[House Report 105-166]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
105th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 105-166
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BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT LAND CONVEYANCE, GRANTS PASS, OREGON
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July 8, 1997.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______________________________________________________________________
Mr. Young of Alaska, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 1198]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 1198) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey
certain land to the City of Grants Pass, 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 out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu
thereof the following:
SECTION 1. CONVEYANCE OF BLM LAND TO GRANTS PASS, OREGON.
(a) Conveyance Required.--The Secretary of the Interior shall
promptly convey to the City of Grants Pass, Oregon (in this section
referred to as the ``City''), without monetary compensation, all right,
title, and interest of the United States in and to the real property
described in subsection (b).
(b) Property Described.--
(1) In general.--The real property referred to in subsection
(a) is that parcel of land depicted on the map entitled
``Merlin Landfill Map'' and dated June 20, 1997, consisting
of--
(A) approximately 200 acres of Bureau of Land
Management land on which the City has operated a
landfill under lease; and
(B) approximately 120 acres of Bureau of Land
Management land that are adjacent to the land described
in subparagraph (A).
(2) Determination by secretary.--The Secretary of the
Interior may determine more particularly the real property
described in paragraph (1).
(c) Consideration.--As consideration for the conveyance under
subsection (a), the Secretary shall require the City to agree to
indemnify the Government of the United States for all liability of the
Government that arises from the property.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 1198 is to direct the Secretary of the
Interior to convey certain land to the City of Grants Pass,
Oregon.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
H.R. 1198 directs the Secretary of Interior to convey
certain land to the City of Grants Pass, Oregon. This bill
would convey 320 acres of real property located in the county
of Josephine, Oregon, and currently managed by the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) to the City of Grants Pass, Oregon. The
320 acres has been leased by the City since 1968 as a solid
waste landfill facility known as the Merlin Landfill. The BLM
lease will expire on April 14, 2000, and will not be extended
by the BLM.
The Merlin Landfill has been shown to have released
hazardous substances which have been detected in the
groundwater beyond the boundary of the leasehold. Because the
release of the chemicals occurred on federal lands, the
Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability
Act required that this landfill site be evaluated for listing
on the National Priorities List (NPL). The evaluation showed
that the contamination of this site was not significant enough
to be placed on the NPL; however, the site still must be
cleaned up.
This situation has caused some unique problems for the
City. Since the site is on federal land it must be cleaned up
by the BLM, if the City does not agree to perform this
function. However, if the BLM were to complete the cleanup, the
current landfill operation would be suspended, forcing the City
to find an alternate landfill site. Furthermore, the
substantial BLM cleanup costs would be passed on to each of the
contributors to the landfill, including the local residents,
businesses, and the City. The City cannot realistically afford
the total costs of both cleanup and probable litigation with
the BLM. These were the key reasons why the City agreed to
clean up the landfill site and operate it in a manner that
would generate the necessary funds to pay for the cleanup
effort while working toward compliance of applicable law,
including post-closure requirements.
The City has been working with the BLM and the Oregon
Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) to accomplish the
cleanup since 1991. All of these entities have worked hard to
achieve major changes at the landfill site and bring it into
compliance with applicable law. In fact, the City has already
spent over $1.7 million on the cleanup effort, including the
installation of an alternate water supply for adjacent
landowners, design and implementation of a groundwater recovery
system, complete hydrological and geological assessments and
evaluations of remedial alternatives. The City's cleanup effort
has resulted in the ODEQ issuing a Consent Order for this
landfill site with a finding that compliance of the provisions
of the Consent Order constitute compliance with applicable law.
A unique aspect of this land conveyance is that the City is
willing to accept all future responsibility and liability for
the release of the hazardous substances which may arise from
the property. The bill specifically requires the City to
indemnify and hold harmless the United States Government from
any future liability after title is secured from the BLM.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 1198 was introduced on March 20, 1997, by Congressman
Robert Smith (R-OR). The bill was referred to the Committee on
Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on
National Parks and Public Lands. On May 20, 1997, the
Subcommittee held a hearing on H.R. 1198, where W. Hord Tipton,
Assistant Director of Mines and Minerals for the Bureau of Land
Management, testified in support of H.R. 1198. On June 19,
1997, the Subcommittee met to mark up H.R. 1198. No amendments
were offered, and the bill was then ordered favorably reported
to the Full Committee. On June 25, 1997, the Full Resources
Committee met to consider H.R. 1198. A technical amendment was
offered by Congressman Smith which provided the date and title
of the map in the property description of the bill; the
amendment was adopted by voice vote. The bill, as amended, was
then ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives
by voice vote.
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
With respect to the requirements of clause 2(l)(3) of rule
XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, and clause
2(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives,
the Committee on Resources' oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.
CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT
Article IV, section 3 of the Constitution of the United
States grants Congress the authority to enact H.R. 1198.
COST OF THE LEGISLATION
Clause 7(a) 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
H.R. 1198. However, clause 7(d) 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 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XI
1. With respect to the requirement of clause 2(l)(3)(B) of
rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, H.R.
1198 does not contain any new budget authority, spending
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in
revenues or tax expenditures.
2. With respect to the requirement of clause 2(l)(3)(D) of
rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee has received no report of oversight findings and
recommendations from the Committee on Government Reform and
Oversight on the subject of H.R. 1198.
3. With respect to the requirement of clause 2(l)(3)(C) of
rule XI 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 H.R.
1198 from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office.
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, July 3, 1997.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1198, a bill to
direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain land to
the city of Grants Pass, Oregon.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Victoria V.
Heid (for federal costs), and Marjorie Miller (for the state
and local impact).
Sincerely,
Paul Van de Water
(For June E. O'Neill, Director).
Enclosure.
H.R. 1198--A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey
certain land to the city of Grants Pass, Oregon
H.R. 1198 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to
convey to the city of Grants Pass, Oregon, about 320 acres of
federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
CBO estimates that enacting this bill would have no significant
impact on the federal budget. H.R. 1198 would not affect direct
spending or receipts; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would
not apply.
The city currently leases the land to be conveyed and
operates a solid waste landfill on about 200 acres of land. The
city's lease is scheduled to expire in 2000, and BLM is
unlikely to extend the lease. Because the city pays no fees for
the lease, conveyance of the land would not result in a loss of
receipts to the federal government.
The landfill, which Grants Pass has leased from BLM since
1968, has released contaminants that will require cleanup by
the city. The bill provides that, as consideration for the
conveyance, the city must indemnify the federal government for
all liability that may arise from the property. Thus, enacting
the bill would eliminate the possibility that the federal
government would incur future costs for cleaning up the
landfill. It is also unlikely that the federal government would
incur any significant costs under current law because the city
is already undertaking a cleanup effort. Thus, the bill might
result in savings to the federal government, but any such
savings are unlikely to be significant.
H.R. 1198 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal
governments. Enacting this bill would benefit the city of
Grants Pass by allowing it to operate the landfill on this site
after expiration of the lease and so generate additional
revenue. According to city officials, the city needs this
additional revenue to offset the cost of cleaning up hazardous
substances released by the landfill. Because the city has
already agreed to pay for cleaning up the site, the requirement
that the city indemnify the federal government for all
liability that may arise from the property would probably not
result in additional spending. The city would not be required
to offer any other compensation to the federal government.
The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Victoria V.
Heid (for federal costs), and Majorie Miller (for the state and
local impact). This estimate was approved by Robert A.
Sunshine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
H.R. 1198 contains no unfunded mandates.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
If enacted, H.R. 1198 would make no changes in existing
law.
APPENDIX
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