[House Report 107-509]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



107th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     107-509

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                  NEW RIVER GORGE BOUNDARY ACT OF 2002

                                _______
                                

 June 17, 2002.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Hansen, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 3858]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 3858) to modify the boundaries of the New River Gorge 
National River, West Virginia, 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. 3858 is to modify the boundaries of New 
River Gorge National River in West Virginia.

                  Background and Need for Legislation

    The New River Gorge National River was established in 1978 
to preserve and protect 53 miles of the New River. The park 
encompasses 70,000 acres of land along the river between Hinton 
and Fayettville in Southern West Virginia. The legislation 
would modify the boundaries by adding six tracts of land held 
by five owners and totaling 1,962 acres. All are willing 
sellers. The tracts would add to the scenic values of the park, 
as well as to help alleviate parking and trespassing concerns 
associated with a popular rock climbing site. One tract would 
also help insulate the park from development problems in the 
area, while including a trail that would remain open to the 
public. The bill also contains a land exchange provision which 
would settle an encroachment issue in the vicinity of Beauty 
Mountain. The property owners have a tract of land immediately 
adjacent to the park boundary. When the owners constructed a 
home on the tract, half was constructed on a portion of land 
within the boundary. The National Park Service purchased the 
tract of land from another landowner after construction had 
already begun on the home. The bill proposes a fee simple land 
exchange in which a third of an acre would be exchanged for a 
third of an acre and the boundaries of the park would be 
modified to remedy this boundary issue.

                            Committee Action

    H.R. 3858 was introduced on March 6, 2002 by Congressman 
Nick Rahall (D-WV) and was referred to the Committee on 
Resources. On March 12, 2002, the bill was referred within the 
Committee to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation, 
and Public Lands. On May 16, 2002, the Subcommittee held a 
hearing on the bill. On May 22, 2002, the Full Committee met to 
mark up the bill. By unanimous consent, the Subcommittee was 
discharged from further consideration. No amendments were 
offered and the bill was ordered favorably reported to the 
House of Representatives by unanimous consent.

            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 and Article IV, section 3 of the 
Constitution of the United States grant 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. 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, June 13, 2002.
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. 3858, the New 
River Gorge Boundary Act of 2002.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis.
            Sincerely,
                                          Barry B. Anderson
                                    (For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
    Enclosure.

H.R. 3858--New River Gorge Boundary Act of 2002

    H.R. 3858 would modify the boundary of the New River Gorge 
National River to include an additional 1,962 acres. The bill 
also would allow the National Park Service (NPS) to exchange a 
small tract of land within this park unit's existing boundary 
for an adjacent tract of similar size.
    Assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO 
estimates that implementing the bill would cost the federal 
government between $2 million and $3 million over the next few 
years, mostly to purchase land within the expanded boundary. 
(CBO expects that most of the new acreage would remain in its 
natural condition and would not require any development.) 
Finally, we estimate that the cost of carrying out the proposed 
land exchange and the annual expense of administering all of 
the new acreage would not be significant. This estimate is 
based on information provided by the NPS and local officials.
    H.R. 3858 would not affect direct spending or receipts; 
therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would not apply. The bill 
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.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis. 
The 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 Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as 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):

     SECTION 1101 OF THE NATIONAL PARKS AND RECREATION ACT OF 1978

  Sec. 1101. For the purpose of conserving and interpreting 
outstanding natural, scenic, and historic values and objects in 
and around the New River Gorge and preserving as a free-flowing 
stream an important segment of the New River in West Virginia 
for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future 
generations, the Secretary of the Interior (hereinafter 
referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall establish and 
administer the New River Gorge National River. The Secretary 
shall administer, protect, and develop this national river in 
accordance with the provisions of the Act of August 25, 1916 
(39 Stat. 535; 16 U.S.C. 1 et seq.), as amended and 
supplemented; except that any other statutory authority 
available to the Secretary for the preservation and management 
of natural resources may be utilized to the extent he finds 
such authority will further the purposes of this title. The 
boundaries of the national river shall be as generally depicted 
on the drawing entitled ``Proposed New River Gorge National 
River'' numbered [NERI-80,028A, dated March 1996] NERI 80,034, 
dated May 2001, which shall be on file and available for public 
inspection in the offices of the National Park Service, 
Department of the Interior.

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