[House Report 111-530]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
111th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 111-530
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FORT PULASKI NATIONAL MONUMENT LEASE AUTHORIZATION ACT
_______
July 13, 2010.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
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Mr. Rahall, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 4773]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 4773) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior
to lease certain lands within Fort Pulaski National Monument,
and for other purposes, 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. 4773 is to authorize the Secretary of
the Interior to lease certain lands within Fort Pulaski
National Monument.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Fort Pulaski, located on Cockspur Island in the Savannah
River, was constructed as part of a system of coastal
fortifications ordered by President James Madison after the War
of 1812. An estimated 25 million bricks were used to build the
fort, which was completed in 1837. According to the National
Park Service (NPS), before the Civil War, brick forts were
America's main defense against overseas enemies. In 1862,
however, a 30-hour bombardment by the Union Army's new rifled
cannons breached the fort and compelled surrender by
Confederates inside Fort Pulaski. After that battle, brick
forts were considered obsolete. The fort became a national
monument in 1924 and was transferred from the War Department to
the NPS in 1933.
H.R. 4773 would allow the NPS to lease, for no more than
ten years at a time, no more than 30,000 square feet of land
and buildings within the monument to the Savannah Bar Pilots
Association. The Bar Pilots are regulated by the Port of
Savannah, and are responsible for steering commercial shipping
through the waters of the Savannah River, where shifting sand
bars create dangerous conditions that are difficult to
navigate.
The Pilots have occupied the same spot at the west end of
Cockspur Island since 1940. In 1973, the NPS issued a twenty-
year special use permit allowing the pilots to continue to use
the tract, and to construct or upgrade living quarters, a dock,
a fuel supply system and a parking lot. The special use permit
was renewed in 1993 and 1998. However, as part of an agency-
wide effort to regularize special use permits, NPS wants to
convert the agreement to a lease, for which they need
congressional approval.
H.R. 4773 would require NPS to charge a rental fee based on
fair market value. Revenue from the lease would go into the
standard NPS account for lease revenue, to be used for facility
refurbishment, repair and replacement, infrastructure projects
associated with park resource protection and maintenance of the
leased buildings. NPS would have the discretion to renew the
lease after ten years and to set any other terms and conditions
necessary to protect the resources of the monument and the
public interest.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 4773 was introduced by Representative Jack Kingston
(R-GA) on March 4, 2010. 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
hearing on April 27, 2010, before the Subcommittee, a
representative of the Department of the Interior testified that
the Department supports the bill and recommended amending the
measure to limit the lease to five years.
On June 16, 2010, the Subcommittee on National Parks,
Forests and Public Lands was discharged from further
consideration of H.R. 4773 and the full Natural Resources
Committee met to consider the bill. The bill was ordered
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 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 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, 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 authorize the Secretary of the
Interior to lease certain lands within Fort Pulaski National
Monument.
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. 4773--Fort Pulaski National Monument Lease Authorization Act
H.R. 4773 would authorize the National Park Service (NPS)
to lease to the Savannah Bar Pilots Association a small site at
the Fort Pulaski National Monument in Georgia. Under the bill,
the NPS would charge the association a rental fee based on the
market value of the land and use the proceeds, without further
appropriation, for site maintenance and other expenses.
Based on information provided by the NPS, CBO estimates
that implementing the bill would have no net effect on the
federal budget. The nonprofit association already operates a
30,000-square-foot site, including a dock and associated
facilities, under a special-use permit. Fees collected under
the permit are used, without appropriation, for purposes
similar to those authorized by the bill. CBO estimates that
rental proceeds under the bill would be less than $25,000 a
year, slightly more than the NPS currently collects in permit
fees.
The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 establishes budget
reporting and enforcement procedures for legislation affecting
direct spending or revenues. Because enacting H.R. 4773 would
affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures would apply.
CBO estimates, however, that the net effect of any annual
changes on the federal budget would be insignificant.
H.R. 4773 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 Martin von
Gnechten. 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. 4773 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
If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing
law.