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 9th 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

On May 8th, President Bush signed into law S. 2739, the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008. It is Public Law 110-229.

Floor Action

No actions to report.

Markups

On May 7th, the House Natural Resources Committee (Rahall) held a markup on H.R. 3094 (Grijalva), to establish in the Treasury of the United States a fund which shall be known as the National Park Centennial Fund.  At a hearing on the bill in August of 2007, the Department testified in support of the idea of a Centennial Fund (“Fund”), but expressed serious concerns about the funding mechanisms and other provisions contained in H.R. 3094. The bill was ordered favorably reported by voice vote with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. The amendment eliminates the commercial fees placeholder offset and inserts a $30 million offset funded by rescinding contract authority in the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The amendment removes the proscribed percentage requirements for each centennial initiative and replaces them with a requirement that only 30% of the Fund be used on construction of facilities costing more than $5 million, and eliminates the Line Item Construction initiative and adds cultural resource and health and fitness initiatives. The amendment would give priority to projects with a private match while requiring that the list also include projects funded entirely by the Fund. It would also change Congress’s role from approving the list through the appropriations process to a 120-day moratorium on obligations after the proposed project list is submitted to allow for Congressional review. The Department supports the bill as amended.



On May 7th, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (Bingaman) held a markup on the following bills of interest to the National Park Service:

• S. 617 (Smith), A bill to make the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass available at a discount to military personnel. The bill was amended to allow the Secretary, with the Secretaries of Veterans Affairs and Defense, to determine the documentation needed to qualify for the pass and to expand the pool of eligibles for the pass to include active duty and reserve.  The title was also amended.  Several groups, including veterans, were considered for discount passes when Congress passed the existing fee legislation.  The Department agrees with the Congressional determination to only allow discounts for senior citizens and those with disabilities.
• S. 662 (Snowe), A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study to evaluate resources at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Brunswick, Maine, to determine the suitability and feasibility of establishing the site as a unit of the National Park System.  The bill was amended to strike the findings section and make some technical corrections to the bill. The Department supports the amended bill but recommends giving priority to previously authorized studies.
• S. 783 (Landrieu), A bill to adjust the boundary of the Barataria Preserve Unit of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in the State of Louisiana.  The bill was amended to clarify the acquisition authority within the existing preserve and make boundary adjustment language consistent with other, previous bills.  The Department supports the bill as amended.
• S. 827 (Kerry), A bill to establish the Freedom's Way National Heritage Area in the States of Massachusetts and New Hampshire.  The bill was amended to strike the findings section, add a map reference and add a requirement for a study and evaluation three years before the cessation of federal funding. The Department supports these amendments but recommends deferring action on the designation until program legislation is enacted.
• S. 868 (Kennedy), A bill to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate segments of the Taunton River in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The bill was amended to clarify the segments of the river to be added as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, to clarify that the river would not be a unit of the National Park System, to authorize cooperative agreements, to prohibit the use of condemnation, and to make other amendments consist with other recently designated rivers. The Department supports these amendments but recommends deferring action on the designation until the study is completed.
• S. 1281 (Thomas), A bill to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate certain rivers and streams of the headwaters of the Snake River System as additions to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.  The bill was amended to include technical, clarifying amendments suggested by the Department, to reduce the amount of rivers designated from 442 miles to 387.7 miles, to include language regarding acquisition of private property, and to expand the sections relating to water rights.  Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) offered two amendments during the markup. The first amendment would have deleted a section of the river below Jackson Dam as part of the designation. The amendment was not agreed to by a roll call vote of 17-3. The second amendment would have assured that there would be no flow restrictions in the river based on the designation. The amendment was not agreed to by a roll call vote of 12-10. A motion to table the bill was also not agreed to by a roll call vote of 13-9. The Department supports the amended bill.
• S. 1380 (Salazar), A bill to designate as wilderness certain land within the Rocky Mountain National Park and to adjust the boundaries of the Indian Peaks Wilderness and the Arapaho National Recreation Area of the Arapaho National Forest in the State of Colorado.  The bill would designate approximately 249,000 acres of the park as wilderness.  Lands occupied by the Grand River Ditch would be excluded from wilderness, and the liability standard for future damage to park resources resulting from operation and maintenance of the ditch would be changed.  The bill was amended to clarify the provisions relating to the liability standard the operators of the Grand River Ditch would have to meet.  The operations and maintenance plan for the ditch and provisions relating to other water division structures within or under the park were also clarified.  The Department supports the bill as amended.
• S. 1633 (Byrd), A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study to determine the suitability and feasibility of including the battlefield and related sites of the Battle of Shepherdstown in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, as part of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park or Antietam National Battlefield.  The bill was amended with a technical correction. The Department supports the amended bill.
• S. 2207 (Alexander), A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and feasibility of designating Green McAdoo School in Clinton, Tennessee, as a unit of the National Park System. The bill was amended to change the study to a special resource study.  The Department supports the bill as amended.
• S. 2254 (Cochran), A bill to establish the Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area in the State of Mississippi, and for other purposes.  The bill was amended to strike the findings section. The committee did not amend the bill to authorize a study of the potential heritage area as the department requested since a feasibility study had not been completed.  The Department cannot support the bill as reported.
• S. 2262 (Domenici), A bill to authorize the Preserve America Program and Save America's Treasures Program.  The bill was amended to make the grant program consistent with other programs that are discretionary and not mandatory and capped the authorization at $25 million for Preserve American and $50 million for Save America’s Treasures for each fiscal year.  The Department supports the bill as amended.
• S. 2512 (Cochran), A bill to establish the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area in the State of Mississippi, and for other purposes.   The committee did not amend the bill to authorize a more complete study consistent with other heritage area studies as the department recommended.  The Department cannot support the bill as reported.
• S. 2513 (Kennedy), A bill to modify the boundary of the Minute Man National Historical Park.  This bill would add Barrett’s Farm to the park’s boundary. The Department supports the bill.
• S. 2604 (Mikulski), A bill to establish the Baltimore National Heritage Area in the State of Maryland.  The bill was amended to strike the findings section and make some technical corrections. The Department supports most of these amendments but recommends deferring action on the designation until program legislation is enacted. The sunset of federal funds section still requires an additional amendment.
• S. 2804 (Nelson), A bill to adjust the boundary of the Everglades National Park.  . The bill was amended to provide the Department with the authority to permit boaters use of a Key Largo hurricane hole, subject to terms and conditions as the Secretary determines to be necessary.  The Department supports the bill as amended.
• H.R. 189 (Pascrell), A bill to establish the Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park in the State of New Jersey.  The bill was amended to strike the findings and purposes section, to clarify the conditions for establishment, to add a map reference and clarify resources within the park boundary, to clarify the cooperative agreements language, to add to the general management plan a requirement for cost share provisions for operations, maintenance and capital improvements, to clarify that the commission would be an advisory commission, and other technical amendments. Although the amendments improved the bill, the Department still opposes the amended bill based upon the conclusions of the special resource study.
• H.R. 1483 (Regula), To amend the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996 to extend the authorization for certain national heritage areas.  The bill was amended by striking several sections that were included in the recently enacted S. 2739. The amended bill also struck the provision relating to the Federal government not funding national heritage areas in perpetuity and the provision that national heritage areas shall be exclusively governed by relevant State and local laws regarding hunting, fishing, and the possession or use of a weapon, trap, or net.
• H.R. 1528 (Olver), To amend the National Trails System Act to designate the New England National Scenic Trail.  The bill was amended to fix some constitutional problems with requiring the Secretary to manage the trail consist with the trail report and trail management plan, and made several other technical corrections. The bill was also amended by striking the provision that all lands and future lands within the trail shall be exclusively governed by relevant State and local laws regarding hunting, fishing, and the possession or use of a weapon (including concealed weapons), trap, or net. The Department supports the amended bill.
• H.R. 2197 (Space), To modify the boundary of the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in the State of Ohio.  The legislation would authorize a boundary modification of the Hopewell Culture NHP by (1) encompassing the properties of two private landowners and the remainder of the Seip State Memorial, owned by the Ohio Historical Society, into the Seip Earthworks unit; and (2) including the Spruce Hill Works unit, the only supposed Hopewellian hilltop enclosure in the vicinity of the Mound City Group.  The Department supports the bill.
• H.R. 2627 (Payne), To establish the Thomas Edison National Historical Park in the State of New Jersey as the successor to the Edison National Historic Site.  The bill would change the official name of the park. The bill was amended to strike the findings and purpose section, to strike the authority to add land to the boundary acquired after the date of enactment, and to include a map reference. The Department supports the amended bill.
• H.R. 3332 (Hirono), To provide for the establishment of a memorial within Kalaupapa National Historical Park located on the island of Molokai, in the State of Hawaii, to honor and perpetuate the memory of those individuals who were forcibly relocated to the Kalaupapa Peninsula from 1866 to 1969. The legislation authorizes Ka ‘Ohana O Kalaupapa, a non-profit organization consisting of patient residents at Kalaupapa National Historical Park and their family members and friends, to establish a memorial to those individuals who were forcibly relocated to Kalaupapa Peninsula. Under the bill, Ka ‘Ohana O Kalaupapa is responsible for the payment of expenses associated with establishing the memorial. The Department does not object to the bill.
• H.R. 3998 (Grijalva), To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct special resources studies of certain lands and structures to determine the appropriate means for preservation, use, and management of the resources associated with such lands and structures. The bill authorizes nine special resources studies. During the markup, the Committee accepted a substitute amendment that authorizes only three of the studies: the Harry S Truman Birthplace, which the Department does not object to; the Battle of Matewan, which the Department supports; and the Butterfield Overland Trail, which the Department supports. Three of the studies authorized under H.R. 3998, the Wolf House, the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Eastern Legacy Sites extension, and the Rim of the Valley, have already been authorized in S. 2739 that was signed into law on May 8, 2008.

• H.R. 5999 (Hirono, D-HI) - To authorize appropriations for the National Tropical Botanical Garden, and for other purposes.

• H.R. 554 (McGovern), To provide for the protection of paleontological resources on Federal lands, and for other purposes.
• H.R. 3022 (Costa), To designate the John Krebs Wilderness in the State of California, to add certain land to the Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park Wilderness, and for other purposes.
• H.R. 5680 (Grijalva), To amend certain laws relating to Native Americans, and for others purposes.
• H.R. 3682 (Bono Mack), To designate certain Federal lands in Riverside County, California, as wilderness, to designate certain river segments in Riverside County as a wild, scenic, or recreational river, to adjust the boundary of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument, and for other purposes.