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113th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 113-402
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HERMISTON REVERSIONARY INTEREST RELEASE ACT
_______
April 4, 2014.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
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Mr. Hastings of Washington, from the Committee on Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 3366]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 3366) to provide for the release of the property
interests retained by the United States in certain land
conveyed in 1954 by the United States, acting through the
Director of the Bureau of Land Management, to the State of
Oregon for the establishment of the Hermiston Agricultural
Research and Extension Center of Oregon State University in
Hermiston, Oregon, having considered the same, report favorably
thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as
amended do pass.
The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Hermiston Reversionary Interest
Release Act''.
SEC. 2. RELEASE OF RETAINED INTERESTS IN BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT LAND
CONVEYED TO THE STATE OF OREGON FOR ESTABLISHMENT
OF HERMISTON AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND EXTENSION
CENTER.
(a) Release of Retained Interests.--Any reservation or reversionary
interest retained by the United States to the approximately 290 acres
in Hermiston, Oregon, depicted as ``Reversionary Interest Area'' on the
map entitled ``Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center''
and dated July 23, 2013, is hereby released without consideration.
(b) Instrument of Release.--The Secretary of the Interior, acting
through the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, shall execute
and file in the appropriate office a deed of release, amended deed, or
other appropriate instrument reflecting the release of retained
interests under subsection (a).
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 3366 is to provide for the release of
the property interests retained by the United States in certain
land conveyed in 1954 by the United States, acting through the
Director of the Bureau of Land Management, to the State of
Oregon for the establishment of the Hermiston Agricultural
Research and Extension Center of Oregon State University in
Hermiston, Oregon.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
H.R. 3366 would release the Bureau of Land Management's
reversionary interest in 290 acres that were conveyed to the
State of Oregon in 1954 for the establishment of the Hermiston
Agricultural Research and Extension Center (HAREC) of Oregon
State University (OSU) in Hermiston, Oregon.
In 1954, the federal government conveyed the 290 acres
affected by this legislation to the State of Oregon for the
creation of the HAREC. The federal government retains a
reversionary interest in the property and the property would
return to federal ownership if it is not specifically used for
agricultural research purposes. As the city of Hermiston
continues to grow up around the HAREC, this reversionary
interest denies OSU and the city the control and flexibility
needed to efficiently manage the property and advance new
agricultural research programs. Lifting the reversionary
interest will advance the goals of the HAREC and OSU, benefit
the local economy and create job opportunities to meet the
demands of the growing region.
Adjacent to the 290 acres affected by H.R. 3366 is a six
acre parcel of land that previously reverted back to the Bureau
of Land Management (BLM) and currently stands idle. This parcel
will be orphaned, is of no use to BLM and will be a challenge
to manage when the reversionary interest is removed from the
290 acres being used for the HAREC. The six acres could be
better managed if it were to rejoin and be managed with the
adjacent 290 acres.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 3366 was introduced on October 29, 2013, by
Congressman Greg Walden (R-OR). The bill was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the
Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation. On
February 26, 2014, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill.
On March 13, 2014, the Natural Resources Committee met to
consider the bill. The Subcommittee on Public Lands and
Environmental Regulation was discharged by unanimous consent.
Congressman Rob Bishop (R-UT) offered an amendment designated
#1; the amendment was adopted by unanimous consent. The bill as
amended was then adopted and ordered favorably reported to the
House of Representatives by unanimous consent.
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Natural Resources' oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(2)(B)
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Under clause 3(c)(3) of rule
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section
403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has
received the following cost estimate for this bill from the
Director of the Congressional Budget Office:
H.R. 3366--Hermiston Reversionary Interest Release Act
H.R. 3366 would require the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
to convey a reversionary interest in about 290 acres of land to
the State of Oregon. The affected lands were conveyed to the
state under the condition that interest in the lands would
revert to BLM if the state stopped using the land for certain
agricultural purposes. Under the bill, that condition would no
longer apply.
Based on information provided by BLM, CBO estimates that
implementing the legislation would have no significant effect
on the federal budget. Because we expect that the affected
lands would not generate any receipts for the federal
government over the next 10 years, CBO estimates that enacting
the legislation would not affect direct spending or revenues;
therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
H.R. 3366 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The
estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
2. Section 308(a) of Congressional Budget Act. As required
by clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives and section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget
Act of 1974, this bill does not contain any new budget
authority, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase
or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. CBO estimates that
implementing the legislation would have no significant effect
on the federal budget.
3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or
objective of this bill is to provide for the release of the
property interests retained by the United States in certain
land conveyed in 1954 by the United States, acting through the
Director of the Bureau of Land Management, to the State of
Oregon for the establishment of the Hermiston Agricultural
Research and Extension Center of Oregon State University in
Hermiston, Oregon.
EARMARK STATEMENT
This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of
the House of Representatives.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5
Directed Rule Making. The Chairman does not believe that
this bill directs any executive branch official to conduct any
specific rule-making proceedings.
Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not
establish or reauthorize a program of the federal government
known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was
not included in any report from the Government Accountability
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139
or identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program
Information Act (Public Law 95-220, as amended by Public Law
98-169) as relating to other programs.
PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW
This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or
tribal law.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing
law.