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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5443 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.5443

                     One Hundred Eighteenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America

                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

         Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
         the third day of January, two thousand and twenty-four

                                 An Act

 
  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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
    This Act may be cited as the ``Accelerating Appraisals and 
Conservation Efforts Act'' or the ``AACE Act''.
SEC. 2. APPRAISAL AND VALUATION SERVICES FOR REAL PROPERTY.
    (a) License, Certification Requirement.--A covered appraiser needs 
to be licensed or certified in only 1 State to perform appraisal or 
valuation services for real property in any State for a transaction 
over which the Secretary has jurisdiction.
    (b) Use of Non-Federal Covered Appraisers.--If the Secretary uses a 
non-Federal covered appraiser to perform appraisal or valuation 
services for real property for a transaction described in subsection 
(a), the Secretary--
        (1) shall, to the maximum extent practicable, use a non-Federal 
    covered appraiser who is a certified general real property 
    appraiser licensed in a State in which the real property that is 
    the subject of the transaction is located; and
        (2) may only use a non-Federal covered appraiser who is a 
    certified general real property appraiser licensed in a State other 
    than one in which the real property that is the subject of the 
    transaction is located if a non-Federal covered appraiser described 
    in paragraph (1) is, as determined by the Secretary--
            (A) unavailable to complete an assignment within a 
        reasonable period of time;
            (B) not assignment qualified; or
            (C) not cost competitive.
    (c) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 
of this section, and annually thereafter for at least the following 4 
years, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that includes 
the following:
        (1) A comparison using quantitative data of--
            (A) the number of requests for appraisal and valuation 
        services received by the Department during the reporting period 
        and the number of requests for such services received by the 
        Department in each of the 5 years before the reporting period; 
        and
            (B) the amount of time required for the Department to 
        complete a request for appraisal or valuation services before 
        the date of the enactment of this section and after the date of 
        the enactment of this section.
        (2) A qualitative assessment of the impact of subsection (a) in 
    providing flexibility to the Secretary when contracting with non-
    Federal covered appraisers.
        (3) Recommendations, if any, for congressional action that 
    could help the Department operate more efficiently or overcome 
    challenges with respect to timely completion of requests for 
    appraisal or valuation services while ensuring the independence, 
    impartiality, and objectivity of such services.
        (4) An overview of the workforce of the Department with regard 
    to appraisal and valuation services provided by the Department, 
    including hiring and staffing during the reporting period with 
    respect to employees and contractors of the Department.
        (5) A complete list of cases in which the authority granted 
    under section 2 of this Act was used during the reporting period, 
    describing for each case the specific criteria used to satisfy the 
    conditions of this Act.
    (d) Statutory Clarifications.--
        (1) Applicability of relevant laws and regulations.--Except as 
    provided in paragraph (3), nothing in this section shall be 
    interpreted to affect the application of any Federal or State law 
    or regulation to a non-Federal covered appraiser with regard to the 
    performance by such non-Federal covered appraiser of appraisal and 
    valuation services for real property.
        (2) Jurisdiction requirement.--Nothing in this section shall be 
    interpreted to authorize a non-Federal covered appraiser to perform 
    appraisal and valuation services for real property in a State in 
    which such non-Federal covered appraiser is not licensed or 
    certified to perform such services except to the extent that such 
    services are performed for a transaction over which the Secretary 
    has jurisdiction.
        (3) Nonapplicability of certain relevant laws and 
    regulations.--Any provision of a Federal or State law or regulation 
    enacted before the date of the enactment of this section that 
    requires a covered appraiser to be licensed or certified in a 
    specific State to perform appraisal or valuation services for real 
    property in that State shall not apply to any transaction over 
    which the Secretary has jurisdiction.
    (e) Public Availability.--Not later than 90 days after the 
enactment of this Act, the text of all policies (including any 
successor policies), including reference manuals, guidance documents, 
handbooks, standard operating procedures, and statements of policy 
specific to the scoping, contracting, and review of appraisals 
performed for the Department by Federal or non-Federal covered 
appraisers, shall be made publicly available online and provided upon 
request.
    (f) Definitions.--In this section:
        (1) Covered appraiser.--The term ``covered appraiser'' means a 
    State-licensed or -certified real property appraiser.
        (2) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the Department 
    of the Interior.
        (3) Reporting period.--The term ``reporting period'' means the 
    1-year period before the date on which a report is submitted under 
    subsection (c).
        (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
    the Interior.
        (5) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the several 
    States, the District of Columbia, and each territory and possession 
    of the United States.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.
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