[Senate Report 106-72]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 143
106th Congress Report
SENATE
1st Session 106-72
======================================================================
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.