[Senate Report 105-228]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 406
105th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 105-228
_______________________________________________________________________
LAKE CHELAN NATIONAL RECREATION AREA
_______
June 26, 1998.--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. 1683]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (S. 1683) to transfer administrative
jurisdiction over part of the Lake Chelan National Recreation
Area from the Secretary of the Interior to the Secretary of
Agriculture for inclusion in the Wenatchee National Forest,
having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an
amendment and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass.
The amendment is as follows:
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu
thereof the following:
SECTION 1. BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENTS, LAKE CHELAN NATIONAL RECREATION AREA
AND WENATCHEE NATIONAL FOREST, WASHINGTON.
(a) Boundary Adjustments.--
(1) Lake chelan national recreation area.--The boundary of
the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, established by
section 202 of Public Law 90-544 (16 U.S.C. 90a-1), is hereby
adjusted to exclude a parcel of land and waters consisting of
approximately 88 acres, as depicted on the map entitled
``Proposed Management Units, North Cascades, Washington'',
numbered NP-CAS-7002A, originally dated October 1967, and
revised July 13, 1994.
(2) Wenatchee national forest.--The boundary of the Wenatchee
National Forest is hereby adjusted to include the parcel of
land and waters described in paragraph (1).
(3) Availability of map.--The map referred to in paragraph
(1) shall be on file and available for public inspection in the
offices of the superintendent of the Lake Chelan National
Recreation Area and the Director of the National Park Service,
Department of the Interior, and in the office of the Chief of
the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture.
(b) Transfer of Administrative Jurisdiction.--Administrative
jurisdiction over Federal land and waters in the parcel covered by the
boundary adjustments in subsection (a) is transferred from the
Secretary of the Interior to the Secretary of Agriculture, and the
transferred land and waters shall be managed by the Secretary of
Agriculture in accordance with the laws and regulations pertaining to
the National Forest System.
(c) Land and Water Conservation Fund.--For purposes of section 7 of
the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l-9),
the boundaries of the Wenatchee National Forest, as adjusted by
subsection (a), shall be considered to be the boundaries of the
Wenatchee National Forest as of January 1, 1965.
purpose
S. 1683, as ordered reported, would transfer administrative
jurisdiction over part of the Lake Chelan National Recreation
Area from the Secretary of the Interior to the Secretary of
Agriculture for inclusion in the Wenatchee National Forest.
background and need
Aproximately 88 acres of private property along Lake
Chelan, located about 100 miles east of Seattle, Washington, is
bisected by the boundary of the Lake Chelan National Recreation
area. Most of this property is located within the Wenatchee
National Forest, however, approximately 23 acres lie within the
Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, which is administered by
the National Park Service.
Prior to the 1968 establishment of the Lake Chelan National
Recreation Area, the private landowner was assured that his
property would not be included in the new Park unit, but would
remain under the jurisdiction of the Forest Service. When the
boundary was drawn, however, it bisected the property, leaving
a portion under the jurisdiction of the Forest Service and
transferring a portion to the Park Service. It is not normal
for private land to be bisected by a federal boundary.
For nearly 20 years, the private landowner was subject to
split jurisdiction. After reviewing the Draft Land Protection
Plan for the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area in 1987, he
wrote to the Park Superintendent explaining his predicament and
noting that the boundary line should have been drawn to the
Northwest of his property. Subsequently, the Superintendent
advised the property owner that the best solution was a formal
boundary adjustment by Congress.
S. 1683 transfers jurisdiction of about 23 acres of the
land, and approximately 65 acres of submerged land, from the
Lake Chelan National Recreation Area to the Wenatchee National
Forest. This is a minor adjustment, amounting to just over one-
tenth of one percent of the total land in the Lake Chelan
National Recreation Area.
legislative history
S. 1683 was introduced on February 26, 1998, by Senator
Gorton, and was referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources. The Subcommittee on Forests and Public Land
Management held a hearing on S. 1683 on March 25, 1998. At a
business meeting on May 13, 1998, the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources ordered S. 1683, as amended, favorably
reported.
committee recommendation and tabulation of votes
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in
open business session on May 13, 1998, by unanimous vote of a
quorum present recommends that the Senate pass S. 1683, if
amended as described herein.
The rollcall vote on reporting the measure was 20 yeas, no
nays as follows:
YEAS NAYS
Mr. Murkowski
Mr. Domenici
Mr. Nickles\1\
Mr. Craig
Mr. Campbell
Mr. Thomas
Mr. Kyl
Mr. Grams \1\
Mr. Smith
Mr. Gorton
Mr. Burns \1\
Mr. Bumpers
Mr. Ford
Mr. Bingaman
Mr. Akaka
Mr. Dorgan \1\
Mr. Graham \1\
Mr. Wyden
Mr. Johnson
Ms. Landrieu
\1\ Indicates vote by proxy.
committee amendment
During the consideration of S. 1683 the Committee adopted
an amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by Senator
Gorton. The amendment makes technical corrections to address
concerns raised by the Administration, adds a citation to the
public law which established the Lake Chelan National
Recreation Area, and provides a more precise description of the
area to be transferred.
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, May 18, 1998.
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. 1683, a bill to
transfer administrative jurisdiction over part of the Lake
Chelan National Recreation Area from the Secretary of the
Interior to the Secretary of Agriculture for inclusion in the
Wenatchee National Forest.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them.
The CBO staff contact is Victoria V. Heid.
Sincerely,
June E. O'Neill, Director.
Enclosure.
congressional budget office cost estimate
S. 1683--A bill to transfer administrative jurisdiction over part of
the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area from the Secretary of
the Interior to the Secretary of Agriculture for inclusion in
the Wenatchee National Forest
CBO estimates that enacting this bill would have no
significant impact on the federal budget. Because S. 1683 would
not affect direct spending or receipts, pay-as-you-go
procedures would not apply. S. 1683 contains no
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 and would not affect the
budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
S. 1683 would transfer jurisdiction over certain land and
water in the state of Washington from the Secretary of the
Interior to the Secretary of Agriculture. The bill would adjust
the boundary of the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area to
exclude a parcel of land and water consisting of about 23 acres
of private property and about 60 acres of the surface of Lake
Chelan, which is owned by the federal government. The bill
would adjust the boundary of the Wenatchee National Forest,
managed by the U.S. Forest Service in the Department of
Agriculture, to include that same parcel. The private property
that would be transferred is currently within the boundaries of
both the Lake Chelan Recreation Area and the Wenatchee National
Forest. Transferring jurisdiction for that land between
agencies would allow the private property to be under the
jurisdiction of a single public land unit. We estimate that
implementing this jurisdictional transfer would have no net
impact on the federal budget.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Victoria V.
Heid. This estimate was approved by Robert A. Sunshine, Deputy
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
regulatory impact evaluation
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
enactment of S. 1683.
executive communications
Legislative reports from the Department of Agriculture and
the Office of Management and Budget setting forth Executive
agency recommendations on S. 1683 were unavailable at the time
the report on S. 1683 was filed. When the 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 Forest Service at the Subcommittee
hearing follows:
STATEMENT OF ELEANOR TOWNS, FOREST SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for
the opportunity to present the Administration's testimony.
s. 1683. wenatchee national forest boundary adjustment and transfer of
jurisdiction
S. 1683 would transfer jurisdiction of approximately 88
acres of land, including approximately 56.7 acres of public
land under the surface of Lake Chelan, from the Secretary of
the Interior to the Secretary of Agriculture.
The Administration supports the bill, if amended, to
provide relief to a private landowner whose property is
currently within the boundaries of the Lake Chelan National
Recreation Area, administered by the Department of the
Interior, and the Wenatchee National Forest, administered by
the Department of Agriculture. The landowner would prefer to be
within the boundary of one public land unit, specifically the
National Forest. To address this problem, the bill would
transfer jurisdiction of lands between agencies, but, as
written, would not accomplish the needed adjustment to the
administrative boundary of the Wenatchee National Forest in
order to include approximately 23.3 acres of private land.
The Administration would propose technical amendments to
accomplish the boundary adjustment and to correct the number of
acres represented in the transfer. It is our understanding that
the map described in Section 1(b) only provides for the
transfer of 80 acres. With these amendments, we support the
change in management jurisdiction.
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. 1683, as
ordered reported.