[Senate Report 109-194]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 312
109th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session                                                    109-194

======================================================================



 
   DELAWARE WATER GAP NATIONAL RECREATION AREA NATURAL GAS PIPELINE 
                            ENLARGEMENT ACT

                                _______
                                

                December 8, 2005.--Ordered to be printed

 Filed under authority of the order of the Senate of November 18, 2005

                                _______
                                

   Mr. Domenici, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 1310]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 1310) to authorize the Secretary of the 
Interior to allow the Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation to 
increase the diameter of a natural gas pipeline located in the 
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, having considered 
the same, reports favorably thereon with amendments and an 
amendment to the title and recommends that the bill, as 
amended, do pass.
    The amendments are as follows:
    1. On page 2, line 9, strike ``16414'' and insert 
``16413''.
    2. On page 2, line 23, strike ``, for no consideration,''.
    3. On page 6, after line 7, add the following:

``SEC. 4. TERMINATION OF NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM ADVISORY BOARD.

    ``Section 3(f) of the Act of August 21, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 463(f)) is 
amended in the first sentence by striking `2006' and inserting 
`2008'.''

    4. Amend the title so as to read: ``To authorize the 
Secretary of the Interior to allow the Columbia Gas 
Transmission Corporation to increase the diameter of a natural 
gas pipeline located in the Delaware Water Gap National 
Recreation Area and to extend the termination date of the 
National Park System Advisory Board to January 1, 2008.''.

                         Purpose of the Measure

    The purpose of S. 1310 is to allow the Columbia Gas 
Transmission Corporation to increase the diameter of a natural 
gas pipeline located in the Delaware Water Gap National 
Recreation Area.

                          Background and Need

    The Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation owns and operates 
the utility right of way to a major gas pipeline traversing 
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in Pennsylvania. 
The pipeline is a critical link in the natural gas transmission 
network between production facilities in Appalachia and the 
South to consumers in the Northeast. The pipeline right-of-way 
crosses the park for 3.5 miles. When the park was created 
authority was granted to permit expansion of the pipeline to 
meet demands of consumers for all but two parcels of land 
(approximately 800 feet) which contained the pipeline right-of-
way. S. 1310 will grant the National Park Service the authority 
to change the rights-of-way for the two land parcels to be 
consistent with the remainder of the right-of-way, thus 
allowing Columbia Gas to expand the size of the pipeline to 
meet current demands.

                          Legislative History

    S. 1310 was introduced by Senators Santorum and Specter on 
June 24, 2005. The Subcommittee on National Parks held a 
hearing on S. 1310 on September 22, 2005. Similar legislation, 
S. 2909, was introduced by Senators Santorum and Specter in the 
108th Congress.
    At its business meeting on September 28, 2005, the 
Committee on Energy and NaturalResources ordered S. 1310 
favorably reported, as amended.

                          Committee Amendment

    During the consideration of S. 1310, three amendments were 
adopted and an amendment to the title. The committee adopted a 
technical amendment to correct a right-of-way number. In 
addition, the Committee adopted an amendment that would strike 
the requirement that the easement be expanded for no 
consideration. The third amendment would extend the authority 
for the National Park System Advisory Board (Board) through 
2008. The Board was first authorized in 1935 under the Historic 
Sites, Buildings, and Antiquities Act. The Board advises the 
Director of the National Park Service (Director) and the 
Secretary of the Interior on matters relating to the National 
Park Service, the National Park System, and programs 
administered by the National Park Service. The National Park 
System Advisory Board is currently authorized until January 1, 
2006. The amendment would extend the authorization through 
January 1, 2008.

                        Committee Recommendation

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open 
business session on November 16, 2005, by a unanimous voice of 
a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 1310 if 
amended as described herein.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis

    Section 1 entitles the bill the ``Delaware Water Gap 
National Recreation Area Natural Gas Pipeline Enlargement 
Act.''
    Section 2 defines key terms.
    Section 3(a) authorizes the Secretary to provide the 
Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation an easement to enlarge 
the diameter of the existing gas pipeline from 14 inches to not 
more than 20 inches.
    Subsection (b) defines the terms and conditions of the 
easement, including a requirement that the easement be 
consistent with the recreational values and the protection of 
resources in the National Recreation Area.
    Subsection (c) authorizes the Superintendent of the 
National Recreation Area to issue a permit to the corporation 
for the expansion of the pipeline and sets forth the conditions 
and requirements for the permit.
    Subsection (d) defines pipeline replacement requirements.
    Subsection (e) requires the Corporation to comply with all 
FERC requirements.
    Subsection (f) prohibits the Secretary from granting 
additional increases in the pipeline diameter.
    Subsection (g) establishes the right-of-way 50 feet.
    Subsection (h) authorizes the Attorney General, at the 
request of the Secretary to bring civil actions for violations 
of the easement or permit or for damage to park resources.
    Section 4 extends the termination date of the National Park 
System Advisory Board from 2006 to 2008.

                   Cost and Budgetary Considerations

    The following estimate of costs of this measure has been 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office.

S. 1310--Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Natural Gas 
        Pipeline Enlargement Act

    S. 1310 would authorize the National Park Service (NPS) to 
issue an easement and a construction permit to the Columbia Gas 
Transmission Corporation. These documents would enable the 
corporation to increase the diameter of a natural gas pipeline 
that crosses the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in 
Pennsylvania. S. 1310 also would extend the life of the life of 
the National Park System advisory board for an additional two 
years (through January 1, 2008).
    Based on information provided by the NPS, CBO estimates 
that implementing S. 1310 would have no significant effect on 
the federal budget. We expect that the cost of providing an 
easement and a construction permit to the Columbia Gas 
Transmission Corporation would be less than $100,000 and would 
be offset by new administrative fees. Assuming the availability 
of appropriated funds, we estimate that supporting the National 
Park System advisory board would cost about $200,000 a year for 
each of the next two years. Enacting S. 1310 would not affect 
revenues or direct spending.
    On November 22, 2005, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for 
H.R. 3124, the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area 
Natural Gas Pipeline Enlargement Act, as ordered reported by 
the House Committee on Resources on November 16,2005. The two 
versions of the bill are very similar, as are their estimated 
costs.
    This legislation 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.

                      Regulatory Impact Evaluation

    In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following 
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in 
carrying out S. 1310. The bill is not a regulatory measure in 
the sense of imposing Government-established standards or 
significant economic responsibilities on private individuals 
and businesses.
    No personal information would be collected in administering 
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal 
privacy.
    Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the 
enactment of S. 1310, as ordered reported.

                        Executive Communications

    The views of the Administration on S. 1310 were included in 
testimony received by the Committee at a hearing on the bill on 
September 22, 2005 as follows:

  Statement of Janet Snyder Matthews, Associate Director for Cultural 
      Resources, National Park Service, Department of the Interior

    Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to present the 
Department of the Interior's views on S. 1310, a bill to 
authorize the Secretary of the Interior to allow the Columbia 
Gas Transmission Corporation to increase the diameter of a 
natural gas pipeline located in the Delaware Water Gap National 
Recreation Area. The Department supports enactment of this 
legislation with one technical amendment.
    This bill provides for the Secretary of the Interior to 
enter into an agreement with the Columbia Gas Transmission 
Corporation, for no consideration, to grant an easement to 
permit the enlargement of an existing natural gas pipeline from 
a diameter of 14 inches to no more than 20 inches. It provides 
for the Corporation to submit resource information and 
appropriate restoration and mitigation plans under terms and 
conditions that assure the protection of the natural and 
cultural resources of the national recreation area. In 
addition, the Corporation will have to comply with other 
requirements for certification set forth by the Federal Energy 
and Regulatory Commission to permit an increase in the diameter 
of the pipeline. Finally, the bill states that the Secretary 
shall not grant any additional increases in the pipeline's 
diameter and limits the pipeline's right-of-way to its existing 
50-feet width.
    Pipeline 1278 is a part of the Columbia Gas Transmission 
Corporation's interstate pipeline network that delivers natural 
gas to the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states from production 
areas in the southwest and Appalachia, 3.5 miles of which runs 
through sections of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation 
Area. Pipeline 1278 was constructed in the mid-1940's on 
easements purchased from landowners. When land was acquired for 
the national recreation area, five parcels of land were 
acquired subject to easements for pipeline 1278.
    Pipeline 1278 underwent periodic testing in 2002. The 
inspection showed that the pipeline was showing its age, and 
there were numerous instances that the wall of the pipeline was 
thinning. The Corporation was issued a Corrective Action Order 
by the Department of Transportation. The order required the 
Corporation to reduce the operating pressure in the pipeline 
until such time as all anomalies in the pipeline could be 
repaired. A determination was made by the Corporation that the 
best way to repair the current pipeline was to replace the 
existing pipeline with a new, state of the art, cathodically 
protected steel pipe. At the same time, the Corporation decided 
to upgrade the diameter of the pipeline from 14 inches to 20 
inches.
    The National Park Service does not have legal authority to 
issue rights-of-way for petroleum pipelines across parklands. 
The deeds for the five parcels of land, subject to easements 
for the Corporation pipeline, are very specific about the 
rights that the Corporation purchased back in the 1940's. 
Congressional action is needed to allow the increase in 
pipeline size on two of the parcels totaling 800 feet of 
parkland. Congressional action is not required for the 
remaining three parcels, since the deeds permit the increase in 
pipeline size.
    This legislation simply permits the Columbia Gas 
Transmission Corporation to fully utilize an easement they 
purchased 50 years ago. By order of the Department of 
Transportation, the pipeline must be repaired or replaced, and 
the replacement of the current pipeline with one of a larger 
diameter does not increase the impact to parklands of the 
replacement project. The permit issued to the Corporation has 
sufficient safeguards in it to insure the rehabilitation and 
restoration of parklands disturbed by the replacement project.
    The one technical amendment we suggest would be to correct 
the right-of-way number on p. 2, line 9 by striking ``16414'' 
and inserting ``16413''.
    This concludes my prepared testimony, Mr. Chairman. I would 
be pleased to answer any questions you or the committee might 
have.

                        Changes in Existing Law

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law are made 
by the bill S. 1310, as ordered 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):

         ACT OF AUGUST 21, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 463(f)), AS AMENDED

  AN ACT To provide for the preservation of historic American sites, 
 buildings, objects, and antiquities of national significance, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it is 
hereby declared that it is a national policy to preserve for 
public use historic sites, buildings and objects of national 
significance for the inspiration and benefit of the people of 
the United States.

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SEC. 3. * * *

    (f) The National Park System Advisory Board shall continue 
to exist until January 1, [2006] 2008. The provisions of 
section 14(b) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (the Act of 
October 6, 1972; 86 Stat. 776) are hereby waived with respect 
to the Board, but in all other respects, it shall be subject to 
the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                                  
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