[House Report 111-334]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
111th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 111-334
======================================================================
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.
* * * * * * *
[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.]
* * * * * * *