II 118th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 3079 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. Short title This Act may be cited as the Accelerating Appraisals and Conservation Efforts Act or the AACE Act . 2. Definitions In this Act: (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 ending on the date on which the applicable report is submitted under section 3(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. 3. Appraisal and valuation services for real property (a) License, certification requirement A covered appraiser shall be required 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 the State in which the real property that is the subject of the transaction is located if a non-Federal covered appraiser described in paragraph (1), as determined by the Secretary— (A) is unavailable; (B) is not qualified for the assignment; or (C) is not cost-competitive. (c) Report Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for a minimum of 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— (i) during the reporting period; and (ii) 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— (i) before the date of enactment of this Act; and (ii) after the date of enactment of this Act. (2) A qualitative assessment of the impact of subsection (a) in providing flexibility to the Secretary in 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 respect 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. (d) Statutory clarifications (1) Applicability of relevant laws and regulations Except as provided in paragraph (3), nothing in this section affects the application of any Federal or State law (including a regulation) to a non-Federal covered appraiser with respect to the performance by the non-Federal covered appraiser of appraisal and valuation services for real property. (2) Jurisdiction requirement Nothing in this section authorizes a non-Federal covered appraiser to perform appraisal and valuation services for real property in a State in which the 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 (including a regulation) enacted before the date of enactment of this Act that requires a covered appraiser to be licensed or certified in a specific State to perform appraisal or valuation services for real property in the State shall not apply to any transaction over which the Secretary has jurisdiction.