99–006 

112TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 112–161 

SUGAR LOAF FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT LAND 

EXCHANGE ACT 

JULY 20, 2011.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of 

the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, from the Committee on Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 643] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 643) to provide for the exchange of certain land located 

in the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forests in the State of Colorado, 

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 ‘‘Sugar Loaf Fire Protection District Land Exchange 

Act’’. 

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

In this Act: 

(1) DISTRICT.—The term ‘‘District’’ means the Sugar Loaf Fire Protection District of Boulder, Colorado. 

(2) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ means— 

(A) the parcel of approximately 1.52 acres of land in the National Forest 

that is generally depicted on the map numbered 1, entitled ‘‘Sugarloaf Fire 

Protection District Proposed Land Exchange’’, and dated November 12, 

2009; and 

(B) the parcel of approximately 3.56 acres of land in the National Forest 

that is generally depicted on the map numbered 2, entitled ‘‘Sugarloaf Fire 

Protection District Proposed Land Exchange’’, and dated November 12, 

2009. 

(3) NATIONAL FOREST.—The term ‘‘National Forest’’ means the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forests located in the State of Colorado. 

(4) NON-FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘non-Federal land’’ means the parcel of approximately 5.17 acres of non-Federal land in unincorporated Boulder County, 

Colorado, that is generally depicted on the map numbered 3, entitled ‘‘Sugarloaf 


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Fire Protection District Proposed Land Exchange’’, and dated November 12, 

2009. 

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

SEC. 3. LAND EXCHANGE. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provisions of this Act, if the District offers to convey to the Secretary all right, title, and interest of the District in and to the nonFederal land, and the offer is acceptable to the Secretary— 

(1) the Secretary shall accept the offer; and 

(2) on receipt of acceptable title to the non-Federal land, the Secretary shall 

convey to the District all right, title, and interest of the United States in and 

to the Federal land. 

(b) APPLICABLE LAW.—Section 206 of the Federal Land Policy and Management 

Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1716) shall apply to the land exchange authorized under subsection (a), except that— 

(1) the Secretary may accept a cash equalization payment in excess of 25 percent of the value of the Federal land; and 

(2) as a condition of the land exchange under subsection (a), the District 

shall— 

(A) pay each cost relating to any land surveys and appraisals of the Federal land and non-Federal land; and 

(B) enter into an agreement with the Secretary that allocates any other 

administrative costs between the Secretary and the District. 

(c) ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The land exchange under subsection (a) 

shall be subject to— 

(1) valid existing rights; and 

(2) any terms and conditions that the Secretary may require. 

(d) TIME FOR COMPLETION OF LAND EXCHANGE.—It is the intent of Congress that 

the land exchange under subsection (a) shall be completed not later than 1 year 

after the date of enactment of this Act. 

(e) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY TO CONDUCT SALE OF FEDERAL LAND.— (1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with paragraph (2), if the land exchange 

under subsection (a) is not completed by the date that is 1 year after the date 

of enactment of this Act, the Secretary may offer to sell to the District the Federal land. 

(2) VALUE OF FEDERAL LAND.—The Secretary may offer to sell to the District 

the Federal land for the fair market value of the Federal land. 

(f) MANAGEMENT AND STATUS OF ACQUIRED LAND.—The non-Federal land acquired by the Secretary under this section shall be— 

(1) added to, and administered as part of, the National Forest; and 

(2) managed by the Secretary in accordance with— 

(A) the Act of March 1, 1911 (commonly known as the ‘‘Weeks Law’’) (16 

U.S.C. 480 et seq.); and 

(B) any laws (including regulations) applicable to the National Forest. 

(g) REVOCATION OF ORDERS; WITHDRAWAL.— 

(1) REVOCATION OF ORDERS.—Any public order withdrawing the Federal land 

from entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws is revoked to 

the extent necessary to permit the conveyance of the Federal land to the District. 

(2) WITHDRAWAL.—On the date of enactment of this Act, if not already withdrawn or segregated from entry and appropriation under the public land laws 

(including the mining and mineral leasing laws) and the Geothermal Steam Act 

of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), the Federal land is withdrawn until the date 

of the conveyance of the Federal land to the District. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 643, as ordered reported, is to provide for 

the exchange of certain land located in the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forests in the State of Colorado. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

Since 1967, the U.S. Forest Service has issued two special use 

permits to the Sugar Loaf Fire Protection District (District) to own 

and operate two fire stations on National Forest System land. The 

District would like to own the parcels on which the fire stations sit 

in order to build an area for firefighter training and bathroom faVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:36 Jul 21, 2011 Jkt 099006 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR161.XXX HR161

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cilities. Currently, the fire stations do not have running water, because state and county regulations prohibit well and septic systems 

on public lands for private use. The District would also like the option to expand the fire stations in the future. The District has 

tried, unsuccessfully, since 1997 to have the lands that these two 

fire stations operate on administratively transferred to it under the 

Small Tracts Act. Having exhausted this process, legislative action 

is needed to effect the change. 

H.R. 643 authorizes the District and the Secretary of Agriculture 

to conduct a land exchange. The District would receive approximately 5.08 acres of federal land on which the fire stations sit, and 

the Forest Service would receive land of equal value from the District. The land proposed by the legislation to be acquired by the 

U.S. Forest Service is currently an inholding owned by the Sugar 

Loaf Fire Protection District within the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 643 was introduced on February 10, 2011, by Congressman 

Jared Polis (D–CO). 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 May 4, 2011, the 

Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands held a 

hearing on the bill. On June 15, 2011, the Full Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee on National 

Parks, Forests and Public Lands was discharged by unanimous 

consent. Congressman Rob Bishop (R–UT) offered an amendment 

to make a small technical correction to the bill. The amendment 

was adopted by unanimous consent. The bill, as amended, 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 

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

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) 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)(2)(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. 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: 


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H.R. 643—Sugar Loaf Fire Protection District Land Exchange Act 

H.R. 643 would authorize the exchange of approximately five 

acres of federal land for a similar amount of acreage owned by the 

Sugar Loaf Fire Protection District of Boulder, Colorado. Based on 

information provided by the Forest Service, which administers the 

federal land to be conveyed, CBO estimates that implementing the 

bill would have no impact on discretionary spending. Any administrative costs related to the exchange would be paid by the Sugar 

Loaf Fire Protection District. 

Enacting H.R. 643 could increase offsetting receipts (a credit 

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

Because the nonfederal lands have a lower value than the Forest 

Service lands that would be conveyed, CBO expects that the Sugar 

Loaf Fire Protection District would provide a cash payment to the 

agency equal to the difference in values between the two parcels 

of land. Based on information from the Forest Service, CBO estimates that such a payment would be less than $50,000. Proceeds 

from the payment would be deposited in the United States Treasury. 

H.R. 643 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 in the bill would benefit the fire protection 

district. Any costs to the district would be incurred voluntarily. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director 

for Budget Analysis. 

2. Section 308(a) of 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. Enacting H.R. 643 could increase offsetting receipts (a credit against direct spending); therefore, pay-as-you-go 

procedures apply. Because the nonfederal lands have a lower value 

than the Forest Service lands that would be conveyed, CBO expects 

that the Sugar Loaf Fire Protection District would provide a cash 

payment to the agency equal to the difference in values between 

the two parcels of land. Based on information from the Forest Service, CBO estimates that such a payment would be less than 

$50,000. Proceeds from the payment would be deposited in the 

United States Treasury. 

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. 

EARMARK STATEMENT

This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, limited 

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

9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 


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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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