[House Report 106-230]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]






106th Congress                                                   Report
  1st Session           HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                106-230

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   MAP CORRECTION RELATING TO CAPE HENLOPEN UNIT OF COASTAL BARRIER 
                            RESOURCES SYSTEM

                                _______
                                

 July 13, 1999.--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. 535]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 535) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to make 
corrections to a map relating to the Coastal Barrier Resources 
System, 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. 535 is to direct the Secretary of the 
Interior to make corrections to a map relating to the Coastal 
Barrier Resources System.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The Coastal Barrier Resources System, administered by the 
Secretary of the Interior, was created in 1982 by the Coastal 
Barrier Resources Act (CBRA, Public Law 97-348, codified at 16 
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). CBRA was designed to eliminate federal 
development incentives on undeveloped coastal barriers, thereby 
preventing the loss of human life and property from storms, 
minimizing federal expenditures, and protecting habitat for 
fish and wildlife. The Coastal Barrier Resources System 
consists of coastal barrier units and ``otherwise protected 
areas'' delineated on maps adopted by Congress. The System was 
greatly expanded by the Coastal Barrier Improvement Act of 1990 
(Public Law 101-591), which added the 274 ``otherwise protected 
areas,'' including DE-03P, to the System.
    Otherwise protected areas are public or private lands that 
are held for conservation purposes, such as parks, wildlife 
refuges, and national seashores. Lands designated as otherwise 
protected areas are ineligible for federal flood insurance, as 
well as other federal development assistance. In several 
instances, the maps of otherwise protected areas prepared by 
the Secretary and adopted by Congress incorrectly depict the 
boundary of the underlying park, forest, refuge or reserve that 
formed the basis for the otherwise protected area designation. 
Congressional action is necessary to correct the boundaries 
because the Secretary does not have the authority to correct 
these errors administratively.
    H.R. 535 directs the Secretary of the Interior to make 
corrections to a map of an otherwise protected area established 
under CBRA. The bill directs the Secretary to adjust the 
boundary of unit DE-03P to accurately depict the boundary of 
Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware. The current boundary of 
DE-03P is not coterminous with the State park boundary. This 
change will exclude a 32-acre parcel of land owned by a private 
corporation outside the park boundary and add 245 acres of the 
park which was incorrectly excluded on the original 1990 maps. 
The 32-acre parcel was never held for conservation purposes, a 
requirement to be included within an otherwise protected area. 
These changes result in a net addition of 213 acres to the 
Coastal Barrier Resources System.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 535 was introduced on February 3, 1999, by Congressman 
Michael Castle (R-DE). The bill was referred to the Committee 
on Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on 
Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans. On May 6, 1999, 
the Subcommittee held a hearing on H.R. 535, where the 
Administration testified in support of the bill. On May 27, 
1999, the Subcommittee met to mark up the bill. No amendments 
were offered and H.R. 535 was ordered favorably reported to the 
Full Committee by voice vote. On June 30, 1999, the Full 
Resources Committee met to consider the bill. No amendments 
were offered and the bill was ordered favorably reported to the 
House of Representatives by voice vote.

            COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

    Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee on Resources' oversight findings and recommendations 
are reflected in the body of this report.

                   CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

    Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United 
States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

    1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) 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 this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) 
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 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
    2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2) 
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this 
bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending 
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in tax 
expenditures. According to the Congressional Budget Office, 
enactment of this bill could affect direct spending by 
increasing payments to the National Flood Insurance Program 
(offset in part by mandatory spending for underwriting and 
administrative expenses), but any such effect would be 
``negligible.''
    3. Government Reform Oversight Findings. Under clause 
3(c)(4) of rule XIII 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 on this bill.
    4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause 
3(c)(3) of rule XIII 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 this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                      Washington, DC, July 9, 1999.
Hon. Don Young,
Chairman, Committee on Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 535, a bill to 
direct the Secretary of the Interior to make corrections to a 
map relating to the Coastal Barrier Resources System.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Megan 
Carroll.
            Sincerely,
                                          Barry B. Anderson
                                    (For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
    Enclosure.

H.R. 535--A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to make 
        corrections to a map relating to the Coastal Barrier Resources 
        System

    CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 535 would result in no 
significant cost to the federal government. Because the bill 
could affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures would 
apply, but we expect that net changes in direct spending would 
be negligible. H.R. 535 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. 535 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to 
correct the map of the Cape Henlopen Unit of the Coastal 
Barrier Resources System. The proposed correction would revise 
the boundary of this unit to include an additional 245 acres of 
state park lands and exclude about 32 acres of developed 
property. This change would provide additional environmental 
protection for the state park and would enable local property 
owners occupying the excluded acreage to obtain federal flood 
insurance. Once insurance policies have been written on the 
affected property, offsetting collections from premiums paid 
into the national flood insurance fund would increase by less 
than $500,000 per year. Collections would be partially offset 
by new mandatory spending for underwriting and administrative 
expenses. The federal government might also incur additional 
costs for losses associated with any future floods that might 
affect this land, but CBO has no basis for predicting such 
floods or their resulting costs.
    On March 18, 1999, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 
574, and identical bill that was ordered reported by the Senate 
Committee on Environment and Public Works on March 17, 1999. 
The two cost estimates are identical.
    The CBO staff contact is Megan Carroll. This estimate was 
approved by Robert A. Sunshine, Deputy Assistant Director for 
Budget Analysis.

                    compliance with public law 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                preemption of state, local or tribal law

    This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or 
tribal law.

                        changes in existing law

    If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing 
law.

                                

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