I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 687

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain lands in the

Sam Houston National Forest in the State of Texas to the current

occupant of the lands, the Gulf Coast Trades Center.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 25, 1995

Mr. WILSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Resources

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain

lands in the Sam Houston National Forest in the State

of Texas to the current occupant of the lands, the Gulf

Coast Trades Center.

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

3 SECTION 1. LAND CONVEYANCE, SAM HOUSTON NATIONAL

4 FOREST, TEXAS.

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

6 (1) The Gulf Coast Trades Center (in this sec7 tion referred to as the ‘‘Center’’), a private nonprofit

8 organization chartered by the State of Texas, occu-
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1 pies a 46.7 acre former Job Corps site under the ju2 risdiction of the Department of Agriculture in the

3 Sam Houston National Forest near New Waverly,

4 Texas.

5 (2) The Center has expended over $400,000 in

6 performing necessary repairs and maintenance to

7 buildings and improvements on the site and has re8 placed dilapidated buildings on the site with new

9 structures at a cost to the Center of over

10 $1,500,000.

11 (3) The residual value of the buildings and im12 provements owned by the United States is a minor

13 contributory portion of the value of the site.

14 (4) The Center operates a residential vocational

15 training program on the site and has provided train16 ing for approximately 8,000 disadvantaged youth

17 since 1971.

18 (5) The Center also provides educational, social,

19 and support services, preemployment and work ma20 turity instruction, group counseling, and instruction

21 in substance abuse prevention and transitional living

22 skills at the site.

23 (b) CONVEYANCE REQUIRED.—Subject to valid exist24 ing rights, the Secretary of Agriculture shall convey to the

25 Center by quitclaim deed all right, title, and interest of
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1 the United States in a parcel of National Forest System

2 land, including all buildings and improvements owned by

3 the United States on the parcel, consisting of approxi4 mately 46.7 acres and containing the former New Waverly

5 Job Corps Center in the Sam Houston National Forest,

6 Texas, which is currently occupied by the Center under

7 a special use permit. The parcel to be conveyed is identi8 fied upon a map entitled ‘‘Gulf Coast Trades Center Ex9 change’’, dated September 1994, and available for inspec10 tion in the offices of the Supervisor of the National For11 ests in Texas and the Chief of the Forest Service.

12 (c) CONSIDERATION.—

13 (1) PAYMENT OF FAIR MARKET VALUE.—As

14 consideration for the conveyance under subsection

15 (b), the Center shall pay to the Secretary of Agri16 culture an amount equal to the fair market value of

17 the parcel to be conveyed, as determined by the Sec18 retary under paragraph (2).

19 (2) VALUATION.—The Secretary of Agriculture

20 shall appraise the parcel to be conveyed under sub21 section (b) to determine the fair market value of the

22 federally owned lands and interests in the parcel; ex23 cept that the Secretary shall—

24 (A) limit the appraised value to the value

25 of the land and the contributory value of the in-
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1 frastructure, including the water and sewer sys2 tems; and

3 (B) exclude from the appraisal the value of

4 all buildings on the parcel and all improvements

5 made by the Center on the parcel.

6 (3) DEPOSIT OF PAYMENT.—The Secretary of

7 Agriculture shall deposit amounts received under

8 paragraph (1) into the special fund in the Treasury

9 into which funds are deposited pursuant to the Act

10 of December 4, 1967 (16 U.S.C. 484a), commonly

11 known as the Sisk Act. Upon appropriation, the

12 amounts deposited shall be available to the Secretary

13 until expended for the acquisition of lands and inter14 ests in lands in the State of Texas that are suitable

15 for inclusion in the National Forest System.

16 (4) CONVEYANCE COSTS.—The Secretary and

17 the Center shall share equally in the costs of prepar18 ing and executing the conveyance required by sub19 section (b), including the costs of conducting the ap20 praisal under this subsection.

21 (d) CONDITION OF CONVEYANCE.—The conveyance

22 under subsection (b) shall be subject to the condition that

23 the Center (or any successor in interest to the Center)

24 use the conveyed lands for nonprofit educational and

25 training purposes.
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1 (e) RIGHT OF REENTRY.—If the Secretary of Agri2 culture determines that the conveyed parcel is not being

3 used in accordance with subsection (d), then, at the option

4 of the Secretary, the United States shall have a right of

5 reentry with regard to the property.

6 (f) ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The Sec7 retary of Agriculture may require such additional terms

8 and conditions in connection with the conveyance under

9 subsection (b) as the Secretary considers appropriate to

10 protect the interests of the United States.

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