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[Senate Report 115-312]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                       Calendar No. 540
                                                       
                                                       
115th Congress   }                                         {    Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session      }                                         {   115-312

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             CONFIRMING STATE LAND GRANTS FOR EDUCATION ACT

                                _______
                                

                  July 31, 2018--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 H.R. 2582]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (H.R. 2582) to authorize the State of Utah to 
select certain lands that are available for disposal under the 
Pony Express Resource Management Plan to be used for the 
support and benefit of State institutions, and for other 
purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 
without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                                PURPOSE

    The purpose of H.R. 2582 is to authorize the State of Utah 
to select certain lands that are available for disposal under 
the Pony Express Resource Management Plan to be used for the 
support and benefit of State institutions.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    The 1894 Utah Enabling Act (28 Stat. 107) granted the State 
of Utah the right to select public lands for the support and 
benefit of state institutions, including an agricultural 
college (now Utah State University), in addition to the more 
familiar school land grants. Lands granted to Utah under this 
Act are managed by the Utah School and Institutional Trust 
Lands Administration (SITLA), which is an independent state 
agency that manages Utah's 3.4 million acres of trust lands.
    According to SITLA, several thousand acres of unfulfilled 
selection rights are currently outstanding. In 1998, SITLA 
filed an application with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 
to select 444.05 acres of BLM land near the City of Eagle 
Mountain in Utah County for the benefit of the Utah State 
University land trust. This selection application was 
subsequently modified to add an additional 80 acres near the 
City of Saratoga Springs.
    For several years, BLM worked to process this application, 
and SITLA has incurred significant expenses in obtaining 
necessary archaeological clearances for the selection. However, 
in 2006, BLM determined that the applicable federal land 
management plan did not allow for the selection. The basis for 
this decision was that, although the subject lands were 
classified in the land management plan for disposal by land 
exchange, the disposal language did not expressly refer to 
state selections, so selections (as opposed to land exchanges) 
could not be processed.
    SITLA believes that under applicable legal authority, state 
selections are in fact authorized under the land management 
plan, but BLM disagrees. SITLA has also requested that BLM 
consider a plan amendment to authorize the proposed selections, 
but BLM declined to do so due to inadequate staff and funding 
to process the plan amendment.
    H.R. 2582 would correct the legal technicality, and confirm 
that BLM may process the current 500-acre selection, and future 
state selections in the immediate area, without further land 
use planning. The selected lands would still be subject to 
environmental reviews before they are transferred to SITLA. 
This will allow the United States to fulfill commitments made 
in the Utah Enabling Act to provide land for support of higher 
education and other public purposes.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    Representative Love introduced H.R. 2582 in the House of 
Representatives on May 22, 2017. H.R. 2582 was reported, as 
amended, by the Committee on Natural Resources (H. Rept. 115-
305) on September 12, 2017. The House of Representatives passed 
H.R. 2582 by voice vote on October 2, 2017.
    Senator Hatch introduced S. 1665, companion legislation, on 
July 27, 2017. The Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and 
Mining held a legislative hearing on S. 1665 and H.R. 2582 on 
February 7, 2018.
    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open 
business session on May 17, 2018, and ordered H.R. 2582 
favorably reported.

                        COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 
open business session on May 17, 2018, by a majority voice vote 
of a quorum present recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 2582.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title

    Section 1 contains the short title.

Section 2. Authorization

    Subsection (a) authorizes the State of Utah, subject to 
valid existing rights, to select any lands in T6S and T7S, R1W, 
Salt Lake Base and Meridian, administered by BLM and identified 
as available for disposal by land exchange in the applicable 
Record of Decision for the Pony Express Resource Management 
Plan and Rangeland Program Summary for Utah County (January 
1990), as amended by the Pony Express Plan Amendment (November 
1997), and as generally depicted on the map entitled, 
``Proposed Utah County Quantity Grants'' (June 27, 2017). This 
subsection also states that these selections are to be used to 
further the purposes of STILA without added use planning action 
by the BLM.
    Subsection (b) states the criteria listed in Decision 3 of 
the Lands Program of the resource management plan described in 
subsection (a) shall not apply to any selected land.
    Subsection (c) notes that nothing in this Act affects the 
limitation established under section 2815(d) of the National 
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (Public Law 106-
65).

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

    The following estimate of the costs of this measure has 
been provided by the Congressional Budget Office:
    H.R. 2582 would allow the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 
to process the selection of 520 acres of federal land in Utah 
under the Utah Enabling Act of 1894. That act authorized the 
state of Utah to select certain federal lands to be held in 
trust by the School and Institutional Trust Lands 
Administration (SITLA), an independent state agency, for the 
benefit of the state. The state used that authority to select 
520 acres of land that BLM identified for disposal. However, 
because BLM's land use plan for the area containing the 
selected lands does not allow land to be disposed of through 
the land selection process, the agency cannot transfer those 
lands to the state without revising its existing plan. Using 
information from BLM, CBO does not expect the agency to make 
the necessary revisions to that plan within the next 10 years.
    Under H.R. 2582, BLM would be authorized to process SITLA's 
land selections without revising its existing land use plan. 
The affected lands currently generate receipts from grazing 
allotments, rights-of-way, and gravel pits. Based on historical 
collections, CBO estimates receipts from those sources will 
total less than $25,000 a year over the next 10 years. Thus, 
CBO estimates that allowing SITLA to take the affected lands 
into trust would not have a significant effect on offsetting 
receipts (which are recorded in the budget as reductions in 
direct spending) over the 2019-2028 period. Because enacting 
H.R. 2582 would affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go 
procedures apply. The legislation would not affect revenues.
    CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2582 would not 
significantly increase net direct spending or on-budget 
deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods 
beginning in 2029.
    H.R. 2582 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would benefit the state of Utah and local governments by 
expediting the transfer of federal lands to the state. The 
transfer could increase revenue from resource development on 
state trust lands; those revenues are used to fund public 
schools in Utah. Any costs incurred by the State of Utah or 
local governments associated would result from voluntary 
commitments.
    On September 11, 2017, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for 
H.R. 2582, the Confirming State Land Grants for Education Act, 
as ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources 
on July 26, 2017. The two versions of the legislation are 
similar, and CBO's estimates of their budgetary effects are the 
same.
    The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Jeff LaFave 
(for federal costs) and Zachary Byrum (for mandates). The 
estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, 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 H.R. 2582. 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 H.R. 2582, as ordered reported.

                   CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

    H.R. 2582, 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.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    The testimony provided by the Department of the Interior at 
the February 7, 2018, hearing on S. 1665, the companion 
legislation for H.R. 2582, follows:

Statement of Brian Steed, Deputy Director for Policy & Programs, Bureau 
          of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior

    Thank you for inviting the Department of the Interior 
(Department) to testify on S. 1665, the Confirming State Land 
Grants for Education Act. S. 1665 authorizes the State of Utah 
(State) to select certain public lands managed by the Bureau of 
Land Management (BLM) in fulfillment of the land grants made 
under the Utah Enabling Act of 1894 (28 Stat. 107) without 
further land use planning action by the BLM. S. 1665 is 
consistent with Secretary Zinke's priority of serving the 
American family by enhancing our relationships with States and 
local communities. The Department has no objection to the 
State's selection of these lands and supports the goals of S. 
1665 to fulfill these specific land grants. We would like the 
opportunity to work with the sponsor and Subcommittee on a 
clarifying amendment.
Background
    Under the Utah Enabling Act of 1894, the State is 
authorized to select certain lands for the support of common 
schools, the establishment and support of a state university 
and agricultural college, the establishment of permanent water 
reservoirs for irrigating purposes, and the establishment and 
support of various other state health institutions and schools.
    In 1998, the State made an application for selection of 
approximately 440 acres of BLM-managed public lands in Utah 
County, Utah, for an agricultural college (Utah State 
University) in partial fulfillment of the grant authorized 
under the Utah Enabling Act of 1894. In 2004, the State amended 
its application to include an additional 80 acres of BLM-
managed public lands in the County. In 2007, the BLM ultimately 
determined, based on a review of existing law and in 
consultation with the Department's Office of the Solicitor, 
that the lands in question were not available for State 
selection because they had been identified in the 1997 Pony 
Express Resource Management Plan (RMP) as potentially suitable 
for exchange, but not other forms of disposal. The Department 
notes that the Pony Express RMP would need to be amended to 
enable State selection of the lands in question.
S. 1665
    S. 1665 is identical to H.R. 2582 as reported by the House 
Natural Resources Committee on September 12, 2017. S. 1665 
authorizes the State to select certain BLM-managed public lands 
in Utah County, Utah, in fulfillment of the land grants made 
under sections 6, 8, and 12 of the Utah Enabling Act and as 
generally depicted on the legislative map. In addition, the 
bill exempts the lands authorized for selection from the 
exchange limitation in the Pony Express RMP making further land 
use planning by the BLM unnecessary. The State selections would 
be subject to valid existing rights.
    The Department has no objection to the State's selection of 
these lands, which we understand correspond to the State's 1998 
and 2004 applications and would be for the purpose of 
supporting Utah State University. The Department believes S. 
1665 represents a creative solution to a complex issue. We 
recommend the inclusion of language further clarifying that the 
lands to be selected would be used for the support of Utah 
State University, as intended under the Utah Enabling Act of 
1894.
    In addition, the Department notes that the lands authorized 
for selection contain several inactive community rock pits, 
where the BLM could authorize the sale of landscape rock. These 
lands also contain a number of existing rights-of-way, 
including highways and roads, natural gas pipelines, fiber 
optic lines, and communication sites. Additionally, we note 
that there are a number of identified ancient petroglyph sites 
known to exist on some of the lands to be authorized for 
selection. The Department understands that the State would be 
required to work with the State Historic Preservation Office to 
ensure protection of these and other cultural resources that 
may be present on these lands. Finally, the Department notes 
that these lands are part of two grazing allotments. State 
selection of these parcels would reduce acreage in the 
allotments and the amount of forage available to two 
permittees.
Conclusion
    Thank you again for the opportunity to testify in support 
of S. 1665, the Confirming State Land Grants for Education Act. 
We appreciate the work of Senator Hatch on this legislation, 
and we look forward to collaborating with him and the 
Subcommittee as the bill moves through the legislative process.

                        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.
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