II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3079 

To establish a policy regarding appraisal and valuation services for real 

property for a transaction over which the Secretary of the Interior 

has jurisdiction, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 18, 2023 

Ms. CORTEZ MASTO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To establish a policy regarding appraisal and valuation services for real property for a transaction over which the 

Secretary of the Interior has jurisdiction, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Accelerating Apprais5 als and Conservation Efforts Act’’ or the ‘‘AACE Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) COVERED APPRAISER.—The term ‘‘covered 

2 appraiser’’ means a State-licensed or -certified real 

3 property appraiser. 

4 (2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

5 means the Department of the Interior. 

6 (3) REPORTING PERIOD.—The term ‘‘reporting 

7 period’’ means the 1-year period ending on the date 

8 on which the applicable report is submitted under 

9 section 3(c). 

10 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

11 the Secretary of the Interior. 

12 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

13 the several States, the District of Columbia, and 

14 each territory and possession of the United States. 

15 SEC. 3. APPRAISAL AND VALUATION SERVICES FOR REAL 

16 PROPERTY. 

17 (a) LICENSE, CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—A 

18 covered appraiser shall be required to be licensed or cer19 tified in only 1 State to perform appraisal or valuation 

20 services for real property in any State for a transaction 

21 over which the Secretary has jurisdiction. 

22 (b) USE OF NON-FEDERAL COVERED APPRAISERS.— 

23 If the Secretary uses a non-Federal covered appraiser to 

24 perform appraisal or valuation services for real property 


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1 for a transaction described in subsection (a), the Sec2 retary— 

3 (1) shall, to the maximum extent practicable, 

4 use a non-Federal covered appraiser who is a cer5 tified general real property appraiser licensed in a 

6 State in which the real property that is the subject 

7 of the transaction is located; and 

8 (2) may only use a non-Federal covered ap9 praiser who is a certified general real property ap10 praiser licensed in a State other than the State in 

11 which the real property that is the subject of the 

12 transaction is located if a non-Federal covered ap13 praiser described in paragraph (1), as determined by 

14 the Secretary— 

15 (A) is unavailable; 

16 (B) is not qualified for the assignment; or 

17 (C) is not cost-competitive. 

18 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

19 of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for a 

20 minimum of 4 years, the Secretary shall submit to Con21 gress a report that includes the following: 

22 (1) A comparison using quantitative data of— 

23 (A) the number of requests for appraisal 

24 and valuation services received by the Depart25 ment— 


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1 (i) during the reporting period; and 

2 (ii) in each of the 5 years before the 

3 reporting period; and 

4 (B) the amount of time required for the 

5 Department to complete a request for appraisal 

6 or valuation services— 

7 (i) before the date of enactment of 

8 this Act; and 

9 (ii) after the date of enactment of this 

10 Act. 

11 (2) A qualitative assessment of the impact of 

12 subsection (a) in providing flexibility to the Sec13 retary in contracting with non-Federal covered ap14 praisers. 

15 (3) Recommendations, if any, for congressional 

16 action that could help the Department operate more 

17 efficiently or overcome challenges with respect to 

18 timely completion of requests for appraisal or valu19 ation services while ensuring the independence, im20 partiality, and objectivity of such services. 

21 (4) An overview of the workforce of the Depart22 ment with respect to appraisal and valuation services 

23 provided by the Department, including hiring and 

24 staffing during the reporting period with respect to 

25 employees and contractors of the Department. 


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1 (d) STATUTORY CLARIFICATIONS.— 

2 (1) APPLICABILITY OF RELEVANT LAWS AND

3 REGULATIONS.—Except as provided in paragraph 

4 (3), nothing in this section affects the application of 

5 any Federal or State law (including a regulation) to 

6 a non-Federal covered appraiser with respect to the 

7 performance by the non-Federal covered appraiser of 

8 appraisal and valuation services for real property. 

9 (2) JURISDICTION REQUIREMENT.—Nothing in 

10 this section authorizes a non-Federal covered ap11 praiser to perform appraisal and valuation services 

12 for real property in a State in which the non-Federal 

13 covered appraiser is not licensed or certified to per14 form such services, except to the extent that such 

15 services are performed for a transaction over which 

16 the Secretary has jurisdiction. 

17 (3) NONAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN RELEVANT

18 LAWS AND REGULATIONS.—Any provision of a Fed19 eral or State law (including a regulation) enacted be20 fore the date of enactment of this Act that requires 

21 a covered appraiser to be licensed or certified in a 

22 specific State to perform appraisal or valuation serv23 ices for real property in the State shall not apply to 


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1 any transaction over which the Secretary has juris2 diction. 

Æ 


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