[Senate Report 115-375]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 661
115th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 115-375
======================================================================
AMACHE STUDY ACT
_______
November 26, 2018.--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. 2870]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (S. 2870) to authorize the Secretary of the
Interior to conduct a special resource study of the site known
as ``Amache'' in the State of Colorado, having considered the
same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and
recommends that the bill do pass.
PURPOSE
The purpose of S. 2870 is to authorize the Secretary of the
Interior (Secretary) to conduct a special resource study of the
site known as ``Amache'' in the State of Colorado to evaluate
the national significance of the study area and determine the
suitability and feasibility of designating the study area as a
unit of the National Park System.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
Executive Order 9066, issued by President Roosevelt in 1942
and enforced by law (Public Law 77-503), forcibly removed tens
of thousands of Japanese Americans, including nearly 70,000
American citizens, from the West Coast to internment centers
during World War II.
The smallest internment camp was located a mile from
Granada, Colorado, in the southeastern part of the state. The
camp was unofficially known as ``Amache'' after a mail mix-up
between the town Granada and the similarly named center.
Over 7,000 residents of Japanese ancestry, most of them
American citizens, were imprisoned at Amache from 1942 to 1945,
making the camp the tenth largest concentration of people in
Colorado at the time.
During peak occupation in 1943, Amache was a self-contained
compound of more than 550 buildings used for quarters,
administration buildings, businesses, a hospital, and other
amenities. Children attended school there, and agriculture
became the main industry.
Amache had the highest rate of military volunteerism of the
internment camps--10 percent of the population, or 953 men and
women, volunteered or were drafted for military service during
World War II. One Amache resident, Kiyoshi Muranaga,
volunteered in 1943 and was killed in battle in Italy. He was
posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his
extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty.
Amache was added to the National Register of Historic
Places in 1994 and designated a National Historic Landmark in
2005. The Amache site is currently owned by the town of Granada
and maintained by a group of volunteer students, who, led by
their high school social studies teacher, are known as the
Amache Preservation Society.
S. 2870 authorizes the Secretary to commence a special
resource study of Amache, to assess the significance of the
area and to determine the suitability and feasibility of
designating Amache as a unit of the National Park System.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Senators Gardner and Bennet introduced S. 2870 on May 16,
2018. The Subcommittee on National Parks held a hearing on S.
2870 on August 15, 2018.
Companion legislation, H.R. 5844, was introduced in the
House of Representatives by Representative Buck on May 16,
2018, and referred to the Committee on Natural Resources.
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open
business session on October 2, 2018, and ordered S. 2870
favorably reported.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in
open business session on October 2, 2018, by a majority voice
vote of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S.
2870.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Short title
Section 1 provides the short title.
Section 2. Definitions
Section 2 contains key definitions.
Section 3. Amache Special Resource Study
Subsection (a) requires the Secretary to conduct a special
resource study.
Subsection (b) requires the Secretary, in conducting the
special resource study, to evaluate the national significance
of the study area; determine the suitability and feasibility of
designating the study area as a National Park System unit;
consider alternatives for the preservation, protection, and
interpretation of the study area; consult with Federal, State
or local government entities and other interested stakeholders;
and identify cost estimates of alternatives.
Subsection (c) requires the study to be conducted in
accordance with applicable law.
Subsection (d) requires the Secretary to submit a report on
the study results and any conclusions and recommendations to
the House Committee on Natural Resources and the Senate
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources no later than three
years after the date on which funds are first made available to
carry out the study.
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The following estimate of the costs of this measure has
been provided by the Congressional Budget Office:
S. 2870 would direct the National Park Service (NPS) to
conduct a special resource study of Camp Amache (also known as
the Granada Relocation Center) in Colorado, the site of a World
War II Japanese-American internment camp. As part of that
study, the NPS would determine the suitability and feasibility
of designating the site as a unit of the National Park System.
Based on the costs of similar studies, CBO estimates that
implementing S. 2870 would cost less than $500,000; such
spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated
funds.
Enacting S. 2870 would not affect direct spending or
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
CBO estimates that enacting S. 2870 would not increase net
direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029.
S. 2870 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Janani
Shankaran. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss,
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 S. 2870. 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. 2870, as ordered reported.
CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING
S. 2870, 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 Department of the Interior at
the August 15, 2018, hearing on S. 2870 follows:
Statement of P. Daniel Smith, Deputy Director, Exercising the Authority
of the Director, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior
Chairman Daines, Ranking Member King, and members of the
Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to provide the
Department of the Interior's views on S. 2870 to authorize the
Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study
of the site known as ``Amache'' in the State of Colorado.
The Department recognizes that Amache, also known as the
Granada Relocation Center, would be an appropriate subject for
a special resource study. However, we do not support enactment
of S. 2870 at this time, as we are focusing resources on
reducing the National Park Service's $11.6 billion deferred
maintenance backlog and addressing other critical national park
needs. In addition, the National Park Service has not yet
completed 20 studies on other sites that Congress previously
authorized to determine if these specific areas meet the
appropriate criteria for designation as new park units,
national heritage areas, national trails, or wild and scenic
rivers.
This study authorized by this bill would determine whether
Amache meets the statutory criteria for inclusion in the
National Park System of national significance, suitability, and
feasibility, and the need for National Park Service management.
The study would also consider other alternatives for
preservation, protection, and interpretation of the resources
by the Federal government, State or local government entities,
or private and non-profit entities. Alternatives might include,
for example, the designation of the site as an affiliated area
of the National Park Service, where the National Park Service
would provide technical assistance to the site but not own or
manage it. We estimate the cost of the study to range from
$200,000 to $400,000, based on similar types of studies
conducted in recent years.
Amache is located one mile outside Granada, in southeastern
Colorado. During World War II, Amache was one of 10 major sites
built by the War Relocation Authority to detain Japanese
Americans forcibly removed from the West Coast of the United
States under the terms of Executive Order 9066. Approximately
10,000 people of Japanese descent were detained in Amache while
it was in operation. The town of Granada owns the site, and the
Amache Preservation Society maintains it. Visitors can observe
extensive structural remains and artifacts from the
incarceration period as well as archeological evidence of land
use around the site prior to World War II. Many of the concrete
features contain inscriptions of dates and names of people who
were incarcerated there.
Amache was designated as a National Historic Landmark by
the Secretary of the Interior on February 10, 2006. Two
organizations, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and
Colorado Preservation, Inc., have used grants received through
the National Park Service's Japanese American Confinement Sites
Grant Program since 2006 to help preserve and interpret the
resources at Amache.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. I would be
pleased 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, the Committee notes that no
changes in existing law are made by the bill as ordered
reported.
[all]