[Senate Report 110-309]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 661
110th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 110-309
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NATIONAL TROPICAL BOTANICAL GARDEN AUTHORIZATION
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April 10, 2008.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Bingaman, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 2220]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (S. 2220) to amend the Outdoor Recreation Act
of 1963 to authorize certain appropriations, having considered
the same, reports favorably thereon with an amendment in the
nature of a substitute and an amendment to the title and
recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass.
The amendments are as follows:
1. Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in
lieu thereof the following:
SECTION 1. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR NATIONAL TROPICAL
BOTANICAL GARDEN.
Chapter 1535 of title 36, United States Code, is amended by adding at
the end the following:
``Sec. 153514. Authorization of appropriations
``(a) In General.--Subject to subsection (b), there is authorized to
be appropriated to the corporation for operation and maintenance
expenses $500,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2017.
``(b) Limitation.--Any Federal funds made available under subsection
(a) shall be matched on a 1-to-1 basis by non-Federal funds.''.
2. Amend the title so as to read: ``A bill to authorize
appropriations for the National Tropical Botanical Garden, and
for other purposes.''.
Purpose
The purpose of S. 2220, as ordered reported, is to
authorize appropriations for the National Tropical Botanical
Garden, located in Hawaii and Florida.
Background and Need
The National Tropical Botanical Garden (originally the
Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden) was chartered by Congress in
1964 to encourage and conduct research in basic and applied
tropical botany; to foster and encourage fundamental research
with respect to tropical plant life and to encourage research
and study of the uses of tropical flora in agriculture,
forestry, horticulture, medicine, and other sciences; to
disseminate through publications and other media the knowledge
acquired at the gardens relative to basic and applied tropical
botany; to collect and cultivate tropical flora of every nature
and origin and to preserve for the people of the United States
species of tropical plant life threatened with extinction; and
to provide a beneficial facility which will contribute to the
education, instruction, and recreation of the people of the
United States.
The National Tropical Botanical Garden includes several
separate gardens in the State of Hawaii and one in southern
Florida. Although the Garden is Congressionally chartered, it
has not received regular Federal funding. Since its inception
43 years ago, the Botanical Garden has raised nearly $100
million in funding from non-Federal sources. In recognition of
the increased costs associated with operating the five gardens,
S. 2220 will authorize the Botanical Garden to receive limited
Federal funding as a match to private funding.
Legislative History
S. 2220 was introduced by Senators Akaka, Inouye, and
Martinez on October 23, 2007. The Subcommittee on National
Parks held a hearing on S. 2220 on November 8, 2007. (S. Hrg.
110-282.)
At its business meeting on January 30, 2008, the Committee
on Energy and Natural Resources ordered S. 2220 favorably
reported, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute.
Committee Recommendation
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open
business session on January 30, 2008, by a voice vote of a
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 2220, if
amended as described herein.
Committee Amendments
During its consideration of S. 2220, the Committee adopted
an amendment in the nature of a substitute and an amendment to
the title. As introduced, S. 2220 amended the Outdoor
Recreation Act of 1963 (16 U.S.C. 460l et seq.). In lieu of
amending that law, the substitute amendment adds a new section
to chapter 1535 of title 36, United States Code, which is where
the Congressional Charter for the National Tropical Botanical
Garden is codified. The amendment also caps annual
appropriations at no more than $500,000 and requires any
Federal funds to be matched on a one-to-one basis with non-
Federal funds.
Summary of S. 2220
S. 2220 amends chapter 1535 of title 36, United States
Code, to add a new section which authorizes up to $500,000 to
be appropriated for operation and maintenance expenses of the
National Tropical Botanical Garden for each of fiscal years
2008 through 2017. Any Federal funds must be matched with non-
Federal funds on a one-to-one basis.
Cost and Budgetary Considerations
The following estimate of costs of this measure has been
provided by the Congressional Budget Office:
S. 2220--A bill to authorize appropriations for the National Tropical
Botanical Garden
S. 2220 would authorize the appropriation of $500,000 for
each of fiscal years 2008 through 2017 to the National Tropical
Botanical Garden, a nonprofit organization. The organization
would use that funding to maintain the four gardens that it
operates in Hawaii and Florida.
Assuming the availability of appropriated funds, CBO
estimates that implementing S. 2220 would cost $2.5 million
over the next five years and $5 million through fiscal year
2017. Enacting the legislation would not affect revenues or
direct spending.
S. 2220 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal
governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis.
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director of the Budget Analysis Division.
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. 2220. 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. 2220, as ordered reported.
Congressionally Directed Spending
In accordance with paragraph 4(b) of rule XLIV of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee provides the
following information of congressionally directed spending
items contained in S. 2220, as ordered reported:
Section: Sec. 1; Provision: Authorization of
Appropriations; Member: Sen. Akaka.
Executive Communications
The testimony provided by the National Park Service at the
November 8, 2007 subcommittee hearing on S. 2220 follows:
Statement of Katherine H. Stevenson, Acting Assistant Director,
Business Services, National Park Service, Department of the Interior
Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to appear
before you to present the views of the Department of the
Interior on S. 2220, to amend the Outdoor Recreation Act of
1963 to authorize certain appropriations. The bill would
authorize funding for the National Tropical Botanical Garden
for Fiscal Year 2009 and beyond.
The Department opposes S. 2220. We recognize the important
contributions to scientific research, education, and
conservation that are being made by the National Tropical
Botanical Garden, a non-profit organization dedicated to
discovering, saving, and studying the world's tropical plants.
However, as critical as the Garden's work is, we believe that
the use of limited National Park Service appropriations to fund
the operation and maintenance costs of a private organization
is inappropriate.
Since the mid-1990's, legislation has been passed and
signed into law that authorized several hundreds of millions of
dollars in grants to be passed through the NPS budget for non-
Park System projects. Many of these bills provided support for
very well-regarded organizations, similar to what is proposed
in S. 2220. Each time this is done, it reduces the availability
of NPS's limited amount of discretionary funds to address the
needs of our national parks and other important national
priorities. We believe funds are more appropriately directed at
this time to reducing the long list of projects and needs that
have been identified in our national parks.
Furthermore, the authorization of funding provided under
S. 2220 is permanent, as it would authorize a grant to the
Garden each year indefinitely, which is designed to increase
with inflation. Over time, this authorization could draw
considerable funding from the National Park Service's budget.
S. 2220 would amend the Outdoor Recreation Act of 1963 to
authorize appropriations of $1 million for fiscal year 2009 and
$500,000 for each subsequent fiscal year, adjusted for
inflation, for the National Tropical Botanical Garden. The
funding would be used to match public and private donations
made for operating and maintaining the organization's five
gardens.
The National Tropical Botanical Garden was chartered by
Congress in 1964 [Public Law 88-449] as the Pacific Tropical
Botanical Garden. Its name was changed in 1988 after the Garden
expanded to include a donated site in Florida. The organization
is based on the island of Kauai, and currently operates five
distinct gardens--four in Hawaii and one in Florida--and
several preserves, which together consist of about 1,800 acres.
This network of gardens and preserves encompasses different
ecosystems and environmental conditions, enabling the
organization to grow and preserve a broad range of tropical
plants. These gardens are havens for imperiled plants and serve
as living laboratories for staff scientists and visiting
researchers from all over the world.
The National Tropical Botanical Garden is currently
involved in the work that the National Park Service has
undertaken to catalogue and provide long-term storage of seeds
of threatened and endangered plant species in national park
units, in case they are needed in the future for plant
augmentation and restoration. The National Park Service has
entered into a cooperative agreement with the Center for Plant
Conservation (CPC), which is associated with the Missouri
Botanic Garden, to coordinate the collection of seeds, other
propagules, or plant parts of threatened and endangered plants
in national park units. The National Tropical Botanical Garden
is one of several entities the CPC is working with to obtain
over 80 species from five national park units in Hawaii.
The bill as introduced would amend the Outdoor Recreation
Act of 1963 and it is titled accordingly. There is no direct
relationship between that Act and the National Tropical
Botanical Garden. A free-standing authorization would be more
appropriate legislatively and would make the purpose of the
bill clearer.
Mr. Chairman, that concludes my prepared remarks. I would
be happy to respond to questions from you or other members of
the committee.
Changes in Existing Law
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by
the bill S. 2220 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):
TITLE 36--PATRIOTIC AND NATIONAL OBSERVANCES, CEREMONIES, AND
ORGANIZATIONS
Subtitle II--Patriotic and National Organizations
PART B--ORGANIZATIONS
CHAPTER 1535--NATIONAL TROPICAL BOTANICAL GARDEN
Sec. 153501. Organization
(a) Federal Charter.--National Tropical Botanical Garden
(in this chapter, the ``corporation'') is a federally chartered
corporation.
(b) Perpetual Existence.--Except as otherwise provided,
the corporation has perpetual existence.
Sec. 153502. Purposes
The purposes of the corporation are--
(1) to establish, develop, operate, and maintain for
the benefit of the people of the United States an
educational and scientific center in the form of one or
more tropical botanical gardens, together with
facilities such as libraries, herbaria, laboratories,
and museums that are appropriate and necessary for
encouraging and conducting research in basic and
applied tropical botany;
(2) to foster and encourage fundamental research
about tropical plant life and to encourage research and
study of the uses of tropical flora in agriculture,
forestry, horticulture, medicine, and other sciences;
(3) to disseminate through publications and other
media the knowledge about basic and applied tropical
botany acquired at the gardens;
(4) to collect and cultivate tropical flora of every
nature and origin and to preserve for the people of the
United States species of tropical plant life threatened
with extinction; and
(5) to provide a beneficial facility that will
contribute to the education, instruction, and
recreation of the people of the United States.
* * * * * * *
Sec. 153514. Authorization of Appropriations
(a) In General.--Subject to subsection (b), there is
authorized to be appropriated to the corporation for operation
and maintenance expenses $500,000 for each of fiscal years 2008
through 2017.
(b) Limitation.--Any Federal funds made available under
subsection (a) shall be matched on a 1-to-1 basis by non-
Federal funds.