[DOCID: f:hr532.110]
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110th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 110-532
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TO AUTHORIZE THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR TO LEASE CERTAIN LANDS IN
VIRGIN ISLANDS NATIONAL PARK, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
_______
February 28, 2008.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Rahall, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 1143]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 1143) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to
lease certain lands in Virgin Islands National Park, 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. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act, the following definitions apply:
(1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of
the Interior.
(2) RUE.--The term ``RUE'' means the retained use estate
entered into by the Jackson Hole Preserve and the United States
on September 30, 1983.
(3) Park.--The term ``park'' means Virgin Islands National
Park.
(4) CBI.--The term ``CBI'' means CBI Acquisitions, LLC.
(5) Resort.--The term ``Resort'' means Caneel Bay Resort on
the island of St. John in Virgin Islands National Park.
SEC. 2. LEASE AGREEMENT.
(a) Authorization.--The Secretary may enter into a lease agreement
with CBI governing the use of property for the continued management and
operation of the Resort.
(b) Additional Lands.--Any lease entered into pursuant to this Act
shall include the property covered by the RUE and any associated
property owned by CBI donated to the National Park Service.
(c) Terms.--The lease agreement authorized under subsection (a)
shall--
(1) require that operations and maintenance of the Resort are
conducted in a manner consistent with the preservation and
conservation of the resources and values of the Park as well as
the best interests of the Resort;
(2) be for the minimum number of years practicable to enable
the lessee to secure financing for any necessary improvements
to the Resort, taking into account the financial obligations of
CBI, but in any event shall not exceed 40 years;
(3) prohibit any transfer, assignment or sale of the lease or
otherwise convey or pledge any interest in the lease without
prior written notification to and approval by the Secretary;
(4) prohibit any increase in the number of guest
accommodations available at the Resort;
(5) prohibit any increase in the overall size of the Resort;
(6) prohibit the sale of partial ownership shares or
timeshares in the Resort;
(7) be designed to facilitate transfer of all property
covered by the lease to Federal administration upon expiration
of the lease; and
(8) include any other provisions determined by the Secretary
to be necessary to protect the Park and the public interest.
(d) Appraisals.--The Secretary shall require appraisals to determine
the fair market value of all property covered by the RUE and any
property, including the value, if any, of the surrendered term of the
RUE, owned by CBI to be donated, or otherwise conveyed, to the National
Park Service. Such appraisals shall be conducted pursuant to the
Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisition.
(e) Compensation.--
(1) In general.--The lease authorized by this Act shall--
(A) require payment to the United States of the
property's fair market value rent, taking into account
the value of any associated property transferred by CBI
as well as the value, if any, of the surrendered term
of the RUE;
(B) include a provision--
(i) allowing recalculation of the amount of
the payment required under this subsection, at
the request of the Secretary or CBI, in the
event of extraordinary unanticipated changes in
conditions anticipated at the time the lease
was finalized; and
(ii) providing for binding arbitration in the
event the Secretary and CBI are unable to agree
upon an adjustment to the payment in these
circumstances.
(2) Distribution.--Eighty percent of the payment to the
United States required by this subsection shall be available to
the Secretary, without further appropriation, for expenditure
within the Park. The remaining twenty percent shall be
deposited in the Treasury.
(3) Applicability of certain law.--Section 321 of the Act of
June 30, 1932 (40 U.S.C. 1302), relating to the leasing of
buildings and property of the United States, shall not apply to
the lease entered into by the Secretary pursuant to this Act.
SEC. 3. RETAINED USE ESTATE.
As a condition of the lease, CBI shall relinquish to the Secretary
all rights under the RUE and transfer, without compensation, ownership
of improvements covered by the RUE to the United States.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 1143 is to authorize the Secretary of
the Interior to lease certain lands in Virgin Islands National
Park, and for other purposes.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Caneel Bay is a luxury resort operated pursuant to a
Retained Use Estate (RUE) on federal land within Virgin Islands
National Park. The RUE expires in 2023, when any improvements
on the land will revert to the National Park Service.
The current holder of the RUE has embarked on major
renovations to Caneel Bay. However, the operators claim that
the remaining life of the RUE does not afford sufficient time
to provide the capital and attract the long-term financing for
the improvements which are necessary to reverse the recent
decline of the facilities at the resort.
H.R. 1143 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, after
expiration of the RUE, to enter into a lease with the holders
of the RUE for continued operation of the resort on terms and
conditions determined by the Secretary to be reasonable.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 1143 was introduced on February 16, 2007, by Rep.
Donna Christensen (D-VI). The bill was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the
Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands. On
October 30, 2007, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill,
during which the Administration testified in support of the
bill's concept but requested the opportunity to work with the
Committee regarding the bill's provisions.
On February 13, 2008, the full Natural Resources Committee
met to mark up the bill. Subcommittee Chairman Raul Grijalva
(D-AZ) offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute that
retained the original intent of the bill while placing
additional conditions on the lease authority authorized under
the bill. The Grijalva amendment was adopted by unanimous
consent. The bill as amended was then ordered favorably
reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous consent.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Definitions
Section 1 defines the terms used in this act.
Section 2. Lease agreement
Subsection 2(a) authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to
enter into the lease agreement with the current operators of
Caneel Bay Resort. Subsection 2(b) defines the property covered
by the lease.
Subsection 2(c) sets the terms of the lease. In particular,
Section 2(c)1 requires resort operations and maintenance to be
consistent with the preservation and conservation values of the
Park and the best interests of the Resort. Section 2(c)2 sets
the term of the lease as the minimum number of years necessary
for the lessee to secure financing for improvements to the
Resort, not to exceed 40 years. Section 2(c)3 prohibits any
transfer or sale of the lease by the current lessee without
approval by the Secretary. Section 2(c)4 prohibits any increase
in the number of guest accommodations at the Resort. Section
2(c)5 prohibits expansion of the size of the Resort. Section
2(c)6 prohibits the sale or ownership of timeshares in the
Resort. Section 2(c)7 states that the lease shall be designed
to facilitate transfer of all facilities to Federal management
upon expiration. Section 2(c)8 permits the inclusion of other
provisions determined by the Secretary to be necessary to
protect the Park and the public interest.
Subsection 2(d) requires the appraisal of all property
covered by the RUE as well as any property to be donated or
otherwise conveyed to the Federal government.
Section 2(e)1 requires the payment of fair market value
rent to the United States by the lessee and permits
recalculation of the rental payment in the event of unexpected
circumstances and arbitration if the Secretary and the lessee
disagree upon adjustments to the rental payment. Section 2(e)2
requires that 80% of the rental payments be made available
without further appropriation for expenditure within the Park
and the remaining 20% deposited in the Treasury.
Section 3. Retained Use Estate
Section 3 directs the lessee to relinquish to the Secretary
all rights under the RUE and transfer, without compensation,
ownership of improvements covered by the RUE to the United
States.
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.
CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT
Article I, section 8 and Article IV, section 3, of the
Constitution of the United States grants Congress the authority
to enact this bill.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) 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)(3)(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.
2. 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.
3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. This bill does
not authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives does not
apply.
4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. 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. 1143--A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to lease
certain lands in Virgin Islands National Park
H.R. 1143 would authorize the National Park Service (NPS)
to execute a lease with the owners of the Caneel Bay Resort on
St. John in the Virgin Islands. Based on information provided
by the NPS, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would have
no effect on discretionary spending. Enacting the bill would
increase both offsetting receipts (from lease payments) and
direct spending of those receipts beginning in fiscal year
2009, but CBO estimates that any net effect on the federal
budget would be negligible.
H.R. 1143 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.
Under the lease authorized by H.R. 1143, the owners of
Caneel Bay would continue to operate the resort, which is
located within the boundary of the Virgin Islands National
Park, for up to 40 years. The resort is currently operated
under a retained use estate (RUE) that will expire at the end
of fiscal year 2023. The RUE was granted by the original owners
of the resort when they donated the land under that facility to
the NPS in 1983. The original RUE agreement did not provide for
any lease payments to the federal government; the lease
authorized by H.R. 1143 would. In addition, the bill would
authorize the NPS to spend, without further appropriation, 80
percent of any new lease receipts.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis.
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
EARMARK STATEMENT
H.R. 1143 does not contain any congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in
clause 9(d), 9(e) or 9(f) of rule XXI.
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.
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