H.R. 2288 and would support 

S. 1329 if amended to conform to H.R. 2288. H.R. 2288 as 

passed by the House addresses the concerns the Department had with the bills as introduced about the potential 

loss of public park and recreation land in Rockingham 

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County. The Department appreciates the work of Senator 

Kaine and Representative Goodlatte in making the 

changes in the legislation that are reflected in the Housepassed bill. 

S. 1329 and H.R. 2288 as introduced would require the 

removal of all deed restrictions imposed by the transfer of 

the surplus federal property formerly known as the Broadway Work Center A–VA–681 in Rockingham County, Virginia, under the terms of the National Park Service’s Federal Lands to Parks (FLP) Program. In 1989, the National 

Park Service conveyed this 3.03-acre property at no cost to 

Rockingham County under the authority of the Federal 

Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40 

U.S.C. 550(b) and (e)) on the condition that it be used in 

perpetuity for public park and recreation purposes. 

The purpose of the FLP program is to help communities 

increase opportunities for public recreation by increasing 

park and recreation areas. By conveying this land at no 

cost, the federal government provided a public benefit to 

the citizens of Rockingham County by increasing the quantity of the county’s public park land. 

Public Law 101–479, enacted in 1990, allowed a specified portion of 3.03 acres of the transferred land to be used 

for a child care center. However, it left in place the use restriction (enforced by a reverter clause) that was part of 

the deed. As introduced, H.R. 2288 and S. 1329 would release the entire property from the use restriction in the 

deed in an effort to enhance the child care center operator’s ability to finance repairs even though, consistent with 

the terms of Public Law 101–479, only about 1 acre of the 

3-acre site is used for the facility. As passed by the House, 

H.R. 2288 would limit the deed release to the 1-acre portion of the property already authorized by law to be used 

for a child care facility. The other 2 acres would continue 

to be subject to the existing deed’s use restriction and reverter clause. 

By limiting the deed release to the portion of the property already determined by Congress to be appropriate for 

a child care facility, the amended legislation would accomplish its intent while also ensuring that a community that 

received Federal land at no cost for the purpose of public 

recreation would continue to benefit from having the land 

dedicated to that purpose. This solution helps protect the 

integrity of the FLP program and avoids setting a precedent for other communities that may want a legislated release from obligations for use of federally conveyed land. 

H.R. 2288 as passed by the House also eliminates the requirement in section 2(d) of Public Law 101–479 for Rockingham County to report biennially to the Secretary of the 

Interior about the use of the property for a child care center, as well as other language in that section that is inconsistent with releasing the center from the deed restriction. 

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. I would be 

happy to answer any questions you or any members of the 

subcommittee may have. 

5 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with paragraph 12 of Rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by the original 

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): 

PUBLIC LAW 101–479 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS. 

* * * * * * * 

ø(d)(1) If the county, pursuant to this Act, authorizes use of the 

lands for a child care center, the county shall include information 

concerning such use in the biennial reports to the Secretary of the 

Interior required under the terms of the conveyance of the land to 

the county by the United States and shall also provide a copy of 

such information to appropriate officials of the United States and 

the Commonwealth of Virginia responsible for implementation of 

laws concerning the operation of child care centers. 

ø(2) Any violation of the provisions of this Act shall be deemed 

to be a breach of the conditions and covenants under which the 

lands were conveyed to the county by the United States, and shall 

have the same effect, as provided in the deed whereby the United 

States conveyed the lands to the county.¿ 

SEC. 3. LAND DESCRIPTION. 

The land referred to in sections 1 and 2 is that parcel comprised 

of approximately 3.03 acres of land transferred by the United 

States on April 11, 1989, to the county of Rockingham, Virginia, in 

deed book number 953 at page 600, together with improvements 

thereon. 

SEC. 4. REMOVAL OF USE RESTRICTION. 

(a) The approximately 1-acre portion of the land referred to in section 3 that is used for purposes of a child care center, as authorized 

by this Act, shall not be subject to the use restriction imposed in the 

deed referred to in section 3. 

(b) Upon enactment of this section, the Secretary of the Interior 

shall execute an instrument to carry out subsection (a). 

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