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115th Congress } { Rept. 115-626
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session } { Part 1
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BLACK HILLS NATIONAL CEMETERY BOUNDARY EXPANSION ACT
_______
April 10, 2018.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Bishop, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 35]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (S. 35) to transfer administrative jurisdiction over
certain Bureau of Land Management land from the Secretary of
the Interior to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for inclusion
in the Black Hills National Cemetery, 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 S. 35 is to transfer administrative
jurisdiction over certain Bureau of Land Management land from
the Secretary of the Interior to the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs for inclusion in the Black Hills National Cemetery.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The Black Hills National Cemetery located in Sturgis, South
Dakota, opened in 1948 and covers approximately 100 acres of
land managed by the National Cemetery Administration (NCA). The
Cemetery houses a memorial carillon and a memorial to Korean
War veterans that was dedicated in 2002. Medal of Honor
Recipient, Sergeant Charles Windolph, among many other notable
veterans, is buried in the Cemetery.\1\
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\1\Black Hills National Cemetery Information Page. National
Cemetery Administration.
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S. 35 permanently transfers jurisdictional authority of
approximately 200 acres of undeveloped federal land from the
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to the Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) to expand the Cemetery. Currently, the Cemetery
can only accommodate a finite number of additional burials;
transferring the BLM land, which is adjacent to the Cemetery,
to the VA will provide for burial space for hundreds of
additional gravesites for future generations of veterans.
Without the transfer, the NCA would be forced to close the
Cemetery to further burials in the near future. Furthermore,
without legislation to make the transfer permanent, federal law
limits an administrative transfer of the land from BLM to the
VA to only 20 years.
COMMITTEE ACTION
S. 35 was introduced on January 5, 2017, by Senator John
Thune (R-SD). The Senate passed the bill by voice vote on
December 21, 2017. In the House of Representatives, the bill
was referred primarily to the Committee on Natural Resources.
The bill was referred additionally to the Committee on
Veterans' Affairs. On March 14, 2018, 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.
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, March 20, 2018.
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 S. 35, the Black Hills
National Cemetery Boundary Expansion Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Jeff LaFave.
Sincerely,
Keith Hall,
Director.
Enclosure.
S. 35--Black Hills National Cemetery Boundary Expansion Act
S. 35 would require the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to
transfer 200 acres of land to the Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) to expand a national cemetery. CBO estimates that
any costs incurred by VA to cover administrative expenses
associated with the transfer and make improvements to the Black
Hills National Cemetery would not be significant.
Under S. 35, the affected lands would be withdrawn from
mining and mineral leasing activities. Using information
provided by BLM, CBO expects that those activities would not
occur over the next 10 years, and we estimate that withdrawing
the lands would not affect the federal budget. Because enacting
S. 35 would not affect direct spending or revenues, pay-as-you-
go procedures do not apply.
CBO estimates that enacting S. 35 would not increase net
direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
S. 35 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
On April 7, 2017, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S.
35, the Black Hills National Cemetery Boundary Expansion Act,
as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources on March 30, 2017. The pieces of legislation
are similar and CBO's estimates of their budgetary effects are
the same.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. 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 transfer administrative
jurisdiction over certain Bureau of Land Management land from
the Secretary of the Interior to the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs for inclusion in the Black Hills National Cemetery.
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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