39–006 

113TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 113–402 

HERMISTON REVERSIONARY INTEREST RELEASE ACT 

APRIL 4, 2014.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of 

the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, from the Committee on Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 3366] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 3366) to provide for the release of the property interests 

retained by the United States in certain land conveyed in 1954 by 

the United States, acting through the Director of the Bureau of 

Land Management, to the State of Oregon for the establishment of 

the Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center of Oregon State University in Hermiston, Oregon, 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 ‘‘Hermiston Reversionary Interest Release Act’’. 

SEC. 2. RELEASE OF RETAINED INTERESTS IN BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT LAND CONVEYED TO THE STATE OF OREGON FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF HERMISTON AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND EXTENSION CENTER. 

(a) RELEASE OF RETAINED INTERESTS.—Any reservation or reversionary interest 

retained by the United States to the approximately 290 acres in Hermiston, Oregon, 

depicted as ‘‘Reversionary Interest Area’’ on the map entitled ‘‘Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center’’ and dated July 23, 2013, is hereby released 

without consideration. 

(b) INSTRUMENT OF RELEASE.—The Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 

Director of the Bureau of Land Management, shall execute and file in the appropriate office a deed of release, amended deed, or other appropriate instrument reflecting the release of retained interests under subsection (a). 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 3366 is to provide for the release of the 

property interests retained by the United States in certain land 


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conveyed in 1954 by the United States, acting through the Director 

of the Bureau of Land Management, to the State of Oregon for the 

establishment of the Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center of Oregon State University in Hermiston, Oregon. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

H.R. 3366 would release the Bureau of Land Management’s reversionary interest in 290 acres that were conveyed to the State of 

Oregon in 1954 for the establishment of the Hermiston Agricultural 

Research and Extension Center (HAREC) of Oregon State University (OSU) in Hermiston, Oregon. 

In 1954, the federal government conveyed the 290 acres affected 

by this legislation to the State of Oregon for the creation of the 

HAREC. The federal government retains a reversionary interest in 

the property and the property would return to federal ownership if 

it is not specifically used for agricultural research purposes. As the 

city of Hermiston continues to grow up around the HAREC, this reversionary interest denies OSU and the city the control and flexibility needed to efficiently manage the property and advance new 

agricultural research programs. Lifting the reversionary interest 

will advance the goals of the HAREC and OSU, benefit the local 

economy and create job opportunities to meet the demands of the 

growing region. 

Adjacent to the 290 acres affected by H.R. 3366 is a six acre parcel of land that previously reverted back to the Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM) and currently stands idle. This parcel will be 

orphaned, is of no use to BLM and will be a challenge to manage 

when the reversionary interest is removed from the 290 acres being 

used for the HAREC. The six acres could be better managed if it 

were to rejoin and be managed with the adjacent 290 acres. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 3366 was introduced on October 29, 2013, by Congressman 

Greg Walden (R–OR). The bill was referred to the Committee on 

Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee 

on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation. On February 26, 

2014, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On March 13, 

2014, the Natural Resources Committee met to consider the bill. 

The Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation 

was discharged by unanimous consent. Congressman Rob Bishop 

(R–UT) offered an amendment designated #1; the amendment was 

adopted by unanimous consent. The bill as amended was then 

adopted and 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 

Natural Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in the body of this report. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of 

the House of Representatives requires an estimate and a compariVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:34 Apr 05, 2014 Jkt 039006 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR402.XXX HR402

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son by the Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(2)(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. 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: 

H.R. 3366—Hermiston Reversionary Interest Release Act 

H.R. 3366 would require the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 

to convey a reversionary interest in about 290 acres of land to the 

State of Oregon. The affected lands were conveyed to the state 

under the condition that interest in the lands would revert to BLM 

if the state stopped using the land for certain agricultural purposes. Under the bill, that condition would no longer apply. 

Based on information provided by BLM, CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would have no significant effect on the 

federal budget. Because we expect that the affected lands would 

not generate any receipts for the federal government over the next 

10 years, CBO estimates that enacting the legislation would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. 

H.R. 3366 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director 

for Budget Analysis. 

2. Section 308(a) of 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. CBO estimates that implementing the legislation 

would have no significant effect on the federal budget. 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 

clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or objective 

of this bill is to provide for the release of the property interests retained by the United States in certain land conveyed in 1954 by 

the United States, acting through the Director of the Bureau of 

Land Management, to the State of Oregon for the establishment of 

the Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center of Oregon State University in Hermiston, Oregon. 

EARMARK STATEMENT

This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, limited 

tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined under clause 9(e), 

9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 


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COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5

Directed Rule Making. The Chairman does not believe that this 

bill directs any executive branch official to conduct any specific 

rule-making proceedings. 

Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not establish or 

reauthorize a program of the federal government known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was not included in 

any report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress 

pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111–139 or identified in the 

most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program Information Act (Public Law 95–220, 

as amended by Public Law 98–169) as relating to other programs. 

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. 

Æ 


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