[House Report 106-404]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



106th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    106-404

======================================================================



 
                   RONGELAP RESETTLEMENT ACT OF 1999

                                _______
                                

October 20, 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. 2970]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 2970) to prescribe certain terms for the resettlement of 
the people of Rongelap Atoll due to conditions created at 
Tongelap during United States administration of the Trust 
Territory of the Pacific Islands, and for other purposes, 
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. 2970, the Rongelap Resettlement Act of 
1999, is to prescribe certain terms for the resettlement of the 
people of Rongelap Atoll due to conditions created at Rongelap 
during United States administration of the Trust Territory of 
the Pacific Islands, and for other purposes.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    Rongelap Atoll is one of four atolls in the Marshall 
Islands which were contaminated by high level radiation due to 
nuclear testing during the time the islands were administered 
as a trust territory by the United States. The total estimated 
cost for radiological rehabilitation of Rongelap Island and 
resettlement of the Rongelap community at Rongelap was 
estimated in 1995 at approximately $90 million. This estimate 
was presented to the Committee on Resources by qualified 
engineers who developed the resettlement plan for Rongelap 
under a contract supervised by the Department of the Interior, 
and on the basis of independent scientific recommendations for 
remediation of radiological conditions at Rongelap confirmed by 
the Department of Energy and the National Academy of Science.
    The process through which the Rongelap Resettlement Program 
has been developed, approved and implemented under the 
oversight of the Committee on Resources was first authorized in 
1986 under Section 103(i) of Public Law 99-239, implementing 
the Compact of Free Association with the Marshall Islands. 
Congress expressed its clear intent in that provision that 
additional actions might be necessary to insure that the atoll 
was suitable for habitation:
          It is the intent of Congress that such steps (if any) 
        as are necessary to restore the habitability of 
        Rongelap Island and return the Rongelap people to their 
        homeland will be taken by the United States in 
        consultation with the Government of the Marshall 
        Islands and . . . the Rongelap local government 
        council.
    Rongelap's resettlement and radiological rehabilitation has 
been funded through a trust fund mechanism established by 
Congress in 1991 under Public Law 102-154 (105 Stat. 1009). 
However, in 1996, in lieu of appropriation of the full amount 
of $90 million, under section 118(d) of Public Law 104-134, 
Congress adopted a policy of funding Rongelap resettlement at a 
lower cost to taxpayers by contributing to the trust fund 
lesser amounts and encouraging methodical and cost-effective 
resettlement. A total of approximately $40 million has been 
appropriated to date, with the understanding that the Rongelap 
Atoll local government would be responsible for prudential 
management of the assets of the trust fund to implement the 
resettlement plan.
    The lower trust fund level requires that the pace of the 
resettlement program must be controlled and that the local 
government must establish priorities for each element of a 
phased program of resettlement projects, so that the depletion 
of the trust fund assets will be at least partially offset by 
income from investment of the trust fund. The objective is to 
enable the people of Rongelap, acting through their local 
constitutional process, to manage their own affairs and the 
resettlement process itselfto the greatest extent possible. For 
this to occur, it is necessary to ensure that the local government has 
the institutional capabilities and the resources to administer and 
manage the resettlement program.
    Consistent with this policy, under Section 118(d) of Public 
Law 104-134, Congress accepted the resettlement plan developed 
by the Rongelap Atoll local government and provided for 
contributions to the trust fund by federal agencies, including 
the Department of Defense and the Department of the Interior, 
which brought the U.S. contribution up the $40 million level. 
In both Public Law 102-154 and Public Law 104-134 Congress 
required that the use of trust fund assets be in accordance 
with agreements between the Rongelap Atoll Local Government 
Council (RALGOV), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) 
and the Department of the Interior, and that all distributions 
and use of such funds be subject to disapproval of the 
Secretary of the Interior.
    Congress expressly required the President to establish an 
agreement to govern the resettlement process as intended by 
Public Law 104-134. In fulfillment of that requirement, on 
September 19, 1996, the Secretary of the Department of the 
Interior acting on behalf of the President, entered into an 
``Agreement Regarding United States Assistance in the 
Resettlement of Rongelap Concluded Between the United States 
Department of the Interior and Rongelap Atoll Local 
Government'' (see Appendix A). The agreement, as amended, is 
comprehensive, including provisions for resettlement, 
radiological rehabilitation of the islands, reconstruction, as 
well as community recovery and reunification programs.
    The entire principle of the trust fund and at least 50 
percent of the annual income (interest and earnings) are 
dedicated to the island rehabilitation, reconstruction and 
resettlement support programs at Rongelap Island. An amount not 
to exceed 50 percent of the annual income is made available to 
the Rongelap Atoll local government to manage and administer 
the resettlement program through the local government 
structure. This enables the local government to carry out 
community recovery programs and address the needs of the 
Rongelap people through local government services, and support 
efforts which are currently dispersed over an oceanic area 
almost as large as the state of Arizona, including at Majuro, 
Ebeye and the desolate island of Mejatto in Kwajalein Atoll.
    While the entire agreement has no expiration date, the 
provision for the annual budget process with the local 
government terminates at the end of five years unless otherwise 
provided by Congress. Aware of the potential disruption that 
would occur if the agreement was changed or the budget 
provision was allowed to lapse, the Rongelap Atoll Local 
Government Council approved Resolution Number 99-10 on July 9, 
1999, expressing support for continuation of the 1996 Rongelap 
Resettlement Agreement in federal law. This resolution was 
transmitted to the Committee on Resources by the RMI national 
government on July 12, 1999 (see Appendix B).
    It is the expiring provisions of the 1996 agreement which 
have enabled the Rongelap Atoll local government to manage the 
resettlement program successfully. Congressional policy for the 
resettlement, as prescribed in Public Law 104-134 and involving 
the Atoll's local government, has proven very successful. 
Community recovery as well as island rehabilitation and 
reconstruction projects have exceeded all expectations and 
predictions for success since Congress initiated the Rongelap 
recovery project under the trust fund agreement dated May 13, 
1992, as amended, concluded pursuant to Public Law 102-154 (see 
Appendix C).
    If the current arrangement was permitted to terminate next 
year, a resettlement administering authority that would 
essentially duplicate the local government would have to be 
established and funded to organize and mobilize the community 
for resettlement, a process that will take at least ten years 
to complete. Thus, in addition to ratifying the approach taken 
by the Interior Department in implementing the 1996 
resettlement agreement to date, this legislation ensures 
Rongelap local government funding provisions are extended for 
the next ten years.
    The Committee has received information regarding the 
implementation of the resettlement program from the Department 
of the Interior, the RMI national government, and the Rongelap 
Atoll local government, both through the process of routine 
oversight and during the Committee's oversight visit to the 
Marshall Islands on February 20 and 21, 1999, as well as the 
briefing and hearing on the effects of the nuclear testing 
which the Committee conducted on May 10 and 11, 1999. As a 
result, the Committee concludes that the Rongelap resettlement 
process to be proceeding in a satisfactory and successful 
manner.
    The Department of the Interior has been charged to carry 
out the policy of Congress embodied in Public Laws 99-239, 102-
154 and 104-134, to provide for resettlement and radiological 
rehabilitation of Rongelap, including specific resettlement 
construction projects. Congress also intended to promote the 
development at the local government level of the institutional 
capacity to manage the resettlement program under the local 
constitution and laws. The devolution of authority from the 
Office of Insular Affairs, Department of the Interior in 
Washington, D.C., to the Rongelap Atoll local government and 
the RMI national government, represents an historic model for 
success in promoting recovery from the nuclear testing program 
for an island community in the RMI.
    In addition to the infrastructure construction projects at 
Rongelap itself which are making radiological remediation 
possible, the political and cultural infrastructure of the 
Rongelap people also is being rebuilt through this process. 
This has required that the Department of the Interior, the RMI 
and the local government agree on terms for administration of 
the trust fund under Public Law 102-154 and implementation of 
the resettlement program agreement under Public Law 104-134 
that are consistent with but not expressly set forth in those 
public laws.
    This includes the previously referenced agreements under 
which up to 50 percent of the income from the trust fund has 
been distributed to the Rongelap Atoll local government so that 
it has the resources and the administrative capability to 
operate out of the City Hall and Resettlement Program 
Headquarters in Majuro to provide local government services and 
support resettlement in an effective manner. Originally there 
was a $500,000 annual cap on the amount available to the local 
government, but this was when the trust fund assets were less 
than $7 million. In more recent years as the corpus has grown, 
the Department of the Interior has agreed to increased 
allocations for local government administration of the program 
within the overall 50 percent cap.
    Without this arrangement, including the ability to meet 
administrative costs of local government operations necessary 
to support resettlement, the Rongelap community could never 
have taken responsibility for the resettlement program and made 
it their own. It would have been something done by the United 
States for them, and there would have been frustration and 
mistrust in all probability. Instead, the allocation of 
resources to operate the resettlement program through the local 
government made the difference between the present successful 
program and what might well have been another less than 
satisfactory result. It is significant that the organic 
instruments authorizing the entire resettlement program now 
taking place include RALGOV Resolution 95-20, approving the 
overall resettlement plan (Appendix D).
    In addition, the policy of implementing resettlement 
through the local government has promoted economy and 
efficiency by eliminating the need to establish a separate 
agency or authority to manage resettlement. In addition, the 
Department of the Interior has been able to work closely with 
the local government to improve bookkeeping, financial 
management controls and open transparent budget processes that 
have strengthened local self-government and will continue to do 
so in the future. This is an important goal behind Public Law 
102-154 and Public Law 104-134.
    The lesson of the Rongelap resettlement program is that 
enabling the local community to take responsibility and manage 
its own affairs within the framework of policy defined by 
Congress can be the best way to accomplish U.S. policy goals. 
Similarly, the history of U.S. programs in the islands of the 
former trust territory is that micro-management by federal 
officials entangles the U.S. in internal matters and prevents 
the island peoples from being enabled to manage their own 
affairs. This too often has led to disavowal of the results by 
both the U.S. and the islanders when there are problems, as 
well as liability for the U.S. in some cases.
    Thus, the most important U.S. role is to ensure federal 
funds are subject to adequate internal controls and sound 
financial management, which the Department of the Interior has 
done by helping the Rongelap local government transform a 
dysfunctional internal budget process into a fiscal operation 
which meets government accounting standards. In addition, the 
Secretary of the Interior has final authority to disapprove the 
use of trust fund assets, but experience shows that power 
should only be used to ensure funds are spent responsibly and 
for purposes that advance resettlement.
    In the case of Rongelap, giving the local government some 
authority and discretion has resulted in a more aggressive 
resettlement schedule than the United States could have 
anticipated, and the actual construction projects are ahead of 
schedule. In addition, the local government is using trust fund 
assets for matching fund projects with the Department of Energy 
and the RMI government to accelerate resettlement.
    Through enactment of H.R. 2970, the Committee supports 
long-term continuity of the current policy and practice for 
carrying out the resettlement program through the local 
government. The Secretary is specifically charged with the 
responsibility to disapprove expenditures that are formally 
determined not to effectively advance resettlement. However, 
the local government's management and annual planning for the 
resettlement process is not subject to disapproval that is 
merely subjective, as that would cause the disruption of a 
successful program.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 2970 was introduced on September 29, 1999, by 
Congressman Don Young (R-AK) and cosponsored by Congressman 
George Miller (D-CA). The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Resources. The Committee previously conducted an oversight 
visit to the Marshall Islands on February 20 and 21, 1999, and 
met leaders and members of the Rongelap Community in Majuro and 
Kwajalein concerning the resettlement and radiological 
rehabilitation process. The Committee also held a hearing in 
Washington, D.C., on May 11, 1999, and considered the report by 
the representatives of the Rongelap Atoll local government 
regarding the progress and success of the Rongelap Resettlement 
program. The Administration testified as to the success of 
Rongelap's resettlement based on the September 16, 1996, 
Rongelap Resettlement Agreement between the Secretary of the 
Interior and the Marshall Islands and the Rongelap Atoll local 
government.
    On October 6, 1999, the Full Resources Committee met to 
consider the bill. No amendments were offered and the bill was 
then 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 IV, section 3 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 
revenues or tax expenditures.
    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, October 15, 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. 2970, the Rongelap 
Resettlement Act of 1999.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is John R. 
Righter.
            Sincerely,
                                          Barry B. Anderson
                                    (For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
    Enclosure.

H.R. 2970--Rongelap Resettlement Act of 1999

    H.R. 2970 would extend by 10 years certain provisions of a 
1996 agreement between the Department of the Interior and the 
local government of the Rongelap Atoll. The agreement provides 
and oversees the use of federal assistance in resettling the 
people of Rongelap, who were displaced from their island as a 
result of the U.S. government's testing of nuclear weapons in 
the Marshall Islands during the 1950s. (The Rongelap Atoll is 
part of the Marshall Islands, a country that entered into a 
compact of free association with the United States in 1986.)
    The bill would allow the local government to continue using 
a portion of the earnings from the Rongelap Resettlement Trust 
Fund to provide food and shelter to the Rongelap people during 
their period of dislocation and to cover certain administration 
expenses. Although the federal government has imposed 
restrictions on how the monies appropriated into the trust fund 
(which has already been counted as outlays) can be used, the 
funds belong to the people of Rongelap and thus are nonfederal. 
Consequently, enacting the bill would have no impact on the 
federal budget. Because the bill would not affect direct 
spending or receipts, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply.
    H.R. 2970 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. 
Enactment of this legislation would benefit the local 
government of the Rongelap Atoll.
    The CBO staff contact is John R. Righter. This estimate was 
approved by Peter H. Fontaine, 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.

                               APPENDICES

    A. Rongelap Resettlement Agreement, as amended.
    B. RMI transmittal of RALGOV Resolution 99-10.
    C. 1992 Resettlement Trust Fund Agreement, as amended.
    D. RALGOV Resolution 95-20, Approving the Resettlement 
Plan.


                                  
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