[House Report 110-90]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
110th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 110-90
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TO DIRECT THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR TO ESTABLISH A DEMONSTRATION
PROGRAM TO FACILITATE LANDSCAPE RESTORATION PROGRAMS WITHIN CERTAIN
UNITS OF THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM ESTABLISHED BY LAW TO PRESERVE AND
INTERPRET RESOURCES ASSOCIATED WITH AMERICAN HISTORY, AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES
_______
April 17, 2007.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Rahall, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
together with
ADDITIONAL VIEWS
[To accompany H.R. 309]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 309) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to
establish a demonstration program to facilitate landscape
restoration programs within certain units of the National Park
System established by law to preserve and interpret resources
associated with American history, and for other purposes,
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 all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to establish a demonstration program to
facilitate landscape restoration programs within those units of the
National Park System established by statute to preserve and interpret
resources associated with American military history.
SEC. 2. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.
(a) Authorization.--The Secretary of the Interior (hereafter in this
Act referred to as the ``Secretary''), acting through the Director of
the National Park Service, shall carry out a demonstration program that
provides that receipts from timber sales shall be retained for
expenditure within units of the National Park System
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from which the timber is removed as part of an approved plan for the
restoration or protection of park resources or values.
(b) Participation.--The Secretary shall permit each of the 24
National Battlefields, National Battlefield Parks, National Military
Parks, and National Battlefield Sites in existence on the date of the
enactment of this Act to participate in the demonstration program
authorized by subsection (a) if the unit has in place, before the date
of the enactment of this Act, a general management plan, cultural
landscape plan, or other resources management plan approved pursuant to
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (43 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.),
that identifies specific timber for removal for purposes of cultural or
historic landscape restoration or fuel load reduction.
(c) Use of Receipts.--Each unit selected to participate in the
demonstration program authorized under subsection (a) shall retain
receipts from the sale or disposal of timber removed from that unit.
Such receipts shall be available for expenditure without further
appropriation or fiscal year limitation for the following purposes
only:
(1) Landscape restoration within the unit.
(2) Interpretive services within the unit.
(3) Eradication of disease, insects, or invasive species
within the unit.
(4) Fuel load reduction within the unit.
SEC. 3. REPORT.
Two years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary
shall submit a report to the House Natural Resources Committee and the
Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources that contains the
results of the demonstration program authorized under this Act,
including--
(1) a detailed accounting of the receipts generated in each
unit by the demonstration program;
(2) the expenditure by each unit of those receipts; and
(3) any resource or other impacts, positive or negative, on
each participating unit.
SEC. 4. SUNSET.
The authority granted to the Secretary in section 2 shall expire 4
years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 309 is to direct the Secretary of the
Interior to establish a demonstration program to facilitate
landscape restoration programs within certain units of the
National Park System.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Many units of the National Park System established to
conserve U.S. military history have restoration of their
historic landscapes as a management goal. This entails removal
of landscape features, including trees, not present at the time
the relevant historic events occurred. Removal of resources
from a unit of the National Park System must be undertaken
carefully, however, and many Park units report a lack of
funding for such work.
H.R. 309 would create a revenue source for such projects by
allowing individual units to retain proceeds from the sale of
timber removed from that unit. Importantly, the legislation is
narrowly written to apply within a defined list of 24 military
parks and to prevent any change to existing environmental
requirements governing the removal of timber on NPS land.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 309 was introduced on January 5, 2007, by
Representative Stevan Pearce (R-NM). The bill was referred to
the Committee on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to
the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands.
On March 7, 2007,
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the Subcommittee was discharged by unanimous consent and the
full Natural Resources Committee met to consider the bill.
Subcommittee Chairman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) offered an amendment
in the nature of a substitute to alter the reporting
requirements under the bill. The amendment was adopted by voice
vote. The bill as amended was then ordered favorably reported
to the House of Representatives by voice vote.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Purpose
Section 1 establishes the purpose of H.R. 309.
Section 2. Demonstration program authorized
Section 2(a) authorizes the Secretary of the Interior,
acting through the Director of the National Park Service to
establish a demonstration program whereby receipts from timber
sales shall be retained for expenditure within the unit from
which the timber was removed. The section specifies that such
removal must be conducted pursuant to an approved plan for the
restoration or protection of park resources or values.
Section 2(b) limits participation in the program authorized
in Section 2(a) to the 24 national battlefields, national
battlefield parks, national military parks, and national
battlefield sites in existence on the date of enactment of H.R.
309. Further, each participating unit must have in place,
before the date of enactment of this act, a general management
plan, cultural landscape plan, or other resource management
plan approved pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act
of 1969 identifying specific timber for removal for purposes of
cultural or historic landscape restoration or fuel load
reduction.
Section 2(c) requires units participating in the program
authorized in Section 2(a) to retain receipts from the sale or
disposal of timber from that unit for expenditure on landscape
restoration, interpretive services, eradication of disease,
insects or invasive species or fuel load reduction.
Section 3. Report
Section 3 requires the Secretary of the Interior to submit
a report to the committees of jurisdiction in the House and
Senate two years after the date of enactment of H.R. 309. The
report is to contain a detailed accounting of receipts and
expenditures under the program authorized in the bill as well
as any resource or other impacts, positive or negative, in each
participating unit.
Section 4. Sunset
Section 4 states that the authority granted in Section 2
expires four years after the date of enactment of H.R. 309.
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 Natural Resources' oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.
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CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT
Article I, section 8 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, spending
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in
revenues or tax expenditures.
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. 309--A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish a
demonstration program to facilitate landscape restoration
programs within certain units of the National Park System
established by law to preserve and interpret resources
associated with American history
H.R. 309 would direct the National Park Service (NPS) to
implement a demonstration program for landscape restoration and
other projects at national battlefields. CBO estimates that
enacting H.R. 309 would increase direct spending by negligible
amounts over the 2008-2012 period.
The legislation contains no intergovernmental or private-
sector mandates as defined by the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
and would have no significant impact on the budgets of state,
local, or tribal governments.
Under H.R. 309, the NPS would carry out projects such as
landscape restoration at 24 national battlefields or similar
sites using receipts earned from sales of timber at those park
units. Such receipts would be available without further
appropriation. Authority to retain and spend timber receipts at
battlefield units would expire after four years.
Based on recent timber receipts at the affected park units,
CBO estimates that the NPS would spend, without further
appropriation, less than $20,000 annually over the 2008-2012
period for the projects authorized by the bill. Such amounts--
generally between $3,000 and $25,000 a year--are currently
deposited in the U.S. Treasury and cannot be used without
further appropriation.
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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.
EARMARK STATEMENT
H.R. 309 does not contain any congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in
clause 9(d), 9(e) or 9(f) of rule XXI.
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.
[[Page (6)]]
ADDITIONAL VIEWS
As the author of this legislation, I am pleased that the
Committee has chosen to move this bill promptly to the House
floor. This legislation is the result of numerous hearings and
a shift in the thought process of the National Park Service.
During a visit to Pea Ridge National Military Park
Superintendent Scott, discussed efforts to restore the
wonderful landscape to what it looked like during that major
battle in March 1862, which allowed the Union forces to
maintain control of Missouri. Our discussion covered everything
from process to costs. It was during that conversation that I
discovered that the service had excessive costs for tree
removal or tree thinning. The NPS Superintendent was spending
about $6,000.00 per acre, an extraordinary high cost per acre.
For 1,000 acres, the total cost would be $6 million. Think how
much further along in reducing their backlog NPS could get if
instead of paying $6,000 an acre, receive $500 an acre, not an
unreasonable assumption for timber sales.
That is the point of this bill. Instilling in the Park
Service a business sense, and helping NPS manage and control
costs on their park units.
During the Committee mark up of this bill the Chairman
removed a 6-month reporting requirement in the original
legislation. While I do not oppose the removal of this report,
I do hope that the Park Service will keep us closely informed
of the progress and results of this legislation prior to the 2-
year report required in this bill.
I believe this Landscape Restoration pilot project will
provide tremendous benefits for our National Parks, in that it
will expedite historic landscape restoration, reduce the
maintenance backlog, and establish good business practices in
our Park leadership.
Stevan Pearce.