59–006 

110TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 110–249 

SNOQUALMIE PASS LAND CONVEYANCE ACT 

JULY 23, 2007.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of 

the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. RAHALL, from the Committee on Natural Resources, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 1285] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 1285) to provide for the conveyance of a parcel of National Forest System land in Kittitas County, Washington, to facilitate the construction of a new fire and rescue station, 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 all after the enacting clause and insert the following: 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Snoqualmie Pass Land Conveyance Act’’. 

SEC. 2. LAND CONVEYANCE, NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LAND, KITTITAS COUNTY, WASHINGTON. 

(a) CONVEYANCE REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall convey, without 

consideration, to the King and Kittitas Counties Fire District #51 of King and 

Kittitas Counties, Washington (in this section referred to as the ‘‘District’’), all right, 

title, and interest of the United States in and to a parcel of National Forest System 

land in Kittitas County, Washington, consisting of approximately 1.5 acres within 

the SW1⁄4 of the SE1⁄4 of section 4, township 22 north, range 11 east, Willamette 

meridian, for the purpose of permitting the District to use the parcel as a site for 

a new Snoqualmie Pass fire and rescue station. 

(b) REVERSIONARY INTEREST.—If the Secretary determines at any time that the 

real property conveyed under subsection (a) is not being used in accordance with 

the purpose of the conveyance specified in such subsection, all right, title, and interest in and to the property shall revert, at the option of the Secretary, to the United 

States, and the United States shall have the right of immediate entry onto the property. Any determination of the Secretary under this subsection shall be made on the 

record after an opportunity for a hearing. 


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(c) SURVEY.—If necessary, the exact acreage and legal description of the lands to 

be conveyed under subsection (a) shall be determined by a survey satisfactory to the 

Secretary. The cost of a survey shall be borne by the District. 

(d) ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The Secretary may require such additional terms and conditions in connection with the conveyance under subsection (a) 

as the Secretary considers appropriate to protect the interests of the United States. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 1285 is to provide for the conveyance of a 

parcel of National Forest System land in Kittitas County, Washington, to facilitate the construction of a new fire and rescue station. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The Snoqualmie Pass Fire and Rescue Station serves King and 

Kittitas Counties Fire District #51. Fire District #51 is managed by 

a three-person Board of Commissioners elected by the voters of 

Snoqualmie Pass. The Fire District consists of 24 volunteer firefighter/EMT’s that service a community of 350 full-time residents. 

Snoqualmie Pass Fire and Rescue currently operates a fire and 

rescue station on National Forest System property, at a facility 

that they lease from the Forest Service. The leased facility was 

built in the 1930’s as a maintenance shed for the Department of 

Transportation. The current facility has numerous deficiencies such 

as a non-compliant electrical system and no smoke alarm or sprinkler system. 

Snoqualmie Pass Fire and Rescue was approached last year by 

the Forest Service to ask if they would be interested in purchasing 

the land that the fire and rescue station currently sits on. Because 

they find the current facility to be inadequate, they instead are 

asking to have a separate 1.5 acre parcel conveyed to them in order 

to build a new fire and rescue station. Snoqualmie Pass Fire and 

Rescue also lacks the funding to purchase the parcel in question. 

There were efforts in the past to resolve this matter administratively through selling one acre of a three acre tract to Snoqualmie 

Pass Fire and Rescue using the Townsite Act (Public Law 85–569) 

but those efforts never came to fruition due to funding constraints 

of Snoqualmie Pass Fire and Rescue. The 1.5 acres in question are 

currently being used as a parking lot. 

H.R. 1285, as amended, conveys approximately 1.5 acres of National Forest System lands in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National 

Forest in Kittitas County, Washington, to facilitate the construction of a new fire and rescue station. H.R. 1285 also specifies that 

if the property conveyed is not being used in accordance with the 

purpose of the conveyance, the property shall revert back to the 

United States. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 1285 was introduced on March 1, 2007, by Representative 

Doc Hastings (R–WA). The bill was referred to the Committee on 

Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee 

on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands. On April 17, 2007, 

the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. At the Full Committee markup on June 28, 2007, the Subcommittee was discharged from further consideration of the bill. 


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National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee Chairman Rau ́l Grijalva (D–AZ) offered an amendment to make a technical change to the map description and limit the acreage of the 

parcel being conveyed to 1.5 acres. The Grijalva amendment was 

adopted by voice vote. 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 

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

CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United States 

grants 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, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. This bill does not 

authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the 

Rules of the House of Representatives does not apply. 

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: 

H.R. 1285—Snoqualmie Pass Land Conveyance Act 

H.R. 1285 would provide for the conveyance, without consideration, of 1.5 acres of Forest Service land to the King and Kittitas 

Counties Fire District #51. The land would be available only to the 

fire district to be used to construct a new firehouse. Based on information from the Forest Service, CBO expects that any cost to the 

government of implementing this legislation would not be significant. Enacting H.R. 1285 would not affect direct spending or revenues. 

H.R. 1285 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 


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The staff contact for this estimate is Tyler Kruzich. This estimate 

was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for 

Budget Analysis. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

EARMARK STATEMENT

H.R. 1285 does not contain any congressional earmarks, limited 

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

or 9(f) of rule XXI. 

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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