IIB 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5443 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
JULY 9, 2024 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources 
AN ACT 
To establish a policy regarding appraisal and valuation serv-
ices 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 Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Accelerating Apprais-
als 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 Sec-
retary 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 Sec-
retary— 
(1) shall, to the maximum extent practicable, 
use a non-Federal covered appraiser who is a cer-
tified 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 ap-
praiser who is a certified general real property ap-
praiser licensed in a State other than one in which 
the real property that is the subject of the trans-
action is located if a non-Federal covered appraiser 
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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 sub-
mit 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 Depart-
ment during the reporting period and the num-
ber 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 en-
actment 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 Sec-
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retary 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 valu-
ation services while ensuring the independence, im-
partiality, and objectivity of such services. 
(4) An overview of the workforce of the Depart-
ment 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 au-
thority 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 af-
fect 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 cov-
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ered 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 li-
censed or certified to perform such services except to 
the extent that such services are performed for a 
transaction over which the Secretary has jurisdic-
tion. 
(3) NONAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN RELEVANT 
LAWS AND REGULATIONS.—Any provision of a Fed-
eral 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 serv-
ices for real property in that State shall not apply 
to any transaction over which the Secretary has ju-
risdiction. 
(e) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Not later than 90 days 
after the enactment of this Act, the text of all policies (in-
cluding any successor policies), including reference manu-
als, guidance documents, handbooks, standard operating 
procedures, and statements of policy specific to the 
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scoping, contracting, and review of appraisals performed 
for the Department by Federal or non-Federal covered ap-
praisers, shall be made publicly available online and pro-
vided 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. 
Passed the House of Representatives July 8, 2024. 
Attest: 
KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 
Clerk. 
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