[House Report 104-824]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
104th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 104-824
_______________________________________________________________________
WEKIVA RIVER, FLORIDA
_______
September 24, 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. 3155]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 3155) to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act by
designating the Wekiva River, Seminole Creek, and Rock Springs
Run in the State of Florida for study and potential addition to
the national wild and scenic rivers system, having considered
the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and
recommend that the bill as amended do pass.
The amendment is as follows:
The amendment (stated in terms of the page and line number
of the introduced bill) is as follows:
Page 2, line 9, strike ``one year'' and insert ``two
years''.
Purpose of the Bill
The purpose of H.R. 3155 is to amend the Wild and Scenic
Rivers Act by designating the Wekiva River, Seminole Creek and
Rock Springs Run in the State of Florida for study and
potential addition to the national wild and scenic rivers
system.
Background and Need for Legislation
H.R. 3155 provides for a study under the Wild and Scenic
Rivers Act of the 27-mile long Wekiva River and several of its
tributaries located in Central Florida.
The Wekiva River is a largely undeveloped stream which
possesses good water quality, a rich diversity of biological
resources and important geological features. It is already
protected under State law as a Wild and Scenic River because of
its resource values. In fact, the State of Florida has already
acquired over 20,000 acres along its banks for preservation
purposes. In addition, the federal government has already
recognized the river as having a number of important features
and has recommended it for study by placing it on the federal
nationwide river inventory.
Committee Action
H.R. 3155 was introduced on March 22, 1996, by Congressman
Bill McCollum (R-FL). The bill was referred to the Committee on
Resources and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on
National Parks, Forests and Lands. On July 9, 1996, the
Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill where the
Administration testified in support of the measure. On
September 18, 1996, after discharging the Subcommittee from
further consideration of the bill, the Full Committee met to
consider H.R. 3155. Congressman Joel Hefley (R-CO) offered an
amendment to extend the due date of the study from one to two
years; it was adopted by unanimous consent. The bill, as
amended, was then ordered favorably reported to the House of
Representatives by voice vote.
Section-by-Section Analysis
Section 1. Additional Designation
This section amends section 5 of the Wild and Scenic Rivers
Act (16 U.S.C. 1276) to authorize a study of the Wekiva River,
the Seminole Creek tributary and the Rock Springs Creek
tributary for possible future designation under the Act.
Section 2. Study and Report
Section 2 also amends section 5 of the Wild and Scenic
River Act to require the study authorized under section 1 of
the bill to be transmitted to Congress within two years after
the date of enactment of H.R. 3155.
Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations
With respect to the requirements of clause 2(l)(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(l)(4) of rule XI of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the Committee estimates that the
enactment of H.R. 3155 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. 3155. 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(l)(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.
3155 does not contain any new budget authority, spending
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in
revenues or tax expenditures.
2. With respect to the requirement of clause 2(l)(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. 3155.
3. With respect to the requirement of clause 2(l)(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.
3155 from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office.
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
U.S. Congress,
Congressional budget Office,
Washington, DC, September 20, 1996.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
reviewed H.R. 3155, a bill to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers
Act by designating the Wekiva River, Seminole Creek, and Rock
Springs Run in the state of Florida for study and potential
addition to the national wild and scenic rivers system. H.R.
3155 was ordered reported by the House Committee on Resources
on September 18, 1996.
Based on information from the National Park Service (NPS),
we estimate that carrying out the study specified in the bill
would cost about $200,000 over the 1997-1998 period, assuming
appropriation of the estimated amount. The bill would direct
the NPS to complete the study within two years. Enacting H.R.
3155 would not affect direct spending or receipts; therefore,
pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply to the bill.
H.R. 3155 contains no private-sector or intergovernmental
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
(Public Law 104-4) and would impose no costs on state, local,
or tribal governments.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Victoria V.
Heid and Rachel Forward.
Sincerely,
James L. Blum
(For June E. O'Neill, Director).
Compliance With Public Law 104-4
H.R. 3155 contains no unfunded mandates.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3 of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
SECTION 5 OF THE WILD AND SCENIC RIVERS ACT
Sec. 5. (a) The following rivers are hereby designated for
potential addition to the national wild and scenic rivers
system:
(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
( ) Wekiva River, Florida.--(A) The entire river.
(B) The Seminole Creek tributary.
(C) The Rock Springs Run tributary.
(b)(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
( ) The study of the Wekiva River and the tributaries
designated in paragraph ( ) of subsection (a) shall be
completed and the report transmitted to Congress not later than
two years after the date of the enactment of this paragraph.
* * * * * * *