[House Report 108-516]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
108th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 108-516
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EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK EXPANSION
_______
June 1, 2004.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Pombo, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 3785]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 3785) to authorize the exchange of certain land in
Everglades National Park, having considered the same, report
favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill
as amended do pass.
The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK.
Section 102 of the Everglades National Park Protection and Expansion
Act of 1989 (16 U.S.C. 410r-6) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) by striking ``The park boundary'' and inserting
the following:
``(1) In general.--The park boundary'';
(B) by striking ``The map'' and inserting the
following:
``(2) Availability of map.--The map''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Acquisition of additional land.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary may acquire from 1
or more willing sellers not more than 10 acres of land
located outside the boundary of the park and adjacent
to or near the East Everglades area of the park for the
development of administrative, housing, maintenance, or
other park purposes.
``(B) Administration; applicable law.--On acquisition
of the land under subparagraph (A), the land shall be
administered as part of the park in accordance with the
laws (including regulations) applicable to the park.'';
and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(h) Land Exchanges.--
``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Administrator.--The term `Administrator' means
the Administrator of General Services.
``(B) County.--The term `County' means Miami-Dade
County, Florida.
``(C) County land.--The term `County land' means the
2 parcels of land owned by the County totaling
approximately 152.93 acres that are designated as
`Tract 605-01' and `Tract 605-03'.
``(D) District.--The term `District' means the South
Florida Water Management District.
``(E) District land.--The term `District land' means
the approximately 1,054 acres of District land located
in the Southern Glades Wildlife and Environmental Area
and identified on the map as `South Florida Water
Management District Exchange Lands'.
``(F) General services administration land.--The term
`General Services Administration land' means the
approximately 595.28 acres of land designated as `Site
Alpha' that is declared by the Department of the Navy
to be excess land.
``(G) Map.--The term `map' means the map entitled
`Boundary Modification for C-111 Project, Everglades
National Park', numbered 160/80,007, and dated April
30, 2002.
``(H) National park service land.--The term `National
Park Service land' means the approximately 1,054 acres
of land located in the Rocky Glades area of the park
and identified on the map as `NPS Exchange Lands'.
``(2) Exchange of general services administration land and
county land.--The Administrator shall convey to the County fee
title to the General Services Administration land in exchange
for the conveyance by the County to the Secretary of fee title
to the County land.
``(3) Exchange of national park service land and district
land.--
``(A) In general.--As soon as practicable after the
completion of the exchange under paragraph (2), the
Secretary shall convey to the District fee title to the
National Park Service land in exchange for fee title to
the District land.
``(B) Use of national park service land.--The
National Park Service land conveyed to the District
shall be used by the District for the purposes of the
C-111 project, including restoration of the Everglades
natural system.
``(C) Boundary adjustment.--On completion of the land
exchange under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall
modify the boundary of the park to reflect the exchange
of the National Park Service land and the District
land.
``(4) Availability of map.--The map shall be on file and
available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of
the National Park Service.''.
SEC. 2. BIG CYPRESS NATIONAL PRESERVE.
Subsection (d)(3) of the first section of Public Law 93-440 (16
U.S.C. 698f) is amended by striking ``The amount described in paragraph
(1)'' and inserting ``The amount described in paragraph (2)''.
Purpose of the Bill
The purpose of H.R. 3785 is to authorize the exchange of
certain land in Everglades National Park.
Background and Need for Legislation
The 1996 Water Resources Development Act authorized
modifications to one of the historic projects associated with
the restoration of the Florida Everglades known as the C-111
Project. Specifically, the C-111 Project, located on the
eastern boundary of the Florida Everglades, would restore
habitat of the Everglades National Park that has been adversely
affected by the Army Corps of Engineers Central and Southern
Florida Project, as well as restore more natural flows of water
to the Park's eastern panhandle, Taylor Slough and Florida Bay.
H.R. 3785 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to
exchange approximately 1054 acres of land from the Rocky Glades
area of the Park for approximately 1054 acres from the South
Florida Water Management District located in the Southern
Glades Wildlife and Environmental Area. The exchange would
allow the National Park Service to provide the necessary lands
to complete the project modifications and obtain an equal
amount of acreage adjacent to the Park boundary, which when
incorporated into the Park would conform to the Park Service's
goal of no net loss to the Park.
Committee Action
H.R. 3785 was introduced on February 10, 2004, by
Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL). The bill was referred to
the Committee on Resources, and within the Committee to the
Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands. On
May 19, 2004, the Full Resources Committee met to consider the
bill. The Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation and Public
Lands was discharged from further consideration of the bill by
unanimous consent. Congressman George Radanovich (R-CA) offered
an amendment in the nature of a substitute to: (1) clarify the
use of the land conveyed to the South Florida Water Management
District; (2) direct the completion of additional federal
administrative actions that are necessary to complete the
exchange; and (3) authorize the Secretary of the Interior to
acquire no more than 10 acres outside the Park boundary, from
willing sellers, in the vicinity of the East Everglades portion
of the Park for administrative, housing, and maintenance uses.
The amendment was adopted by unanimous consent. The bill as
amended was then 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, May 25, 2004.
Hon. Richard W. Pombo,
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. 3785, a bill to
authorize the exchange of certain land in Everglades National
Park.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth M. Robinson
(For Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Director).
Enclosure.
H.R. 3785--A bill to authorize the exchange of certain land in
Everglades National Park
H.R. 3785 would authorize the National Park Service (NPS)
to acquire certain lands for the Everglades National Park in
Florida. The bill would enable the NPS to acquire about 1,050
acres through a four-way exchange with the General Services
Administration, Dade County, and a local water district. In
addition, the bill would authorize the agency to purchase up to
10 acres located outside of the park's East Everglades area.
That property would be developed to provide employee housing
and other park facilities.
Assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO
estimates that acquiring and developing land near the East
Everglades areas of the park would cost about $3.5 million over
the next few years. We estimate that about $500,000 of this
amount would be used by the NPS to acquire a suitable site of
about 10 acres outside of the park's boundary. Of the remaining
amount, we estimate that about $3 million would be used to
construct a fire station, maintenance and storage facilities,
and administrative offices. This does not include $2 million
that would be spent for employee housing because the NPS is
already authorized to build employee housing outside of the
park.
CBO estimates that the administrative costs of the four-way
land exchange would be less than $50,000 over the next year or
two. Additional costs to manage newly acquired acreage would be
minimal. Costs to operate the new offsite facility would be
similar to the cost of operating existing facilities within the
park, which would be demolished.
H.R. 3785 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis.
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 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 102 OF THE EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK PROTECTION AND EXPANSION
ACT OF 1989
SEC. 102. BOUNDARY MODIFICATION.
(a) Area Included.--[The park boundary]
(1) In general.--The park boundary is hereby modified
to include approximately 107,600 acres as generally
depicted on the map entitled ``Boundary Map, Everglades
National Park Addition, Dade County, Florida'',
numbered 160-20,013B and dated September 1989. [The
map]
(2) Availability of map.--The map shall be on file
and available for public inspection in the offices of
the National Park Service, Department of the Interior.
(3) Acquisition of additional land.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary may acquire
from 1 or more willing sellers not more than 10
acres of land located outside the boundary of
the park and adjacent to or near the East
Everglades area of the park for the development
of administrative, housing, maintenance, or
other park purposes.
(B) Administration; applicable law.--On
acquisition of the land under subparagraph (A),
the land shall be administered as part of the
park in accordance with the laws (including
regulations) applicable to the park.
* * * * * * *
(h) Land Exchanges.--
(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
(A) Administrator.--The term
``Administrator'' means the Administrator of
General Services.
(B) County.--The term ``County'' means Miami-
Dade County, Florida.
(C) County land.--The term ``County land''
means the 2 parcels of land owned by the County
totaling approximately 152.93 acres that are
designated as ``Tract 605-01'' and ``Tract 605-
03''.
(D) District.--The term ``District'' means
the South Florida Water Management District.
(E) District land.--The term ``District
land'' means the approximately 1,054 acres of
District land located in the Southern Glades
Wildlife and Environmental Area and identified
on the map as ``South Florida Water Management
District Exchange Lands''.
(F) General services administration land.--
The term ``General Services Administration
land'' means the approximately 595.28 acres of
land designated as ``Site Alpha'' that is
declared by the Department of the Navy to be
excess land.
(G) Map.--The term ``map'' means the map
entitled ``Boundary Modification for C-111
Project, Everglades National Park'', numbered
160/80,007, and dated April 30, 2002.
(H) National park service land.--The term
``National Park Service land'' means the
approximately 1,054 acres of land located in
the Rocky Glades area of the park and
identified on the map as ``NPS Exchange
Lands''.
(2) Exchange of general services administration land
and county land.--The Administrator shall convey to the
County fee title to the General Services Administration
land in exchange for the conveyance by the County to
the Secretary of fee title to the County land.
(3) Exchange of national park service land and
district land.--
(A) In general.--As soon as practicable after
the completion of the exchange under paragraph
(2), the Secretary shall convey to the District
fee title to the National Park Service land in
exchange for fee title to the District land.
(B) Use of national park service land.--The
National Park Service land conveyed to the
District shall be used by the District for the
purposes of the C-111 project, including
restoration of the Everglades natural system.
(C) Boundary adjustment.--On completion of
the land exchange under subparagraph (A), the
Secretary shall modify the boundary of the park
to reflect the exchange of the National Park
Service land and the District land.
(4) Availability of map.--The map shall be on file
and available for public inspection in the appropriate
offices of the National Park Service.
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ACT OF OCTOBER 11, 1974
AN ACT To establish the Big Cypress National Preserve in the State of
Florida, and for other purposes.
(Public Law 93-440)
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled, That (a) *
* *
* * * * * * *
(d)(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
(3) The amount described in paragraph [(1)] (2) shall be
reduced by an amount equal to 20 percent of the amount of the
total cost incurred by the Secretary in acquiring lands in the
Addition other than from the State of Florida.
* * * * * * *