ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Fifty-sixth Legislature

First Regular Session

House: LARA DP 5-4-0-0

HCM2002: federal lands; housing shortage

Sponsor: Representative Griffin, LD 19

House Engrossed

Overview

Requests that Congress enact legislation to allow the Secretary of the Interior to sell public lands to state and local governments and that the Secretary of the Interior implement a process for applicants to nominate public lands for purchase.

History

Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976

The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 governs how federal lands are administered under the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (Public Law 94-579). This act allows public land to be sold if the Secretary of Interior determines that the tract of land meets any of the following criteria:

1) The tract is difficult and prohibitively expensive to manage and unsuitable for management by another department or agency;

2) The tract is no longer required for the federal purpose for which it was originally acquired; or

3) Selling the tract will serve important public objectives that cannot be achieved on non-public lands and that outweigh other public objectives and values which would otherwise be served by maintaining this tract in federal ownership (43 U.S.C. § 1713).

Public lands are generally sold through competitive bid at a public auction. However, the Secretary of Interior may adopt a modified competitive bidding process where some preferences of adjoining landowners are recognized or directly sell the land to a party when circumstances warrant. In any case, public lands cannot be sold for less than their fair market value (U.S.C. § 43-1713).

Helping Open Underutilized Space to Ensure Shelter Act

The Helping Open Underutilized Space to Ensure Shelter (HOUSES) Act was introduced as Senate Bill 4062. It amends the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to allow certain public land to be sold to states and local governments for housing developments. The bill includes a process by which a state or local government can request the sale of public lands within its boundaries for eligible projects in which:

1) At least 85 percent of the land will be used for residential development;

2) Each acre of land will provide for at least four residences;

3) No single residence will be located on over half an acre; and

4) No more than 15 percent of the land will be used for commercial purposes.

The public land requested cannot include any federally protected land such as national parks, national recreation areas, national preserves and national historic sites. A submitted proposal must include a map of the lands nominated and a description the eligible project. If approved for sale by the Secretary of the Interior, the sale price is set based on a formula that considers the tract's fair market value, payments in lieu of taxes that would otherwise be made for the tract, and the estimated amount of tax revenue that would have been due for the tract's sale. The Secretary of Interior cannot convey this land without approval from the governor and enactment of any regulatory provisions needed for the eligible project by the state or local government.

The bill received a hearing in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining but did not progress further during the 2022 Legislative session.

Provisions

1. States that the Arizona House of Representatives urges:

a) Congress to enact the Helping Open Underutilized Space to Ensure Shelter Act, or similar legislation, to allow the Secretary of the Interior to sell federal parcels of land to state and local governments; and

b) Secretary of the Interior to implement a process for applicants to nominate federal lands for purchase immediately upon the passage of such legislation.

2. Directs the Arizona Secretary of State to transmit the memorial to the Secretary of the Interior, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and each member of Congress from the State of Arizona.

5. ---------- DOCUMENT FOOTER ---------

6. HCM 2002

7. Initials PAB/AH Page 0 House Engrossed

9. ---------- DOCUMENT FOOTER ---------