Weekly Legislative Activities Report

The Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs puts out weekly reports on hearings, new legislation and other activities on the Hill. The following is the May 2nd summary.

In order to obtain the full text of any of the bills that appear below, click on the following link: http://thomas.loc.gov/ . That will take you to Thomas, the Library of Congress legislative tracking system. Enter the bill number in the “Search Bill Text” block, being sure to also click on the “Bill Number” option below the block.

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New Public Laws

No new laws.

Floor Action

On April 29th, the House passed S. 2739 (Bingaman), the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008. The bill includes many provisions related to the NPS within Title III, including the authorization for boundary adjustments, studies, commissions, trails, rivers, and national heritage areas. All but one of the bills contained in the consolidated act had previously, separately, or in other forms passed the House and were reported by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The bill is cleared for the President’s signature.  The Department supports almost all the provisions contained in Title III. 

On April 30th, the House suspended the rules and passed the Senate amendment to H.R. 1195 (Oberstar), to amend the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users to make technical corrections.  The National Park Service is interested in the following:  Title I, Sec. 101(c) defines how the appropriated amounts may be used; Sec. 105 (a) project modifications, item No. (183) clarifies the project in front of Gateway National Recreation Area in Kings, County, New York; and Title II, Sec. 201(i) amends Section 5320, to officially name the ATPPL Program, “Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks Program” and establishes a legal foundation for covering the programs administrative costs for the land managers to administer the ATPPL Program.  The bill is cleared for the President’s signature.  The Department was not asked to testify on the bill, and therefore has not taken a position.

Markups

On April 30th, the House Natural Resources Committee reported the following bills of interest to the National Park Service:

• H.R. 3667 (Welch), to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate a segment of the Missisquoi and Trout Rivers in the State of Vermont for study for potential addition to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The segments are located in northern Vermont near the Canadian border. The bill was amended to specify the exact river segments to be studied and added a requirement that the study include analysis of the potential impact of the designation on private lands along the rivers. The Department supports the study but asks that funds be put towards completing previously authorized studies.
• H.R. 5540 (Sarbanes), to amend the Chesapeake Bay Initiative Act of 1998 to provide for the continuing authorization of the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network. The Department supports authorization of continued technical assistance to the network, but cannot support the authorization for grants.

• H.R. 5926 (Dicks, D-WA) - To amend the National Trails System Act to designate the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail.
• S. 2943 (Cantwell, D-WA) - A bill to amend the National Trails System Act to designate the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail.
• H.R. 5945 (Capito, R-WV) - To direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study to determine the suitability and feasibility of including the Washington Family Legacy Lands of Jefferson County, West Virginia, as part of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park or designating the lands as a separate unit of the National Park System.
• S. 2909 (Boxer, D-CA) - A bill to amend the National Trails System Act to provide for the study of the Western States Trail.
• S. Res. 532 (Feingold, D-WI) - A resolution recommending that the Langston Golf Course, located in northeast Washington, DC, and owned by the National Park Service, be recognized for its important legacy and contributions to African-American golf history, and for other purposes.
• H.R. 5891 (Brady, R-TX) - A bill to adjust the boundary of Big Thicket National Preserve in Texas and provide for three ecotourism projects within the preserve, and for other purposes.