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115th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session } { 115-236
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ESCAMBIA COUNTY LAND CONVEYANCE ACT
_______
July 20, 2017.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Bishop of Utah, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted
the following
R E P O R T
together with
DISSENTING VIEWS
[To accompany H.R. 2370]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 2370) to authorize Escambia County, Florida, to
convey certain property that was formerly part of Santa Rosa
Island National Monument and that was conveyed to Escambia
County subject to restrictions on use and reconveyance, having
considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment
and recommend that the bill do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 2370 is to authorize Escambia County,
Florida, to convey certain property that was formerly part of
Santa Rosa Island National Monument and that was conveyed to
Escambia County subject to restrictions on use and
reconveyance.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
In the Act of July 30, 1946 (Public Law 564, Ch. 699),
Congress abolished the Santa Rosa National Monument and
directed the Secretary of the Interior to convey the federal
land in the monument to Escambia County, Florida. On January
15, 1947, the federal government deeded the land to the county.
Under the terms of the conveyance, Escambia County was given
the authority to lease the property on Santa Rosa Island;
however, it was not allowed to issue title on the property or
otherwise dispose of or reconvey it.
In 1956, Escambia County leased a portion of Santa Rosa
Island lying within the political jurisdiction of Santa Rosa
County (the Navarre area) to that county, under a perpetually
renewing, nominal-consideration lease. Both counties have
subleased properties on the Island to residents and business
owners.
In the intervening years, Santa Rosa Island experienced
enormous growth. This growth prompted county leaders to assess
ad valorem taxes on the leased lands. The imposition of taxes
led to several lawsuits centered on the question of whether
Island residents and business owners paying lease fees for
their land could be taxed, despite not having outright
ownership of the property. Courts have reached different
conclusions based on differences in the language of particular
leases, which has created fairness issues for the county
governments of Santa Rosa and Escambia. One property may be
subject to ad valorem taxes while a virtually identical
property next door may not.
This uneven treatment has prompted interest in removing the
deed restriction prohibiting reconveyance, thus allowing the
county governments to convey ownership and create a uniform tax
treatment for all properties at the beach. Recently, both
Escambia County and Santa Rosa County passed resolutions asking
for a federal solution to allow current Santa Rosa Island
leaseholders the option of attaining fee simple title while
protecting public access to the beaches and conservation areas
on the Island. A previous version of this bill was included as
title I of H.R. 2954 (113th Congress), which passed the House
of Representatives on February 6, 2014, by a bipartisan 220-194
vote.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 2370 was introduced on May 4, 2017, by Congressman
Matt Gaetz (R-FL). The bill was referred to the Committee on
Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee
on Federal Lands. On June 22, 2017, the Full Natural Resources
Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee was
discharged by unanimous consent. No amendments were offered and
the bill was ordered favorably reported to the House of
Representatives by voice vote on June 27, 2017.
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 AND CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT
1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act.
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) and (3) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
sections 308(a) and 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974, the Committee has received the following estimate for the
bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, July 19, 2017.
Hon. Rob Bishop,
Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 2370, the Escambia
County Land Conveyance Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Janani
Shankaran.
Sincerely,
Mark P. Hadley
(For Keith Hall, Director).
Enclosure.
H.R. 2370--Escambia County Land Conveyance Act
H.R. 2370 would authorize Escambia County in Florida to
convey to private entities certain property that it received
front the federal government. The specified properties were
formerly part of the Santa Rosa Island National Monument and
were transferred from the National Park Service (NPS) to
Escambia County in 1947 for public purposes. Under the terms of
that conveyance, Escambia County may re-convey the properties
to the federal government or to the state of Florida. H.R. 2370
would remove that condition and add new conditions. First, the
bill would require Escambia County to convey to Santa Rosa
County, Florida, any of the property that falls within the
jurisdictional boundary of Santa Rosa County. Second, any
proceeds above the direct or incidental costs of the
conveyances would be transferred to the federal government.
CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would
result in no costs to the federal government. Enacting H.R.
2370 could affect revenues because any proceeds collected above
the direct and incidental costs associated with a land
conveyance would be deposited into the general fund of the
Treasury. Therefore pay-as-you-go procedures apply. However,
based upon information provided by Escambia County and Santa
Rosa County, CBO expects that the proceeds, net of the
conveyance costs, would not be significant.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2370 would not increase
net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
H.R. 2370 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandate Reform Act and
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Janani
Shankaran. The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss,
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
2. 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 authorize Escambia County,
Florida, to convey certain property that was formerly part of
Santa Rosa Island National Monument and that was conveyed to
Escambia County subject to restrictions on use and
reconveyance.
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. This bill does not contain any
directed rule makings.
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.
DISSENTING VIEWS
H.R. 2370 removes the reversionary interest from certain
land on Santa Rosa Island, a 40-mile barrier island in the Gulf
of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. Settled by
Spanish explorer Tristan De Luna in 1559, it's the site of the
earliest European settlement in North America and an eventual
home to Fort Pickens, an important U.S. military base
throughout much of early American history.
In 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt recognized the
historical significance of the island and used the Antiquities
Act to proclaim the Santa Rosa Island National Monument. The
monument was abolished by Congress in 1946 and the Department
of Interior conveyed a portion of the island to Escambia
County. The conveyance included a reversionary clause, which
states that the land is to be used for public purposes and
prohibits further conveyance of the land, except to the State
of Florida or back to the federal government. The island,
excluding Navarre Beach and Pensacola Beach, is now managed as
part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, which Congress
established in 1971. The national seashore receives over five
million annual visitors and is an important engine for the
local tourism economy.
In 1956, Escambia County granted a 100-year lease of
Navarre Beach to neighboring Santa Rosa County. The counties
have since re-zoned to place Navarre Beach within Santa Rosa
County, but it is still owned by Escambia County because of the
use restrictions put in place by Congress. H.R. 2370 would
convey, without restriction, land associated with the former
Santa Rosa Island National Monument to the County of Escambia
to be used at their discretion, removing the reversionary
interest so that Escambia County can then transfer the deed to
Santa Rosa County.
Santa Rosa County is considering plans to enhance a marina
at Navarre Beach. The proposed enhancements include dredging a
channel through Santa Rosa Island, which could cut off public
access to local beaches and have sizable impacts on the
estuaries and wetlands that support wildlife habitat at Gulf
Island National Seashore. Not only would this destroy
estuaries, wetlands and negatively impact fisheries and water
quality, but it would, at the American taxpayer's expense,
further destabilize an already unstable strip of sand, putting
lives, private property, and public infrastructure at risk.
Barrier islands form to protect coastal areas. They are
critical to healthy environments. Intact islands are important
protection from rising waters, tides, and storm damage, so
artificially breaching a barrier island is rarely good
ecological practice.
The National Park Service, in a statement for the record on
a similar bill in the 113th Congress, recommended several
amendments to the bill that would authorize the conveyance in a
manner consistent with Congressional intent. Those changes have
not been made.
We understand that a lot of development has happened on
Santa Rosa Island in the sixty years since the land was first
conveyed to Escambia County, but Congressional intent remains
the same: federal land conveyed to Escambia must be used for a
public purpose. H.R. 2370 undermines that intent.
We would support legislation to assist Escambia County and
Santa Rosa County with zoning and ownership, but this is not
that. We are opposed to any bill that does not include
safeguards to ensure ongoing public access and prevent the
channelization of Santa Rosa Island.
Raul M. Grijalva,
Ranking Member, House
Natural Resources
Committee.
Jared Huffman,
Ranking Member, Subcommittee
on Water, Power and
Oceans.
Colleen Hanabusa,
Ranking Member, Subcommittee
on Federal Lands.
Nanette Diaz Barragan,
Member of Congress.
Grace F. Napolitano,
Member of Congress.
A. Donald McEachin,
Ranking Member, Subcommittee
on Oversight and
Investigations.
[all]