[Senate Report 106-376]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 754
106th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 106-376
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GOLDEN GATE NATIONAL RECREATION AREA BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT ACT OF 2000
_______
August 25, 2000.--Ordered to be printed
Filed under authority of the order of the Senate of July 26, 2000
_______
Mr. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 2051]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (S. 2051) to revise the boundaries of the
Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and for other purposes,
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. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Boundary Adjustment Act of 2000''.
SEC. 2. ADDITIONS TO THE GOLDEN GATE NATIONAL RECREATION AREA.
Section 2(a) of the Act entitled ``An Act to establish the Golden
Gate National Recreation Area in the State of California, and for other
purposes'' (16 U.S.C. 460bb-1(a)) is amended by adding at the end the
following: The recreation area shall also include the land, which may
only be acquired from willing sellers, generally depicted on the map
entitled ``Additions to Golden Gate National Recreation Area'',
numbered NPS-80,076, and dated July 2000/PWR-PLRPC.
Purpose of the Measure
The purpose of S. 2051 is to revise the authorized
boundaries of Golden Gate National Recreation Area in the State
of California to include approximately 1,216 acres of land.
Background and Need
Golden Gate National Recreation Area was established in
1972 to protect important natural and cultural resources in the
San Francisco Bay area. The park is located in the city of San
Francisco and Marin and San Mateo counties, encompassing 76,000
acres of land and water.
A congressionally authorized boundary study of the park in
1998 identified 15 tracts of land totaling 1,057 acres of lands
in San Mateo County that would be logical additions to the
park. Addition of these lands would establish a boundary that
is more logical, recognizable, and easier to manage than the
existing configuration, and would preserve significant natural,
scenic, and recreational resources.
In addition, 3 parcels of land totaling 157 acres in Marin
County have been identified for possible inclusion in the park.
Although privately owned, the properties and their ridgetop
trails have been used by the public for decades as a place to
enjoy scenic views of San Francisco Bay and to access nearby
areas of Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The lands
contain resources of the same quality as adjacent parklands,
but are currently threatened with development. The Marin County
Open Space District in partnership with the Trust for Public
Land and the Marin Community Foundation have purchased the
largest of the three parcels, and there is substantial local
support for inclusion of the lands within the park.
Finally, two properties totaling approximately 3 acres in
the city of San Francisco have been proposed for addition to
the park. One would help to protect Lobos Creek, which serves
as the primary source of drinking water for the Presidio, and
the other would resolve a confusing situation with regard to a
1.6-acre tract that is surrounded by the park, but which the
Park Service is prohibited from acquiring. The Lobos Creek
property has been acquired by the city of San Francisco and
cleared of all development, and there is strong local interest
in adding the land to the park. Adjacent landowners and the
American Land Conservancy have expressed an interest in
acquiring the property and donating it to the park. The 1.6
acre tract at the base of Sutro Heights Park has been acquired
by the city of San Francisco, which has expressed an interest
in donating it to the park. The National Park Service is unable
to acquire the property, however, because language in the 1980
legislation that expanded the park boundary prohibited
acquisition of the tract. The language was intended to
facilitate a development proposal that never occurred, and no
purpose is now served by the prohibition.
S. 2051 addresses the issues described above by authorizing
the inclusion of the lands within the park's boundary and
allowing for their acquisition from willing sellers.
Legislative History
S. 2051 was introduced by Senators Feinstein and Boxer on
February 10, 2000. The Subcommittee on National Parks, Historic
Preservation and Recreation held a hearing on S. 2051 on June
29, 2000. At the business meeting on July 13, 2000, the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered S. 2051
favorably reported, as amended.
Committee Recommendation
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open
business session on July 13, 2000, by a majority vote of a
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 2051, if
amended as described herein.
Committee Amendment
During the consideration of S. 2051, the Committee adopted
a substitute amendment to clarify the language concerning
willing sellers.
Section-by-Section Analysis
Section 1 designates the bill's short title.
Section 2 amends the law which established Golden Gate
National Recreational Area (16 U.S.C. 460bb-1(a)) to include
lands depicted on the specified map reference. The lands may
only be acquired from willing sellers.
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, July 21, 2000.
Hon. Frank M. 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. 2051, the Golden
Gate National Recreation Area Boundary Adjustment Act of 2000.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis.
Sincerely,
Steven M. Lieberman
(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
Enclosure.
S. 2051--Golden Gate National Recreation Area Boundary Adjustment Act
of 2000
S. 2051 would expand the boundaries of the Golden Gate
National Recreation Area to include about 1,200 acres of land
in three California counties. Assuming appropriation of the
necessary amounts, CBO estimates that the National Park Service
(NPS) would spend $17.5 million over the next five years to
implement the bill. Of this amount, $16 million would be used
to purchase about 525 acres of land (the rest of the acreage is
expected to be donated to the government by either nonprofit
organizations or local governments). The remaining $1.5 million
would be used to restore and develop the new lands for
recreational purposes. Once all lands have been acquired, the
NPS would incur additional operating expenses of about $1.2
million annually.
The bill would not affect direct spending or receipts;
therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply. S. 2051
contains no private-sector or intergovernmental mandates as
defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would have no
significant impact on the budgets of state, local, or tribal
governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis.
The estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy
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. 2051. 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. 2051, as ordered reported.
Executive Communications
Legislative reports from the Department of the Interior and
the Office of Management and Budget setting forth Executive
agency recommendations on S. 2051 had not been received at the
time the report on S. 2051 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 National Park Service at the
Subcommittee hearing follows:
Statement of Jacqueline Lowey, Deputy Director, National Park Service,
Department of the Interior
Thank you for the opportunity to present the position of
the Department of the Interior on S. 2051, a bill to revise the
boundaries of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The
Department of the Interior supports this bill with amendments
discussed in this testimony.
The Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) was
created in 1972 to protect important and natural and cultural
resources in the San Francisco Area. The park is located in
three California counties, San Francisco, Marin, and San Mateo,
and is one of the largest urban national parks in the world,
encompassing 76,500 acres of land and water. Its size is
reflective of the quantity and quality of natural and cultural
resources that exist in the San Francisco area. Congress
created this park in 1972 to ensure that people in the
primarily urban Bay Area would only be minutes away from
experiencing the values of these splendid resources.
S. 2051 would expand the boundaries of the Golden Gate
National Recreation Area by adding 20 parcels of land totaling
1,216 acres. Most of this land, over 1,057 acres, is located in
San Mateo County. Approximately 157 acres of this land are in
Marin County, and approximately 3 acres are located in San
Francisco.
We anticipate that a significant number of these tracts
would be acquired by donation, representing more than one half
of their estimated value. Funding for the purchase of other
tracts would be subject to the availability of appropriations
and NPS priorities. These proposals are intended to correct
imperfections in the park's original boundaries and do not
represent significant new management obligations. The addition
of this land will contribute to the purpose for which the park
was created and will help the park's staff to more effectively
carry out their responsibilities as defined by approved plans
and policies.
san mateo county
The San Mateo County additions are proposed in accordance
with a 1998 boundary study that was authorized by an act of
Congress. The study found that 15 tracts of land, ranging in
size from a few acres up to several hundred acres, and totaling
1,057 acres, met the criteria established by the NPS for
additions of lands to units of the National Park System. The
additions will preserve significant natural and scenic
resources and provide additional recreational opportunities. A
boundary that is more logical, recognizable and easier to
manage will be established.
These lands are logical additions to the San Mateo County
portion of GGNRA. This part of the park, south of San
Francisco, has a varied topography, consisting of magnificent
coastal bluffs, with ridges that run inland to steep canyons.
In several locations, the park's boundary in San Mateo runs
along a ridge line, just inland from the coast. Most of the
lands that would be added to the park are contiguous to this
boundary, and in several places would link the hills within the
park to the coast, enhancing recreational opportunities for
park visitors, and protecting important resources.
While most of the land is contiguous to existing park land,
these additional parcels are not all contiguous to one another.
One of the parcels to be added is at San Pedro Point, at the
southern end of the San Mateo portion of GGNRA, several of the
parcels are adjacent to Mori Ridge and Sweeny Ridge, in the
central part of the San Mateo portion of GGNRA, and some
parcels are adjacent to Milagra Ridge, in the northern part of
the San Mateo portion of GGNRA.
In studying these and other potential boundary adjustments,
the National Park Service applies criteria that include an
evaluation of whether the added lands will be feasible to
administer considering size, configuration, ownership, costs,
and other factors. In the case of these San Mateo properties,
the tracts appear on a map to be a ``patchwork'' rather than a
neatly drawn line. However, the NPS boundary study confirmed
that these lands were feasible for us to administer and that
their configuration was based on careful consideration of
topographic features. The lines for the proposed additions also
were drawn to exclude areas that were already developed and
include the remnant open spaces that were consistent with the
purposes of the park. Parks such as Santa Monica Mountains
National Recreation Area, Gateway National Recreation Area, and
Chattahoochie River National Recreation Area have boundaries
that were developed as a result of similar considerations.
The Pacifica City Council passed a resolution in 1998
endorsing the addition of these lands to the park. Numerous
community groups also support the permanent protection of these
natural areas.
marin county
Marin County is located north of the city of San Francisco.
The land to be added to GGNRA in Marin County consists of three
parcels, totaling 157 acres. This land is now threatened with
development, which county officials have acted vigorously to
avert. The proposal to add these lands to the park was
initiated by the President of the Marin County board of
Supervisors. A draft feasibility study has determined that this
land meets the criteria for inclusion into the park. The draft
study is presently in the administrative review process.
The draft study states that this land exhibits resources of
the same quality as adjacent parklands and currently separates
the park from Marin City, one of the few ethnically and
racially diverse communities in the county. This land is within
easy walking distance of a federally owned public housing
development. Not only would this addition reduce the visual and
physical threat of urban encroachment and improve non-
automobile access to the park, but it will also significantly
enhance the potential to fulfill the park's mandate to serve
under-represented populations. To further the goal of adding
these lands to the park, the Marin County Open Space District
in partnership with the Trust for Public Land and the Marin
Community Foundation purchased the largest of the three parcels
(94 acres) in October of 1999 for $2.35 million. The smallest
parcel (10.71 acres) was recently sold, and has been under the
threat of residential development. The remaining 52-acre parcel
is on the market.
san francisco
The language of the 1980 legislation that expanded the park
boundary near the Cliff House in San Francisco prohibited the
Park Service from acquiring a 1.6-acre parcel at the base of
historic Sutro Heights Park. This created a confusing situation
because the revised boundary clearly surrounded the prohibited
tract. Conceived during the legislative process to facilitate a
development proposal that never happened, this prohibition is
obsolete. The City of San Francisco now owns the property and
has expressed the desire to donate it to the National Park
Service. We are asking that the prohibition be rescinded to
allow the Park Service to accept the property. Doing so will
permanently protect the visual integrity of one of the park's
most popular ocean viewpoints.
The other San Francisco property covered by this bill is
located at the southwest corner of the Presidio of San
Francisco. During a 1997 storm event, a major sewer failure
caused the total collapse of a residence Lobos Creek. The
property has been acquired by the City of San Francisco and
cleared of all development. Adjacent landowners and the
American Land Conservancy have expressed an interest in
acquiring the property and donating it to the park. Strong
local sentiment has been expressed against rebuilding on the
property and in favor of adding it to the park. This proposed
addition is a rare opportunity to increase our ability to
protect and enhance Lobos Creek. The creek is a unique
ecological resource as well as the primary source of drinking
water for the Presidio. Residential development borders this
bank of Lobos Creek and any opportunity to lessen this
encroachment should be seized. S. 2051 would bring this
property within the boundary of the park.
amendments
The final sentence of S. 2051 states ``All transactions
concerning the Golden Gate National Recreation Area shall
involve willing sellers and willing buyers.'' We believe this
sentence should either be deleted or amended. While the
National Park Service has no intention or desire to compel the
sale of property, we believe it is important to have this
authority available, as it can be used for the benefit of a
landowner, such as in matters of clearing up title to a
property, and for tax purposes. In any event, if this language
is to remain in the bill, it needs to be amended to ensure that
it does not affect other aspects of operations at GGNRA. As
written, the language would apply to ``all transactions'' at
GGNRA, not just property sales. If implemented, this language
could have an effect on concessions contracts, Memorandums of
Understanding, and other transactions entered into by the
National Park Service, to further the mission of GGNRA. As this
result is clearly not intended, we propose amending the
language of the bill by deleting the final sentence, and
inserting after the word ``land'' on page 2, line 2, the
clause: ``which may only be acquired from willing sellers,
as''. The resulting amendment would read ``The recreation area
shall also include the land, which may only be acquired from
willing sellers, as generally depicted on the map entitled
`Additions to Golden Gate National Recreation Area', numbered
NPS-80,073 and dated January, 2000/PWR-PLRPC.''
This concludes my testimony. I would be happy to answer any
of your questions.
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 S. 134, 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 92-589
AN ACT To establish the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in the
State of California, and for other purposes
* * * * * * *
composition and boundaries
Sec. 2. (a) The recreation area shall comprise the lands,
waters, and submerged lands generally depicted on the map
entitled: ``Revised Boundary Map, Golden Gate National
Recreation Area'', numbered NRA-GG-80,003-K and dated October
1978, plus those areas depicted on the map entitled ``Point
Reyes and GGNRA Amendments and dated October 25, 1979''. The
authority of the Secretary to acquire lands in the tract known
as San Francisco Assessor's Block number 1592 shall be limited
to an area of not more than one and nine-tenths acres.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, the
Secretary shall not acquire the Marin County Assessor's parcels
numbered 199-181-01, 199-181-06, 199-181-08, 199-181-13, and
199-181-14, located in the Muir Beach portion of the recreation
area. For the purposes of this subchapter, the southern end of
the town of Marshall shall be considered to be the Marshall
Boat Works. The following additional lands are also hereby
included within the boundaries of the recreation area: Marin
County Assessor's parcel numbered 119-040-04, 119-040-05, 119-
040-18, 166-202-03, 166-010-06, 166-010-07, 166-010-24, 166-
010-25, 119-240-19, 166-010-10, 166-010-22, 119-240-03, 119-
240-51, 119-240-52, 119-240-54, 166-010-12, 166-010-13, and
119-235-10. The recreation area shall also include the lands
and waters in San Mateo County generally depicted on the map
entitled ``Sweeney Ridge Addition, Golden Gate National
Recreation Area'', numbered NRA GG-80,000-A, and dated May
1980. The recreation area shall also include those lands
acquired pursuant to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Addition Act of 1992. The recreation area shall also include
the land, which may only be acquired from willing sellers,
generally depicted on the map entitled ``Additions to Golden
Gate National Recreation Area'', number NPS-80,076, and dated
July 2000/PWR-PLRPC.
* * * * * * *