114 



Senator Hecht. Thank you very much. 



I am just going to ask Mr. Horn a couple of questions for the 

 record. I am going to submit some other questions to all of you in 

 writing. 



A couple of concerns have been brought up. 



Mr. Horn, it has been alleged that the appraisal of the public 

 lands in Nevada identified for exchange is under the fair market 

 value of these lands and therefore violates the requirement for an 

 equal value exchange. 



Please describe for the Committee the appraisal process that was 

 used to determine the value of both the Florida and the Nevada 

 properties. 



Mr. Horn. I would just outline that I have the Chief of the 

 Realty Section of the Fish and Wildlife Service present, and Mr. 

 Spang, who is the BLM State Director could get into this in detail 

 for you, if you wish. 



But, suffice it to say, all the appraisals were conducted pursuant 

 to established procedures by duly authorized and competent profes- 

 sionals. All the appraisals have been approved by, respectively, the 

 Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Serv- 

 ice. 



So I think it is safe to say, as I indicated in my statement, that 

 we are dealing here with approved, professionally executed apprais- 

 als. Either gentleman could give you some detail, either now or in 

 writing, as to all of the procedures and steps employed. So I think 

 it is safe to say that you can rely on these as accurate appraisals. 



Senator Hecht. Since this is a concern, would you please have 

 them submit those procedures and the appraisals to the Committee 

 in writing? 



Mr. Horn. Yes, sir. 



[The information was received by the subcommittee and has been 

 retained in the files.] 



Senator Hecht. Another question has been brought up. 



I assume the department and your attorneys have examined the 

 questions of whether an Environmental Impact Statement must be 

 prepared for Congressional authorized interstate land exchanges of 

 the sort we are dealing with here. 



Assuming that this question has been examined, what is the de- 

 partment's position on this? 



Mr. Horn. Mr. Chairman, it is established law that Congress is 

 exempt from the provisions of the National Environmental Policy 

 Act. The requirements for EIS's apply only to administrative agen- 

 cies undertaking executive action. 



But we wanted to make sure that in providing our drafting as- 

 sistance to Congress, that, basically, a thorough review of environ- 

 mental issues had been done. So we prepared the Resource Ascer- 

 tainment Report, which is the functional equivalent of an Environ- 

 mental Assessment, which is one of the key steps in NEPA compli- 

 ance. That, coupled with the extensive EIS work done by the Air 

 Force under the MX proposal I think, provides the Congress with a 

 very thorough record and factual bases for judging the merits of 

 this proposal. 



If you put it all together, you basically have all of the informa- 

 tion that would be provided through an EIS. 



