[House Report 111-334]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


111th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    111-334

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   TO ELIMINATE AN UNUSED LIGHTHOUSE RESERVATION, PROVIDE MANAGEMENT 
  CONSISTENCY BY INCORPORATING THE ROCKS AND SMALL ISLANDS ALONG THE 
    COAST OF ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, INTO THE CALIFORNIA COASTAL 
 NATIONAL MONUMENT MANAGED BY THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, AND MEET 
 THE ORIGINAL CONGRESSIONAL INTENT OF PRESERVING ORANGE COUNTY'S ROCKS 
               AND SMALL ISLANDS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

                                _______
                                

 November 16, 2009.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Rahall, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany H.R. 86]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 86) to eliminate an unused lighthouse 
reservation, provide management consistency by bringing the 
rocks and small islands along the coast of Orange County, 
California, and meet the original Congressional intent of 
preserving Orange County's rocks and small islands, and for 
other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably 
thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as 
amended do pass.
  Amend the title so as to read:

    A bill to eliminate an unused lighthouse reservation, 
provide management consistency by incorporating the rocks and 
small islands along the coast of Orange County, California, 
into the California Coastal National Monument managed by the 
Bureau of Land Management, and meet the original Congressional 
intent of preserving Orange County's rocks and small islands, 
and for other purposes.

                          Purpose of the Bill

    The purpose of H.R. 86 is to eliminate an unused lighthouse 
reservation, provide management consistency by incorporating 
the rocks and small islands along the coast of Orange County, 
California, into the California Coastal National Monument 
managed by the Bureau of Land Management, and meet the original 
Congressional intent of preserving Orange County's rocks and 
small islands, and for other purposes.

                  Background and Need for Legislation

    H.R. 86 is intended to correct a situation in which two 
public laws from the 1930's are inadvertently preventing 
certain rocks, pinnacles, reefs, small islands and lighthouses 
off the coast of Orange County from being included in the 
California Coastal National Monument.
    The California Coastal National Monument (Monument) was 
created by President Bill Clinton on January 11, 2000. The 
Monument spans the entire 1,100 miles of the California coast 
between Mexico and Oregon, and extends 12 nautical miles from 
the shoreline. The Monument encompasses more than 20,000 small 
islands, rocks, exposed reefs, and pinnacles above mean high 
tide. The Monument is protected as part of the National 
Landscape Conservation System, and managed by the Bureau of 
Land Management (BLM). However, the Presidential Proclamation 
designating the Monument only included ``unreserved and 
unappropriated'' rocks and islands. Since the areas covered by 
this bill were reserved they were not designated as part of the 
Monument.
    H.R. 86 would amend the Act of February 18, 1931, entitled 
``An act to reserve for public use rocks, pinnacles, reefs, and 
small islands along the seacoast of Orange County, 
California.'' The original intent of this Act was to 
temporarily reserve certain rocks, islands and pinnacles within 
one mile of the coast of Orange County to protect them. H.R. 86 
would strike the reservation language and amend the Act to 
provide that these areas be administered as part of the 
California Coastal National Monument.
    In addition, the bill would repeal Section 31 of the Act of 
May 28, 1935, entitled ``An act to authorize the Secretary of 
Commerce to dispose of certain lighthouse reservations, and for 
other purposes.'' The Act reserved, for lighthouse purposes, 
the San Juan Lighthouse off Dana Point, the San Mateo Rocks 
Lighthouse off San Clemente, and the Two Rocks Lighthouse in 
the vicinity of Laguna Beach; the disposal authority has gone 
unused. Repeal of this Act would nullify the reservation and 
allow these historic lighthouses to be included within the 
Monument as well.

                            Committee Action

    H.R. 86 was introduced by Representative John Campbell (R-
CA) on January 6, 2009. The bill was referred to the Committee 
on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the 
Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands. At a 
Subcommittee hearing on October 1, 2009, a representative of 
the Department of the Interior testified in support of the 
bill.
    On October 28, 2009, the Subcommittee was discharged from 
the further consideration of H.R. 86 and the full Natural 
Resources Committee met to consider the bill. An amendment to 
correct the long title of the bill was agreed to by unanimous 
consent and the bill, as amended, was ordered favorably 
reported to the House of Representatives by voice vote.

            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 Natural Resources' oversight findings and 
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.

                   Constitutional Authority Statement

    Article I, section 8 and Article IV, section 3 of the 
Constitution of the United States grant 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. As required by 
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or 
objective of this bill is to eliminate an unused lighthouse 
reservation, provide management consistency by incorporating 
the rocks and small islands along the coast of Orange County, 
California, into the California Coastal National Monument 
managed by the Bureau of Land Management, and meet the original 
Congressional intent of preserving Orange County's rocks and 
small islands, and for other purposes.
    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. 86--A bill to eliminate an unused lighthouse reservation, provide 
        management consistency by incorporating the rocks and small 
        islands along the coast of Orange County, California, into the 
        California Coastal National Monument managed by the Bureau of 
        Land Management, and meet the original Congressional intent of 
        preserving Orange County's rocks and small islands

    H.R. 86 would add certain islands and large rocks located 
off the coast of California to the California Coastal National 
Monument, which was created in 2000. The bill also would repeal 
statutes enacted in the 1930s that reserved two of the rocks 
for lighthouses, which were never constructed.
    Based on information provided by the Bureau of Land 
Management, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 86 would have 
no significant effect on the federal budget and would not 
affect revenues or direct spending. The affected properties are 
already administered by the federal government, and their 
inclusion in the national monument would not require the 
purchase or development of any land.
    The bill 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. 
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                    Compliance With Public Law 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                           Earmark Statement

    H.R. 86 does not contain any congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in 
clause 9 of rule XXI.

                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):

                        ACT OF FEBRUARY 18, 1931

 CHAP. 226.--An Act to reserve for public use rocks, pinnacles, reefs, 
   and small islands along the seacoast of Orange County, California.

  Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all 
rocks, pinnacles, reefs, and islands having an area, at 
ordinary high tide, of less than two acres, and located in the 
Pacific Ocean within one mile of the coast of Orange County, 
California, be, and the same are hereby, [temporarily reserved, 
pending enactment of appropriate legislation by the Congress of 
the United States] part of the California Coastal National 
Monument and shall be administered as such, in the interest of 
preserving the same for park, scenic, or other public purposes, 
and no patent shall issue for any of said rocks, pinnacles, 
reefs, or islands under any law relating to the public lands 
after the passage of this Act.
                              ----------                              


                          ACT OF MAY 28, 1935

  An Act to authorize the Secretary of Commerce to dispose of certain 
lighthouse reservations, and for other purposes.

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  [Sec. 31. That the Act of February 18, 1931 (46 Stat. 1172), 
entitled ``An Act to reserve for public use rocks, pinnacles, 
reefs, and small islands along the sea coast of Orange County, 
California'', is hereby amended to reserve for lighthouse 
purposes the San Juan and San Mateo Rocks and the two rocks in 
the vicinity of Laguna Beach, off the coast of Orange County, 
California.]

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