[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3079 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3079
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.
_______________________________________________________________________
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.
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. 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.
SEC. 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.
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