[House Report 108-665]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



108th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     108-665

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      AVAILABILITY OF NOAA REAL PROPERTY ON VIRGINIA KEY, FLORIDA

                                _______
                                

 September 8, 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. 4027]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 4027) to authorize the Secretary of Commerce to make 
available to the University of Miami property under the 
administrative jurisdiction of the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration on Virginia Key, Florida, for use by 
the University for a Marine Life Science Center, 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. AVAILABILITY OF NOAA REAL PROPERTY ON VIRGINIA KEY, FLORIDA.

  (a) In General.--The Secretary of Commerce may make available to the 
University of Miami real property under the administrative jurisdiction 
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Virginia Key, 
Florida, for use by the University for a Marine Life Science Center.
  (b) Manner of Availability.--The Secretary may make property 
available under this section by easement, lease, license, or long-term 
agreement with the University.
  (c) Authorized Uses by University.--
          (1) In general.--Property made available under this section 
        may be used by the University (subject to paragraph (2)) to 
        develop and operate facilities for multidisciplinary 
        environmental and fisheries research, assessment, management, 
        and educational activities.
          (2) Agreement.--Property made available under this section 
        may not be used by the University (including any affiliate of 
        the University) except in accordance with an agreement with the 
        Secretary that--
                  (A) specifies--
                          (i) the conditions for non-Federal use of the 
                        property; and
                          (ii) the retained Federal interests in the 
                        property, including interests in access to and 
                        egress from the property by Federal personnel 
                        and preservation of existing rights-of-way;
                  (B) establishes conditions for joint occupancy of 
                buildings and other facilities on the property by the 
                University and Federal agencies; and
                  (C) includes provisions that ensure--
                          (i) that there is no diminishment of existing 
                        National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
                        programs and services at Virginia Key; and
                          (ii) the availability of the property for 
                        planning, development, and construction of 
                        future Federal buildings and facilities.
          (3) Termination of availability.--The availability of 
        property under this section shall terminate immediately upon 
        use of the property by the University in violation of the 
        agreement under paragraph (2).
  (d) Use of Facilities by Secretary.--The Secretary may--
          (1) subject to the availability of appropriations, lease 
        facilities constructed by the University on property made 
        available under this section; and
          (2) participate with the University in collaborative research 
        at, or administered through, such facilities.
  (e) No Conveyance of Title.--This section shall not be construed to 
convey or authorize conveyance of any interest of the United States in 
title to property made available under this section.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 4027 is to authorize the Secretary of 
Commerce to make available to the University of Miami property 
under the administrative jurisdiction of the National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration on Virginia Key, Florida, for 
use by the University of Miami for a Marine Life Science 
Center.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    Virginia Key, Florida, (located a few miles from downtown 
Miami) is the site of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration's (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service 
Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC), NOAA's Office of 
Atmospheric Research Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological 
Laboratory (AOML), and University of Miami's Rosentiel School 
of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS). Due to their 
proximity and overlap in research interests, NOAA and RSMAS 
have had a close working relationship for many years. This 
legislation is designed to maintain and strengthen that 
relationship.
    The SEFSC is responsible for scientific research on living 
marine resources that occupy marine and estuarine habitats on 
the continental southeastern United States, Puerto Rico, and 
the U.S. Virgin Islands. Projects address specific needs in 
population dynamics, fishery biology, fishery economics, gear 
development, and protected species biology. Environmental 
assessments for management plans and international negotiations 
are also prepared.
    AOML conducts basic and applied research in oceanography, 
tropical meteorology, atmospheric and oceanic chemistry, and 
acoustics. Their research seeks to understand the physical 
characteristics and processes of the ocean and atmosphere, both 
separately and as a coupled system. Much of their efforts focus 
on understanding hurricanes and El Nino events.
    RSMAS is located on 16 acres and supports a variety of 
academic and research programs on marine, atmospheric, and 
coastal topics. In fact, it is the only subtropical applied and 
basic marine and atmospheric research institute of its kind in 
the continental United States. More than 100 Ph.D. faculty 
members, 150 graduate students, and a research support and 
administrative staff of 250 comprise the academic community. 
The success of RSMAS in recent years has resulted in outgrowing 
their facilities, and there is consideration of moving the 
school to another site. This measure provides an alternative by 
allowing the University of Miami to build a facility on federal 
land.
    H.R. 4027 stipulates that the Secretary of Commerce may 
make available property on Virginia Key, Florida, under the 
administrative jurisdiction of NOAA for use by the University 
of Miami for a Marine Life Science Center. Under this 
legislation the University is authorized to use the property to 
develop and operate facilities for multi-disciplinary 
environmental and fisheries research, assessment, management, 
and educational activities. The property may be made available 
to the University via easement, lease, license, or long-term 
agreement. In addition, NOAA is authorized to lease facilities 
constructed by the University on this property and participate 
in collaborative research at those facilities. The University 
is prepared to spend up to $50 million dollars in non-federal 
funds to construct a 180,000 square foot Marine Life Science 
Center. As the author of the bill indicated, it ``gives the 
Secretary the choice of granting a permit to the University 
only if the Secretary determines that this is in the best 
interests of the federal government.''
    Upon completion, it is anticipated that the Marine Life 
Science Center will add to the strong working relationship 
between NOAA and RSMAS. It will allow collaborative research 
efforts to continue, and foster an environment where innovative 
approaches to management issues can be developed. Furthermore, 
it will provide a venue to showcase NOAA's and RSMAS's research 
results and their benefits to the public.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 4027 was introduced on March 24, 2004, by 
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL). The bill was referred 
to the Committee on Resources and within the Committee to the 
Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans. On 
May 13, 2004, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On 
June 3, 2004, the Subcommittee met to mark up the bill. 
Congressman Wayne T. Gilchrest (R-MD) offered an amendment in 
the nature of a substitute to clarify that NOAA retains full 
title to the land, it will revert back to NOAA if the 
University vacates the agreement in the future and any use of 
federal land at Virginia Keys must be subjected to a long-term 
agreement between the University and the Secretary of Commerce. 
It was adopted by unanimous consent. The bill, as amended, was 
then ordered favorably reported to the Full Committee by 
unanimous consent. On July 14, 2004, the Full Resources 
Committee met to consider the bill. No further amendments were 
offered and 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 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. The Congressional Budget Office notes that the 
University could pay NOAA for the use of the site under a 
rental or licensing agreement, creating offsetting receipts, 
but these would be ``minimal.''
    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:

H.R. 4027--A bill to authorize the Secretary of Commerce to make 
        available to the University of Miami property under the 
        administrative jurisdiction of the National Oceanic and 
        Atmospheric Administration on Virginia Key, Florida, for use by 
        the University for a Marine Life Science Center

    H.R. 4027 would authorize the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to allow the University of 
Miami to construct and operate a multidisciplinary marine life 
science center on federal land located on Virginia Key, 
Florida. Under the bill, NOAA would make the building site 
available to the university through a lease or other long-term 
agreement; no permanent conveyance of any federal land or other 
property interest would be authorized. Finally, the bill would 
authorize NOAA to lease from the university any facilities 
built at this site, subject to the availability of 
appropriations.
    Based on information obtained from NOAA, CBO estimates that 
enacting H.R. 4027 would have no significant effect on the 
federal budget. We expect that the marine life science center 
would be constructed at no cost to the federal government. It 
is possible that NOAA might lease some of the facilities in the 
new center once it has been built, but CBO expected that such 
future transactions would have no significant effect on the 
agency's operating budget and would depend on appropriation of 
the necessary amounts. It is also possible that the University 
of Miami could pay NOAA for the use of the site under a rental 
or licensing agreement, but we estimate that any resulting 
offsetting receipts would be minimal. Enacting H.R. 4027 would 
have no effect on federal revenues or other direct spending.
    H.R. 4027 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

    If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing 
law.

                        COMMITTEE CORRESPONDENCE

                          House of Representatives,
                                    Committee on Resources,
                                   Washington, DC, August 25, 2004.
Hon. Sherwood Boehlert,
Chairman, Committee on Science,
Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: I request your assistance in expediting 
consideration of H.R. 4027, to authorize the Secretary of 
Commerce to make available to the University of Miami property 
under the administrative jurisdiction of the National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration on Virginia Key, Florida, for 
use by the University for a Marine Life Science Center.
    This worthwhile bill authored by Congresswoman Ileana Ros-
Lehtinen was referred solely to the Committee on Resources. 
However, because the property in question is also utilized by 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of 
Atmospheric Research Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological 
Laboratory, programs under your Committee's jurisdiction may 
also be affected. Therefore, the Committee on Science has a 
colorable claim for a sequential referral of the bill. Due to 
the very limited number of days remaining in the 108th 
Congress, I ask that you not seek this sequential referral and 
allow the bill to be considered by the House of Representatives 
when we return from our August District Work period.
    By not seeking this referral, the Committee on Science has 
not waived its jurisdiction over the measure, nor should this 
action be taken as precedent for other bills. In addition, if a 
conference on H.R. 4027 becomes necessary, I would support the 
Committee on Science's request to be represented on that 
conference for those matters within its jurisdiction. Finally, 
I would be pleased to include this letter and any response you 
might have in the Committee report on the bill.
    Thank you for your cooperation on this matter, and I look 
forward to seeing H.R. 4027 enacted soon.
            Sincerely,
                                          Richard W. Pombo,
                                                          Chairman.
                                ------                                

                          House of Representatives,
                                      Committee on Science,
                                 Washington, DC, September 8, 2004.
Hon. Richard W. Pombo,
Chairman, Committee on Resources, House of Representatives, Longworth 
        House Office Building, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: Thank you for writing to me about H.R. 
4027, to authorize the Secretary of Commerce to make available 
to the University of Miami property under the administrative 
jurisdiction of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration on Virginia Key, Florida, for use by the 
University for a Marine Life Science Center.
    The Committee on Science supports passage of this bill but, 
as you indicated in your letter, the property in question is 
utilized by the NOAA Office of Atmospheric Research's Atlantic 
Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, an Office under 
the jurisdiction of the Committee on Science. Based on 
conversations with the Office of the Parliamentarian, the 
Committee on Science understands it has jurisdiction over H.R. 
4027.
    Recognizing your wish that the House of Representatives 
consider this bill, I will not exercise the Committee's right 
to a referral of H.R. 4027. This decision to forgo a sequential 
referral does not waive the Committee's future jurisdiction 
over these provisions.
    I ask that you include our exchange of letters on this 
matter in the legislative report of H.R. 4027. I also ask that 
you support our request to be conferees during any House-Senate 
conference.
    Thank you for your consideration regarding this matter.
            Sincerely,
                                         Sherwood Boehlert,
                                                          Chairman.

                                  
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