[House Report 113-393]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


113th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     113-393

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               HUNA TLINGIT TRADITIONAL GULL EGG USE ACT

                                _______
                                

 April 11, 2014.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Hastings of Washington, from the Committee on Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 3110]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 3110) to allow for the harvest of gull eggs by 
the Huna Tlingit people within Glacier Bay National Park in the 
State of Alaska, having considered the same, report favorably 
thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as 
amended do pass.
    The amendment is as follows:
  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

  This Act may be cited as the ``Huna Tlingit Traditional Gull Egg Use 
Act''.

SEC. 2. LIMITED AUTHORIZATION FOR COLLECTION OF GULL EGGS.

  (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior (referred to in this 
Act as the ``Secretary'') may allow the collection by members of the 
Hoonah Indian Association of the eggs of glaucous-winged gulls (Laurus 
glaucescens) within Glacier Bay National Park (referred to in this Act 
as the ``Park'') not more frequently than twice each calendar year at 
up to 5 locations within the Park, subject to any terms and conditions 
that the Secretary determines to be necessary.
  (b) Applicable Law.--For the purposes of sections 203 and 816 of the 
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 410hh-2, 
3126), the collection of eggs of glaucous-winged gulls within the Park 
in accordance with subsection (a) shall be considered to be a use 
specifically permitted by that Act.
  (c) Harvest Plan.--The Secretary shall establish schedules, 
locations, and any additional terms and conditions that the Secretary 
determines to be necessary for the harvesting of eggs of glaucous-
winged gulls in the Park, based on an annual harvest plan to be 
prepared by the Secretary and the Hoonah Indian Association.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 3110 is to allow for the harvest of 
gull eggs by the Huna Tlingit people within Glacier Bay 
National Park in the State of Alaska.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    H.R. 3110 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to 
permit members of the Hoonah Indian Association to harvest sea 
gull eggs in portions of Glacier Bay National Park in the State 
of Alaska, subject to terms and conditions the Secretary deems 
necessary.
    Located in Alaska's southeast panhandle, Glacier Bay 
National Monument was established in 1925 and in 1980 re-
designated as Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve under the 
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). The 
Park encompasses approximately 3,222,000 acres and the Preserve 
58,000 acres. Section 203 of ANILCA provides that ``hunting 
shall be permitted in areas designated as national preserves 
under the provisions of this Act'' and that ``[s]ubsistence 
uses by local residents shall be allowed in national preserves 
and, where specifically permitted by this Act, in national 
monuments and parks'' (16 U.S.C. 410hh-2). In addition, Title 
VIII of ANILCA (16 U.S.C. 3111 et seq.) addresses subsistence 
uses of fish and wildlife by rural residents on public lands in 
Alaska.
    Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is the traditional 
homeland of the Huna Tlingit (also known as the Hoonah Indians) 
who traditionally harvested eggs at gull rookeries in Glacier 
Bay before and after its establishment as a National Monument 
in 1925. Egg collection was curtailed in the 1960s as both the 
Migratory Bird Treaty Act and National Park Service regulations 
prohibited the activity.
    Although the passage of ANILCA allowed for sport hunting, 
commercial fishing, and subsistence activities to be permitted 
in the Preserve, it was not until passage of the Migratory Bird 
Treaty Act Protocol Amendment in 1995 that customary and 
traditional use of migratory birds and their eggs for 
subsistence use by indigenous inhabitants of Alaska was 
allowable by law. Even with passage of the 1995 treaty 
amendment, National Park Service regulations still prohibited 
the gathering of gull eggs at Glacier Bay National Park and 
Preserve.
    In 2000 the Glacier Bay National Park Resource Management 
Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-455) required the Secretary of the 
Interior, in consultation with local residents, to undertake a 
study of sea gulls living within the Park to assess whether sea 
gull eggs could be collected on a limited basis without 
impairing the biological sustainability of the sea gull 
population in the Park. The study, Harvest of Glaucous-Winged 
Gull Eggs by Huna Tlingit in Glacier Bay National Park, was 
completed in May 2010. The preferred alternative in the study 
would authorize egg harvests at up to five locations within the 
Park on two separate dates each year.
    Consistent with the study's preferred alternative, H.R. 
3110 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to allow 
members of the Hoonah Indian Association to collect the eggs of 
glaucous-winged gulls up to two times a year at up to five 
locations within Glacier Bay National Park. Under the bill, the 
egg collection schedules and locations are to be based on an 
annual plan prepared jointly by the Secretary of the Interior 
and the Hoonah Indian Association.
    On February 5, 2014, the Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska 
Native Affairs held a hearing on H.R. 3110. In the hearing, the 
National Park Service testified in support of enacting the 
bill. Testimony was also heard from a representative of the 
Hoonah Indian Association in support of H.R. 3110.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 3110 was introduced on September 17, 2013, by 
Congressman Don Young (R-AK). The bill was referred to the 
Committee on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the 
Subcommittees on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs and Public 
Lands and Environmental Regulation. On February 5, 2014, the 
Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs held a hearing 
on the bill. On February 27, 2014, the Natural Resources 
Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittees on Indian 
and Alaska Native Affairs and Public Lands and Environmental 
Regulation were discharged by unanimous consent. Congressman 
Don Young (R-AK) offered an amendment designated #1; the 
amendment was adopted by unanimous consent. The bill as amended 
was then adopted and ordered favorably 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.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

    1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) 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)(2)(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. 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. 3110--Huna Tlingit Traditional Gull Egg Use Act

    H.R. 3110 would authorize the Hoonah Indian Association to 
harvest glaucous-winged gull eggs from Glacier Bay National 
Park in Alaska. Under the legislation, the Association would be 
permitted to harvest eggs not more than twice a year from up to 
five locations within the park. The bill would also direct the 
Department of the Interior to develop an annual harvest plan 
with the Association.
    Based on information provided by the National Park Service, 
CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 3110 would have no 
significant impact on the federal budget. Enacting H.R. 3110 
would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-
as-you-go procedures do not apply.
    H.R. 3110 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.
    On May 29, 2013, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 
156, the Huna Tlingit Traditional Gull Egg Use Act, as ordered 
reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources on May 16, 2013. The two bills are similar, and the 
CBO cost estimates are the same.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Martin von 
Gnechten. The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
    2. Section 308(a) of 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. CBO estimates that 
implementing H.R. 3110 would have no significant impact on the 
federal budget. Enacting H.R. 3110 would not affect direct 
spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do 
not apply.
    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 allow for the harvest of gull eggs 
by the Huna Tlingit people within Glacier Bay National Park in 
the State of Alaska.

                           EARMARK STATEMENT

    This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined 
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                       COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5

    Directed Rule Making. The Chairman does not believe that 
this bill directs any executive branch official to conduct any 
specific rule-making proceedings.
    Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not 
establish or reauthorize a program of the federal government 
known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was 
not included in any report from the Government Accountability 
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139 
or identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic 
Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program 
Information Act (Public Law 95-220, as amended by Public Law 
98-169) as relating to other programs.

                PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

    This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or 
tribal law.

                                  
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