PUBLIC LANDS: Bill making it easier for BLM to sell off land garners bipartisan, admin support at House hearing
Jessica Estepa, E&E reporter
Greenwire: Friday, July 19, 2013
The reauthorization of a law that allows land agencies to sell off parcels today received bipartisan support from House members and the Obama administration.
The popular law, known as the Federal Lands Transaction Facilitation Act, allowed agencies to use the revenue to buy environmentally valuable lands and to cover administration costs. It's been two years since the act expired, and members of Congress have tried to get the program up and running ever since; this Congress' attempts are in the form of H.R. 2068 and S. 368. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed its version earlier this year (E&E Daily, May 17).
Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), sponsor of the House version, said the expiration of the bill should concern people who want the Bureau of Land Management to be more proactive in selling land that has been deemed disposable.
"Before FLTFA, federal agencies had little incentive to sell surplus land, and land exchanges are notoriously unworkable," she said at today's House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation hearing. "With FLTFA, the Bureau of Land Management has an incentive to sell land, as the proceeds can then be used to buy other high-value land from willing sellers that is located in national parks and similar areas."
Subcommittee Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) also voiced his support for the measure, as did Democrats Peter DeFazio (Ore.) and Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.).
Jamie Connell, the BLM's acting deputy director, said the Obama administration also wanted to see the act reauthorized. While BLM has been able to continue with land sales and exchanges despite FLTFA's expiration, she noted that the law provided BLM with a streamlined process that allowed it to get transactions done more quickly.
For example, the agency could use its FLTFA authority to sell off lands and then purchase state lands that can be conserved using the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
"It is simply easier," she said.
Separately, the administration did disagree with House members over road construction in a federal roadless area in Alaska.
Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), sponsor of H.R. 587, said the roads would help locals reach the potential mining areas on Prince of Wales Island, something he and other Alaska lawmakers say would bring resources and economic development to the area.
Leslie Weldon, the Forest Service's deputy chief, said although the administration supports development, it believed there were other ways of transporting workers to the mine site.
