69–010 

Calendar No. 55 

115TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 1st Session 115–41 

CLARIFICATION TO THE NORTHERN ARIZONA LAND EXCHANGE AND 

VERDE RIVER BASIN PARTNERSHIP ACT OF 2005 

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. 466] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the bill (S. 466) to clarify the description of certain Federal 

land under the Northern Arizona Land Exchange and Verde River 

Basin Partnership Act of 2005 to include additional land in the 

Kaibab National Forest, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the bill do 

pass. 

PURPOSE

The purpose of S. 466 is to clarify the description of certain Federal land under the Northern Arizona Land Exchange and Verde 

River Basin Partnership Act of 2005 to include additional land in 

the Kaibab National Forest. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

S. 466 clarifies the description of one parcel of land that was authorized for conveyance in the Northern Arizona Land Exchange 

and Verde River Basin Partnership Act of 2005 (Public Law 109– 

110; 119 Stat. 2356). The 2005 legislation provided for the conveyance of 237.5 acres from the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to Young 

Life for a camp near Williams, Arizona. Although the legislation 

described the 237.5-acre parcel (section 104(a)(5)), the map referenced in the same section erroneously depicted only 212.5 acres. 

The 2005 Act provided that ‘‘in the case of any discrepancy between a map and legal description, the map shall prevail unless 

the Secretary and Yavapai Ranch agree otherwise.’’ (Public Law 


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109–110, section 102(a)(4)(B)). Despite the statutory authority to 

reconcile the description with the map, the Secretary of Agriculture 

has taken the position that the USFS lacks the legal authority to 

convey more than the 212.5 acres identified on the map. S. 466 

amends the legal description to add the 25 acres and clarify that 

the USFS has the authority to convey the full 237.5 acres that was 

described in the text of the 2005 legislation. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

Senators Flake and McCain introduced S. 466 on January 5, 

2017. 

In the 114th Congress, Senators Flake and McCain introduced 

similar legislation, S. 1592, on June 17, 2015. The Subcommittee 

on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining held a hearing on the bill on 

October 8, 2015. On November 19, 2015, the Committee on Energy 

and Natural Resources met in open business session and ordered 

S. 1592 favorably reported without amendment. 

The measure was included in Amendment No. 3234, which the 

Senate agreed to on April 19, 2016, as an amendment to S. 2012, 

the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2016, which the Senate 

passed, as amended, on April 20, 2016. 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open 

business session on March 30, 2017, and ordered S. 466 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. 466. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1 amends section 104(a)(5) of the Northern Arizona Land 

Exchange and Verde River Basin Partnership Act of 2005 (Public 

Law 109–110; 119 Stat. 2356) to clarify that the description of the 

Federal land to be conveyed to Yavapai Ranch as part of the land 

exchange includes the 25 acres referenced in this section. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of the costs of this measure has been provided by the Congressional Budget Office: S. 466 would amend current law to clarify that the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized 

to convey about 238 acres of federal land to a summer camp in Arizona. Under current law, the Secretary is authorized to convey 212 

acres to the camp. 

Based on information provided by the Forest Service, CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would not affect the federal budget. Because CBO expects that the acreage that could be 

conveyed under the bill would not generate any income over the 

next 10 years, enacting S. 466 would not affect direct spending. Enacting the bill also would not affect revenues; therefore, pay-as-yougo procedures do not apply. 


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CBO estimates that enacting S. 466 would not increase net direct 

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

year period beginning in 2028. 

S. 466 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates 

as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). The bill 

would modify the terms of a land exchange between the federal 

government and a private business, which would have a small incidental effect on property taxes collected by the state and local governments in Arizona. That effect, however, would not result from 

an intergovernmental mandate as defined in UMRA. 

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Jeff LaFave (for federal costs) and Jon Sperl (for intergovernmental mandates). The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, 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. 466. 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. 466, as ordered reported. 

CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

S. 466, 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. 466 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 USFS at the 

hearing before the Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and 

Mining on October 8, 2015, follows: 

STATEMENT OF GLENN CASAMASSA, ASSOCIATE DEPUTY

CHIEF, NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM, U.S. FOREST SERVICE, 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, thank 

you for the opportunity to present the views of the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture (USDA) regarding S. 414, S. 

1592, and S. 2069. 


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S. 1592, ‘‘A BILL TO CLARIFY THE DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN

FEDERAL LAND UNDER THE NORTHERN ARIZONA LAND EXCHANGE AND VERDE RIVER BASIN PARTNERSHIP ACT OF

2005 TO INCLUDE ADDITIONAL LAND IN THE KAIBAB NATIONAL FOREST’’ 

S. 1592 would authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to 

convey an additional 25 acres to Young Life Lost Canyon 

Organizational Camp. The Department can support enactment of S. 1592, if a technical amendment is included that 

would provide an easement for a proposed extension for 

the Water Storage Tank Road. 

This legislation clarifies the Northern Arizona Land Exchange and Verde River Basin Partnership Act of 2005. 

The original Act authorized a land exchange with Yavapai 

Ranch and the United States that was not completed. The 

Act also authorized the sale of a parcel of National Forest 

System lands to Young Life Lost Canyon Organizational 

Camp on the Kaibab National Forest. The legislative map 

referenced by the Act for the Young Life private property 

showed an area of only approximately 212 acres to be conveyed, instead of the approximately 237.5 acres stated in 

the Act. The area shown on the legislative map excluded 

a particular 25-acre parcel. Because the legislative map 

controlled over the reference to approximately 237.5 acres, 

the Act did not authorize conveyance of the 25-acre parcel 

excluded by the map. S. 1592 was introduced to clarify 

that conveyance of the 25-acre parcel is also authorized, allowing the United States to convey a total of approximately 237.5 acres to Young Life. 

In summary, S. 1592 would resolve the disparity between the legislative map and the total acreage authorized 

for conveyance, allowing the Secretary to proceed with the 

direct sale of a total of approximately 237.5 acres to Young 

Life Lost Canyon Organizational Camp. In order to ensure 

agreement between the acreage and the legal description, 

the Agency is willing to provide additional technical assistance to the Committee, and wants to work with the Committee to include the easement for the Water Tank Road 

Extension. 

We look forward to working with the Committee and the 

Sponsor to resolve these issues. 

This concludes my remarks. I would be happy to answer 

any questions. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. 

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): 


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NORTHERN ARIZONA LAND EXCHANGE AND VERDE 

RIVER BASIN PARTNERSHIP ACT OF 2005 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 104. DESCRIPTION OF FEDERAL LAND. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal land referred to in this title consists of the following: 

* * * 

(5) Certain land located in the Kaibab National Forest, comprising approximately 237.5 acres, as generally depicted on the 

map entitled ‘‘Yavapai Ranch Land Exchange, Younglife Lost 

Canyon’’, dated August 2004, which, notwithstanding section 

102(a)(4)(B), includes the N 1/2, NE 1/4, SW 1/4, SW 1/4, the 

N 1/2, N 1/2, SE 1/4, SW 1/4, and the N 1/2, N 1/2, SW 

1/4, SE 1/4, sec. 34, T. 22 N., R. 2 E., Gila and Salt River 

Meridian, Coconino County, comprising approximately 25 acres. 

* * * * * * * 

Æ 


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