[Senate Report 104-381]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 605
104th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE

 2d Session                                                     104-381
_______________________________________________________________________


 
         NATIONAL CAVE AND KARST RESEARCH INSTITUTE ACT OF 1996

                                _______
                                

               September 30, 1996.--Ordered to be printed

_______________________________________________________________________


  Mr. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 1699]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 1699) to establish the National Cave and 
Karst Research Institute in the State of New Mexico, and for 
other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably 
thereon without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                         purpose of the measure

    The purpose of S. 1699 is to establish the National Cave 
and Karst Research Institute in the State of New Mexico. The 
purposes of the Institute would be to further the science of 
speleology; to centralize and standardize speleological 
information; to foster interdisciplinary cooperation in cave 
and karst research programs; to promote national and 
international cooperation in protecting the environment for the 
benefit of cave and karst land forms; and to promote and 
develop environmentally sound and sustainable resource 
management practices.

                          background and need

    The National Geographic Society has identified the 
protection and management of water resources--critical both to 
public health and to sustainable economic development--as the 
major issue facing the world as society enters the twenty-first 
century. The overwhelming majority of the Nation's freshwater 
resources consists of groundwater, some 25 percent of which is 
located in cave and karst regions (areas of limestone formation 
that are characterized by sinks, ravines, and underground 
streams).
    Over 20 percent of the earth's surface is characterized as 
karst. The United States as a whole is 20 percent karst. East 
of central Oklahoma, 40 percent of the country is karst. 
Approximately 58 units of the National Park System contain 
caves and karst features; these range from as few as 10 to 15 
caves per park unit (the C&O Canal) to well over 200 caves per 
unit (the Grand Canyon).
    Caves provide scientists with information on natural 
resources, human history, and evolution. Recent studies have 
also indicated that caves contain valuable data related to 
global climate change, waste disposal, ground water supply and 
contamination, petroleum recovery, and biomedical 
investigations. Caves also contain information pertinent to 
anthropological, archeological, geological, paleontological, 
and mineralogical discoveries and resources.
    Congress created a major impetus for America's involvement 
in cave and karst protection and management in 1988 by passing 
the Federal Cave Resources Protection Act (Public Law 100-691), 
which directed the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture 
to inventory and list significant caves on Federal lands and to 
provide for the management and dissemination of information 
about caves. The inventory and list was completed in December, 
1995. According to a 1994 study by the National Park Service, 
since the passage of the Act, Federal land management agencies 
have developed a heightened awareness of the management needs 
of the cave and karst resources on their lands, of the need for 
both a cave research program and a repository for cave and 
karst information; and of their own growing needs for 
assistance in inventorying and classifying their cave and karst 
resources.
    In 1990, through the passage of Public Law 101-578, 
Congress directed the National Park Service to establish and 
administer a cave research program, and to prepare a proposal 
for Congress that examines the feasibility of a centralized 
National Cave and Karst Research Institute, associated with an 
existing Cave and Karst research program already established by 
the National Park Service. The National Park Service study 
report to Congress, prepared in cooperation with other Federal 
cave-managing agencies, cave-related organizations, cave 
experts, and interested individuals, was completed in December, 
1994.
    The study report states as goals of the Institute the 
furtherance of the science of speleology (cave study); 
centralization and standardization of speleological 
information; interdisciplinary cooperation in cave and karst 
research programs to foster research, education; promotion of 
national and international cooperation in environmental 
considerations for the protection of cave and karst land forms; 
and promotion of environmentally sound, sustainable research 
management practices. Program areas that the study considers 
essential to such the Institute's mission include information 
management, research and education.
    The legislation reflects suggestions made in the study, 
including: joint administration; cost sharing; the location of 
the Institute in a local community that possesses significant 
cave resources (rather than inside a unit of the National Park 
Service) and which provides easy accessibility for researchers, 
students and other visitors, and is large enough to attract and 
retain high-quality employees and their families.

                          legislative history

    S. 1699 was introduced by Senator Bingaman on April 24, 
1996. The Subcommittee on Parks, Historic Preservation and 
Recreation held a hearing on the bill on July 28, 1996. At the 
business meeting on September 12, 1996, the Committee on Energy 
and Natural Resources ordered S. 1699 favorably reported.

                        committee recommendation

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open 
business session on September 12, 1996, by a unanimous voice 
vote of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 
1699.

                      section-by-section analysis

    Section 1 entitles the Act the ``National Cave and Karst 
Research Institute Act of 1996.''
    Section 2 describes the purposes of the Act as being: (1) 
to further the science of speleogy; (2) to centralize and 
standardize speleological information; (3) to foster 
interdisciplinary cooperation in cave and karst research 
programs; (4) to promote public education; (5) to promote 
national and international cooperation in protecting the 
environment for the benefit of cave and karst land forms; (6) 
to promote and develop environmentally sound and sustainable 
management practices.
    Section 3 directs the Secretary of the Interior 
(Secretary), acting through the Director of the National Park 
Service, to establish the National Cave and Karst Research 
Institute for the purposes described in the Act in the vicinity 
of Carlsbad Caverns National Park in the State of New Mexico. 
The legislation stipulates that the Institute shall not be 
located within the boundaries of the park.
    Section 4(a) directs that the Institute be jointly 
administered by the National Park Service and a public or 
private agency, organization, or institution as determined by 
the Secretary.
    Section 4(b) directs that the Institute be operated and 
managed in accordance with a study prepared by the National 
Park Service in 1990.
    Section 4(c) authorizes the Secretary to enter into a 
contract or cooperative agreement with a public or private 
agency, organization, or institution in order to carry out the 
Act.
    Section 4(d) authorizes the Secretary to lease or acquire a 
facility for the Institute. If the Secretary determines that a 
suitable facility is not available, the Secretary is authorized 
to construct a facility for the Institute.
    Section 4(e) authorizes the Secretary to accept grants or 
donations from private persons, and transfer funds from another 
Federal agency in order to carry out the Act.
    Section 5 directs that Federal funds must be matched by an 
equal amount of funds from non-Federal sources. Appropriated 
funds are authorized as necessary to carry out the Act.

                   cost and budgetary considerations

    The following estimate of the cost of this measure has been 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                Washington, DC, September 20, 1996.
Hon. Frank H. Murkowski,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1699, the National 
Cave and Karst Research Institute Act of 1996.
    Enacting S. 1699 could affect direct spending and receipts; 
therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would apply to the bill.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them.
            Sincerely,
                                              James L. Blum
                                             (For June E. O'Neill).
    Enclosure.

               congressional budget office cost estimate

    1. Bill number: S. 1699.
    2. Bill title: National Cave and Karst Research Institute 
Act of 1996.
    3. Bill status: As reported by the Senate Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources on September 16, 1996.
    4. Bill purpose: S. 1699 would direct the National Park 
Service (NPS) to establish the National Cave and Karst Research 
Institute in New Mexico. The NPS would be authorized to lease 
or construct a suitable facility for the institute, and to 
jointly administer the institute with another public or private 
organization. The bill would authorize the NPS to expend 
appropriated funds only to the extent that such spending is 
matched by nonfederal funds to help establish and operate the 
institute.
    5. Estimated cost to the Federal Government: Assuming 
appropriation of the necessary funds, CBO estimates that the 
federal government would spend about $6 million over the 1997-
2002 period to construct a building for the institute and to 
begin its research operations.

                                    [By fiscal year, in millions of dollars]                                    
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        1997      1998      1999      2000      2001      2002  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated authorization level.......................       \1\         1         1         2         1         1
Estimated outlays...................................       \1\         1         1         2         1         1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Less than $500,000.                                                                                         

    The costs of this bill fall within budget function 300.
    6. Basis of estimate: Based on information from the NPS, 
CBO estimates it would cost about $6 million to construct a 
building to house the institute over a four-year planning and 
construction period. In addition, we estimate that it would 
cost about $2 million annually to operate the institute. This 
estimate assumes that matching funds are provided by a 
nonfederal source to construct and operate the institute, and 
that half of these funds, or about $6 million over the 1997-
2002 period, come from federal appropriations.
    7. Pay-as-you-go considerations: Section 252 of the 
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 sets 
up pay-as-you-go procedures for legislation affecting direct 
spending or receipts through 1998. S. 1699 would authorize the 
Department of the Interior to accept and spend gifts and 
donations from private persons. Hence, pay-as-you-go procedures 
would apply. We estimate, however, that any gifts or donations 
of cash are unlikely until after the institute is operational 
in 2000. In any event, we expect that receipts from any gifts 
or donations would be offset by direct spending of these funds 
and thus there would be no net budgetary impact.
    8. Estimated impact on State, local, and tribal 
governments: S. 1699 contains no 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. The bill requires that a nonfederal source provide 
matching funds equal to the federal funds spent to construct 
and operate the institute. These funds might be provided by a 
public entity in New Mexico. In any case, such spending would 
be voluntary.
    9. Estimated impact on the private sector: This bill 
contains no private-sector mandates as defined in Public Law 
104-4.
    10. Previous CBO estimate: None.
    11. Estimate prepared by: Federal cost estimate: Kim 
Cawley; Impact on State, local, and tribal governments: Majorie 
Miller; Impact on the private sector: Carl Muehlmann.
    12. Estimate approved by: Robert A. Sunshine (for Paul N. 
Van de Water, Assistant Director for Budget Analysis).

                      regulatory impact evaluation

    In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following 
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in 
carrying out S. 1699. The bill is not a regulatory measure in 
the sense of imposing Government-established standards or 
significant economic responsibilities on private individuals 
and businesses.
    No personal information would be collected in administering 
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal 
privacy.
    Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the 
enactment of S. 1699, as ordered reported.

                        executive communications

    On September 13, 1996, the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources requested legislative reports from the Department of 
the Interior and the Office of Management and Budget setting 
forth Executive agency recommendations on S. 1699. These 
reports had not been received at the time the report on S. 1699 
was filed. When these reports become available, the Chairman 
will request that they be printed in the Congressional Record 
for the advice of the Senate. The testimony provided by the 
Department of the Interior at the Subcommittee hearing follows:

      Statement of John Reynolds, Deputy Director, National Park 
                  Service, Department of the Interior

          Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the opportunity to provide 
        the Subcommittee with the views of the National Park 
        Service on S. 1699, a bill to establish the National 
        Cave and Karst Research Institute. The National Park 
        Service supports this legislation; however, funding has 
        not been requested in the Administration's budget 
        request. For the Institute to become a reality, 
        additional funding would need to be provided by 
        Congress for the NPS share, and the public/private 
        partners would need to match the federal appropriation. 
        Federal funding for this proposal would be contingent 
        upon NPS budget constraints and Administration 
        priorities.
          If enacted, S. 1699 would establish a National Cave 
        and Karst Research Institute for the purpose of 
        furthering the science of speleology, encouraging 
        public education in the field, and promoting and 
        developing environmentally sound and sustainable 
        resource management practices. The Institute would be 
        located near Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Management 
        and operation of the Institute would be based on a 
        partnership between the National Park Service and a 
        public or private agency selected by the Secretary.
          Cave and karst systems are vital to humankind in 
        myriad ways. The protection and management of water 
        resources have been identified as major issues facing 
        the planet as we enter the 21st century--and a full 25 
        percent of America's freshwater resources exist in 
        groundwater in cave and karst regions. Caves also serve 
        as rich storehouses of information about natural 
        resources, human history, evolution, and global climate 
        change--not to mention such current concerns as waste 
        disposal, petroleum recovery, and biomedical 
        investigations.
          Congress created a major impetus for America's 
        involvement in cave and karst protection and management 
        by passing the landmark Federal Cave Resources 
        Protection Act of 1988. This Act, among other things, 
        directed the Secretaries of the Interior and 
        Agricluture to inventory and list significant caves on 
        Federal lands. The nation-wide assessment of 
        significant Federally-owned caves began in 1994. This 
        action has added greatly to the number of known caves 
        on Federal land, and increased the impetus for cave 
        management and research. Federal land managers have 
        since developed a heightened awareness of the 
        management needs of the cave and karst resources on 
        these lands and of their growing needs for assistance 
        in inventorying and classifying their cave and karst 
        resources.
          The foundation for S. 1699 stems from the study 
        prepared by the National Park Service in response to 
        P.L. 101-578 (November 15, 1990). In that law, Congress 
        directed the Secretary of the Interior, acting through 
        the Director of the National Park Service, to establish 
        and administer a Cave Research Program and to prepare a 
        study that examines the feasibility of establishing a 
        centralized National Cave and Karst Research Institute.
          The NPS study was completed in December of 1994. The 
        study recommended that the Institute be jointly 
        administered by the National Park Service and another 
        entity. Congress has identified the National Park 
        Service as project lead since it manages over 60 park 
        units containing significant cave resources, it has had 
        a Cave and Karst Research Program in place since March 
        1991, and it already has an appropriate general 
        cooperative management model in use, called a 
        ``Cooperative Park Studies Unit.'' The National Park 
        Service would have ultimate responsibility for the 
        Institute, and would retain indirect control over its 
        activities and programs. An academic entity would plan, 
        coordinate, and administer the Institute and its 
        programs.
          The location that the study recommended is a local 
        community (rather than a National Park Service unit) 
        that possesses significant cave resources, provides 
        easy accessibility for researchers, students, and other 
        visitors, is located near the academic entity with 
        which it is associated, and is large enough to offer a 
        favorable quality of life in order to attract and 
        retain high-quality employees and their families. As 
        specifically directed by P.L. 101-578, the study 
        focused on locating the Institute near the region 
        surrounding Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The 
        Carlsbad location was identified by the study because 
        of the documented strong local community and political 
        support, and the numerous and diverse cave and karst 
        resources found throughout the region.
          It is estimated that the cost for the Institute 
        during the first five years, if space for the Institute 
        was donated to the NPS, would exceed $1.5 million 
        dollars for operating and capital expenses alone. Since 
        the New Mexico State University is considering housing 
        the Institute at its Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring 
        and Research Center during the first five years, it is 
        anticipated that a permanent facility would need to be 
        built by the sixth year of operation. The estimated 
        construction cost of the Institute exceeds $1.2 million 
        dollars.
          It is critical in times of decreasing budgets and 
        resources that the dictates of this legislation be 
        accomplished jointly--between the National Park Service 
        and a designated partner in this venture, such as the 
        State of New Mexico, New Mexico State University, or 
        private entities. Technical cooperators for research 
        projects could include organizations such as the Karst 
        Waters Institute, the National Speleological Society, 
        the Cave Research Foundation, and the American Cave 
        Conservation Association.
          All funds and efforts of the NPS must be matched at 
        least equally and responsibility for the success of the 
        project must be shared. We would recommend a change in 
        bill language to emphasize this position. In Section 4 
        (c) and (e) as well as Sec 5(a) we would suggest 
        changing the Secretary ``may'' to the Secretary 
        ``shall''. This would reaffirm that the commitment to 
        the project is the responsibility of all parties, and 
        its success depends completely on cooperative efforts. 
        It would be impossible for the National Park Service to 
        take on an effort such as this without requisite joint-
        funding. Without cooperation, existing NPS projects and 
        programs would be jeopardized.
          This concludes my prepared remarks concerning S. 
        1699, Mr. Chairman. I would be pleased to respond to 
        any questions you may have.

                        changes in existing law

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no 
changes in existing law are made by the bill S. 1699 as ordered 
reported.