[Senate Report 105-392]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 641
105th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE

 2d Session                                                     105-392
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                       CAPE COD NATIONAL SEASHORE

                                _______
                                

 October 9, (legislative day, October 2), 1998.--Ordered to be printed

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

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 2411]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the Act (H.R. 2411) to provide for a land exchange 
involving the Cape Code National Seashore and to extend the 
authority for the Cape Code National Seashore Advisory 
Commission, having considered the same, reports favorably 
thereon without amendment and recommends that the Act do pass.

                         Purpose of the Measure

    The purposes of H.R. 2411 are to authorize a land exchange 
between the town of Provincetown, Massachusetts and the 
Secretary of the Interior, and to extend the authorization for 
the Cape Code National Advisory Commission to the year 2008.

                          Background and Need

    Cape Code National Seashore was established in 1961 by 
Public Law 87-126. The land referred to in this legislation 
became part of Cape Code National Seashore in 1962 from the 
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, when the State conveyed the 
former Province Lands State Park. The conveyed lands came with 
deed restrictions, including a requirement that the Secretary 
of the Interior make available land to the town of Provincetown 
for a landfill. The park provided approximately 30 acres which 
was used for a landfill.
    In 1992, Provincetown was ordered by the Commonwealth to 
close its septic lagoons, cap its landfill and build a new 
solid waste transfer station and recycling facility. In 1994, 
the National Park Service issued a Special Use Permit to the 
town to construct the solid waste transfer station. Under the 
conditions of the permit, the town has been allowed to operate 
the transfer station while pursuing the land exchange and the 
necessary permits.
    A land exchange agreement has been reached which would 
transfer the 7.6 acre solid waste transfer site to Provincetown 
in exchange for 11.6 acres of undeveloped State land to the 
park. However, Public Law 104-333 established a ceiling of 
$750,000 on the value of the land that could be executed by an 
administrative boundary adjustment. The value of the land 
exceeds this amount; therefore, the minor boundary change 
authority cannot be used.
    H.R. 2411 also extends the Cape Cod National Seashore 
Advisory Commission which has expired, to the year 2008. The 
National Park Service, Federal, State, and local officials all 
support the extension. The Commission has provided valuable 
guidance to the seashore and given local officials and the 
surrounding communities a voice in the management of the 
Seashore.

                          Legislative History

    H.R. 2411 was passed by the House of Representatives on 
June 22, 1998 and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources. The Subcommittee on National Parks, Historic 
Preservation, and Recreation held a hearing on H.R. 2411 on 
September 17, 1998.
    At its business meeting on September 24, 1998, the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered H.R. 2411 
favorably reported.

                        Committee Recommendation

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open 
business session on September 24, 1998, by a unanimous voice 
vote of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 
2411, as described herein.

                          Summary of H.R. 2411

    H.R. 2411 amends section 2 of Public Law 87-126 to 
authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey to the town 
of Provincetown, Massachusetts,approximately 7.62 acres of 
Federal land within the boundary of Cape Cod National Seashore 
(Seashore) in exchange for approximately 11.157 acres of land outside 
of the Seashore as depicted on the map entitled Cape Cod National 
Seashore Boundary Revision Map, dated May, 1997, and numbered 609/
80,801. The exchange would allow for the establishment of a municipal 
facility to serve the town of Provincetown who is restricted to solid 
waste transfer and recycling facilities, and for other municipal 
activities that are compatible with National Park Service laws and 
regulations. Upon completion of the exchange, the Secretary of the 
Interior should modify the boundary of the Cape Cod National Seashore 
to include the land that has been added.
    H.R. 2411 also amends section 8 of Public Law 87-126 to 
extend the authorization for the Cape Cod National Seashore 
Advisory Commission through 2008.

                   Cost and Budgetary Considerations

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

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                Washington, DC, September 25, 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 H.R. 2411, an act to 
provide for a land exchange involving the Cape Cod National 
Seashore and to extend the authority for the Cape Cod National 
Seashore Advisory Commission.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis.
            Sincerely,
                                          June E. O'Neil, Director.
    Enclosure.

               Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

H.R. 2411--An act to provide for a land exchange involving the Cape Cod 
        National Seashore and to extend the authority for the Cape Cod 
        National Seashore Advisory Commission

    Based on information provided by the National Park Service, 
CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 2411 would have no 
significant impact on the federal budget. This legislation 
would not affect direct spending or receipts; therefore, pay-
as-you-go procedures would not apply. H.R. 2411 contains no 
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no costs on 
state, local, or tribal governments.
    H.R. 2411 would provide for a land exchange at the Cape Cod 
National Seashore. Specifically, the legislation would convey 
about eight acres of federal land to Provincetown, 
Massachusetts, in exchange for approximately 11 acres of land 
outside the park. The act would modify the park boundary to 
include the added land. In addition, the act would extend the 
life of the Cape Cod National Seashore Advisory Commission by 
10 years to September 26, 2008. The commission provides 
guidance to the Park Service at a current annual cost of less 
than $5,000.
    On May 29, 1998, CBO prepared an estimate for H.R. 2411, a 
bill to provide for a land exchange involving the Cape Cod 
National Seashore and to extend the authority for the Cape Cod 
National Seashore Advisory Commission, as ordered reported by 
the House Committee on Resources on May 21, 1998. The two 
versions of the legislation and the two estimates are 
identical.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis. 
This estimate was approved by 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 H.R. 2411. The bill is not a regulatory measure in 
the sense of imposing Government-established standards of 
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 H.R. 2411, as ordered reported.

                        Executive Communications

    On September 3, 1998, the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources requested legislative report from the Department of 
the Interior and the Office of Management and Budget setting 
forth Executive agency recommendations on H.R. 2411. These 
reports had not been received at the time the report on H.R. 
2411 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 of the 
Department of the Interior at the Subcommittee hearing follows:

 Statement of Destry Jarvis, Assistant Director for External Affairs, 
           National Park Service, Department of the Interior

    Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to present the 
Department of the Interior's views on H.R. 2411, a bill to 
authorize a land exchange between the town of Provincetown and 
Cape Cod National Seashore in the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts. It would also reauthorize the Cape Code National 
Seashore Advisory Commission for a ten-year period. The 
Department of the Interior strongly supports this bill.
    Cape Code--a slender spit of land curving some 60 miles out 
into the Atlantic Ocean--is an extraordinary resource, an area 
that is striking and unusual in its combination and diversity 
of resources. Its unsurpassed beaches, ponds, marshes, bays, 
pine barrens, inlets, and dunes combine with historic 
landscapes and thriving communities to create an intricate 
mosaic of significant resources. Cape Code National Seashore 
was authorized in 1961 to preserve a portion of this ever-
changing landscape which boasts the largest glacial peninsula 
in the world, and the longest expanse of uninterrupted sandy 
shoreline on the East Coast. The fact that this area is so 
close to densely populated areas makes its special character 
more and more precious.
    H.R. 2411 would authorize the Cape Code National Seashore 
to exchange approximately 7.65 acres of land within the park's 
boundary for approximately 11 acres of undeveloped land of 
equivalent value outside the boundary that has been offered in 
exchange by the Town of Provincetown. The purpose of the 
exchange is to remove from park ownership land that has for 
many years been used as an NPS-permitted solid waste facility 
and to allow the town to establish a permanent solid waste 
transfer station and recycling center. Upon completion of the 
exchange, the Seashore's boundary would be adjusted in 
accordance with a map dated May 1997 and numbered 609/80,801 
entitled ``Cape Code National Seashore Boundary Revision Map'' 
to accommodate the added parcel.
    Completion of the exchange will remove an inappropriate use 
from park-owned land, and will bring the park largely back into 
compliance with 36 CFR Part 6, Operation of Solid Waste Sites 
in Units of the National Park System. The land occupied by the 
transfer station originally came into the hands of the National 
Park Service in 1962, shortly after the Seashore was 
established, with the conveyance form the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts of the former Province Lands State Park. The 
conveyed lands came with deed restrictions requiring the 
Secretary to make available land to be used by the Town for 
dumping purposes. Consistent with that restriction, the park 
provided approximately 30 acres, which for many years were used 
as a landfill. Approximately 7.65 of those acres are currently 
in use as a transfer station. The Town of Provincetown 
continues to need the transfer station and has no other viable 
site alternative. Because of its long-term use as a dumping 
site and transfer station and prior to that as septage lagoons, 
its most suitable future use is as a transfer station or for 
some other utilitarian purpose. The 11 acres the Seashore will 
receive are contiguous to the park. There will be no increase 
in operating costs to maintain this undeveloped land.
    This exchange is consistent with the Seashore's new general 
management plan, which was adopted after extensive public 
review and comment. Work was underway to effect the exchange 
until passage of the Parks Omnibus Act of 1996 required 
congressional approval due to the approximately $1.5 million 
total value of the parcels to be exchanged.
    H.R. 2411 would also reauthorize the Cape Cod National 
Seashore Advisory Commission for a ten-year period. The 
Commission was originally authorized in 1961 as a part of 
Public Law 87-126, the Cape Cod National Seashore's enabling 
legislation. Its purpose is to advise park management on 
questions relating to municipal and private land ownership and 
occupancy inside the Seashore, and on the management of 
recreational activity. Membership consists of one 
representative from each of the six Lower Cape towns, two from 
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, one from Barnstable County, 
and one selected by the Secretary of the Interior.
    Initially chartered for ten years, the Commission has since 
been both legislatively and administratively reauthorized 
several times, for almost continuous service during the 
existence of the national seashore. It expired June 20, 1998 
and has not been administratively extended.
    Support on the Lower Cape for the commission is strong and 
reaction to the proposal to reauthorize it has been universally 
positive.
    Cape Cod National Seashore was established with a pattern 
of land ownership and management that is most unusual in the 
National Park System. The six ``Lower Cape'' towns, from whose 
lands the Cape Cod National Seashore was carved, retain 
ownership and operation of numerous parcels within the Seashore 
including ponds, beaches, parking lots and roads. In addition, 
over 600 parcels inside the Cape Cod National Seashore are 
privately owned. Under a unique landowner arrangement, 
sometimes referred to as the ``Cape Cod Formula,'' these 
parcels are expected to remain in private hands. Activities on 
all these lands can have potentially profound effects on 
protested resources, and vice versa.
    The need for constructive and creative dialogue with the 
local community is constant, and the potential for conflict and 
misunderstanding enormous. And, although the Cape Cod National 
Seashore was created over thirty years ago, there still remains 
a certain amount of suspicion and resentment of federal 
government activity. Because of the multiplicity of interests 
and voices to which the superintendent must respond, effective 
public involvement without a body such as the commission would 
be nearly impossible.
    The Cape Code National Seashore Advisory Commission has 
established an excellent reputation as a facilitator of vital 
public/private dialogue. Frequent use of subcommittees 
dedicated to the exploration of specific questions allows local 
opinion leaders to remain involved on a regular and recurring 
basis. Also, it permits numerous parties to feel that they have 
had direct access to park management through dozens of hours of 
consultation.
    In its recent past, the commission has addressed such 
contentious issues as: the drafting of the seashore's new 
general management plan, the use of off-road vehicles in the 
park, and the expiration of a number of reservations of use and 
occupancy that resulted from earlier purchases of improved 
properties by the National Park Service.
    The composition of the Commission was originally defined in 
Public Law 87-126 and was specifically designed to represent 
all local and regional jurisdictions. Experience has shown that 
the original mix of constituencies represented was appropriate 
and should be continued. There would be no new administrative 
costs associated with extension of the Commission.
    This concludes my prepared testimony. I would be happy to 
answer any questions that you or members of the subcommittee 
may have.

                        Changes in Existing Law

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by 
the bill H.R. 2411, as ordered 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).

                 (Public Law 87-126, October 31, 1998)

    Sec. 2. [(d)](e) As used in this Act the term ``fair market 
value'' shall mean the fair market value as determined by the 
Secretary, who may in his discretion base his determination on 
an independent appraisal obtained by him.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

    (d) The Secretary may convey to the town of Provincetown, 
Massachusetts, a parcel of real property consisting of 
approximately 7.62 acres of Federal land within such area in 
exchange for approximately 11.157 acres of land outside of such 
areas, as depicted on the map entitled Cape Code National 
Seashore Boundary Revision Map, dated May, 1997, and numbered 
609/80,801, to allow for the establishment of a municipal 
facility to serve the town that is restricted to solid waste 
transfer and recycling facilities and for other municipal 
activities that are compatible with National Park Service laws 
and regulations. Upon completion of the exchange, the Secretary 
shall modify the boundary of the Cape Cod National Seashore to 
include the land that has been added.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

    Sec. 8. (a) There is hereby establish a Cape Cod National 
Seashore Advisory Commission (hereinafter referred to as the 
``Commission''). [Said Commission shall terminate ten years 
after the date the seashore is established under section 3 of 
this Act.] The Commission shall terminate September 26, 2008.