59–010 

Calendar No. 598 

114TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 2d Session 114–325 

BLACK HILLS NATIONAL CEMETERY BOUNDARY 

EXPANSION ACT 

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016.—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. 2223] 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the bill (S. 2223) to transfer administrative jurisdiction 

over certain Bureau of Land Management land from the Secretary 

of the Interior to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for inclusion in 

the Black Hills National Cemetery, and for other purposes, having 

considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an amendment 

and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass. 

The amendment is as follows: 

1. Strike section 4. 

PURPOSE

The purpose of S. 2223 is to transfer administrative jurisdiction 

over certain Bureau of Land Management land from the Secretary 

of the Interior to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for inclusion in 

the Black Hills National Cemetery. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

The Black Hills National Cemetery (Cemetery) is located just 

outside of Sturgis, South Dakota. Established in 1948, it currently 

houses 20,000 interments within its 106-acre footprint. S. 2223 

would provide for a permanent transfer of approximately 200 acres 

for the purpose of expanding the Cemetery. The land would be 

transferred from the Bureau of Land Management to the Department of Veterans Affairs, and would provide for necessary accommodation to properly honor veterans with a dignified burial for 

generations to come. 


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LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

Senator Thune introduced S. 2223 on October 29, 2015. The Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining held a hearing on 

April 21, 2016, to consider S. 2223. 

In the House of Representatives, Representative Noem introduced a companion bill, H.R. 3839, on October 27, 2015. The Subcommittee on Federal Lands held a hearing on May 12, 2016, and 

the Committee on Natural Resources ordered the bill to be reported 

with amendments on June 15, 2016. 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open 

business session on July 13, 2016, and ordered S. 2223 favorably 

reported as amended. 

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT

During its consideration of S. 2223, the Committee adopted an 

amendment to delete section 4, which established a process for the 

potential return of the public land transferred by the bill. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 

open business session on July 13, 2016, by a majority voice vote of 

a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 2223, if 

amended as described herein. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title 

Section 1 provides a short title for the measure. 

Section 2. Definitions 

Section 2 defines key terms. 

Section 3. Transfer and withdrawal of Bureau of Land Management land for Cemetery use 

Section 3(a) transfers administrative jurisdiction of the subject 

land from the Secretary of the Interior to the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs, requires publication and availability of the legal description, and requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to reimburse 

the Secretary of the Interior for reasonable costs incurred for carrying out this section. 

Subsection (b) withdrawals the subject land from all forms of appropriation, and requires the property to be treated as property as 

defined in section 102(9) of title 40, United States Code. 

Subsection (c) modifies the boundary of the Cemetery to include 

the Federal land. 

Subsection (d) modifies the existing Public Land Order 2112, 

dated June 6, 1960 (25 Fed. Reg. 5243) to exclude the Federal land. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of the costs of this measure has been provided by the Congressional Budget Office: 


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S. 2223—Black Hills National Cemetery Boundary Expansion Act 

S. 2223 would require the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 

to transfer 200 acres of land to the Department of Veterans Affairs 

(VA) to expand a national cemetery. Based on information provided 

by the affected agencies, CBO estimates that enacting the legislation would have no significant effect on the federal budget. 

Because enacting the bill would not affect direct spending or revenues, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO estimates that 

enacting S. 2223 would not increase net direct spending or onbudget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027. 

Under the bill, the affected lands would be withdrawn from mining and mineral leasing activities. Based on information provided 

by BLM, CBO expects that those activities would not occur over the 

next 10 years and we estimate that withdrawing the lands would 

not affect the federal budget. In addition, CBO estimates that implementing S. 2223 would have insignificant costs for VA to cover 

administrative expenses associated with the transfer and make improvements to the Black Hills National Cemetery. 

S. 2223 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. 

On August 30, 2016, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 

3839, the Black Hills National Cemetery Boundary Expansion Act, 

as ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources 

on June 15, 2016. H.R. 3839 contains a provision that would require VA to pay any costs to decontaminate land that the agency 

transfers back to BLM if it is not required for the cemetery. CBO 

determined that it could not estimate the cost of that provision. 

CBO’s estimated costs to carry out other provisions in the two bills 

are the same. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, 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. 2223. 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. 2223, as ordered reported. 

CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

S. 2223, 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. 


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EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

The testimony provided by the Bureau of Land Management at 

the April 21, 2016, Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and 

Mining hearing on S. 2223 follows: 

STATEMENT OF MIKE POOL, ACTING DEPUTY DIRECTOR BU- REAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT OF THE INTE- RIOR

Thank you for inviting the Department of the Interior to 

testify on S. 2223, the Black Hills National Cemetery 

Boundary Expansion Act, which transfers administrative 

jurisdiction of approximately 200 acres of public land currently managed by the Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ 

(VA) National Cemetery Administration (NCA) for inclusion in the Black Hills National Cemetery in Meade County, South Dakota. The Department of the Interior supports 

S. 2223. 

BACKGROUND

The Black Hills National Cemetery is located three 

miles southeast of Sturgis, South Dakota, near the Black 

Hills. Established in 1948, the cemetery currently encompasses 106 acres and has had over 20,000 interments. The 

BLM understands that the NCA would use the additional 

land provided under S. 2223 to expand the Black Hills National Cemetery to provide burial space for future needs. 

The BLM and the NCA have discussed such a transfer for 

several years, but the BLM has determined that no general authority exists for the agency to grant a perpetual 

transfer of jurisdiction as required by the NCA for a cemetery. 

S. 2223

S. 2223 directs the Secretary of the Interior to transfer 

administrative jurisdiction of approximately 200 acres of 

public land to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to be incorporated into the existing Black Hills National Cemetery, 

subject to valid existing rights. The Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs would be required to pay all survey costs and other 

reasonable costs associated with the transfer. The Federal 

land to be transferred would be withdrawn from all forms 

of appropriation under the public land laws, including the 

mining, mineral leasing, and geothermal leasing laws. 

Under the bill, should the NCA ever determine that it no 

longer needs any portion of the additional land, the Secretary of the Interior could restore the unneeded land to 

the public domain. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

would be responsible for costs of any decontamination necessary for restoration to public land status. 

The Department of the Interior supports S. 2223 and the 

transfer of administrative jurisdiction. We note that the 

expansion area is currently part of the Fort Meade Recreation Area / Area of Critical Environmental Concern 


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(ACEC) and that the Centennial Trail runs along the 

northern boundary of the expansion area. We suggest adding bill language to provide a 100-foot setback boundary 

from the centerline of the trail. The Administration would 

also like to work with the sponsor and the Committee to 

clarify the provisions related to decontamination and restoration of the land to public land status. 

CONCLUSION

Thank you again for the opportunity to testify in support 

of S. 2223, the Black Hills National Cemetery Boundary 

Expansion Act. We appreciate the work of the South Dakota congressional delegation on this legislation, and we 

look forward to collaborating with them and the Committee to meet the needs of the Black Hills National Cemetery. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no changes in existing law are made by the bill as ordered reported. 

Æ 


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