[House Report 104-529]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



104th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 2d Session                                                     104-529
_______________________________________________________________________


 
                  AMAGANSETT NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

                                _______


 April 22, 1996.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

_______________________________________________________________________


  Mr. Young of Alaska, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 1836]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 1836) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 
acquire property in the town of East Hampton, Suffolk County, 
New York, for inclusion in the Amagansett National Wildlife 
Refuge, 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. 1836 is to authorize the Secretary of 
the Interior to acquire property in the Town of East Hampton, 
Suffolk County, New York, for inclusion in the Amagansett 
National Wildlife Refuge.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The measure would allow the Secretary of the Interior to 
acquire a 98-acre ocean-front parcel of land in Montauk, East 
Hampton Town, New York, known as Shadmoor. The land would be 
added to the Amagansett National Wildlife Refuge, which is part 
of the Long Island Refuge Complex located ten miles to the 
west. The Town of East Hampton owns a 20-acre parcel of land 
adjacent to the eastern boundary of the Shadmoor property.
    Currently, title to the Shadmoor property is held by 
private individuals who are interested in developing a housing 
project on this site. In fact, the owners are proposing to 
build 14 homes and have a development permit pending before the 
Town of East Hampton.
    The Shadmoor Parcel contains one of the largest populations 
of New York State's most endangered plant, the sandplain 
gerardia. The sandplain gerardia lives in only 12 places in the 
world, and four of these locations are on Long Island. In 
addition, this property has six other rare plants, including 
the grassleaf ladies tresses orchid and the New England blazing 
star, and it has bunkers built in World War II to defend 
against attacks from the Atlantic Ocean.
    The Shadmoor property consists mostly of maritime 
shrubland, about 15 acres of freshwater wetlands, and a remnant 
of about two acres of maritime grasslands. The maritime shrub 
community is characterized by shadbush, highbush blueberry, 
beach plum, bayberry and eastern red cedar.
    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been interested in 
this property for a number of years. In fact, Shadmoor was 
targeted for acquisition in the Service's 1991 Northeast 
Coastal Areas Study. To date, they have lacked the financial 
resources to buy this 98-acre parcel of land.
    On November 3, 1995, the East Hampton Town Board approved a 
resolution indicating their commitment to share the acquisition 
cost of the Shadmoor property with the Fish and Wildlife 
Service. The Service's regional office provided the following 
information on the partnership aspects of this proposal:

          The Shadmoor property may appraise for as much as 4-5 
        million dollars. Region 5 recognized that we cannot and 
        would not request this much funding for the parcel 
        given other important land acquisition needs and 
        funding realities. We understood from the onset that 
        protection of this site would require partners such as 
        the Town of East Hampton and The Nature Conservancy. 
        The Town of East Hampton passed Resolution #945 on 
        November 8, 1995, stating it ``will financially 
        contribute a portion of the acquisition cost. . . .'' 
        The Town also ``urges the USFWS to commit a $2 million 
        appropriation. . . .'' The Town and its citizens are 
        very committed to preserving the open space and will 
        undoubtedly contribute $1 million plus to protection of 
        this site. The South Fork Chapter of The Nature 
        Conservancy has also stated it will fund raise to 
        provide funds for acquisition. These are two serious 
        partners that can contribute at least half of the 
        acquisition costs. The owners would prefer to sell the 
        property to conservation interests and may be willing 
        to sell at a bargain sale for tax purposes. This is a 
        critical site for recovery of the endangered sandplain 
        gerardia, and we have solid partners to work with to 
        accomplish our objectives.

    Protection of the Shadmoor site will meet one of the 
resource priorities for the Hudson River/New York Bight 
Ecosystem Plan, which is to protect sandplain grasslands. There 
has been no comprehensive management plan prepared for 
Amagansett National Wildlife Refuge, nor is one planned for the 
near future.
    A significant portion of the Shadmoor property consists of 
wetland areas. The presence of those wetlands may restrict 
commercial development of the site and, in turn, reduce the 
property's commercial value. The Committee expects the Service 
to take any such development restrictions into consideration 
when appraising Shadmoor. The Service should not pay more than 
the property's commercial value.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 1836 was introduced on June 14, 1995, by Congressman 
Michael P. Forbes. The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on 
Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans.
    On December 14, 1995, the Subcommittee held a hearing on 
H.R. 1836. Testifying in support of the bill were: Congressman 
Michael T. Forbes; Dr. Robert P. Davison, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior; the Honorable 
Catherine H. Lester, Supervisor, Town of East Hampton, New 
York; Ms. Carol Morrison, Former President, Concerned Citizens 
of Montauk; and Dr. Stuart Lowrie, Peconic Bioreserve on Long 
Island.
    On March 14, 1996, the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife 
and Oceans met to markup H.R. 1836 and ordered it reported 
favorably, without amendment, to the Full Committee on 
Resources by voice vote.
    On March 28, 1996, the Committee on Resources met to 
consider H.R. 1836. There were no amendments and the Committee 
ordered the bill reported to the House of Representatives by 
voice vote, in the presence of a quorum.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1--Authority to acquire property for inclusion in the 
        Amagansett National Wildlife Refuge

    (a) Authority to Acquire Property--The Secretary of the 
Interior may acquire, for inclusion in the Amagansett National 
Wildlife Refuge, the area known as the Shadmoor Parcel, 
consisting of approximately 98 acres located in the Town of 
East Hampton, New York.
    (b) Management of Acquired Interests--Lands and interests 
acquired by the United States shall be managed by the Secretary 
of the Interior as part of the Amagansett National Wildlife 
Refuge.

            COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

    With respect to the requirements of clause 2(1)(3) of rule 
XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, and clause 
2(b)(1) of Rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives, 
the Committee on Resources' oversight findings and 
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.

                     INFLATIONARY IMPACT STATEMENT

    Pursuant to clause 2(1)(4) of rule XI of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee estimates that the 
enactment of H.R. 1836 will have no significant inflationary 
impact on prices and costs in the operation of the national 
economy.

                        COST OF THE LEGISLATION

    Clause 7(a) 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 
H.R. 1836. However, clause 7(d) 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 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

                     COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XI

    1. With respect to the requirement of clause 2(1)(3)(B) of 
rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, H.R. 
1836 does not contain any new budget authority, credit 
authority, or an increase or decrease in tax expenditures. H.R. 
1836 would affect direct spending if USFWS accepts and uses 
funds contributed by the Town of East Hampton or others to 
purchase the Shadmoor Parcel. However, the agency is already 
authorized to do so under current law and any such transactions 
would offset each other.
    2. With respect to the requirement of clause 2(1)(3)(D) of 
rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee has received no report of oversight findings and 
recommendations from the Committee on Government Reform and 
Oversight on the subject of H.R. 1836.
    3. With respect to the requirement of clause 2(1)(3)(C) of 
rule XI 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 H.R. 
1836 from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office.

               CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                    Washington, DC, April 18, 1996.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
reviewed H.R. 1836, a bill to authorize the Secretary of the 
Interior to acquire property in the town of East Hampton, 
Suffolk County, New York, for inclusion in the Amagansett 
National Wildlife Refuge. H.R. 1836 was ordered reported by the 
House Committee on Resources on March 28, 1996. The costs of 
implementing this bill are highly uncertain because they would 
depend on the outcome of property appraisals that have not yet 
been completed and on future cost-sharing negotiations with 
local officials and conservation groups. Based on the 
information available at this time and assuming appropriation 
of the necessary amounts, CBO estimates that the federal 
government would spend between $5 million and $8 million within 
the next two years to purchase all of the property authorized 
to be acquired by this bill. Federal spending would be less if 
local governments or other organizations contribute a portion 
of the project's total cost. We estimate that annual expenses 
subsequent to purchase of the land would be between $50,000 and 
$100,000, also assuming appropriation of the necessary sums.
    Implementing H.R. 1836 could affect direct spending; 
therefore pay-as-you-go procedures would apply to the bill. 
However, CBO estimates that there would be no net impact on 
mandatory spending. For purposes of this estimate, CBO has 
assumed that H.R. 1836 will be enacted during fiscal year 1996 
and that whatever amounts are necessary for land acquisition 
would be appropriated within the following one or two years.
    H.R. 1836 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 
acquire a 99-acre tract of land known as the Shadmoor Parcel in 
Suffolk County, New York. The acquired property would be 
managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as part 
of the Amagansett National Wildlife Refuge. Although formal 
appraisals of the Shadmoor Parcel have not yet been completed, 
CBO estimates that the federal government would spend between 
$5 million and $8 million to purchase the entire property. This 
estimate is based on information obtained from local officials, 
land owners, and conservation groups. Under a recent proposal 
by the town of East Hampton, some portion of the cost would be 
contributed by the town. In addition, some of the property 
might be purchased by the Nature Conservancy for subsequent 
sale or donation to the USFWS. At this time, CBO cannot predict 
how much these cost-sharing measures might reduce federal 
spending for this project.
    Once the Shadmoor Parcel has been acquired by the USFWS, 
the agency would spend between $50,000 and $100,000 annually to 
maintain the site and make payments to local governments under 
the Refuge Revenue Sharing Act.
    Enacting H.R. 1836 could affect direct spending if the 
USFWS accepts and uses funds contributed by East Hampton or 
others to purchase some of the Shadmoor Parcel, as agency is 
authorized to do under existing law. However, any such 
transactions would offset each other, resulting in no net 
change in mandatory spending.
    H.R. 1836 contains no intergovernmental or private sector 
mandates as defined in Public Law 104-4 and would impose no 
direct costs on state, local, or tribal governments. The town 
of East Hampton, New York, has indicated its intention to share 
in the cost of acquiring the Shadmoor property, but such 
participation would be voluntary and not an enforceable duty 
imposed by this bill.
    On April 18, 1996, CBO also prepared a cost estimate for S. 
1422, as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on 
Environment and Public Works on March 28, 1996. The two bills, 
and the CBO estimates, are identical.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Deborah 
Reis, and for the state and local government impact, Majorie 
Miller.
            Sincerely,
                                      James L. Blum
                                   (For June E. O'Neill, Director).

                    compliance with public law 104-4

    H.R. 1836 contains no unfunded mandates.

                        changes in existing law

    If enacted, H.R. 1836 would make no changes in existing 
law.

                          departmental reports

    The Committee has received no departmental reports on H.R. 
1836.

                                
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