[Senate Report 106-72]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 143
106th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session                                                     106-72

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           NATIVE HIRING BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IN ALASKA

                                _______
                                

                  June 9, 1999.--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. 748]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 748) to improve Native hiring and 
contracting by the Federal Government within the State of 
Alaska, and for other purposes, having considered the same, 
reports favorably thereon with amendments and recommends that 
the bill, as amended, do pass.
    The amendments are as follows:
    1. On page 1, line 9, and page 2, line 4, strike ``section 
638'' and insert ``provisions''.
    2. On page 3, strike line 21 and all that follows through 
the end of the bill.

                         purpose of the measure

    The purpose of S. 748, as ordered reported, is to direct 
the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) to submit a report 
detailing the progress the Department of the Interior has made 
in areas of hiring and contracting with Alaska Natives, or 
Native entities under sections 1307 and 1308 of the Alaska 
National Interest Lands Conservation Act and the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act. In addition, the 
Secretary is directed to provide a detailed action plan for 
future implementation of those Acts along with a listing of 
results that are expected to be achieved over the next three 
years.
    The legislation also directs the Secretary to establish a 
pilot program to employ and contract with residents of local 
communities at four units of the National Park System in 
northwest Alaska.

                          background and need

    In general, sections 1307 and 1308 of the Alaska National 
Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) directs the Secretary 
to provide a preference to local Alaska residents for job 
opportunities and for such services that the Secretary may 
contract under the provisions of ANILCA.
    The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act 
(ISDEAA) provides for the promotion of maximum Indian 
participation in the government and education of the Indian 
people and provides for the full participation of Indian Tribes 
in certain programs and services conducted by the Federal 
Government.
    Because of the way hiring records are kept, the use of 
subcontractors, and other factors, the Department of the 
Interior (Department) cannot provide a comprehensive list of 
contracts and cooperative agreements it has with Alaska Natives 
or local residents.
    The National Park Service is able to provide a snapshot of 
its employment records on certain days of the year, but the 
numbers and percentages fluctuate slightly as the Park Service 
workforce changes weekly. From the statistics available on 
December 31, 1998, 7.4 percent of National Park Service 
employees in Alaska were Alaska Natives. Other agencies within 
the Department show much lower numbers for Native hires on any 
given day of the year.
    The Administration has promoted a policy that the Federal 
work force should, to the extent practical, mirror the ethnic 
and diverse population of the United States. There are many in 
Alaska who feel that the specific provisions of ANILCA and 
ISDEAA dealing with Native hiring and contracting are not being 
properly implemented because of the focus on national 
population statistics. Accordingly, the Committee believes that 
the Secretary should furnish the Congress with a report 
detailing the progress the Department has made in 
implementation. Alaska Natives provide a unique and valuable 
resource for the Federal Government, especially in areas such 
as interpretation and guide services. The Committee also 
believes that the Secretary should initiate a pilot program at 
those units of the National Park System located in northwest 
Alaska to employ residents of local communities and involve 
Native Corporation and Tribal entities in the development of 
interpretative materials and the design of the pilot programs.

                          legislative history

    S. 748 was introduced by Senator Murkowski on March 24, 
1999. The Full Committee held a hearing on S. 748 on May 13, 
1999.
    At its business meeting on May 19, 1999, the Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources ordered S. 748 favorably reported, 
as amended.

                        committee recommendation

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open 
business session on May 19, 1999, by a unanimous voice vote of 
a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 748, if 
amended as described herein.

                          committee amendments

    During its consideration of S. 748, the Committee adopted 
two amendments.
    The first amendment is technical and deletes an incorrect 
citation.
    The second amendment removes the provision that would have 
authorized Native entities to assume administrative and 
management responsibilities for units or portions of units of 
the National Park System. In addition, the provisions dealing 
with displaced career employees of the National Park Service 
are also deleted.

                      section-by-section analysis

    Section 1 directs the Secretary of the Interior to complete 
and submit a report on the progress the Department has made in 
implementing provisions of sections 1307 and 1308 of the Alaska 
National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) and 
provisions of the Indian Self-Determination and Education 
Assistance Act.
    Section 2 requires that the Secretary implement pilot 
programs in four units of the National Park System in northwest 
Alaska to employ residents of local communities: Bering Land 
Bridge National Preserve, Cape Krusenstern National Monument, 
Kobuk Valley National Park and Noatak National Preserve. The 
Secretary is to report the results of the pilot program within 
one year.
    The section also requires the Secretary to consult with 
Native Corporations, non-profit organizations and Tribal 
entities in the immediate vicinity of the affected park units 
and to the extent practical, to involve such groups in 
developing interpretive materials and pilot programs.

                   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, May 27, 1999.
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.748, a bill to 
improve Native hiring and contracting by the federal government 
within the state of Alaska, and for other purposes.
    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.

               CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

S. 748--A bill to improve Native hiring and contracting by the federal 
        government within the state of Alaska, and for other purposes

    Based on information from the National Park Service (NPS), 
CBO estimates that implementing S. 748 would increase 
discretionary spending by a total of about $500,000 over fiscal 
years 2000 through 2004, with most or all of the outlays 
occurring in 200. The bill would not affect direct spending or 
receipts; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply. 
S. 748 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates 
as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would have 
no significant impact on the budgets of state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    Section 1 of S. 748 would require the Department of the 
Interior (DOI) to transmit a report to the Congress on the 
department's efforts to hire and contract with Native Alaskans 
under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act and 
the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. 
Section 2 would require DOI to implement pilot programs to 
employ local residents at four units of the National Park 
System in northwest Alaska and to prepare a report to the 
Congress on the results of these programs. According to the 
NPS, the agency plans to hire more local residents at these 
four units under current law. Subject to the availability of 
appropriated funds, completing the report required by section 1 
would likely cost about $300,000, and carrying out pilot 
programs under section 2 would cost about $200,000.
    The CBO staff contact is Megan Carroll. 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 S. 748. 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 S. 748, as ordered reported.

                        executive communications

    A formal legislative report has not been received from 
Executive Branch agencies on S. 748. When such reports are 
received, the Chairman will request that they be provided in 
the Congressional Record for the advice of the Senate. The 
testimony provided by the National Park Service at the 
Committee hearing on S. 748 follows:

Statement of Stephen C. Saunders, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Fish and 
             Wildlife and Parks, Department of the Interior

    Thank you for the opportunity to present the position of 
the Department of the Interior on S. 748, a bill to improve 
Native hiring and contracting by the Federal government within 
the State of Alaska.
    The Department is committed to making every appropriate use 
of both our hiring and our contracting for goods and services 
to create opportunities for Alaska Natives. Under this 
Administration, the Department has done more than ever before 
to hire a diverse workforce that looks like America. That is 
true with respect to Alaska Natives as well as with other 
Americans. Our commitment is just as strong when it comes to 
creating economic opportunities for Alaska Native corporations 
and businesses through the use of government contracts.
    The Secretary, however, would recommend that the President 
veto the bill in its current form, because it could be 
interpreted as establishing a pilot program for turning over 
the administrative and management responsibilities of national 
parks to local communities and residents. Now I would like to 
stress how our commitment shows from the results we have been 
able to achieve already, and from our efforts to do a better 
job where we have fallen short of our goals. Where we 
appropriately can do more than we have, we are trying to learn, 
from our own internal assessments and from others.
    Let me begin with a snap shot of our current work force.
    Alaska Natives make up 11 percent of the state's civilian 
labor force, according to National Civilian Labor Force 
statistics. Of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 549 
permanent employees in Alaska, 36, or 6.6 percent, are Alaska 
Natives. The National Park Service has a work force of 540 
individuals in Alaska. Forty of these individuals are Alaska 
Natives, approximately 7 percent of the work force. The Bureau 
of Land Management has a work force of 930 in Alaska. Alaska 
Natives hold 38, or approximately 4.1 percent, of these 
positions.
    We are not satisfied with those numbers. For comparison, 
the Alaska state government has about 6.4 percent Alaska Native 
employees. In addition, according to comments some Alaska 
Native groups have made to us, the Department of the Interior 
has a better Native hire record than some Alaska Native 
corporations.
    As you are well aware, Mr. Chairman, one of our major tools 
in hiring Alaska Natives is section 1308(b) of the Alaska 
National Interest Lands Conservation Act. That section of 
ANILCA gives the Department of the Interior special local-hire 
authority, enabling us to hire individuals who have lived or 
worked in or near public lands and as a result have acquired 
special knowledge or expertise concerning the natural or 
cultural resources of public lands, or the management of them, 
without regard to some of the rules that otherwise apply to 
Federal civilian workforce employment decisions. Overall, one-
third of the National Park Service's employees in Alaska, 10 
percent of the Fish and Wildlife employees in Alaska, and one 
BLM employee (most BLM positions are in Anchorage and Fairbanks 
and are not covered by the local hire provisions) in Alaska, 
were hired under the local hire authority.
    The local hire positions of ANILCA Section 1308 are not 
racially based; special consideration is given to local 
residents who have special knowledge of the conservation units 
near their communities. ANILCA provisions do not set any 
preference in the selection process based on race, ethnicity, 
color, national origin, or any other non-merit factor. Local 
hire selections must be based on the same merit principles 
contained in 5 U.S.C. 2301(b). Any violation of these 
principles (such as a selection based on Alaskan Native status) 
would be a prohibited personnel practice as defined in 5 U.S.C. 
2302(b). However, consistent with all applicable federal 
employment rules, the local hire authority does make it 
possible to hire Alaska Natives, depending, of course, on the 
make-up of the local population. These are some results:
     In the four National Park System units named in 
section 2(a) of S. 748, over 75 percent of the staff of the 
units are long-time Alaskans, and about one-third of the staff 
was hired using the Section 1308 local-hire authority. In those 
units, 8 out of the total 27 staff positions, or 30 percent, 
are filled with Alaska Natives. If the Congress approves our 
budget request for fiscal year 2000, we will use $324,000 to 
establish village liaisons and an ethnography program for these 
four park units, hiring six part-time village liaison ranger-
ethnographers stationed in local villages to support park 
operations, as well as to inventory, document and manage 
ethnographic resources.
     Denali National Park and Preserve uses the local-
hire program extensively, and about half of its workforce is 
locally hired. However, the park is not in close proximity to a 
large population of Alaska Natives, and only about 3 percent is 
Alaska Native.
     The National Park Service recently made an intensive 
recruiting effort to encourage Alaska Natives to apply for the 
open position of manager of Alaska Public Lands Information 
Center in Fairbanks, notifying Native corporations and others 
about the opening and inviting them to informational briefings 
in both Fairbanks and Anchorage. About 110 people applied, many 
more than the 20 that normally would have been expected. This 
position was recently filled by an African American who is a 
long time Alaska resident.
     Since 1982, the Fish and Wildlife Service has 
employed 445 Alaska Natives through the local hire program.
     Over ninety-eight percent of the hires (out of 702 
positions) made by the Emergency Firefighter Service of the 
Bureau of Land Management last year were Alaska Natives. The 
Alaska Fire Service maintains a toll-free telephone number from 
October through the hiring season for job information for rural 
Alaska Natives to get up-to-date employment help. Three 
recruitment teams annually visit 21 villages to make sure 
Alaska Natives learn of these job opportunities.
    The positions occupied by Natives in the Department of the 
Interior span the gamut of occupations, and include Aircraft 
Pilot, Subsistence Specialist, Chief of Interpretation, Park 
Ranger, Realty Specialist, Ethnography Specialist, Secretary, 
Maintenance Worker, Administrative Technician, Biological 
Technician, Wildlife Biologist, Public Use Specialist, and 
other occupations.
    I would like to mention one obstacle that often makes it 
more difficult for us to hire Alaska Natives. We are 
constrained by the 25 percent Alaska Cost of Living Allowance, 
which is not enough to let us pay as much as the State of 
Alaska and local Native corporations for comparable jobs in 
many rural areas. Their salary levels are 15 to 40 percent 
higher than ours. The one exception is for maintenance 
positions, for which salary levels are based on Locality Wage 
Surveys. Because of this exception, it is easier for us to 
compete for maintenance workers, and, for example, all of the 
maintenance workers in the four parks listed in Section 2 of S. 
748 are Alaska Natives. If we were able to compete equally in 
terms of the salaries we could offer for other positions, that 
would make a big difference. On the other hand, we could face 
even more of a handicap in hiring if the Alaska Cost of Living 
Allowance is reduced, as scheduled, in some areas in December 
2000.
    With respect to contracting with Alaska Natives, the 
Department also seeks to use its need for goods and services, 
when appropriate, to expand economic opportunities for Alaska 
natives. These are some examples:
     The National Park Service has entered into an 
annual funding agreement with an Alaskan Native group under the 
Tribal Self-Determination Act of Amendments of 1994. This 
agreement is with the Kawerak, a non-profit tribal 
organization, and calls for the Kawerak to conduct studies 
relating to Bering Land Bridge National Preserve. This 
agreement has been renewed three times since its inception, 
resulting in over $300,000 in funding.
     A wholly-owned subsidiary of Goldbelt, Inc., a 
Juneau-area native corporation, has the concession contract at 
Glacier Bay National Park for lodging, meals, tours, and other 
services. For 1997, the most recent year for which figures are 
available, the gross receipts were $5.3 million.
     In the fourth quarter of Fiscal Year 1998, the 
National Park Service in Alaska let about $1.89 million in 
contracts; 38 percent of that amount, or more than $723,000, 
was with Alaska Native firms. This included work such as tank 
removal by Ahtna Development Corporation in Wrangell-St. Elias 
National Park; environmental remediation work by Native-owned 
Nugget Construction Inc. at Katmai National Park; painting and 
roof repair by Native-owned Paul Bunyan Contracting at Denali 
National Park; and construction by Native-owned Full Moon 
Construction Inc. at Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Site.
     Wrangell St. Elias National Park is about to award 
a multi-million dollar contract for the construction of a 
visitor center in the park. The AHTNA Native Corp. performed 
the land clearing for this Visitor Center under another 
contract, and is competing for this construction contract.
     The National Park Service also pays rent to Native 
corporations for the use of facilities. The Fairbanks 
headquarters for Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve 
and Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve is rented from Doyon 
Corporation for about $125,000 per year. Western Arctic 
Parklands rents offices in Nome from the Sitnasuak Native 
Corporation for $95,000 per year, and in Kotzebue from 
Kikiktagruk Inupiat Corporation for $122,000 per year.
     The National Park Service pays $284,000 to Native 
groups for research and community cultural projects relating to 
Bering Land Bridge, and nearly $100,000 for cultural resource 
research projects at Wrangell St. Elias National Park.
     The Fish and Wildlife Service has entered into 
cooperative agreements with several Alaska Native 
organizations. Over $2 million worth of services have been 
funded through these agreements.
     A 1995 Cooperative Agreement between the Fish and 
Wildlife Service and the Association of Village Council 
Presidents was used to implement and develop a cooperative 
management plan for Quallnguut caribou, brown bear, and Lower 
Yukon moose.
     The Fish and Wildlife Service has had an ongoing 
cooperative agreement with the Council of Athabaskan Tribal 
Government since 1992 that has called for the collection of 
harvest data for all mammals, birds, and fish in Arctic 
Village, Chalkytsik, Ft. Yukon, Stevens Village, Rampart, 
Beaver, Birch Creek, and Circle.
     The Fish and Wildlife Service entered into a 
cooperative agreement in 1995 with the Bristol Bay Native 
Association for the purpose of gathering migratory bird harvest 
data from 15 Bristol Bay area villages.
    We believe that this record shows that the Department of 
the Interior is improving greatly in the area of Native hiring 
and contracting. However, I repeat that we are not satisfied, 
and that we welcome the opportunity to learn more about how we 
can do better.
    We already have underway the preparation of one report 
mandated by Congress on our hiring and contracting with Alaska 
Natives. Public Law 105-333 includes provisions in Section 11 
which require the Department of the Interior, in cooperation 
with the U.S. Forest Service, to report to Congress on three 
topics:
     The actions taken by the Department in carrying 
out Subsection (b) of Section 1308 of ANILCA.
     Obstacles in the recruitment process that may 
restrict employees hired under Subsection (a) of Section 1308 
from later obtaining positions in the competitive service.
     Actions by the Department of the Interior and the 
Forest Service in contracting with Alaska Native corporations 
to provide services with respect to public lands in Alaska. 
This would cover actions taken in implementing both Section 
1307 of ANILCA and the Indian Self-Determination and Education 
Assistance Act.
    This report is due by April 30, 2000, is under way, and is 
being funded through existing appropriations.
    Section 1 of S. 748 would have us report to Congress on 
some of the same matters already covered by Public Law 105-333, 
as well as two particular matters not explicitly mandated by 
that law. First, S. 748 calls for a detailed action plan on how 
the Department will in the future implement sections 1307 and 
1308 of ANILCA and section 638 of the Indian Self-Determination 
and Education Assistance Act, with a description of the results 
expected over the next three fiscal years. Second, S. 748 also 
calls for a report on any laws, regulations, and policies which 
act as a deterrent on contracting with Alaska Natives.
    Rather than having two separate reports to Congress on the 
same general subject, both to be completed in about the same 
time frame, we believe it would be more cost-effective to have 
a single report. We suggest that we expand the report that is 
already required to also include the additional matters 
identified in S. 748.
    Section 2 of S. 748 would require the Secretary of the 
Interior to establish a pilot program to employ residents of 
local communities in four National Park System units in 
northwest Alaska--Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Cape 
Krusenstern National Monument, Kobuk Valley National Park, and 
Noatak National Preserve. According to the bill, ``The 
objectives of such programs shall be, to the extent possible, 
to establish cooperative arrangements, through contracts or 
other means, that will allow local communities and residents to 
assume administrative and management responsibilities for those 
units, or portions of those units, of the National Park Service 
in a manner that will accomplish the purposes for which the 
units were established and consistent with the policies set 
forth in'' the law establishing the National Park Service.
    The Department, as I have already said, supports hiring 
local residents in these park units, as elsewhere in Alaska. 
But Section 2 apparently goes far beyond just hiring local 
residents in the parks; it provides that the ``administrative 
and management responsibilities for those units'' are to be 
turned over to local residents. This language can be 
interpreted as a pilot program for turning over the management 
of national parks to local communities and residents. 
Obviously, the Department cannot support any legislation that 
would transfer to non-federal officials management 
responsibilities for units of the National Park System. These 
are, as the title of ANILCA states, national interest lands, 
owned by all Americans, which Congress has designated as part 
of the National Park System, to be managed by the National Park 
Service, in accordance with the same national laws, policies, 
and standards that apply throughout the National Park System. 
If the bill were to pass with these provisions of Section 2 in 
it, the Secretary of the Interior would recommend to the 
President that he veto the bill.
    If this interpretation of the language in Section 2 is not 
what you intended, Mr. Chairman, we would like to work with you 
to better understand what you want to accomplish. Certainly, it 
can be possible for the National Park Service to contract out 
certain operations in a park, without in any way diminishing 
the Park Service's necessary management responsibility for the 
park. If that is what you are looking for, we would be glad to 
discuss with you or your staff how that can be accomplished in 
a way that would be acceptable to the Department.
    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, the Committee notes that no 
changes in existing law are made by S. 748, as ordered 
reported.

                                
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