[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 100 (Monday, July 19, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H5935-H5936]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
AUTHORIZING EXCHANGE OF CERTAIN LAND IN EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK
Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 3785) to authorize the exchange of certain land in
Everglades National Park, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 3785
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK.
Section 102 of the Everglades National Park Protection and
Expansion Act of 1989 (16 U.S.C. 410r-6) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) by striking ``The park boundary'' and inserting the
following:
``(1) In general.--The park boundary'';
(B) by striking ``The map'' and inserting the following:
``(2) Availability of map.--The map''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Acquisition of additional land.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary may acquire from 1 or more
willing sellers not more than 10 acres of land located
outside the boundary of the park and adjacent to or near the
East Everglades area of the park for the development of
administrative, housing, maintenance, or other park purposes.
``(B) Administration; applicable law.--On acquisition of
the land under subparagraph (A), the land shall be
administered as part of the park in accordance with the laws
(including regulations) applicable to the park.''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(h) Land Exchanges.--
``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Administrator.--The term `Administrator' means the
Administrator of General Services.
``(B) County.--The term `County' means Miami-Dade County,
Florida.
``(C) County land.--The term `County land' means the 2
parcels of land owned by the County totaling approximately
152.93 acres that are designated as `Tract 605-01' and `Tract
605-03'.
``(D) District.--The term `District' means the South
Florida Water Management District.
``(E) District land.--The term `District land' means the
approximately 1,054 acres of District land located in the
Southern Glades Wildlife and Environmental Area and
identified on the map as `South Florida Water Management
District Exchange Lands'.
``(F) General services administration land.--The term
`General Services Administration land' means the
approximately 595.28 acres of land designated as `Site Alpha'
that is declared by the Department of the Navy to be excess
land.
``(G) Map.--The term `map' means the map entitled `Boundary
Modification for C-111 Project, Everglades National Park',
numbered 160/80,007A, and dated May 18, 2004.
``(H) National park service land.--The term `National Park
Service land' means the approximately 1,054 acres of land
located in the Rocky Glades area of the park and identified
on the map as `NPS Exchange Lands'.
``(2) Exchange of general services administration land and
county land.--The Administrator shall convey to the County
fee title to the General Services Administration land in
exchange for the conveyance by the County to the Secretary of
fee title to the County land.
``(3) Exchange of national park service land and district
land.--
``(A) In general.--As soon as practicable after the
completion of the exchange under paragraph (2), the Secretary
shall convey to the District fee title to the National Park
Service land in exchange for fee title to the District land.
``(B) Use of national park service land.--The National Park
Service land conveyed to the District shall be used by the
District for the purposes of the C-111 project, including
restoration of the Everglades natural system.
``(C) Boundary adjustment.--On completion of the land
exchange under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall modify
the boundary of the park to reflect the exchange of the
National Park Service land and the District land.
``(4) Availability of map.--The map shall be on file and
available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of
the National Park Service.''.
SEC. 2. BIG CYPRESS NATIONAL PRESERVE.
Subsection (d)(3) of the first section of Public Law 93-440
(16 U.S.C. 698f) is amended by striking ``The amount
described in paragraph (1)'' and inserting ``The amount
described in paragraph (2)''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Arizona (Mr. Hayworth) and the gentlewoman from Guam (Ms. Bordallo)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Hayworth).
General Leave
Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Arizona?
There was no objection.
Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3785, introduced by the gentleman from Florida (Mr.
Mario
[[Page H5936]]
Diaz-Balart) and amended by the Committee on Resources, would authorize
the exchange of approximately 1,054 acres of land between the South
Florida Water Management District and the Everglades National Park. The
Federal lands conveyed are to be used by the South Florida Water
Management District for the C-111 project, including restoration of the
Everglades natural system. The C-111 project, located on the eastern
boundary of the Everglades, would restore habitat in the national park
that has been adversely affected by projects to restore more natural
flows of water to the park's eastern panhandle, Taylor Slough and
Florida Bay.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3785 is supported by the majority and minority of
the Committee on Resources and by the administration. I would urge
adoption of this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
(Ms. BORDALLO asked and was given permission to revise and extend her
remarks.)
Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3785, as amended, represents a
cooperative effort among the bill's sponsor, the Committee on
Resources, the National Park Service and other Federal and State
agencies to help restore natural water flows that are very important to
the health and well-being of the Everglades in Florida. This
legislation presents a workable solution to the resource management
needs in this area, and we support adoption of the bill by the House
today.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor and privilege to yield such
time as he may consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mario Diaz-
Balart), the sponsor of this important legislation, a newcomer to the
Congress but one who is well schooled in public affairs and in
legislation as a former member of the Florida legislature.
Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. I want to thank the gentleman for
yielding me this time.
Mr. Speaker, I am actually glad that I am doing this now because the
Speaker pro tempore is also from Florida, understands the Everglades
very, very well, and has been a strong supporter of Everglades
restoration.
Let me just briefly talk about what this is. First, the district that
I am privileged to represent includes the Everglades National Park. I
spent much of my State legislative career assisting with the
implementation of the Everglades restoration plan. This plan is showing
extreme success, and this legislation before us today will greatly
contribute to that success, to continuing that success.
Mr. Speaker, the people of Florida have a strong commitment to the
restoration of the Everglades. Not only is it a national treasure, a
global treasure, really an international treasure, tourists from around
the country and around the world come to experience the wonders, the
beauty that is the Everglades. But the people of Florida as well as the
taxpayers of the country have also put a lot of resources to try to
make sure that the Everglades is as pristine as possible and gets back
to as much of its natural state as is possible.
This legislation will allow for the implementation of a component of
the 1994 general reevaluation report that provided for the construction
of a buffer and detention system along the eastern boundary of
Everglades National Park. This system seeks to establish a hydraulic
ridge to both prevent excess loss of seepage from the park and to
reestablish the historical surface water flow from Northeast Shark
River Slough to Taylor Slough.
Again, as I mentioned before, these are not inexpensive propositions.
These are not only expensive, they are also very time-consuming
projects.
Again, the people of the State of Florida, the State legislature in
the State of Florida, the governor in the State of Florida and again
previous governors as well but particularly this governor, Governor Jeb
Bush, have shown that they are extremely committed to this effort; and
again, the taxpayers, the State legislature and the governor have put
in a lot of money to make sure that it is not just the Federal
taxpayer, the Federal Government, that is contributing to this
wonderful effort.
Specifically, Mr. Speaker, this legislation will authorize the
exchange of approximately 1,054 acres between the South Florida Water
Management District and the Everglades National Park to carry out the
construction of the buffer and detention system. Currently, 2.5 miles
of the detention and buffer system have been already constructed, and
the Federal lands conveyed in this legislation are to be used by the
South Florida Water Management District to construct the remaining 5.5
miles of the system.
This is a vital part of the Everglades restoration that again, I
repeat, that both the Federal Government has put a lot of emphasis, a
lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of money, and the State as well;
not only the State but also the local taxpayers again through the water
management district have also put up a lot of money, a lot of effort, a
lot of time to try to get this done. This is a vital part of that
restoration.
I particularly need to thank the efforts of Chairman Pombo. Chairman
Pombo has been just wonderful to work with on this. His staff has been
great. My staff has been working with his staff. They have been
extremely receptive, not only receptive but their in-depth knowledge of
this national treasure has been wonderful to see. We have not had to
educate them on something that those of us in Florida know and love so
much. Chairman Pombo and his staff are so familiar with this project
and it has been just a wonderful experience.
Again, one of the things that I want to just reemphasize is that this
is not a State of Florida project, that this is a national treasure.
The Everglades is a national treasure that is also a threatened
national treasure, an extremely delicate ecosystem, one that is vital
for the entire State and I would then say for the entire Nation. When
we think about the Everglades, we should not only think about that
swampland that a lot of people just see in the airplanes when they are
flying by, but we should also think about the impact that that has on,
for example, Florida Bay, Biscayne Bay, the Florida Keys, the reef
system. It is all interconnected. The heart of that is a vital, clean,
vibrant, alive Florida Everglades.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank again Chairman Pombo and his staff for
allowing me to bring this bill up here.
{time} 1500
Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Stearns). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Hayworth) that the House
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3785, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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