[House Report 104-700]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
104th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 104-700
_______________________________________________________________________
CRAWFORD NATIONAL FISH HATCHERY CONVEYANCE ACT
_______
July 24, 1996.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Young of Alaska, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 3287]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 3287) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey
the Crawford National Fish Hatchery to the city of Crawford,
Nebraska, having considered the same, report favorably thereon
with an amendment and recommend that the bill as amended do
pass.
The amendment is as follows:
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu
thereof the following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Crawford National Fish Hatchery
Conveyance Act''.
SEC. 2. CONVEYANCE OF CRAWFORD NATIONAL FISH HATCHERY TO THE CITY OF
CRAWFORD, NEBRASKA.
(a) Conveyance Requirement.--Within 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall convey to
the city of Crawford, Nebraska, without reimbursement, all right,
title, and interest of the United States in and to the property
described in subsection (b), for use by the city for a city park and
other public recreational purposes.
(b) Property Described.--The property referred to in subsection (a)
is the property known as the Crawford National Fish Hatchery, located
in the city of Crawford, Nebraska, consisting of 5.95 acres (more or
less), and all improvements and related personal property under the
control of the Secretary that is located on that property, including
buildings, structures, equipment, and all easements, leases, and water
rights relating to that property.
(c) Use and Reversionary Interest.--If any of the property conveyed
to the city of Crawford, Nebraska, under this section is used by the
city for any purpose other than the uses authorized under subsection
(a), all right, title, and interest in and to all property conveyed
under this section shall revert to the United States. The city of
Crawford, Nebraska, shall ensure that all property that reverts to the
United States under this subsection is in substantially the same or
better condition as at the time of conveyance to the city.
purpose of the bill
The purpose of H.R. 3287 is to direct the Secretary of the
Interior to convey the Crawford National Fish Hatchery to the
city of Crawford, Nebraska.
Background and need for legislation
The Crawford National Fish Hatchery (NFH) is located in
the northwest corner of the State in Dawes County, inside the
city limits of Crawford, Nebraska.
The Hatchery property consists of 5.95 acres. The history
of this property started in 1906 when Congress, by the Act of
June 25, 1906, granted a 134.4-acre tract of land to the
Village of Crawford for park and water power purposes. The Act
further stipulated that if the Village of Crawford stopped
using the land for these purposes, then the title would revert
to the United States.
On September 30, 1927, the City Council of Crawford
approved a resolution that donated 4.75 acres to the United
States (Department of Commerce, Bureau of Fisheries) to be used
as a site for the Hatchery. On April 27, 1954, the city added
1.2 acres to the original 4.7-acre tract. In both cases, those
lands donated to the United States were included within the
original conveyance to the Village of Crawford in 1906.
In 1929, Congress officially established the site as a
national fish hatchery. For 42 years, Crawford NFH was a fish
production facility. The fish produced at Crawford were used to
stock Federal, State, and tribal waters in the States of
Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. The
fish species reared and stocked included bluegill, brook and
brown trout, channel catfish, largemouth bass and rainbow
trout.
From 1971 to 1983, the Hatchery's fish stocking program
was reduced and its primary focus was shifted to fish egg
production. As a broodstock hatchery, Crawford NFH produced
both brook and brown trout eggs for shipment to other States
and other Federal hatcheries. In 1979, a typical year, Crawford
shipped brown trout eggs to Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Maine,
Michigan, New York, Ohio and South Dakota. It also shipped
brook trout eggs to Arizona, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico,
Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Mexico.
In 1983, Congress terminated funding for the Hatchery
because it felt that the facility was no longer essential to
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) nationwide stocking
program. At that time, FWS and the State of Nebraska entered
into a 30-year Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) whereby the State
Game and Parks Commission assumed operation of the Hatchery for
trout production services. In April 1991, the State of Nebraska
exercised its option by advising FWS that it intended to
terminate the MOA when the State's new Calamus Hatchery became
operational. On May 10, 1991, the Crawford NFH was severely
damaged from flooding of the White River. The State of Nebraska
terminated the MOA effective September 30, 1991. There is
currently no operational activity at the Crawford NFH, nor is
any anticipated in the future. In fact, it has been estimated
that it would cost a significant amount of money to repair the
serious damage caused by the flooding and the five years of not
maintaining the buildings.
The Hatchery consists of a fish production office, a
brick-enclosed spring water supply building, a fish food
storage building, a garage/shop/service building, and two
residences. In addition, there were seven gravel-lined fish
rearing ponds that were completely filled by the 1991 flood.
The Hatchery also has a 13,846-foot long underground pipeline
running from the spring to the fish production ponds. This
pipeline contains asbestos material and FWS has decided to
abandon the pipeline in place.
While the Clinton Administration did not include the
Crawford NFH on its list of those to be transferred to the
States, FWS has indicated that it supports this transfer. This
facility would not qualify for the three years of transitional
assistance that FWS proposed in its fiscal year 1996 budget
request.
committee action
H.R. 3287 was introduced on April 23, 1996, by Congressman
Bill Barrett (R-NE). The bill was referred to the Committee on
Resources and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on
Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans.
On June 13, 1996, the Subcommittee held a hearing on H.R.
3287. Testifying in support of the bill were Congressman Bill
Barrett and Mr. William Knapp, Chief, Division of Fish
Hatcheries, FWS. In his testimony, Mr. Knapp said that ``the
Service and the city of Crawford, Nebraska * * * mutually agree
that all parties will benefit from the conveyance of ownership
of [the Crawford NFH].''
On June 27, 1996, the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife
and Oceans met to mark up H.R. 3287. At that time, Congressman
Gerry Studds (D-MA) offered an amendment to clarify the
reversionary language in section 2 of the bill. The amendment
was adopted by voice vote. The bill, as amended, was then
ordered favorably reported to the Full Committee on Resources
by voice vote.
On July 17, 1996, the Committee on Resources met to
consider H.R. 3287. There were no amendments and the Committee
ordered the bill reported to the House of Representatives by
voice vote, in the presence of a quorum.
section-by-section analysis
Section 1. Short title
This bill may be cited as the ``Crawford National Fish
Hatchery Conveyance Act''.
Section 2. Conveyance of Crawford National Fish Hatchery to the city of
Crawford, Nebraska
Section 2(a) directs the Secretary of the Interior to
convey to the city of Crawford, Nebraska, within 180 days and
without reimbursement, all right, title, and interest of the
United States in and to the Hatchery property for use by the
city for a city park and other public recreational purposes.
Section 2(b) states that the fish hatchery is located in
the city of Crawford, Nebraska, consists of 5.9 acres, and
includes buildings, structures, equipment, and all easements,
leases, and water rights relating to that property.
Section 2(c) mandates that the property shall revert to the
United States if the city of Crawford decides to no longer use
the property for public recreational purposes and requires the
State to ensure that the property is in substantially the same
or better condition at the time of transfer.
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
With respect to the requirements of clause 2(l)(3) of rule
XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, and clause
2(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives,
the Committee on Resources' oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.
INFLATIONARY IMPACT STATEMENT
Pursuant to clause 2(l)(4) of rule XI of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the Committee estimates that the
enactment of H.R. 3287 will have no significant inflationary
impact on prices and costs in the operation of the national
economy.
COST OF THE LEGISLATION
Clause 7(a) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the
Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out
H.R. 3287. However, clause 7(d) of that Rule provides that this
requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in
its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill
prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office
under section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XI
1. With respect to the requirement of clause 2(l)(3)(B) of
rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, H.R.
3287 does not contain any new budget authority, spending
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in
revenues or tax expenditures.
2. With respect to the requirement of clause 2(l)(3)(D) of
rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee has received no report of oversight findings and
recommendations from the Committee on Government Reform and
Oversight on the subject of H.R. 3287.
3. With respect to the requirement of clause 2(l)(3)(C) of
rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the
Committee has received the following cost estimate for H.R.
3287 from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office.
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, July 23, 1996.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
reviewed H.R. 3287, the Crawford National Fish Hatchery
Conveyance Act, as ordered reported by the House Committee on
Resources on July 17, 1996. We expect that implementing this
bill would have no significant impact on the Federal budget.
The bill would not affect direct spending or receipts;
therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply.
H.R. 3287 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to
convey to the city of Crawford, Nebraska, all land and related
property located at the Crawford National Fish Hatchery,
without reimbursement. The city would use the six-acre hatchery
site, which is no longer in operation, as a park.
H.R. 3287 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined
in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-4)
and would impose no costs on State, local, or tribal
governments. Any costs incurred by the city of Crawford to
establish and operate a park on this site would be incurred
voluntarily.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Deborah
Reis (for Federal costs) and Marjorie Miller (for the State and
local impact).
Sincerely,
June E. O'Neill, Director.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
H.R. 3287 contains no unfunded mandates.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
If enacted, H.R. 3287 would make no changes in existing
law.