[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

                                _______
                                

  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.

                                  
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