S. Rept. 106-205 - NATIONAL FOREST AND PUBLIC LANDS OF NEVADA ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 1988106th Congress (1999-2000)

S. Rept. 106-205 - 106th Congress (1999-2000)

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Senate Report 106-205 - NATIONAL FOREST AND PUBLIC LANDS OF NEVADA ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 1988

[Senate Report 106-205]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 361
106th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session                                                    106-205

======================================================================



 
   NATIONAL FOREST AND PUBLIC LANDS OF NEVADA ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 1988

                                _______
                                

                November 2, 1999.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 439]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 439) to amend the National Forest and 
Public Lands of Nevada Enhancement Act of 1988 to adjust the 
boundary of the Toiyabe National Forest, Nevada, having 
considered the same, reports favorably thereon without 
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                         Purpose of the Measure

    The purpose of S. 439 is to amend the National Forest and 
Public Lands of Nevada Enhancement Act of 1988 to adjust the 
boundary of the Toiyabe National Forest, Nevada.

                          Background and Need

    S. 439 will facilitate the ``Rural Lands Initiative'' in 
the Carson Valley by consolidating Federal ownership. The bill 
adjusts the boundaries of the Toiyabe National Forest to 
exclude a private inholding, thereby placing the inholding 
within surrounding lands managed by the Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM). Officials of Douglas and Lincoln Counties, 
Nevada, the BLM, and the American Land Conservancy are working 
on a land exchange to trade roughly 16,000 acres of BLM 
property in Lincoln County for conservation easements on 2,000 
acres of rural land in Douglas County. The land in Lincoln 
County will be made available for private acquisition and 
development, and the property in Douglas County will be 
permanently protected from future changes to its rural, 
agricultural character.
    The bill will ensure that the private land owners in the 
Carson Valley will work with only one Federal agency as the 
land exchange process moves forward.

                          Legislative History

    S. 439 was introduced by Senator Bryan on February 22, 
1999. The Subcommittee on Forests and Public Land Management 
held a hearing on S. 439 on July 27, 1999. At the business 
meeting on October 20, 1999, the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources ordered S. 439 favorably reported, without 
amendment.

           Committee Recommendations and Tabulation of Votes

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 
open business session on October 20, 1999, by a voice vote of a 
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 439, without 
an amendment.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis

    Section 1 amends the National Forest and Public Lands of 
Nevada Enhancement Act of 1988 by making a boundary adjustment.

                   Cost and Budgetary Considerations

    The following estimate of costs of this measure has been 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                  Washington, DC, October 29, 1999.
Hon. Frank H. Murkowski,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 439, a bill to amend 
the National Forest and Public Lands of Nevada Enhancement Act 
of 1988 to adjust the boundary of the Toiyabe National Forest, 
Nevada.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Victoria Heid 
Hall.
            Sincerely,
                                          Barry B. Anderson
                                    (For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
    Enclosure.

S. 439--A bill to amend the National Forest and Public Lands of Nevada 
        Enhancement Act of 1988 to adjust the boundary of the Toiyabe 
        National Forest, Nevada

    CBO estimates that implementing S. 439 would have no impact 
on the federal budget. Because S. 439 would not affect direct 
spending or receipts, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply. 
S. 439 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates 
as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would have 
no significant impact on the budgets of state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    S. 439 would adjust the boundary of the Toiyabe National 
Forest in Nevada to exclude roughly 2,000 acres of private land 
that is currently within that boundary. As a result, any future 
conservation easements on the affected private land would be 
managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rather than the 
Forest Service. The boundary adjustment would not affect the 
management of public lands, and based on information from BLM, 
we estimate that enacting this bill would have no impact on 
federal spending.
    The CBO staff contact is Victoria Heid Hall. This estimate 
was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director 
for Budget Analysis.

                      Regulatory Impact Evaluation

    In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following 
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in 
carrying out S. 439.
    The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of 
imposing Government-established standards or significant 
economic responsibilities on private individuals and 
businesses.
    No personal information would be collected in administering 
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal 
privacy.
    Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the 
enactment of S. 439, as ordered reported.

                        Executive Communications

    On October 20, 1999, the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources requested legislative reports from the Department of 
Agriculture and the Office of Management and Budget setting 
forth Executive agency recommendations on S. 439. These reports 
had not been received at the time the report on S. 439 was 
filed. When the reports become available, the Chairman will 
request that they be printed in the Congressional Record for 
the advice of the Senate. The testimony provided by the Forest 
Service at the Subcommittee hearing follows:

   Statement of Ron Stewart, Deputy Chief, Programs and Legislation, 
               Forest Service, Department of Agriculture

    Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank you for 
the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss S. 439, a 
bill to adjust the boundary of the Toiyabe National Forest in 
Nevada. S. 719, S. 930, and S. 1030 do not apply to national 
forest lands.
    I am Ron Stewart, Forest Service Deputy Chief for Programs 
and Legislation. I am accompanied today by Mike Williams, 
Assistant Director of Lands.
    The Administration supports S. 439, which amends the 
National Forest and Public Lands of Nevada Enhancement Act of 
1988 to allow for a minor correction to the boundary of the 
Toiyabe National Forest.
    The Administration supports S. 439, which amends the 
National Forest and Public Lands of Nevada Enhancement Act of 
1988 to adjust the boundary of the Toiyabe National Forest. 
Specifically, the bill would transfer to the Secretary of 
Interior, land situated between the old forest boundary and the 
revised forest boundary that was transferred to the Secretary 
of Agriculture under Section 4(a) of the 1988 Act.
    We support S. 439 to amend the National Forest and Public 
Lands of Nevada Enhancement Act of 1988 to make a minor 
boundary adjustment on the Toiyabe National Forest.
    We thank the subcommittee for the opportunity to comment on 
this bill. I would be pleased to answer any questions you may 
have.

                        Changes in Existing Law

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by 
the bill S. 493 as ordered reported, are shown as follows 
(existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black 
brackets, new matter is printed in italic, existing law in 
which no change is proposed is shown in roman):

NATIONAL FOREST AND PUBLIC LANDS OF NEVADA ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 1988

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SEC. 4. TRANSFER OF LANDS.

    (a) Transfer of Public Lands to the Forest Service.--
[Effective] (1) In General._Effective one hundred and eighty 
days after the enactment of this Act, the approximately six 
hundred sixty-two thousand acres of public lands designated for 
inclusion in the National Forest System on three maps entitled 
``Nevada Interchange-A'', dated January 1987, ``Nevada 
Interchange-B'', dated February 1988, and ``Nevada Interchange-
C'', dated August 1988, are hereby withdrawn from the public 
domain, transferred to the jurisdiction of the Secretary of 
Agriculture, and shall become part of the Toiyabe National 
Forest or the Inyo National Forest, as appropriate.
    (2) Boundary Adjustment.--Effective on the date of 
enactment of this paragraph, the portion of the land 
transferred to the Secretary of Agriculture under paragraph (1) 
situated between the lines marked ``Old Forest Boundary'' and 
``Revised National Forest Boundary'' on the map entitled 
``Nevada Interchange `A', Change 1'', and dated September 16, 
1998, is transferred to the Secretary of the Interior.
    (b) Boundaries of Toiyabe and Inyo National Forests.--* * *

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