[House Report 109-559]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



109th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     109-559

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  SPRINGFIELD ARMORY NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, MASSACHUSETTS ACT OF 2006

                                _______
                                

 July 13, 2006.--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. 4376]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 4376) to authorize the National Park Service to enter 
into a cooperative agreement with the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts on behalf of Springfield Technical Community 
College, 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. SHORT TITLE.

  This Act may be cited as the ``Springfield Armory National Historic 
Site, Massachusetts Act of 2006.''

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

  Congress finds as follows:
  (1) The Site commemorates the role of the Springfield Armory in the 
Nation's military history, a role that the Armory served for almost 200 
years.
  (2) The role of the Springfield Armory began in 1777, when the site 
was selected as the location for a magazine and laboratory for the 
development, production and storage of guns and powder during the 
American Revolution.
  (3) Following the American Revolutionary War, in 1794 Congress 
officially established the Springfield Armory and for much of the 19th 
century the Springfield Armory developed and supplied most of the 
military small arms manufactured by the United States for the United 
States Armed Services.
  (4) In addition to its historical role in the development and 
manufacturing of small arms, the Springfield Armory was also the site 
of Shay's Rebellion.
  (5) In 1968 the Armory was deactivated as a military installation and 
in 1974 Congress established the Springfield Armory National Historic 
Site. A portion of the Site is administered by the National Park 
Service. The remainder of the Springfield Armory National Historic 
Site, known as the ``Preservation Control Area'', is owned and 
administered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on behalf of 
Springfield Technical Community College.
  (6) The Preservation Control Area contains several historic buildings 
that are in a state of disrepair. The deteriorating condition of these 
historic buildings threatens to undermine the character and integrity 
of the Springfield Armory National Historic Site and their repair, 
renovation, maintenance and rehabilitation is essential to the 
continued preservation of the Site and its museum and collections.

SEC. 3. PRESERVATION CONTROL AREA DEFINED.

  For purposes of this Act, the term ``Preservation Control Area'' 
means that portion of the Site that is owned by the Commonwealth, as 
defined in the Memorandum of Understanding Between the United States 
and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts dated August 21, 1999.

SEC. 4. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT WITH RESPECT TO THE PRESERVATION CONTROL 
                    AREA.

  The Secretary of the Interior, acting through the National Park 
Service, may enter into a cooperative agreement with the Commonwealth 
of Massachusetts on behalf of Springfield Technical Community College 
to provide financial assistance to that college for the purpose of 
maintaining, preserving, renovating, and rehabilitating any historic 
structures within the Springfield Armory National Historic Site, 
including historic structures located within the Preservation Control 
Area.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 4376 is to authorize the National Park 
Service to enter into a cooperative agreement with the 
Commonwealth of Massachusetts on behalf of Springfield 
Technical Community College, and for other purposes.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    In 1978, Congress established the Springfield Armory 
National Historic Site to preserve the Nation's first national 
armory and the center of military small arms manufacturing from 
1794 to 1968. Today, the National Park Service manages the 
Armory Museum and other historical structures while Springfield 
Technical Community College owns and manages a number of other 
important historical structures in the ``Preservation Control 
Area'' within the Park. H.R. 4376 would formalize and enhance 
the existing cooperative relationship between the Service and 
the College by allowing the National Park Service to assist the 
College financially in preserving a number of historic 
structures that are important to the overall story of the 
Armory.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 4376 was introduced on November 17, 2005, by 
Congressman Richard E. Neal (D-MA). The bill was referred to 
the Committee on Resources, and within the Committee to the 
Subcommittee on National Parks. 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 
Nick J. Rahall II (D-WV) offered an amendment to the bill that 
changed the directive for the Secretary to enter into a 
cooperative agreement from ``shall'' to ``may.'' 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. 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. 4376--Springfield Armory National Historic Site, Massachusetts, 
        Act of 2005

    H.R. 4376 would direct the National Park Service (NPS) to 
provide financial assistance to the Springfield Technical 
Community College (STCC) to renovate and maintain historic 
buildings located within the Springfield Armory National 
Historic Site.
    The costs of implementing H.R. 4376 are uncertain because 
the NPS has not completed formal engineering assessments of the 
STCC buildings that would need to be renovated and because the 
bill does not specify the share of this project's costs that 
would be borne by the federal government. The federal share of 
those costs would be determined by the Administration in 
consultation with the STCC. However, based on information 
provided by the NPS and the STCC, CBO estimates that total 
costs to restore more than 20 historic buildings and related 
structures eligible for financial assistance under the bill 
would be between $50 million and $100 million. We expect that 
the federal government would pay between 75 percent and 100 
percent of such costs over the next five years, including $10 
million to stabilize the exterior of the buildings and about 
$25 million to restore the largest structure, the Caserne 
building. All federal spending would be subject to 
appropriation of the necessary amounts. Enacting H.R. 4376 
would have no effect on revenues or direct spending.
    H.R. 4376 contains no intergovernment or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 
Enacting this legislation would benefit the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts.
    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

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

                                  
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