[Senate Report 111-148]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                       Calendar No. 298
111th Congress  }                                        {       Report
  2d Session    }             SENATE                     {      111-148
                                                      
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         DOROTHY BUELL MEMORIAL VISITOR CENTER PARTNERSHIP ACT 

                                _______
                                

                 March 2, 2010.--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 H.R. 1287]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the Act (H.R. 1287) to authorize the Secretary of the 
Interior to enter into a partnership with the Porter County 
Convention, Recreation and Visitor Commission regarding the use 
of the Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center as a visitor 
center for the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, and for other 
purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 
without amendment and recommends that the Act do pass.

                                Purpose

    The purpose of H.R. 1287 is to authorize the Secretary of 
the Interior to enter into a partnership with the Porter County 
Convention, Recreation and Visitor Commission regarding the use 
of the Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center as a visitor 
center for the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

                          Background and Need

    Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is located in northern 
Indiana along the southern shore of Lake Michigan. Two million 
visitors travel to the national lakeshore each year, many from 
the Chicago metropolitan area. Visitors are often unaware that 
the national lakeshore is a unit of the National Park System. 
The National Park Service would like to relocate the primary 
visitor contact point to a more prominent location outside of 
the park and provide the opportunity to contact and educate 
many more visitors regarding the national lakeshore's programs 
and resources.
    In 1998, the National Park Service and the Porter County 
Convention, Recreation and Visitor Commission (PCCRVC) began to 
explore the concept of a joint visitor center. Additionally, 
the Park Service general management plan for the national 
seashore recommended that the Park Service relocate its visitor 
center to the more heavily traveled corridor outside of the 
park.
    After forming a partnership in 1998, the PCCRVC and the 
Park Service selected a prominent location outside the national 
lakeshore but within the primary travel corridors. The PCCRVC 
provided funding for the purchase of the property and the 
construction of a new visitor center. In October 2006, the 
Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center was built. It is located 
approximately three quarters of a mile south of the national 
lakeshore on Indiana Highway IN49 and is owned by the PCCRVC. 
The Park Service would like to jointly staff the visitor center 
and lease some of its space for offices, exhibits, a theater 
and interpretive information about park resources.
    H.R. 1287 would provide the Secretary of the Interior 
authority to expend federally appropriated funds outside of the 
national lakeshore boundaries in order to lease space for 
exhibits, offices, a book store, and a theatre. It would 
further authorize the expenditure of funds for the planning, 
design, and development of exhibits to be placed in the new 
facility.

                          Legislative History

    H.R. 1287 was introduced on March 3, 2009, by 
Representative Visclosky. It passed the House of 
Representatives by a voice vote on September 8, 2009.
    The Subcommittee on National Parks held a hearing on H.R. 
1287 on November 4, 2009. At its business meeting on December 
16, 2009, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered 
H.R. 1287 favorably reported without amendment.

                        Committee Recommendation

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open 
business session on December 16, 2009, by a voice vote of a 
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 1287.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis

    Section 1 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to enter 
into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a joint 
partnership with PCCRVC in regard to the use of the Dorothy 
Buell Memorial Visitor Center. The memorandum of understanding 
shall identify the goals and purpose of the visitor center and 
the responsibilities of the Park Service and the PCCRVC.
    The MOU would also authorize the Secretary to plan, design, 
construct, and install exhibits in the Dorothy Buell Memorial 
Visitor Center at a cost not to exceed $1,500,000 and allow 
National Park Service staff from Indiana Dunes National 
Lakeshore to work in the visitor center in order to provide 
visitor information and education.
    Section 2 amends section 19 of the Indiana Dunes National 
Lakeshore's enabling Act (16 U.S.C. 4604-19) to permit the 
Secretary of the Interior to accept donations of lands located 
outside the present boundaries of the lakeshore if the lands 
are either contiguous to or separated from such lands by a 
right-of-way only.

                   Cost and Budgetary Considerations

    The following estimate of costs of this measure has been 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office:

H.R. 1287--Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center Partnership Act

    H.R. 1287 would authorize the National Park Service (NPS) 
to plan, design, construct, and install exhibits in the Dorothy 
Buell Memorial Visitor Center at a cost of up to $1.5 million.
    Assuming the availability of appropriated funds, CBO 
estimates that the NPS would spend $1.5 million over the 2010-
2014 period to carry out the legislation. This amount would be 
used to develop exhibits in the new visitor facility, which is 
not a federal building. The legislation also would authorize 
the NPS to accept donations of land separated from the existing 
park by a road or other right-of-way. Based on information 
provided by the agency, CBO expects that the cost of 
administering any property that may be added to the park would 
be minimal. Enacting the legislation would not affect direct 
spending or revenues.
    H.R. 1287 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.

                      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 H.R. 1287.
    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 H.R. 1287, as ordered reported.

                   Congressionally Directed Spending

    H.R. 1287, as reported, does not contain any 
congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits, 
or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate.

                        Executive Communications

    The testimony provided by the National Park Service at the 
November 4, 2009, Subcommittee hearing on H.R. 1287 follows:

   Statement of Katherine H. Stevenson, Assistant Director, Business 
                  Services, Department of the Interior

    Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank you for 
the opportunity to appear before you today to present the 
Department of the Interior's views on H.R. 1287, a bill to 
authorize the Secretary of the Interior to enter into a 
partnership with the Porter County Convention, Recreation and 
Visitor Commission regarding the use of the Dorothy Buell 
Memorial Visitor Center as a visitor center for the Indiana 
Dunes National Lakeshore, and for other purposes.
    The Department supports H.R. 1287 as passed by the House 
with technical amendments.
    Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore was established as a unit 
of the National Park System in 1966. It lies on the southern 
tip of Lake Michigan and covers some 15,000 acres with 15 miles 
of shoreline. In 1998, the national lakeshore and the Porter 
County Convention, Recreation and Visitor Commission (PCCRVC) 
began to explore the concept of a joint visitor center to be 
shared by the PCCRVC, the national lakeshore, and the Indiana 
Dunes State Park. At that time, both the national lakeshore and 
the PCCRVC suffered from low visitation at their respective 
visitor centers due to their poor locations away from the 
primary thoroughfares. Because of their location, size, and 
layout, the national lakeshore's 1997 General Management Plan 
recommended relocating the visitor center to the more heavily 
traveled IN 49 corridor.
    A partnership to acquire land for a new site was initiated. 
A more prominent location outside the national lakeshore but 
within the primary travel corridor to the dunes was selected. 
Using a series of Transportation Enhancement grants, the PCCRVC 
purchased the land, which is located approximately three 
quarters of a mile south of the national lakeshore boundary on 
IN 49, the principal north/south artery into the national 
lakeshore and secured a contract for construction. The new 
Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center was completed in October 
2006.
    The NPS currently has an interim lease of the space in the 
new visitor facility and is in the process of securing a 
General Services Administration lease agreement for offices, 
storage, exhibits, bookstore, and a theatre. The payments for 
this lease come from funds in the park's authorized annual 
operating budget.
    H.R. 1287 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 
enter into an agreement with the PCCRVC that would outline the 
terms of the partnership, including cooperative management of 
the new visitor facility and sharing of operational activities. 
The two parties will jointly plan and staff the new visitor 
center and offer ``one-stop shopping,'' with exhibits and 
theater space to educate visitors about the resources found in 
the park, aspects of threatened and endangered species 
management, habitat preservation, and wetlands restoration.
    H.R. 1287 would also authorize $1,500,000 to plan, design, 
construct, and install exhibits to be placed in the new 
facility for visitor information and education. The space 
leased by the National Park Service (NPS) includes room for 
exhibits, offices, a theatre, and a bookstore. All funds are 
subject to NPS priorities and the availability of 
appropriations.
    H.R. 1287 also would amend Section 19 of Public Law 89-761 
to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to accept donated 
lands that are considered contiguous to Indiana Dunes National 
Lakeshore but physically separated from the boundary by a 
public or private right-of-way, such as a road, railroad, or 
utility corridors.
    The park is segmented with numerous isolated parcels. The 
northern portion of Indiana is crisscrossed with numerous 
interstate highways, oil and gas pipeline corridors, and 
electrical lines. A number of these rights of way exist within 
the national lakeshore. Several landowners have offered to 
donate land adjacent to the park (separated by utility, 
roadways, and rail corridors), but the park's ability to accept 
such lands is ambiguous. It is unclear whether the NPS can 
accept these lands under the minor boundary revision authority 
of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965. The bill 
would clarify this terminology as it relates to the Indiana 
Dunes National Lakeshore and allow the park to accept donated 
lands to further the purposes of the park unit when they adjoin 
the park's boundary.
    Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to comment. We 
look forward to working with the Committee to provide technical 
amendments to the bill. This concludes my prepared remarks and 
I will be happy to answer any questions you or other committee 
members might have.

                        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 H.R. 1694 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):

                  INDIANA DUNES NATIONAL SEASHORE ACT


             (Public Law 89-761, Approved November 5, 1966)


                          [16 U.S.C. 460u-19]


 AN ACT To provide for the establishment of the Indiana Dunes National 
                   Lakeshore, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled,

That in order to preserve for the educational, inspirational, 
and recreational use of the public certain portions of the 
Indiana dunes and other areas of scenic, scientific, and 
historic interest and recreational value in the State of 
Indiana, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to 
establish and administer the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore 
(hereinafter referred to as the ``lakeshore'') in accordance 
with the provisions of this Act. The lakeshore shall comprise 
the area within the boundaries delineated on a map identified 
as ``A Proposed Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore'', dated 
September 1966, and bearing the number ``LNPNE-1008-ID'', which 
map is on file and available for public inspection in the 
office of the Director of the National Park Service, Department 
of the Interior.

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    Sec 19. [After notifying] (a) After notifying the 
Committees on Interior and Insular Affairs of the United States 
Congress, in writing, of his intentions to do so and of the 
reasons therefor, the Secretary may, if he finds that such 
lands would make a significant contribution to the purposes for 
which the lakeshore was established, accept title to any lands, 
or interests in lands, located outside the present boundaries 
of the lakeshore but contiguous thereto or to lands acquired 
under this section, such lands the State of Indiana or its 
political subdivisions may acquire and offer to donate to the 
United States or which any private person, organization, or 
public or private corporation may offer to donate to the United 
States and he shall administer such lands as a part of the 
lakeshore after publishing notice to that effect in the Federal 
Register.
    (b) Contiguous Clarified.--For purposes of subsection (a), 
lands may be considered contiguous to other lands if the lands 
touch the other lands, or are separated from the other lands by 
only a public or private right-of-way, such as a road, 
railroad, or utility corridor.

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