[Senate Report 114-331]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                      Calendar No. 604
114th Congress    }                                     {       Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session       }                                     {      114-331

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



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

                                _______
                                

               September 6, 2016.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Ms. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 2839]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 2839) to amend the Gullah/Geechee 
Cultural Heritage Act to extend the authorization for the 
Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission, having 
considered the same, reports favorably thereon without 
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                                Purpose

    The purpose of S. 2839 is to amend the Gullah/Geechee 
Cultural Heritage Act to extend the authorization for the 
Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission.

                          Background and Need

    The Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor (Corridor) 
extends from Wilmington, North Carolina, to Jacksonville, 
Florida, and is recognized for the important contributions made 
to American culture and history by African Americans known as 
Gullah/Geechee who settled in the coastal counties in South 
Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida. Congress 
designated the Corridor on October 12, 2006 (Public Law 109-
338).
    The Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act (subtitle I of 
title II of 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 Corridor is authorized through October 12, 2021, 
the Commission's authorization is set to sunset on October 12, 
2016. Absent Congressional action, the Corridor will have to be 
managed by a different, yet-to-be constituted entity.

                          Legislative History

    Senator Graham introduced S. 2839 on April 21, 2016. The 
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee's National Parks 
Subcommittee held a hearing on S. 2839 and H.R. 3004 on June 
15, 2016.
    Representative Clyburn introduced similar legislation to S. 
2839, H.R. 3004, in the House of Representatives on July 9, 
2015. The Natural Resources Committee held a business meeting 
and ordered H.R. 3004 reported on February 3, 2016. The bill 
was passed by the House of Representatives by voice vote on 
February 24, 2016.
    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open 
business session on July 13, 2016, and ordered S. 2839 
favorably reported.

                        Committee Recommendation

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 
open business session on July 13, 2016, by a majority voice 
vote of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 
2839.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis


Section 1. Extension of the authorization for the Gullah/Geechee 
        Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission

    Section 1 amends Public Law 109-338 to extend the 
authorization for the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor 
Commission from 10 years to 15 years, through October 12, 2021.

                   Cost and Budgetary Considerations

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

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                    Washington, DC, August 5, 2016.
Hon. Lisa Murkowski,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Madam Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 2839, a bill to 
amend the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act to extend the 
authorization for the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor 
Commission.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Jon Sperl.
            Sincerely,
                                             Mark P. Hadley
                                        (For Keith Hall, Director).
    Enclosure.

S. 2839--To amend the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act to extend 
        the authorization for the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage 
        Corridor Commission

    S. 2839 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 S. 2839 would not affect direct spending 
or revenues, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO 
estimates that enacting S. 2839 would not increase net direct 
spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 
10-year periods beginning in 2027.
    S. 2839 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 August 4, 2016, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 
3004, to amend the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act to 
extend the authorization for the Gullah/Geechee Cultural 
Heritage Corridor Commission, as reported by the Senate 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on July 14, 2016. The 
two pieces of legislation are similar and CBO's estimate of 
their budgetary effects are the same.
    On February 19, 2016, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for 
H.R. 3004, a bill to amend the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage 
Act to extend the authorization for the Gullah/Geechee Cultural 
Heritage Corridor Commission, as ordered reported by the House 
Committee on Natural Resources on February 3, 2016. The two 
pieces of legislation are similar and CBO's estimates of their 
budgetary effects are the same.
    CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jon Sperl. The 
estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, 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 S. 2839. 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 S. 2839, as ordered reported.

                   Congressionally Directed Spending

    S. 2839, as ordered 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 
June 15, 2016, Subcommittee on National Parks hearing on S. 
2839 follows:

   Statement of Dr. Stephanie Toothman, Associate Director, Cultural 
   Resources, Partnerships, and Science, National Park Service, U.S. 
                       Department of the Interior

    Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank you for 
the opportunity to present the views of the Department of the 
Interior on S. 2839 and H.R. 3004, bills to amend the Gullah/
Geechee Cultural Heritage Act to extend the authorization for 
the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission.
    The Department supports S. 2839 and H.R. 3004, which are 
virtually identical.
    Both bills would extend the authorization for the Gullah/
Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission (Commission) to 
serve as the local coordinating entity for the Gullah/Geechee 
Cultural Heritage Corridor (Corridor) an additional five years, 
through October 12, 2021. This extension of authority would 
match the authorization for the Corridor to receive Federal 
funding. If reauthorized, the Commission, as the local 
coordinating entity, would continue to implement the management 
plan for the Corridor, developed in 2013, and would be eligible 
to receive Federal grant money and technical assistance.
    The Department recognizes the important work of the Gullah/
Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor and their efforts to 
highlight, interpret, and preserve the important contributions 
of the African Americans known as Gullah/Geechee in coastal 
counties of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and 
Florida to American history and culture.
    The Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor comprises 
approximately 12,800 square miles from the northern border of 
Pender County, North Carolina, to the southern boundary of St. 
Johns County, Florida. Extending 425 miles along the coast and 
30 miles inland, it encompasses all or part of 27 counties in 
four states and covers an area larger than Maryland and 
Delaware combined. The entire Corridor has been identified as 
an ethnographic resource for its rich cultural complexity, 
which expresses itself in its folk life and traditions such as 
foodways, music, language and oral traditions, craft 
traditions, and religion and spirituality. The Corridor's 
mission is three-fold, and centers around: preservation of 
land, language, and culture; public education of Gullah/Geechee 
culture; and, supporting Gullah/Geechee communities.
    The Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act charged the 
Commission, as the local coordinating entity, with preparing 
and submitting a management plan to the Secretary. The 
Commission was further charged with conducting public meetings 
on, and assisting units of local government with, the 
management plan's implementation. The extension of the 
Commission's authorization will allow the critical time needed 
to implement the plan's recommendations.
    To date, the Commission has already taken steps such as: 
providing outreach education materials to State welcome 
centers; providing highway Corridor marker signs along U.S. 
Highway 17; providing education programs to schools and groups; 
and, developing and supporting the Gullah/Geechee Cultural 
Heritage Corridor website. The Commission has also served as a 
consulting party on several items of concern to communities 
within the Corridor including the planning of the U.S. Forest 
Service/U.S Army Corps of Engineers McClellanville transmission 
line project and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's 
Environmental Assessment for offshore commercial wind leasing 
in South Carolina.
    Mr. Chairman, this concludes my testimony. I would be happy 
to answer any questions you or other members of the 
subcommittee may 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 original bill, as 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):

                  NATIONAL HERITAGE AREAS ACT OF 2006

Public Law 109-338

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


TITLE II--ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL HERITAGE AREAS

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


Subtitle I--Gullah/Geechee Heritage Corridor

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


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

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


    (d) Termination.--The local coordinating entity shall 
terminate [10 years] 15 years after the date of enactment of 
this Act.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


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