[House Report 114-430]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


114th Congress   }                                        {     Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session      }                                        {    114-430

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

 
    AMENDING THE GULLAH/GEECHEE CULTURAL HERITAGE ACT TO EXTEND THE 
    AUTHORIZATION FOR THE GULLAH/GEECHEE CULTURAL HERITAGE CORRIDOR 
                               COMMISSION

                                _______
                                

 February 24, 2016.--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

                        [To accompany H.R. 3004]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 3004) to amend the Gullah/Geechee Cultural 
Heritage Act to extend the authorization for the Gullah/Geechee 
Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission, 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. 3004 is to amend the Gullah/Geechee 
Cultural Heritage Act to extend the authorization for the 
Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission.

                  Background and Need for Legislation

    Congress designated the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage 
Corridor, an area of land stretching from North Carolina to 
Florida, on October 12, 2006 (Public Law 109-338). As a 
National Heritage Area, the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage 
Corridor is not part of the National Park System; however, the 
act authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to provide 
technical and financial assistance for the development and 
implementation of a management plan.
    The Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act (Public Law 109-
338) authorized the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor 
Commission to implement the Corridor's management plan, 
ultimately adopted in 2012. Although the Heritage Corridor was 
authorized through October 12, 2021, the Commission was only 
authorized through October 12, 2016. Without any legislative 
change, the Corridor will have to be managed by a different, 
yet unconstituted entity. H.R. 3004 simply extends the 
authorization for the Commission to October 12, 2021, to be 
consistent with the length of authorization for the Corridor.

                            Committee Action

    H.R. 3004 was introduced on July 9, 2015, by Congressman 
James E. Clyburn (D-SC). The bill was referred to the Committee 
on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the 
Subcommittee on Federal Lands. On February 2, 2016, the Natural 
Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee 
was discharged by unanimous consent. No amendments were 
offered, and the bill was ordered favorably reported to the 
House of Representatives by unanimous consent on February 3, 
2016.

            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. 3004--To amend the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act to Extend 
        the Authorization for the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage 
        Corridor Commission

    H.R. 3004 would extend the authorization for the Gullah/
Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission (commission) 
through October 12, 2021. The Gullah/Geechee Corridor was 
established as a heritage area in 2006 and is not part of the 
National Park System (NPS). While the Secretary of the Interior 
provides technical and financial assistance for the development 
and implementation of the area's management plan, that plan is 
implemented by the commission.
    Under current law, only the commission can implement the 
heritage area's management plan and spend funds appropriated 
for that purpose. Although the heritage corridor is authorized 
through October 12, 2021, the commission is authorized only 
through October 12, 2016.
    Based on information from the NPS, CBO expects that if the 
authority for the commission is not extended, any funds 
appropriated for the corridor would be used for other purposes. 
Therefore, CBO estimates that enacting the legislation would 
not result in significant additional costs to the federal 
government over the 2017-2021 period.
    Because enacting H.R. 3004 would not affect direct spending 
or revenues, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO 
estimates that enacting H.R. 3004 would not increase net direct 
spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 
10-year periods beginning in 2027.
    H.R. 3004 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 Marin Burnett. 
The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, 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 
enactment of the bill ``would not result in significant 
additional costs to the federal government over the 2017-2021 
period.''
    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 amend the Gullah/Geechee Cultural 
Heritage Act to extend the authorization for the Gullah/Geechee 
Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission.

                           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.

                  Federal Advisory Committee Statement

    The functions of the previously authorized advisory 
committee being extended by the bill are not currently being 
nor could they be performed by one or more agencies, a 
different advisory committee already in existence or by 
enlarging the mandate of an existing advisory committee.

                Preemption of State, Local or Tribal Law

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

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new 
matter is printed in italic, and existing law in which no 
change is proposed is shown in roman):

NATIONAL HERITAGE AREAS ACT OF 2006

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


TITLE II--ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL HERITAGE AREAS

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


              Subtitle I--Gullah/Geechee Heritage Corridor

SEC. 295. SHORT TITLE.

  This subtitle may be cited as the ``Gullah/Geechee Cultural 
Heritage Act''.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


SEC. 295D. GULLAH/GEECHEE CULTURAL HERITAGE CORRIDOR COMMISSION.

  (a) Establishment.--There is hereby established a local 
coordinating entity to be known as the ``Gullah/Geechee 
Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission'' whose purpose shall be 
to assist Federal, State, and local authorities in the 
development and implementation of a management plan for those 
land and waters specified in section 295C(b).
  (b) Membership.--The local coordinating entity shall be 
composed of 15 members appointed by the Secretary as follows:
          (1) Four individuals nominated by the State Historic 
        Preservation Officer of South Carolina and two 
        individuals each nominated by the State Historic 
        Preservation Officer of each of Georgia, North 
        Carolina, and Florida and appointed by the Secretary.
          (2) Two individuals from South Carolina and one 
        individual from each of Georgia, North Carolina, and 
        Florida who are recognized experts in historic 
        preservation, anthropology, and folklore, appointed by 
        the Secretary.
  (c) Terms.--Members of the local coordinating entity shall be 
appointed to terms not to exceed 3 years. The Secretary may 
stagger the terms of the initial appointments to the local 
coordinating entity in order to assure continuity of operation. 
Any member of the local coordinating entity may serve after the 
expiration of their term until a successor is appointed. A 
vacancy shall be filled in the same manner in which the 
original appointment was made.
  (d) Termination.--The local coordinating entity shall 
terminate [10 years] 15 years after the date of enactment of 
this Act.

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