49–010 

Calendar No. 267 

109TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 1st Session 109–166 

RIO ARRIBA COUNTY LAND CONVEYANCE ACT 

OCTOBER 27, 2005.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. DOMENICI, from the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 213] 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the bill (S. 213) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to 

convey certain Federal land to Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, 

having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an 

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

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 ‘‘Rio Arriba County Land Conveyance Act’’. 

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

In this Act: 

(1) COUNTY.—The term ‘‘County’’ means the County of Rio Arriba, New Mexico. 

(2) MAP.—The term ‘‘map’’ means the map entitled ‘‘Alcalde Proposed Land 

Transfer’’ and dated September 23, 2004. 

(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the Interior. 

SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF LAND TO RIO ARRIBA COUNTY, NEW MEXICO. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, the Secretary shall convey to 

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

in and to the land (including any improvements to the land) described in subsection 

(b). 

(b) DESCRIPTION OF LAND.—The land referred to in subsection (a) consists of approximately 171 acres of land located on the Sebastian Martin Land Grant in the 

vicinity of Alcalde, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, as depicted on the map. 

(c) REVERSION.—If any portion of the land conveyed under subsection (a) ceases 

to be used for public purposes the land shall, at the option of the Secretary, revert 

to the United States. 

(d) CONDITIONS ON SALES.—If the County sells any portion of the land conveyed 

to the County under subsection (a)— 

(1) the amount of consideration for the sale shall reflect fair market value, 

as determined by an appraisal; and 

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(2) the County shall pay to the Secretary an amount equal to the gross proceeds of the sale, for use by the Director of the Bureau of Land Management 

in the State of New Mexico, without further appropriation. 

(e) COSTS.—The County shall pay any costs associated with the conveyance of 

land under subsection (a). 

PURPOSE OF THE MEASURE

The purpose of S. 213 is to direct the Secretary of the Interior 

to convey approximately 171 acres of Federal land to Rio Arriba 

County, New Mexico. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

S. 213 provides for the conveyance of approximately 171 acres of 

land located on the Sebastian Martin Land Grant in the vicinity of 

Alcalde, New Mexico to Rio Arriba County. The land is needed for 

county facilities, a cemetery for a local parish, and a new public 

school. Rio Arriba County lack sufficient land to meet the population’s growing needs. The county has worked with the Bureau of 

Land Management (BLM) to find a parcel of land that each agrees 

will best serve the public if it is transferred to county ownership. 

BLM was unable to handle this transfer administratively due to 

the particular history of how this parcel came into Federal ownership. S. 213 directs the Secretary of the Interior to convey the parcel without consideration, to the county. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

S. 213 was introduced by Senators Bingaman and Domenici on 

January 31, 2005. The Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests 

held a hearing on S. 213 on March 8, 2005. At the business meeting on September 28, 2005, the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources ordered S. 213, favorably reported with an amendment 

in the nature of a substitute. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open business session on September 28, 2005, by a unanimous vote of a 

quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 213, if 

amended as described herein. 

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT

During the consideration of S. 213, the Committee adopted an 

amendment in the nature of a substitute that simplifies the intended conveyance and corrects the acreage to be conveyed. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Sections 1 and 2 provide the short title and definitions for the 

bill. 

Section 3 directs the Secretary of the Interior to convey approximately 171 acres to Rio Arriba County, including any improvements to the land. The section provides a reversionary clause 

where, at the discretion of the Secretary, the land may be returned 

to Federal ownership if it is used for other than a public purpose. 

The section also requires the county to pay any costs associated 

with the conveyance, forbids the sale of any land for less than fair 

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market value and directs proceeds of any such sale be remitted to 

the Bureau of Land Management. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

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

S. 213—Rio Arriba County Land Conveyance Act 

S. 213 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey, for 

no consideration, 171 acres of federal land in New Mexico to the 

county of Rio Arriba. As a condition of the proposed conveyance, 

the bill would require the county to use that land for public purposes. 

CBO estimates that S. 213 would have no significant impact on 

the federal budget. According to the Bureau of Land Management, 

the land to be conveyed currently generates no significant receipts 

and is not expected to do so over the next 10 years. Therefore, we 

estimate that the bill would not significantly affect offsetting receipts (a credit against direct spending). Because the bill specifies 

that the county would pay any costs associated with the conveyance, we also estimate that the agency’s administrative costs to 

complete the proposed transaction, which would be subject to appropriation, would be negligible. Enacting S. 213 would not affect 

revenues. 

S. 213 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 land conveyance authorized by this bill would benefit Rio Arriba county, 

and they would incur any associated costs voluntarily. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Megan Carroll. This 

estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, 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. 213. 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. 213, as ordered reported. 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

Views of the Administration on S. 213 were included in testimony provided by the Bureau of Land Management at the Subcommittee hearing as follows: 

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STATEMENT OF CHRISTOPHER KEARNY, DEPUTY ASSISTANT

SECRETARY FOR POLICY AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Thank you for the opportunity to present testimony on 

S. 213, the Rio Arriba County Land Conveyance Act. S. 

213 would convey approximately 150.86 acres of land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Rio 

Arriba County (County), New Mexico, to the County for 

the purposes of providing County facilities, a new public 

school, and a cemetery for a local parish on the lands. The 

Department supports the conveyance. We recommend 

some technical clarifications to the bill, and would like the 

opportunity to work with the sponsors and the Subcommittee to develop language to address these clarifications. 

The lands proposed for conveyance in S. 213 are located 

to the north of Santa Fe, in the vicinity of Alcalde in 

north-central New Mexico. The growing population in Rio 

Arriba County has led to an increasing demand for municipal services. However, Rio Arriba County has a limited 

land base, and has been working with the BLM in an effort to acquire Federal land for use in the County’s efforts 

to provide expanded services. 

Under the Recreation and Public Purposes (R&PP) Act, 

the BLM can administratively transfer Federal lands to 

local governments at a reduced price, for various public 

purposes, including schools and municipal facilities. If the 

lands to be conveyed under S. 213 were part of the public 

domain, the BLM would have been able to transfer the 

lands under R&PP Act without the need for authorizing 

legislation. However, these lands are located on the Sebastian Martin Land Grant and were acquired by the Federal 

government under the Bankhead-Jones Act. The R&PP Act 

does not apply to acquired lands. Section 3(c) of S. 213 resolves this issue by directing that the land conveyed under 

the legislation be treated as public land for purposes of the 

R&PP Act. 

Under the R&PP Act, local governments may purchase 

Federal lands at reduced prices. The R&PP Act authorizes 

a schedule of reduced prices established by the Secretary, 

based upon the fair market value of the property, with a 

reduction based on the proposed use. For most public purposes, a local government may purchase Federal lands 

under the R&PP Act for $10 per acre. The special pricing 

applies to land which will be under the control of the local 

government, used for government purposes, and serve the 

general public. Examples include land on which facilities 

will be constructed for education and public health, fire 

and law enforcement, administrative services, social services, storage and maintenance, and public works. We 

would like the opportunity to work with the Subcommittee 

to clarify exactly which lands among the 150.86 acres are 

proposed for which specific uses and to develop a more precise map. Once we have that information, the Secretary 

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would be able to apply the provisions of the R&PP Act to 

determine the appropriate price to be paid by the County. 

We believe some clarifications to the legislation would be 

helpful. The bill should clarify that valid existing rights 

are protected. In addition, the bill should resolve the inconsistency between Section 3(a), which directs the Secretary to convey ‘‘all right, title, and interest’’ in the lands, 

and the R&PP Act, under which the mineral estate is reserved to the United States. In addition, conveyances 

under the R&PP Act require analysis under the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Also, because the lands 

to be conveyed under S. 213 were identified for retention 

under the BLM’s Taos Resource Management Plan (RMP), 

the RMP will need to be amended. Completion of the requisite NEPA analysis and RMP amendment may not be 

possible within the one-year time frame prescribed for the 

land transfer under bill. 

Thank you again for the opportunity to testify. We look 

forward to working with the Subcommittee to help achieve 

a positive result. I will be happy to answer any questions. 

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 S. 213, as ordered reported. 

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