[House Report 114-213]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


114th Congress   }                                       {      Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session     }                                       {     114-213

======================================================================



 
             JOHN MUIR NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE EXPANSION ACT

                                _______
                                

 July 21, 2015.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Bishop of Utah, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted 
                             the following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                        [To accompany H.R. 1289]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 1289) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior 
to acquire approximately 44 acres of land in Martinez, 
California, and for other purposes, 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 ``John Muir National Historic Site 
Expansion Act''.

SEC. 2. JOHN MUIR NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE LAND ACQUISITION.

  (a) Acquisition.--The Secretary of the Interior may acquire by 
donation the approximately 44 acres of land, and interests in such 
land, that are identified on the map entitled ``John Muir National 
Historic Site Proposed Boundary Expansion'', numbered 426/127150, and 
dated November, 2014.
  (b) Boundary.--Upon the acquisition of the land authorized by 
subsection (a), the Secretary of the Interior shall adjust the 
boundaries of the John Muir Historic Site in Martinez, California, to 
include the land identified on the map referred to in subsection (a).
  (c) Administration.--The land and interests in land acquired under 
subsection (a) shall be administered as part of the John Muir National 
Historic Site established by the Act of August 31, 1964 (Public Law 88-
547; 78 Stat. 753; 16 U.S.C. 461 note).

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 1289 is to authorize the Secretary of 
the Interior to acquire approximately 44 acres of land in 
Martinez, California.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The John Muir National Historic Site, established by 
Congress in 1964, is located in the San Francisco Bay Area, in 
Martinez, California. The historic site preserves the 14-room 
Italianate Victorian mansion where the naturalist and writer 
John Muir lived, as well as a nearby 325 acre tract of native 
oak woodlands and grasslands historically owned by the Muir 
family.
    This legislation was introduced to authorize the Department 
of the Interior to acquire by donation approximately 44 acres 
to include in the John Muir National Historic Site. The acreage 
to be donated by the John Muir Land Trust is directly adjacent 
to the current property boundary and will allow for better 
public access to trails.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 1289 was introduced on March 4, 2015, by Congressman 
Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA). The bill was referred to the Committee 
on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the 
Subcommittee on Federal Lands. On June 10, 2015, the Natural 
Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee 
was discharged by unanimous consent and Congressman Bishop (R-
UT) offered Amendment #1 that was adopted by unanimous consent. 
The bill as amended was ordered favorably reported to the House 
of Representatives by unanimous consent on June 11, 2015.

            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. 1289--John Muir National Historic Site Expansion Act

    H.R. 1289 would expand and adjust the boundary of the John 
Muir National Historic Site in California to include 
approximately 44 acres of donated land. The bill stipulates 
that the land would be donated voluntarily by the Muir Heritage 
Land Trust and would be administered as part of the historic 
site.
    Based on information provided by NPS, CBO estimates that 
implementing H.R. 1289 would not have a significant impact on 
the federal budget. Under the legislation, the additional acres 
could only be acquired through donation. We estimate that 
annual costs to operate and maintain the new properties would 
be minimal because NPS does not anticipate the need for 
additional resources or expenditures to manage the property 
once it is acquired. Enacting H.R. 1289 would not affect direct 
spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do 
not apply.
    H.R. 1289 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 Mann Burnett. 
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, 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. The Congressional 
Budget Office concludes that enactment of this bill ``would not 
have a significant impact on the federal budget.''
    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 acquire approximately 44 acres of land in Martinez, 
California.

                           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.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing 
law.

                                  [all]