[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 472 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
103d CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 472
To improve the administration and management of public lands, National
Forests, units of the National Park System, and related areas by
improving the availability of adequate, appropriate, affordable, and
cost effective housing for employees needed to effectively manage the
public lands.
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IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 2 (legislative day, January 5), 1993
Mr. Wallop (for himself and Mr. Murkowski) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources
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A BILL
To improve the administration and management of public lands, National
Forests, units of the National Park System, and related areas by
improving the availability of adequate, appropriate, affordable, and
cost effective housing for employees needed to effectively manage the
public lands.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be referred to as the ``Land Management Agency Housing
Improvement Act of 1993''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act, the term--
(1) ``public lands'' means Federal lands administered by
the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture;
and
(2) ``Secretaries'' means the Secretary of the Interior and
the Secretary of Agriculture.
SEC. 3. EMPLOYEE HOUSING.
(a)(1) To promote the recruitment and retention of qualified
personnel necessary for the effective management of public lands, the
Secretaries are authorized to--
(A) make employee housing available, subject to the
limitations set forth in paragraph (2), on or off public lands,
and
(B) rent or lease such housing to employees of the
respective Department at a reasonable value.
(2)(A) Housing made available on public lands shall be limited to
those areas designated for administrative use.
(B) No private lands or interests therein outside of the boundaries
of federally administered areas may be acquired for the purposes of
this Act except with the consent of the owner thereof.
(b) The Secretaries shall provide such housing in accordance with
this Act and section 5911 of title 5, United States Code, except that
for the purposes of this Act, the term--
(1) ``availability of quarters'' (as used in this Act and
subsection (b) of section 5911) means the existence, within
thirty miles of the employee's duty station, of well-
constructed and maintained housing suitable to the individual
and family needs of the employee, for which the rental rate as
a percentage of the employee's annual gross income does not
exceed the most recent Census Bureau American Housing Survey
average percentage of rents paid by renters inclusive of
utilities, whether paid as part of rent or paid directly to a
third party;
(2) ``contract'' (as used in this Act and subsection (b) of
section 5911) includes, but is not limited to, ``Build-to-
Lease'', ``Rental Guarantee'', ``Joint Development'' or other
lease agreements entered into by the Secretary, on or off
public lands, for the purposes of sub-leasing to Departmental
employees; and
(3) ``reasonable value'' (as used in this Act and
subsection (c) of section 5911) means the base rental rate
comparable to private rental rates for comparable housing
facilities and associated amenities: Provided, That the base
rental rate as a percentage of the employee's annual gross
income shall not exceed the most recent American Housing Survey
average percentage of rents paid by renters inclusive of
utilities, whether paid as part of rent or paid directly to a
third party.
(c) Subject to appropriation, the Secretaries may enter into
contracts and agreements with public and private entities to provide
employee housing on or off public lands.
(d) The Secretaries may enter into cooperative agreements or joint
ventures with local governmental and private entities, either on or off
public lands, to provide appropriate and necessary utility and other
infrastructure facilities in support of employee housing facilities
provided under this Act.
SEC. 4. SURVEY OF RENTAL QUARTERS.
The Secretaries shall conduct a survey of the availability of
quarters at field units under each Secretary's jurisdiction at least
every five years. If such survey indicates that government owned or
suitable privately owned quarters are not available as defined in
section 3(b)(1) of this Act of the personnel assigned to a specific
duty station, the Secretaries are authorized to provide suitable
quarters in accordance with the provisions of this Act. For the
purposes of this section, the term ``suitable quarters'' means well-
constructed, maintained housing suitable to the individual and family
needs of the employee.
SEC. 5. SECONDARY QUARTERS.
(a) The Secretaries may determine that secondary quarters for
employees who are permanently duty stationed at remote locations and
are regularly required to relocate for temporary periods are necessary
for the effective administration of an area under the jurisdiction of
the respective agency. Such secondary quarters are authorized to be
made available to employees, either on or off public lands, in
accordance with the provisions of this Act.
(b) Rental rates for such secondary facilities shall be established
so that the aggregate rental rate paid by an employee for both primary
and secondary quarters as a percentage of the employee's annual gross
income shall not exceed the Census Bureau American Housing Survey
average percentage of rents paid by renters inclusive of utilities,
whether paid as part of rent or paid directly to a third party.
SEC. 6. SURVEY OF EXISTING FACILITIES.
(a) Within two years after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Secretaries shall survey all existing government owned employee housing
facilities under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior and
the Department of Agriculture, to assess the physical condition of such
housing and the suitability of such housing for the effective
prosecution of the agency mission. The Secretaries shall develop an
agency-wide priority listing, by structure, identifying those units in
greatest need for repair, rehabilitation, replacement or initial
construction, as appropriate. The survey and priority listing study
shall be transmitted to the Committees on Appropriations and Energy and
Natural Resources of the United States Senate and the Committees on
Appropriations and Interior and Insular Affairs of the United States
House of Representatives.
(b) Unless otherwise provided by law, expenditure of any funds
appropriated for construction, repair or rehabilitation shall follow,
in sequential order, the priority listing established by each agency.
Funding available from other sources for employee housing repair may be
distributed as determined by the Secretaries.
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be
necessary to carry out this Act.
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