[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5443 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
<DOC>
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 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.
Passed the House of Representatives July 8, 2024.
Attest:
KEVIN F. MCCUMBER,
Clerk.