99–006

107TH CONGRESS REPORT " HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ! 2d Session 107–698

COSTS OF REVIEWS FOR CONVEYANCES UNDER 

EDUCATION LAND GRANT ACT

SEPTEMBER 26, 2002.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. HANSEN, from the Committee on Resources, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 3802] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 

(H.R. 3802) to amend the Education Land Grant Act to require the 

Secretary of Agriculture to pay the costs of environmental reviews 

with respect to conveyances under that Act, having considered the 

same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 3802 is to amend the Education Land Grant 

Act to require the Secretary of Agriculture to pay the costs of environmental reviews with respect to conveyances under that Act. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The 106th Congress enacted the Education Land Grant Act that 

allows the USDA Forest Service to convey up to 80 acres of National Forest System Land to school districts. This land would be 

used to renovate, expand or construct school facilities. Prior to this 

act, the Bureau of Land Management had similar authority to convey public land to school districts. 

The Education Land Grant Act requires that land to be conveyed 

be identified for disposal in a Land and Resource Management 

Plan (Forest Plan). The act also states that a conveyance shall be 

for a nominal cost and that the cost of the survey shall be borne 

by the applicant. Survey costs can vary, depending on differences 

in the survey, such as distance to known corners and complexity 

of the boundary. The Forest Service has recently published an inVerDate Sep 04 2002 02:24 Sep 28, 2002 Jkt 099006 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR698.XXX HR698
2

terim manual direction in the Federal Register; requiring school 

districts make a nominal payment of $10 per acre. 

Both the conveyance of land under this act and the forest plan 

amendment requires an environmental analysis under the National 

Environmental Policy Act. The act and the interim Forest Service 

manual are silent on who bears the cost of the environmental analysis. H.R. 3802 will require the Forest Service to bear the full cost 

of environmental analysis. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 3802 was introduced on February 27, 2002 by Mr. 

Hayworth. The bill was referred to the Committee on Resources, 

and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on Forests and 

Forest Health. On June 20, 2002, the Subcommittee held a hearing 

on the bill. On September 12, 2002, the Full Resources Committee 

met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee on Forests and Forest 

Health was discharged from further consideration of the bill by 

unanimous consent. No amendments were offered and the bill was 

then 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 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. As required by 

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

of this bill is to amend the Education Land Grant Act to require 

the Secretary of Agriculture to pay the costs of environmental reviews with respect to conveyances under that Act. 

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 ComVerDate Sep 04 2002 02:24 Sep 28, 2002 Jkt 099006 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR698.XXX HR698
3

mittee has received the following cost estimate for this bill from the 

Director of the Congressional Budget Office:

U.S. CONGRESS, 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, 

Washington, DC, September 24, 2002. 

Hon. JAMES V. HANSEN, 

Chairman, Committee on Resources, 

House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 3802, a bill to amend the 

Education Land Grant Act to require the Secretary of Agriculture 

to pay the costs of environmental reviews with respect to conveyances under that act. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Megan Carroll (for federal costs) and Marjorie Miller (for the state and local impact. 

Sincerely, 

BARRY B. ANDERSON

(For Dan L. Crippen, Director). 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 3802—A bill to amend the Education Land Grant Act to require the Secretary of Agriculture to pay the costs of environmental reviews with respect to conveyances under that act 

Upon written application, the Education Land Grant Act authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to convey federal lands to school 

districts at nominal cost. The act specifies that applicants must pay 

for any surveys required to complete such conveyances. H.R. 3802 

would amend that act to require the Secretary of Agriculture to pay 

for such surveys. CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 3802 

would cost less than $500,000 in fiscal year 2003, assuming the 

availability of appropriated funds. The bill would not affect direct 

spending or receipts; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would not 

apply. 

By requiring the Secretary to pay for surveys, H.R. 3802 would 

increase federal costs to complete conveyances under the Education 

Land Grant Act. The magnitude of that increase would depend on 

the number of school districts that apply for conveyances under 

that act. According to the Forest Service, only one such conveyance 

has occurred since land transfers were authorized in 2000, and a 

few applications are pending. Based on information from the Forest 

Service, CBO estimates that the cost of the required surveys averages $250,000 per application. Based on the current level of program activity, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 3802 would 

cost up to $1 million a year, depending on the number of applications and assuming the availability of appropriated funds. 

H.R. 3802 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. Enacting this 

legislation would benefit local school districts that receive land 

under the Education Land Grant Act. 

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Megan Carroll (for 

federal costs) and Marjorie Miller (for the state and local impact). 

4

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. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill, 

as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is printed in italic, 

and existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in 

roman): 

SECTION 202 OF THE EDUCATION LAND GRANT ACT 

SEC. 202. CONVEYANCE OF NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS FOR 

EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. 

(a) * * *

* * * * * * *

(f) COSTS OF REVIEW.—The Secretary shall pay the costs of all action required under section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 

Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) with respect to any conveyance under this section.

Æ