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115th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session } { 115-302
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GULF ISLANDS NATIONAL SEASHORE LAND EXCHANGE ACT OF 2017
_______
September 11, 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
[To accompany H.R. 2615]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 2615) to authorize the exchange of certain land
located in Gulf Islands National Seashore, Jackson County,
Mississippi, between the National Park Service and the Veterans
of Foreign Wars, and for other purposes, 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. 2615 is to authorize the exchange of
certain land located in Gulf Islands National Seashore, Jackson
County, Mississippi, between the National Park Service and the
Veterans of Foreign Wars.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5699, in Ocean Springs,
Mississippi, owns an approximately 3.3-acre lot adjacent to
Gulf Islands National Seashore's Davis Bayou Area. The Post's
property is essentially landlocked, with the only access via a
one-lane dirt road across National Park Service (NPS) property.
Under a previous informal agreement with the National Seashore,
the NPS allowed the Post to construct and maintain the access
road, but no right-of-way or special use permit was issued for
it.
In 2015, the Post approached NPS with a proposal to
exchange 2.16 acres of undeveloped land adjacent to the NPS
land at the south end of their property for 1.54 acres of NPS
land that would connect the Post's property to the public road.
The land exchange authorized by H.R. 2615 would formalize the
existing land use, provide the Post with ownership and
permanent access, and provide the Gulf Islands National
Seashore undeveloped acreage adjacent to other undeveloped,
NPS-owned lands.
In the 114th Congress, a similar bill, H.R. 4119, passed
the House of Representatives by voice vote under suspension of
the rules.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 2615 was introduced on May 23, 2017, by Congressman
Steven M. Palazzo (R-MS). The bill was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the
Subcommittee on Federal Lands. On July 25, 2017, the Natural
Resources Committee met to consider the bill. No amendments
were offered, and the bill was ordered favorably reported to
the House of Representatives by unanimous consent on July 26,
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
1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act of
1974. 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 enclosed cost estimate for
the bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, September 8, 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. 2615, the Gulf
Islands National Seashore Land Exchange Act of 2017.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Janani
Shankaran.
Sincerely,
Keith Hall.
Enclosure.
H.R. 2615--Gulf Islands National Seashore Land Exchange Act of 2017
H.R. 2615 would authorize the National Park Service (NPS)
to exchange about 2 acres of land within the Gulf Islands
National Seashore in Mississippi with the Veterans of Foreign
Wars (VFW) Post 5699. The exchange would provide the VFW with
an access road.
If appraisals indicate that the value of the parcels to be
exchanged are different, the bill would require that the party
receiving the more valuable land provide a cash equalization
payment or adjust the acreage of the land exchange. If the NPS
were to acquire land of a higher value than the federal land
exchanged, the NPS could make a cash payment to the VFW, Based
on information provided by the NPS, CBO expects that the
properties to be exchanged are of roughly equal value and that
any such payment would not exceed $500,000; such spending would
be subject to the availability of appropriated funds. The bill
would require the VFW to cover all administrative costs
associated with the land exchange.
Enacting H.R. 2615 could affect direct spending; therefore,
pay-as-you-go procedures apply. Under the bill, if the NPS were
to acquire land of a lower value than the federal land
exchanged, the NPS could receive a cash payment to equalize the
values; any such payments would be recorded as offsetting
receipts, which are treated as reductions in direct spending.
However, CBO estimates that any such payment would not exceed
$500,000. Enacting H.R. 2615 would not affect revenues.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2615 would not increase
net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
H.R. 2615 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA).
The exchange authorized in the bill would have a small
incidental effect on property taxes collected by local
governments in Mississippi. That effect, however, would not
result from an intergovernmental mandate as defined in the
UMRA.
The CBO staff contacts for this estimate arc Janani
Shankaran (for federal costs) and Jon Sperl (for
intergovernmental mandates). The estimate was approved by
Theresa Gullo, 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 the exchange of certain
land located in Gulf Islands National Seashore, Jackson County,
Mississippi, between the National Park Service and the Veterans
of Foreign Wars.
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 to existing
law.
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