Accelerating Appraisals and Conservation Efforts Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the chair of the committee for his leadership.

Today, I am pleased that the House is considering the Accelerating Appraisals and Conservation Efforts Act, known as the AACE Act, my bipartisan, bicameral bill to cut red tape for everyone who relies on the Federal Government to buy, sell, or transfer public land.

It will speed up appraisals and approvals for Nevada housing projects and cut governmental red tape that drives up housing costs. Outdoor enthusiasts will be able to enjoy the public lands they have fought to preserve, and it will allow for better and faster infrastructure to power our communities.

The U.S. Department of the Interior oversees hundreds of millions of acres of public lands nationwide. Its Bureau of Land Management alone stewards roughly 70 percent of the lands in my home State of Nevada.

Before the Department of the Interior is able to buy, sell, lease, trade, or conduct any type of land-related transaction, it must first make sure that these activities are done at fair market value to protect the public trust.

However, while full-time Federal appraisers are able to work quickly and easily across State lines, the private appraisers on whom the Department of the Interior must now rely to satisfy the growing demands on the agency can only work in specific States or territories in which they are individually credentialed.

This is slowing progress across the country on a range of conservation, economic, housing, and infrastructure goals, all dependent on the Department of the Interior's ability to complete land transactions promptly.

My bipartisan AACE Act would help alleviate and prevent appraisal bottlenecks by building upon a decades-old precedent of limited license reciprocity for appraisers established under the Bush-Quayle administration.

It would enable the Department of the Interior to contract with private appraisers who are appropriately credentialed in one State to perform appraisal valuation services on the Department of the Interior's behalf in any State.

Importantly, it would also require the Department of the Interior to continue to prioritize working with local appraisers, unlocking the enhanced flexibility provided by the bill only when no assignment- qualified or cost-competitive local appraisers are available.

In short, this legislation would maximize DOI's efficiency without spending a single additional dollar of taxpayers' money. It better positions America's principal land management agency to complete land transactions of all kinds more effectively and efficiently, ensuring that the Federal Government can deliver on these critical projects without getting in its own way.

That is why the bill has the support of Republican and Democratic Members of Congress, Senators, and Governors. It is also supported by the DOI and organizations ranging from Conservation Lands Foundation to Trout Unlimited to the Nevada Housing Coalition and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It benefits everyone, from conservationists to developers, who all find themselves waiting at the back of the same Federal appraisals line.

I thank my colleague and good friend, Representative Dave Joyce, for writing this much-needed legislation with me to provide a simple, bipartisan solution to a simple, bipartisan problem.

I thank Senator Catherine Cortez Masto for championing this commonsense legislation in the Senate. It is essential that we pass the bill in this Congress so we can get it to the President's desk without delay and deliver as soon as possible on the lands projects that Americans need.

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Ms. LEE of Nevada. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I urge my colleagues to support my legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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