[House Report 113-120]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
113th Congress Rept. 113-120
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session Part 1
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WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE SECURITY ENHANCEMENT ACT
_______
June 24, 2013.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Hastings of Washington, from the Committee on Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 1299]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 1299) to provide for the transfer of certain
public land currently administered by the Bureau of Land
Management to the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary
of the Army for inclusion in White Sands Missile Range, New
Mexico, and for other purposes, 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 ``White Sands Missile Range Security
Enhancement Act''.
SEC. 2. TRANSFER OF ADMINISTRATIVE JURISDICTION, WHITE SANDS MISSILE
RANGE, NEW MEXICO.
(a) Transfer Required.--Not later than September 30, 2014, the
Secretary of the Interior shall transfer to the administrative
jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Army certain public land
administered by the Bureau of Land Management in Dona Ana County, New
Mexico, consisting of approximately 5,100 acres depicted as ``Parcel
1'' on the map titled ``White Sands Missile Range Land Reservation''
and dated January 4, 2013.
(b) Use of Transferred Land.--Upon the receipt of the land under
subsection (a), the Secretary of the Army shall include the land as
part of White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, and authorize use of the
land for military purposes.
(c) Legal Description and Map.--
(1) Preparation and publication.--The Secretary of the
Interior shall publish in the Federal Register a legal
description and map of the public land to be transferred under
subsection (a).
(2) Force of law.--The legal description and map filed under
paragraph (1) shall have the same force and effect as if
included in this Act, except that the Secretary of the Interior
may correct errors in the legal description.
(d) Reimbursement of Costs.--The transfer required by subsection (a)
shall be made without reimbursement, except that the Secretary of the
Army shall reimburse the Secretary of the Interior for any costs
incurred by the Secretary of the Interior to prepare the legal
description and map under subsection (c).
(e) Treatment of Grazing Leases.--If a grazing permit or lease exists
on the date of the enactment of this Act for any portion of the public
land to be transferred under subsection (a), the Secretary of the
Interior shall transfer or relocate the grazing allotments associated
with the permit or lease to other public land, acceptable to the permit
or lease holder, so that the grazing continues to have the same value
to the holder.
SEC. 3. WATER RIGHTS.
(a) Water Rights.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed--
(1) to establish a reservation in favor of the United States
with respect to any water or water right on lands transferred
by this Act; or
(2) to authorize the appropriation of water on lands
transferred by this Act except in accordance with applicable
State law.
(b) Effect on Previously Acquired or Reserved Water Rights.--This
section shall not be construed to affect any water rights acquired or
reserved by the United States before the date of the enactment of this
Act.
SEC. 4. WITHDRAWAL.
Subject to valid existing rights, the public land to be transferred
under section 2 is withdrawn from all forms of appropriation under the
public land laws, including the mining laws and geothermal leasing
laws, so long as the lands remain under the administrative jurisdiction
of the Secretary of the Army.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 1299, as ordered reported, is to
provide for the transfer of certain public land currently
administered by the Bureau of Land Management to the
administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Army for
inclusion in White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
H.R. 1299 directs the Secretary of the Interior to transfer
approximately 5,100 acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
land in Dona Ana County, New Mexico, to the Secretary of the
Army for inclusion as part of White Sands Missile Range (WSMR),
New Mexico. The bill also requires the Secretary of the
Interior to transfer any grazing permit or lease on the land to
other public land of equal value and acceptable to the permit
or lease holder.
WSMR is the nation's largest military installation. Due to
its size and geographic location, WSMR provides the Armed
Forces with a wide range of training, testing, and operational
capabilities. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) and a number of intelligence-gathering agencies within
the federal government utilize the unique nature of the
facility. Due to the sensitivity of the equipment being used,
these agencies need a location with limited to no outside
disturbances, such as noise, physical intrusions, observation
by outside parties, or interference by outside radio
transmissions. In addition to the communications work done at
WSMR, the facility supports one of NASA's experimental
propulsion facilities. The 5,100 acre transfer would provide
greater operational security and an enhanced safety buffer for
the facility.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 1299 was introduced on March 20, 2013, by Congressman
Stevan Pearce (R-NM). The bill was referred to the Committee on
Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee
on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation. The bill was also
referred to the Committee on Armed Services. On April 26, 2013,
the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation
held a hearing on the bill. On May 15, 2013, the Full 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 to the bill; the amendment was adopted
by voice vote. Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) offered an
amendment in the nature of a substitute to the bill; the
amendment was withdrawn. No further amendments were offered,
and the bill, as amended, was then adopted and ordered
favorably reported to the House of Representatives by voice
vote.
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. 1299--White Sands Missile Range Security Enhancement Act
H.R. 1299 would require the Secretary of the Interior to
transfer administrative jurisdiction over 5,100 acres of land
in New Mexico to the Secretary of the Army. Those lands would
be used by the Army for military purposes. Based on information
provided by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), CBO estimates
that implementing the legislation would have no significant
impact on the federal budget. Enacting H.R. 1299 would reduce
offsetting receipts, which are treated as reductions in direct
spending; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. However,
CBO estimates that any net reduction in offsetting receipts
would be negligible.
Because the affected lands are currently used for cattle
grazing and no alternative grazing lands are available in the
area near those lands, CBO expects that enacting H.R. 1299
would require BLM to terminate existing grazing contracts.
Based on information provided by the agency, CBO estimates that
terminating those contracts would reduce offsetting receipts by
less than $1,000 a year over the 2014-2023 period.
In addition, because the affected lands are already managed
by the federal government, we estimate that implementing the
legislation would not affect the costs of managing the lands.
Finally, CBO estimates that any additional costs to prepare the
legal description of the affected lands, as required under the
bill, would total less than $10,000, subject to the
availability of appropriated funds.
H.R. 1299 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal
governments.
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. Based on
information provided by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM),
CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would have no
significant impact 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, as ordered reported, is to provide for
the transfer of certain public land currently administered by
the Bureau of Land Management to the administrative
jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Army for inclusion in
White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.
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.