89–010 

Calendar No. 529 

111TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 2d Session 111–259 

CONVEYANCE OF LAND TO THE TOWN OF ALTA, UTAH 

AUGUST 5, 2010.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. BINGAMAN, from the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 1719] 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the bill (S. 1719) to provide for the conveyance of certain 

parcels of land to the town of Alta, Utah, having considered the 

same, reports favorably thereon with an amendment and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass. 

The amendment is as follows: 

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof 

the following: 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wasatch-Cache National Forest Land Conveyance 

Act of 2010’’. 

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

In this Act: 

(1) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ means the following 3 parcels 

of National Forest System land located in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest 

in the incorporated boundary of the Town: 

(A) A parcel of land occupied by the administration building of the Town 

pursuant to Forest Service special use permit SLC102708. 

(B) A parcel of land occupied by the public service building of the Town 

pursuant to Forest Service special use permit SLC102708 

(C) A parcel of land occupied by the water service building of the Town 

pursuant to Forest Service special use permit SLC102707. 

(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Agriculture. 

(3) TOWN.—The term ‘‘Town’’ means the town of Alta, Utah. 

SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF FEDERAL LAND TO ALTA, UTAH. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b) and 18 valid existing rights, as soon 

as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall convey 

to the Town, without consideration, all right, title, and interest of the United States 

in and to the Federal land. 

(b) CONDITIONS.— 


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(1) USE OF FEDERAL LAND.—As a condition of the conveyance under subsection 

(a), the Town shall use the Federal land only for public purposes consistent with 

the applicable special use permit described in section 2(1). 

(2) DEED AND REVERSION.—The conveyance under subsection (a) shall be by 

quitclaim deed, which shall provide that the Federal land shall revert to the 

Secretary, at the election of the Secretary, if the Federal land is used for a purpose other than a purpose provided under paragraph (1). 

(3) ACREAGE.— 

(A) IN GENERAL.—The boundaries of the Federal land conveyed under 

subsection (a) shall be determined by the Secretary, in consultation with 

the Town, subject to the condition that the Federal land conveyed may not 

exceed a total of 2 acres. 

(B) SURVEY AND LEGAL DESCRIPTION.—The exact acreage and legal description of the Federal land shall be determined, in accordance with subparagraph (A), by a survey approved by the Secretary. 

(4) COSTS.—The Town shall pay each administrative cost of the conveyance 

under subsection (a), including the costs of the survey carried out under paragraph (3). 

(5) ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The conveyance under subsection (a) 

shall be subject to such terms and conditions as the Secretary may require. 

PURPOSE

The purpose of S. 1719 is to provide for the conveyance of up to 

two acres of National Forest System land to the town of Alta, Utah, 

for continued use by the town for certain public purposes. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

The town of Alta, Utah, (hereinafter ‘‘Town’’) is home to a permanent population of 370 people and a popular ski area. The Town 

does not own any land within its municipality, and much of its municipal infrastructure is located on National Forest System land in 

the Wasatch-Cache National Forest pursuant to—as the Department of Agriculture describes it—‘‘a complex suite of existing special use permits.’’ 

The Town’s administration building and public service building 

were constructed pursuant to a non-assignable special use permit 

(SLC102708) authorizing buildings for the town’s emergency operations center, Marshall’s Office, central dispatch, community center, emergency equipment storage, and library, for example. A 

water service building was constructed pursuant to another non-assignable separate special use permit (SLC102707) to house municipal water infrastructure. Legislation is needed to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to transfer the land under those three municipal buildings to the Town to provide it with greater certainty and 

flexibility in the maintenance and continued use of those buildings 

for the purposes specified in the special use permits. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

S. 1719 was introduced by Senators Bennett and Hatch on September 25, 2009. The Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests 

held a hearing on the bill on December 17, 2009 (S. Hrg. 111–364). 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources considered the 

bill and adopted an amendment in the nature of a substitute at its 

business meeting on June 16, 2010. The Committee ordered S. 

1719 favorably reported, as amended, at its business meeting on 

June 21, 2010. 


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COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open business session on June 21, 2010, by a voice vote of a quorum present, 

recommends that the Senate pass S. 1719, if amended as described 

herein. 

COMMITTEEE AMENDMENT

During its consideration of S. 1719, the Committee adopted an 

amendment in the nature of a substitute. The amendment restricts 

the continued use of the three parcels of land to be conveyed to the 

Town to the public purposes specified in the current special use 

permits that authorize the Town to use the land for the three municipal buildings listed in the amended bill. The amendment also 

includes a number of technical and conforming changes. The 

amendment is explained in detail in the section-by-section analysis 

below. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1 provides the short title for the bill. 

Section 2 defines key terms in the bill, including ‘‘Federal land’’, 

which includes references to the three parcels of National Forest 

System land to be conveyed to the Town and the applicable special 

use permit authorization identification numbers for each. 

Section 3(a) directs the Secretary of Agriculture to convey, subject to the conditions in subsection (b), the Federal land to the 

Town for no consideration. 

Subsection (b) conditions the conveyance on the Town using each 

parcel of land only for public purposes consistent with those listed 

in the applicable special use permit and provides for the land to revert to the United States if the Town uses a parcel for some other 

purpose. The bill leaves the determination of the exact boundaries 

of the land to be conveyed under and immediately around the three 

buildings to the Secretary’s discretion, except that it may not exceed a total of 2 acres. Once the Secretary determines the appropriate boundaries of the parcels to be conveyed, the Secretary is required to conduct a survey to establish the exact acreage and a 

legal description of each parcel. The Town is required to pay the 

costs of the survey and all other administrative costs of the conveyance. The conveyance also shall be subject to any additional terms 

and conditions that the Secretary may require. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of costs of this measure has been provided 

by the Congressional Budget Office: 

S. 1719—Wasatch-Cache National Forest Land Conveyance Act of 

2010 

S. 1719 would direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey, without consideration, certain lands in Utah to the town of Alta. Based 

on information from the Forest Service, CBO estimates that enacting the legislation would have no significant impact on the federal 

budget. CBO expects that enacting the legislation would increase 

direct spending; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would apply. 


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CBO estimates, however, that such effects would be negligible. Enacting the legislation would not affect revenues. 

Under current law, the Forest Service receives payments totaling less than $20,000 per year for easements on the affected lands. 

Under the bill, those lands would be conveyed to Alta, Utah. Thus, 

CBO estimates that enacting the legislation would reduce offsetting 

receipts (a credit against direct spending) by less than $200,000 

over the 2010–2020 period. Because the bill would require the town 

to pay the administrative costs associated with the land exchange, 

CBO estimates that implementing the bill would not have a significant impact on spending subject to appropriation. 

The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 establishes budget-reporting and enforcement procedures for legislation affecting direct 

spending or revenues. S. 1719 would reduce offsetting receipts; 

therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would apply. However, CBO estimates that the increase in direct spending under the bill would 

not be significant over the 2010–2020 period. 

S. 1719 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. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The estimate was approved by Sam Papenfuss, Unit Chief for Income Security and Education Cost Estimates Unit, Budget Analysis Division. 

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. 1719. 

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. 1719, as ordered reported. 

CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

S. 1719, as 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

The views of the Administration were included in testimony received by the Committee at the December 17, 2009, subcommittee 

hearing on S. 1719 (S. Hrg. 111–364), which is printed below: 

STATEMENT OF HARRIS SHERMAN, UNDERSECRETARY, NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT, DEPARTMENT OF

AGRICULTURE

S. 1719 would direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey, without consideration, certain parcels of land not to 

exceed two acres located in the Wasatch-Cache National 

Forest to the Town of Alta, Utah for public purposes. The 


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bill includes a clause for reversion of the property to the 

United States, at the election of the Secretary based on the 

best interests of the United States, if the land is not being 

used for the purpose stated in the bill. 

While we support Alta’s need to consolidate their municipal resources, the Department cannot support the bill because it does not provide for market value compensation 

for the conveyance. It is long-standing policy that the taxpayers of the United States receive market value for the 

sale, exchange, or use of their National Forest System 

land. Based on recent land sales in the Alta area, we estimate the average value of the lands to be conveyed under 

S. 1719 to be $500,000. Although, the bill does require the 

Town of Alta to cover the Federal land survey costs associated with the conveyance, it does not clearly state who 

would be responsible for bearing other administrative costs 

associated with the conveyance. 

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 S. 1719, as ordered reported. 

Æ 


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