[House Report 109-581]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]





109th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     109-581

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      REPLACEMENT OF CERTAIN COASTAL BARRIER RESOURCES SYSTEM MAPS

                                _______
                                

 July 20, 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. 4165]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 4165) to clarify the boundaries of Coastal Barrier 
Resources System Clam Pass Unit FL-64P, 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. 4165 is to clarify the boundaries of 
Coastal Barrier Resources System Clam Pass Unit FL-64P.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System is made 
up of coastal barrier units which are delineated on maps 
adopted by Congress. These units consist of undeveloped 
sections of coastal barrier islands and the associated aquatic 
habitat which lies behind these barriers. The System was 
created by the Coastal Barrier Resources Act of 1982 (CBRA) and 
was expanded in the Coastal Barrier Improvement Act of 1990. 
The System is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service of the Department of the Interior. Lands included 
within the System are not eligible for any federal development 
assistance, the most notable of which is federal flood 
insurance.
    The Coastal Barrier Resources System was initially 
comprised of 186 units totaling 666 miles of shoreline and 
452,834 acres of undeveloped, unprotected coastal barriers on 
the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts. Except for very minor 
technical changes to account for natural accretion and erosion, 
boundaries cannot be adjusted and units cannot be added or 
deleted from the System unless Congress passes a law adopting 
revised maps. Today, the entire Coastal Barrier Resources 
System has 856 units and more than 3 million acres of fastland 
and associated aquatic habitat.
    The 1990 Coastal Barrier Improvement Act added an important 
new category of units to the System called ``Otherwise 
Protected Areas'' (OPAs). These include undeveloped 
conservation areas such as national wildlife refuges, national 
parks and seashores, State parks, military bases and 
conservation lands owned by private organizations. While OPAs 
remain eligible for a variety of federal financial assistance 
programs, they are ineligible for participation in the Federal 
Flood Insurance Program. The 1990 Act created 271 OPAs, 
comprised of approximately 1,786,000 acres, which more than 
doubled the amount of undeveloped coastal barrier lands covered 
under CBRA. When OPAs were included in the System, they were 
delineated with rudimentary mapping tools based upon pre-
existing boundary data. As a result of technological 
advancements in geographic information systems, databases and 
digital mapping techniques, OPA boundaries have been shown to 
have embedded flaws and inaccuracies. The Fish and Wildlife 
Service continues to uncover cases, like that addressed in H.R. 
4165, where OPA boundaries do not coincide with the actual 
legal conservation land boundaries.
    This legislation would remove 48 acres of privately held 
land from the System. It would specifically modify FL-64P, an 
``Otherwise Protected Area'' unit, so that it encompasses the 
true boundaries of the underlying Clam Pass Conservation Area, 
and excludes developed adjacent private land. Prior to its 
mistaken inclusion in the System in 1990, this private property 
had been developed with a number of high-rise condominium units 
that provide housing to hundreds of individuals. These private 
lands are not only outside of the Clam Pass Conservation Area, 
they are not inholdings and they were never held for 
conservation or recreation purposes. The Clam Pass Conservation 
Area was locally established by elected officials in Collier 
County, Florida. It appears that when OPA maps were originally 
drafted, this area was erroneously included because the 
condominium structures did not appear on the outdated base map. 
With the enactment of H.R. 4165, these private landowners would 
be eligible for federal flood insurance.
    In addition to correcting this mapping mistake, the 
legislation would incorporate within the System 65 acres of 
land that are a part of the Clam Pass Conservation Area and 
should have been incorporated within FL-64P at the time of 
designation in 1990. The net effect of this legislation is a 
net gain of 17 acres to the System.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 4165 was introduced on October 27, 2005, by 
Congressman Connie Mack (R-FL). The bill was referred to the 
Committee on Resources, and within the Committee to the 
Subcommittee on Fisheries and Oceans. On April 6, 2006, the 
Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On June 21, 2006, the 
Full Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The 
Subcommittee on Fisheries and Oceans was discharged from 
further consideration of the bill by unanimous consent. 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, clause 3 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. According to the Congressional Budget Office, 
enactment of H.R. 4165 could affect direct spending, but any 
net change would be ``negligible.''
    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. 4165--A bill to clarify the boundaries of Coastal Barrier 
        Resources System Clam Pass Unit FL-64P

    H.R. 4165 would update a map of the Coastal Barrier 
Resources System (CBRS) in Collier County, Florida. CBO 
estimates that enacting H.R. 4165 would have no significant 
impact on the federal budget. The bill could affect direct 
spending, but we expect that any net change would be 
negligible. Enacting the bill would not affect revenues.
    H.R. 4165 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act; the 
bill could benefit Collier County, Florida.
    The bill would revise the CBRS map for the Clam Pass Unit 
to exclude 48 acres of private land that were erroneously 
included in the unit and to include 65 acres of county land 
that are within the Clam Pass Conservation Area. Adding the 
specified acreage would enable the owners of condominums on the 
property to purchase federal flood insurance. CBO estimates 
that, relative to current law, implementing H.R. 4165 would 
increase premium collections of the national flood insurance 
fund by about $500,000 annually. Such collections would be 
partially offset each year by new mandatory spending for 
underwriting and administrative expenses. In addition, premium 
collections might be offset in some years by new flood 
insurance claims.
    Finally, adding the county property to the CBRS would make 
that land eligible for federal conservation assistance, but CBO 
estimates that such spending, which would be subject to 
appropriation, would not be insignificant.
    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.

                                  
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