[House Report 109-549]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
109th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 109-549
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TO AMEND THE NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM ACT TO UPDATE THE FEASIBILITY AND
SUITABILITY STUDY ORIGINALLY PREPARED FOR THE TRAIL OF TEARS NATIONAL
HISTORIC TRAIL AND PROVIDE FOR THE INCLUSION OF NEW TRAIL SEGMENTS,
LAND COMPONENTS, AND CAMPGROUNDS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT TRAIL, AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES
_______
July 10, 2006.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
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Mr. Pombo, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 3085]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 3085) to amend the National Trails System Act to update
the feasibility and suitability study originally prepared for
the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail and provide for the
inclusion of new trail segments, land components, and
campgrounds associated with that trail, and for other purposes,
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. REVISION OF FEASIBILITY AND SUITABILITY STUDY OF TRAIL OF
TEARS NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL.
Section 5(a)(16) of the National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C.
1244(a)(16)) is amended--
(1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``subsections'' and
inserting ``sections''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(C) Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall complete the remaining
criteria and submit to Congress a study regarding the feasibility and
suitability of designating, as additional components of the Trail of
Tears National Historic Trail, the following routes and land components
by which the Cherokee Nation was removed to Oklahoma:
``(i) The Benge and Bell routes.
``(ii) The land components of the designated water routes in
Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.
``(iii) The routes from the collection forts in Alabama,
Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee to the emigration
depots.
``(iv) The related campgrounds located along the routes and
land components described in clauses (i) through (iii).''.
Purpose of the Bill
The purpose of H.R. 3085 is to amend the National Trails
System Act to update the feasibility and suitability study
originally prepared for the Trail of Tears National Historic
Trail and provide for the inclusion of new trail segments, land
components, and campgrounds associated with that trail, and for
other purposes.
Background and Need for Legislation
Congress designated the Trail of Tears National Historic
Trail in 1987. The trail encompasses the primary water route
and northern land route used during the forced removal of the
Cherokee Nation from its homelands in the southeastern United
States to present-day Oklahoma. H.R. 3085 would direct the
Secretary of the Interior to study the feasibility and
suitability of adding various land routes and sites to the
Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, including the popular
Bell and Benge routes. As ordered reported, the bill requires
the Secretary of the Interior to submit the report to Congress
within six months of the date of enactment of this legislation.
Committee Action
H.R. 3085 was introduced on June 28, 2005, by Congressman
Zach Wamp (R-TN). The bill was referred to the Committee on
Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on
National Parks. On April 27, 2006, the Subcommittee held a
hearing on the bill. On June 21, 2006, the Full Resources
Committee met to consider the bill, at which time the
Subcommittee on National Parks was discharged from further
consideration of the bill by unanimous consent. Congressman
Stevan Pearce (R-NM) offered an amendment in the nature of a
substitute to expedite the time line for study to be completed
as well as eliminate the Secretarial authority to designate
additional segments to the Trail of Tears National Historic
Trail. The amendment was adopted by unanimous consent. The
bill, as amended, was then ordered favorably reported to the
House of Representatives by unanimous consent.
Constitutional Authority Statement
Article IV, section 3, clause 2 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, spending
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in
revenues or tax expenditures.
3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. The 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. 3085--A bill to amend the National Trails System Act to update the
feasibility and suitability study originally prepared for the
Trail of Tears National Historic Trail and provide for the
inclusion of new trail segments, land components, and
campgrounds associated with the trail
H.R. 3085 would require the National Park Service (NPS) to
complete, over six months, a feasibility study for designating
certain routes as components of the Trail of Tears National
Historic Trail. Assuming the availability of appropriated
funds, CBO estimates that carrying out the required work would
cost less than $100,000 over the next year. Enacting H.R. 3085
would not affect direct spending or revenues.
H.R. 3085 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.
On January 12, 2006, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for
H.R. 3085, as introduced in the House of Representatives on
June 28, 2005. The estimated cost of implementing the
committee-approved version of the legislation is lower than the
estimated cost for the introduced version of H.R. 3085 because
the earlier version (as introduced in the House) would direct
the NPS to designate as a component of the historic trail any
studied segments that it might deem appropriate, without
further Congressional authorization. Also, the introduced
version of H.R. 3085 would provide three years for the required
studies rather than six months.
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 5 OF THE NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM ACT
NATIONAL SCENIC AND NATIONAL HISTORICAL TRAILS
Sec. 5. (a) National scenic and national historic trails
shall be authorized and designated only by Act of Congress.
There are hereby established the following National Scenic and
National Historic Trails:
(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
(16)(A) * * *
(B) In carrying out his responsibilities pursuant to
[subsections] sections 5(f) and 7(c) of this Act, the Secretary
of the Interior shall give careful consideration to the
establishment of appropriate interpretive sites for the Trail
of Tears in the vicinity of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, Fort Smith,
Arkansas, Trail of Tears State Park, Missouri, and Tahlequah,
Oklahoma.
(C) Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall complete the
remaining criteria and submit to Congress a study regarding the
feasibility and suitability of designating, as additional
components of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, the
following routes and land components by which the Cherokee
Nation was removed to Oklahoma:
(i) The Benge and Bell routes.
(ii) The land components of the designated water
routes in Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.
(iii) The routes from the collection forts in
Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee to the
emigration depots.
(iv) The related campgrounds located along the routes
and land components described in clauses (i) through
(iii).
* * * * * * *