[House Report 115-336]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
115th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session } { 115-336
======================================================================
PERSHING COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND CONSERVATION ACT
_______
September 28, 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. 1107]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 1107) to promote conservation, improve public
land management, and provide for sensible development in
Pershing County, Nevada, 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. 1107 is to promote conservation,
improve public land management, and provide for sensible
development in Pershing County, Nevada.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
H.R. 1107, the Pershing County Economic Development and
Conservation Act, is the result of over a decade of
negotiations between locally-elected officials, miners,
conservationists, sportsmen, ranchers, and residents in
Pershing County, Nevada. The bill consolidates over 300,000
acres of checkerboard federal land previously identified for
disposal by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM); conveys land
for mining and public purposes, including the transfer of a
cemetery to the County; creates 136,072 acres of new wilderness
areas; and releases roughly 48,600 acres of Wilderness Study
Areas (WSA) to benefit conservation, recreation, and economic
development in Pershing County, Nevada.
In Pershing County, 75% of the land is federally owned,
with over 300,000 acres identified for disposal under the BLM's
Winnemucca District Resource Management Plan. H.R. 1107 allows
for the sale of up to 150,000 acres of checkerboard land
previously identified for disposal by the BLM. The County will
work jointly with BLM to identify high-priority land sales
along the I-80 corridor, east of the Rye Patch State Recreation
Area, near the Humboldt River Ranch and West Humboldt Range to
resolve the federal-nonfederal checkerboard pattern of
ownership throughout the County. The sale and transfer of lands
will streamline BLM's management of the area and provide the
County and State with additional revenues to jumpstart economic
development.
H.R. 1107 includes several land conveyances for public
purposes and to consolidate mining operations in Pershing
County. Several local companies will have the ability to
acquire land from the BLM where they already own mining claims,
millsites, or tunnel sites. According to one local mining
company, allowing the consolidation and expansion of mining
operations will lead to ``greater investments, additional
development and production from these lands, and important for
Pershing County--economic development and jobs.''\1\ The bill
also conveys the Unionville Cemetery to Pershing County.
Established in the 1870s, the 10-acre cemetery is still in use,
although the BLM currently prohibits any additional burials.
Transferring the land would ensure its continued use and allow
residents of the County to bury their loved ones nearby.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\Coeur Mining, ``Economic Development and Conservation Act
Proposal--Pershing County, Nevada'', 06/27/16.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Of the proceeds from the sale, 5% will go to the State for
educational purposes and 10% will go to Pershing County. The
remaining 85% of the proceeds will be deposited in the Pershing
County Special Account and fund reimbursements for land sales;
wildlife habitat conservation projects; reimbursements for
County drought projects; wildfire pre-suppression and
restoration projects; future acquisition of environmentally
sensitive land or lands that secure recreational access for the
public; and surveys related to wilderness designations.
H.R. 1107 also designates 136,072 acres of wilderness and
releases approximately 48,600 acres of WSA. The new wilderness
designations include 11,855 acres of the Mount Limbo WSA;
13,875 acres in North Sahwave; 24,900 acres in the Bluewing
Mountains; 22,822 acres in the Selenite Mountains WSA; 14,942
acres in Fencemaker; 35,339 acres in Grandfathers encompassing
the majority of two WSAs; and 12,339 acres known as Cain
Mountain in the Augusta Mountain WSA. The bill also releases
48,600 acres of WSA studied since the early 2000s in Augusta
Mountain, China Mountain, Mount Limbo, Selenite Mountains, and
Tobin Range.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 1107 was introduced on February 16, 2017, by
Congressman Mark E. Amodei (R-NV). The bill was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the
Subcommittee on Federal Lands. On May 23, 2017, the
Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On June 22, 2017, the
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 unanimous consent 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, September 27, 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. 1107, the Pershing
County Economic Development and Conservation 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.
H.R. 1107--Pershing County Economic Development and Conservation Act
H.R. 1107 would establish a process to sell or exchange up
to 400,000 acres of federal land administered by the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) in Pershing County, Nevada, and also
would designate 136,000 acres of other federal lands as
wilderness.
The bill would require BLM to conduct a mass appraisal of
the affected lands. Based on an analysis of information
provided by the Department of the Interior's Office of
Valuation Services, CBO estimates that conducting the appraisal
would cost roughly $1 million in 2019; that spending would be
subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
Title I would direct BLM to work with Pershing County to
jointly select parcels from roughly 300,000 acres of federal
land that would be conveyed to the county through sale or
exchange. Because BLM has already identified those lands for
disposal, CBO expects that any lands conveyed in this region
eventually will be conveyed under current law. Under the bill,
the agency would only be required to sell lands valued at more
than $500 an acre. CBO expects that lands valued at less than
$500 an acre would be exchanged. The bill would authorize the
agency to spend any proceeds from the sale of land, which would
increase direct spending; however, based on information from
BLM regarding the amount of similar lands sold state-wide in
Nevada over the last five years (between 1,000 and 3,000 acres)
and the value of those lands (between $100 and $300 an acre),
CBO estimates that any proceeds generated by the sale of the
affected lands and the associated direct spending would be
insignificant over the 2018-2027 period.
Title II would require BLM to offer mining claims covering
roughly 100,000 acres in Pershing County for sale at fair
market value. However, CBO expects that few individuals or
firms would elect to purchase those lands because under current
law they would have the option to patent their mining claims
after 2017. Mineral patents allow individuals and firms to
acquire title to hardrock minerals and the associated surface
rights under a federal mining claim at below-market rates. Each
year since 1994, the Congress has included provisions in annual
appropriations acts that prohibit BLM from accepting or
processing applications for mineral patents. Because patents
are prohibited only in the year the appropriations acts are
enacted, BLM will be authorized to issue mineral patents
beginning in 2018; the Congress would have to extend that
prohibition in subsequent legislation. CBO expects that
individuals or firms seeking to acquire title to federal mining
claims generally would opt for a patent rather than purchase
the claims using the process established under the bill. Thus,
CBO estimates that enacting that provision would have no
significant budgetary effect.
Title III would designate 136,000 acres of federal land as
wilderness. Designating federal land as wilderness could have
an effect on the budget if the property generates receipts for
the government and collection of those receipts would end under
the wilderness designation. Because the bill would preserve
existing grazing rights on the affected lands and CBO does not
expect those lands to generate any other proceeds over the next
10 years, we estimate that enacting that provision would have
no effect on the federal budget.
Because enacting H.R. 1107 would affect direct spending,
pay-as-you-go procedures apply; however, CBO estimates that the
net effect on direct spending would not be significant.
Enacting the bill would not affect revenues.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1107 would not increase
net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
H.R. 1107 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. The
bill would benefit the governments of Pershing County, Nevada,
and the State of Nevada by directing proceeds generated from
federal land transactions to support environmental, land
management, and education projects for those governments. Any
costs incurred by public entities associated with land
transactions would result from voluntary commitments.
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 promote conservation, improve
public land management, and provide for sensible development in
Pershing County, Nevada.
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.
[all]