A bill to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey, without consideration, to the Sabine River Authority of Texas approximately 34,000 acres of land within the Sabine National Forest, Texas, to be used for the purposes of the Toledo Bend Project, Louisiana and Texas.
Public Law 98-571 · H.R. 3150 · 98th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Oct 30, 1984 · Public Lands and Natural Resources
Sponsor: Rep. Charles Wilson (D-TX-2)
Cosponsors (11): Rep. Sam Hall, Rep. Henry González,
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- SenateVoice vote
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to convey to the Sabine River Authority of Texas specified Federal lands located within the Sabine National Forest in Texas and within the project boundary of the Toledo Bend Dam and Reservoir, Louisiana and Texas.
Directs the Authority, in exchange for such conveyance, to convey to the United States specified lands at the shoreline of such Dam and adjacent to such National Forest, and the sum of $650,000.
Reserves to the United States all subsurface land rights, including oil and gas.
Makes ownership revert to the United States if such lands are used for any other purpose than the Toledo Bend project.
Requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to waive related land-use charges if: (1) such land is conveyed by the United States directly to the project licensee (subject to any appropriate FERC restrictions); (2) the conveying U.S. agency has notified FERC that the United States will have received such conveyance's fair market value; and (3) such fair market value includes the full value of the waiver for the remaining term of the license. Stipulates that if FERC determines that the consideration does not include the full value of the waived land-use charge the conveyance shall not be made.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Agriculture Committee · House · markup by, referred toSubcommittee: Forests, Family Farms, and Energy Subcommittee
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 12 actions.
- Oct 30, 1984Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 98-571.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Oct 19, 1984PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Oct 10, 1984FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
- Oct 2, 1984FloorFloor · Passed House (Amended) by Voice Vote.
- Sep 19, 1984CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Agriculture Committee
- Sep 11, 1984CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Forests, Family Farms, and Energy Subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Forests, Family Farms, and Energy Subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Forests, Family Farms, and Energy Subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee
- Jun 1, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Forests, Family Farms, and Energy Subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee
- May 25, 1983CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Agriculture Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.