[House Report 109-581]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
109th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 109-581
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REPLACEMENT OF CERTAIN COASTAL BARRIER RESOURCES SYSTEM MAPS
_______
July 20, 2006.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
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Mr. Pombo, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 4165]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 4165) to clarify the boundaries of Coastal Barrier
Resources System Clam Pass Unit FL-64P, having considered the
same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend
that the bill do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 4165 is to clarify the boundaries of
Coastal Barrier Resources System Clam Pass Unit FL-64P.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System is made
up of coastal barrier units which are delineated on maps
adopted by Congress. These units consist of undeveloped
sections of coastal barrier islands and the associated aquatic
habitat which lies behind these barriers. The System was
created by the Coastal Barrier Resources Act of 1982 (CBRA) and
was expanded in the Coastal Barrier Improvement Act of 1990.
The System is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service of the Department of the Interior. Lands included
within the System are not eligible for any federal development
assistance, the most notable of which is federal flood
insurance.
The Coastal Barrier Resources System was initially
comprised of 186 units totaling 666 miles of shoreline and
452,834 acres of undeveloped, unprotected coastal barriers on
the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts. Except for very minor
technical changes to account for natural accretion and erosion,
boundaries cannot be adjusted and units cannot be added or
deleted from the System unless Congress passes a law adopting
revised maps. Today, the entire Coastal Barrier Resources
System has 856 units and more than 3 million acres of fastland
and associated aquatic habitat.
The 1990 Coastal Barrier Improvement Act added an important
new category of units to the System called ``Otherwise
Protected Areas'' (OPAs). These include undeveloped
conservation areas such as national wildlife refuges, national
parks and seashores, State parks, military bases and
conservation lands owned by private organizations. While OPAs
remain eligible for a variety of federal financial assistance
programs, they are ineligible for participation in the Federal
Flood Insurance Program. The 1990 Act created 271 OPAs,
comprised of approximately 1,786,000 acres, which more than
doubled the amount of undeveloped coastal barrier lands covered
under CBRA. When OPAs were included in the System, they were
delineated with rudimentary mapping tools based upon pre-
existing boundary data. As a result of technological
advancements in geographic information systems, databases and
digital mapping techniques, OPA boundaries have been shown to
have embedded flaws and inaccuracies. The Fish and Wildlife
Service continues to uncover cases, like that addressed in H.R.
4165, where OPA boundaries do not coincide with the actual
legal conservation land boundaries.
This legislation would remove 48 acres of privately held
land from the System. It would specifically modify FL-64P, an
``Otherwise Protected Area'' unit, so that it encompasses the
true boundaries of the underlying Clam Pass Conservation Area,
and excludes developed adjacent private land. Prior to its
mistaken inclusion in the System in 1990, this private property
had been developed with a number of high-rise condominium units
that provide housing to hundreds of individuals. These private
lands are not only outside of the Clam Pass Conservation Area,
they are not inholdings and they were never held for
conservation or recreation purposes. The Clam Pass Conservation
Area was locally established by elected officials in Collier
County, Florida. It appears that when OPA maps were originally
drafted, this area was erroneously included because the
condominium structures did not appear on the outdated base map.
With the enactment of H.R. 4165, these private landowners would
be eligible for federal flood insurance.
In addition to correcting this mapping mistake, the
legislation would incorporate within the System 65 acres of
land that are a part of the Clam Pass Conservation Area and
should have been incorporated within FL-64P at the time of
designation in 1990. The net effect of this legislation is a
net gain of 17 acres to the System.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 4165 was introduced on October 27, 2005, by
Congressman Connie Mack (R-FL). The bill was referred to the
Committee on Resources, and within the Committee to the
Subcommittee on Fisheries and Oceans. On April 6, 2006, the
Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On June 21, 2006, the
Full Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The
Subcommittee on Fisheries and Oceans was discharged from
further consideration of the bill by unanimous consent. No
amendments were offered and the bill was ordered favorably
reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous consent.
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Resources' oversight findings and recommendations
are reflected in the body of this report.
CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT
Article I, section 8, clause 3 of the Constitution of the
United States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) 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 this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B)
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 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2)
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this
bill does not contain any new budget authority, credit
authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax
expenditures. According to the Congressional Budget Office,
enactment of H.R. 4165 could affect direct spending, but any
net change would be ``negligible.''
3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. This bill does
not authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives does not
apply.
4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause
3(c)(3) of rule XIII 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 this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office:
H.R. 4165--A bill to clarify the boundaries of Coastal Barrier
Resources System Clam Pass Unit FL-64P
H.R. 4165 would update a map of the Coastal Barrier
Resources System (CBRS) in Collier County, Florida. CBO
estimates that enacting H.R. 4165 would have no significant
impact on the federal budget. The bill could affect direct
spending, but we expect that any net change would be
negligible. Enacting the bill would not affect revenues.
H.R. 4165 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act; the
bill could benefit Collier County, Florida.
The bill would revise the CBRS map for the Clam Pass Unit
to exclude 48 acres of private land that were erroneously
included in the unit and to include 65 acres of county land
that are within the Clam Pass Conservation Area. Adding the
specified acreage would enable the owners of condominums on the
property to purchase federal flood insurance. CBO estimates
that, relative to current law, implementing H.R. 4165 would
increase premium collections of the national flood insurance
fund by about $500,000 annually. Such collections would be
partially offset each year by new mandatory spending for
underwriting and administrative expenses. In addition, premium
collections might be offset in some years by new flood
insurance claims.
Finally, adding the county property to the CBRS would make
that land eligible for federal conservation assistance, but CBO
estimates that such spending, which would be subject to
appropriation, would not be insignificant.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis.
This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW
This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or
tribal law.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing
law.