[House Report 107-35]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
107th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 107-35
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WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT
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April 3, 2001.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
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Mr. Hansen, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 581]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 581) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior and the
Secretary of Agriculture to use funds appropriated for wildland
fire management in the Department of the Interior and Related
Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001, to reimburse the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine
Fisheries Service to facilitate the interagency cooperation
required under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 in connection
with wildland fire management, 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. 581 is to authorize the Secretary of
the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to use funds
appropriated for wildland fire management in the Department of
Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2001, to
reimburse the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the
National Marine Fisheries Service to facilitate the interagency
cooperation required under the Endangered Species Act of 1973
in connection with wildland fire management.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The fiscal year 2001 Interior and Related Agencies
Appropriations Act included unprecedented funding for a
national wildland fire program in response to the devastating
1999 and 2000 fire seasons. The $2.9 billion appropriated for
the National Fire Plan, of which $1.6 billion was designated as
emergency contingent funding, is to be used to reimburse funds
borrowed for wildfire emergency suppression efforts,
rehabilitate and restore damaged lands and waters, increase
wildfire fighting readiness, enhance future emergency wildfire
suppression, provide State and community assistance, and
essential research and development.
H.R. 581 is a technical fix requested by the U.S. Forest
Service. The legislation would clarify that the Secretaries of
Interior and Agriculture may transfer funds appropriated in the
fiscal year 2001 Department of Interior and Related Agencies
Appropriations Act to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and to
the National Marine Fisheries Service for activities required
under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act associated with
fuel load reduction. It is the Committee's understanding that
these funds will be used solely for specific Section 7
consultation activities associated with fuel load reduction.
This critical legislation is necessary as the Forest Service
and the Department of Interior prepare for the upcoming 2001
fire season.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 581 was introduced on February 13, 2001, by
Congressman Joel Hefley (R-CO). The bill was referred to the
Committee on Resources, and within the Committee to the
Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation, and Public Lands
and the Subcommittee on Forests and Forests Health. On March
22, 2001, the Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation and
Public Lands met to mark up the bill. No amendments were
offered and the bill was forwarded to the Full Committee. On
March 28, 2001, the Full Resources Committee met to consider
the bill. The Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health was
discharged from further consideration of the bill by unanimous
consent. No amendments were offered and the bill was ordered
favorably reported by unanimous consent to the House of
Representatives.
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of Rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
Rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Resources' oversight findings and recommendations
are reflected in the body of this report.
CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT
Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United
States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of Rule XIII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B)
of that Rule provides that this requirement does not apply when
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2)
of Rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this
bill does not contain any new budget authority, credit
authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax
expenditures. According to the Congressional Budget Office,
enactment of this bill will increase direct spending by $3
million in Fiscal Year 2001 by causing the faster spending of
funds already appropriated. The bill will decrease spending by
the same amount in 2002.
3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. This bill does
not authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of Rule
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives does not
apply.
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, April 2, 2001.
Hon. James V. Hansen,
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. 581, a bill to
authorize the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of
Agriculture to use funds appropriated for wildland fire
management in the Department of the Interior and Related
Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001, to reimburse the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine
Fisheries Service to facilitate the interagency cooperation
required under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 in connection
with wildland fire management.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Megan
Carroll.
Sincerely,
Barry B. Anderson,
(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
Enclosure.
H.R. 581--A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior and the
Secretary of Agriculture to use funds appropriated for wildland
fire management in the Department of the Interior and Related
Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001, to reimburse the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine
Fisheries Service to facilitate the interagency cooperation
required under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 in connection
with wildland fire management
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 581 would increase direct
spending by $3 million in 2001 and decrease direct spending by
the same amount in 2002. Because the bill would affect direct
spending, pay-as-you-go procedures would apply. H.R. 581
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as
defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not
affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
For 2001, the Congress appropriated a total of $2.8 billion
for wildland fire programs administered by the Department of
the Interior (DOI) and the Forest Service. Some of that funding
was for projects to reduce hazardous fuels on federal lands.
Before agencies may implement such projects, they must meet the
requirements of various environmental laws, including the
Endangered Species Act. Section 7 of that act requires the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to consult and confer with
other federal agencies on projects that may affect endangered
species. H.R. 581 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior
and the Secretary of Agriculture to use existing funds to
reimburse the FWS and the NMFS for costs incurred to review
fire management plans.
DOI has determined it already has authority to reimburse
such costs under current law; thus, H.R. 581 would have no
impact on that agency. According to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA), however, under current law the Secretary of
Agriculture does not have authority to reimburse such costs.
Based on information from the Forest Service, CBO estimates
that enacting H.R. 581 would authorize USDA to reimburse FWS
and NMFS for $11 million in 2001. Furthermore, we estimate that
without the authority provided by H.R. 581, the Forest Service
would spend $8 million in 2001 and $3 million in 2002 on
analyses that it is authorized to perform under current law.
CBO estimates that, by causing faster spending of funds already
appropriated, enacting H.R. 581 would increase direct spending
by $3 million in 2001, and reduce it by the same amount in
2002.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Megan Carroll.
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
This bill makes no changes in existing law.