[House Report 111-598]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
111th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 111-598
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CASA GRANDE RUINS NATIONAL MONUMENT BOUNDARY MODIFICATION ACT OF 2010
_______
September 16, 2010.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Rahall, from the Committee on Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 5110]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the
bill (H.R. 5110) to modify the boundary of the Casa Grande
Ruins National Monument, 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 ``Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
Boundary Modification Act of 2010''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Map.--The term ``map'' means the map entitled ``Proposed
Casa Grande Ruins Boundary Modification'', numbered 303/
100,934, and dated January 2010.
(2) Monument.--The term ``Monument'' means the Casa Grande
Ruins National Monument in the State of Arizona.
(3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of
the Interior.
(4) State.--The term ``State'' means the State of Arizona.
SEC. 3. ACQUISITION AND TRANSFER OF ADMINISTRATIVE JURISDICTION OF
LANDS.
(a) Acquisition of Lands.--The Secretary is authorized to acquire by
donation, exchange, or purchase with donated or appropriate funds from
willing owners only, the private or State lands or interests in lands
generally depicted on the map, to be administered as part of the
Monument.
(b) Transfer of Administrative Jurisdiction to NPS.--The following
Federal lands as generally depicted on the map are hereby withdrawn
from all forms of entry, appropriation, and disposal under the public
land laws; location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and
operation of the mineral leasing and geothermal leasing laws and
mineral materials laws, and administrative jurisdiction of such Federal
lands is hereby transferred to the National Park Service to be
administered as part of the Monument:
(1) The approximately 3.8 acres of Federal land administered
by the Bureau of Land Management.
(2) The approximately 7.41 acres of Federal land of
administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
(c) Transfer of Administrative Jurisdiction to BIA.--Administrative
jurisdiction of the approximately 3.5 acres of Federal land
administered by the National Park Service as generally depicted on the
map as ``Lands to be Transferred to BIA'' are hereby transferred to the
Bureau of Indian Affairs for the purposes of the San Carlos Irrigation
Project.
(d) Administration.--Upon acquisition or transfer of the lands
identified in subsections (a) and (b), the Secretary shall administer
those lands as part of the Monument in accordance with the laws
generally applicable to units of the National Park System, including--
(1) the National Park Service Organic Act (16 U.S.C. 1 et
seq.); and
(2) the Act of August 21, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 461 et seq.).
(e) Boundary and Map Update.--
(1) Transfers.--Upon completion of the transfers pursuant to
subsection (b), the Secretary shall modify the boundary of the
Monument accordingly, and shall update the map to reflect such
transfers.
(2) Acquisitions.--Upon completion of any of the acquisitions
pursuant to subsection (a), the Secretary shall modify the
boundary of the Monument accordingly, and shall update the map
to reflect such acquisitions.
(f) Map on File.--The map shall be on file and available for
inspection in the appropriate offices of the National Park Service,
U.S. Department of the Interior.
SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATION OF STATE TRUST LANDS.
The Secretary may enter in to an agreement with the State to provide
for cooperative management of the approximately 200 acres of State
trust lands generally depicted on the map.
SEC. 5. BOUNDARY STUDY.
(a) In General.--The Secretary shall conduct a study to identify any
additional lands that the Secretary considers appropriate to be a part
of any future adjustments to the boundary of the Monument.
(b) Criteria.--The study shall examine the natural, cultural,
recreational, and scenic values and characteristics of the lands
identified under subsection (a).
(c) Report.--Not later than 3 years after the date funds are made
available for the study under this section, the Secretary shall submit
to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives
and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a
report on the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the study.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 5110 is to modify the boundary of the
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The Casa Grande Ruins Reservation was proclaimed as the
United States' first archaeological preserve on June 22, 1892;
the site was redesignated as a national monument on August 13,
1918. The monument preserves one of the finest architectural
examples of 13th and 14th century Hohokam culture in the
Southwest. The core of the monument is a massive, four-story
earthen walled house, one of the largest prehistoric structures
ever found in North America. Archeologists have discovered
evidence that the ancient Sonoran Desert people who built the
``casa grande'' also developed wide-scale irrigation farming
and extensive trade connections which lasted over a thousand
years, until around 1450.
The 472 acres included within the current monument
represent only part of that community. A 2003 National Park
Service (NPS) report identified seven parcels for potential
addition to the monument, including the 200-acre, state-owned
Adamsville tract, a large village site with ball courts located
two miles upstream from Casa Grande that is already listed on
the National Register of Historic Places. Two other large
tracts adjacent to the current monument both include the
remains of residential neighborhoods, cemeteries, large
roasting pits, refuse pits, and portions of the extensive canal
system that encircled the community.
H.R. 5110 authorizes the acquisition of all three
properties ``by donation, exchange, or purchase with donated or
appropriated funds from willing owners only.'' The bill also
transfers two small parcels--totaling 11.2 acres and currently
owned by other federal agencies--into the monument. The bill
would add 415 acres to the monument in total. Additionally,
H.R. 5110 transfers another 3.5 acres that are currently part
of the monument to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to correct an
unintentional trespass on the southern boundary of the monument
and allow for the widening and paving of the San Carlos
Irrigation Project's Pima Lateral Canal, a tribal water
project.
Finally, the bill directs the Secretary to conduct a study
to identify additional lands in the area that might be
appropriate additions to the monument. The study would examine
properties on the north side of the prehistoric canal not
assessed in the 2003 NPS study, which according to local
archaeological groups include civic plazas, adobe-walled
compounds, ball court villages, smaller clusters of houses,
irrigated fields and rock-mulch agricultural features
indicative of dryland farming.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 5110 was introduced by Representative Ann Kirkpatrick
(D-AZ) on March 11, 2010. The bill was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the
Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands. At a
June 10, 2010, hearing before the Subcommittee, a
representative of the Department of the Interior testified in
favor of the bill but requested it be amended to require the
standard three years after funding is appropriated for
completion of the study.
On July 22, 2010, the Subcommittee was discharged from
further consideration of H.R. 5110 and the full Natural
Resources Committee met to consider the bill. Subcommittee
Chairman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) offered an amendment in the
nature of a substitute to set the length of the study at three
years, as requested by the Department of the Interior. The
amendment in the nature of a substitute also strikes the
findings section of the original bill and makes several
technical corrections.
Subcommittee Ranking Member Rob Bishop (R-UT) offered an
amendment to the amendment in the nature of a substitute to
require that the three properties authorized for acquisition be
acquired ``only by donation from willing owners.'' The
amendment was not agreed to by voice vote.
The amendment in the nature of a substitute was then agreed
to by voice vote. The bill, as amended, was then ordered
favorably reported to the House of Representatives by voice
vote.
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.
CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT
Article I, section 8 and Article IV, section 3 of the
Constitution of the United States grants Congress the authority
to enact this bill.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) 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)(3)(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.
2. 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.
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, as ordered reported, is to modify the
boundary of the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument.
4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. 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. 5110--Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Boundary Modification
Act of 2010
H.R. 5110 would authorize the Department of the Interior
(DOI) to expand the boundary of the Casa Grande Ruins National
Monument in Arizona by 417 acres. The bill also would authorize
DOI to conduct a study to identify other potential adjustments
to the boundary. CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 5110
would cost $7 million over the 2011-2015 period, assuming
appropriation of the necessary amounts. Enacting this
legislation would not affect direct spending or revenues;
therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
H.R. 5110 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.
Under the bill, DOI would be authorized to acquire 417
acres of land through donation, exchange, or purchase (using
donated or appropriated funds) to expand the boundary of the
monument. About 205 acres of that land is owned by private
entities, of which CBO expects roughly two-thirds would be
acquired through purchase. About 200 acres of land is owned by
the state of Arizona and would most likely be jointly
administered by the state and the federal government (as
authorized by the bill) over the next few years. Other land
that would be added to the monument is currently administered
by the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Indian
Affairs. The legislation would transfer administrative
jurisdiction of that land to the National Park Service. Based
on information from DOI, CBO estimates that land acquisition
costs would total $6 million; however, actual costs would vary
depending on the amount of land acquired by exchange or
donation and market conditions at the time of any purchase.
H.R. 5110 also would direct DOI to report to the Congress
within three years whether other pieces of land should be
included within the monument boundary. Based on information
from DOI, CBO estimates that the cost of this study, as well as
the cost of administering land acquired under the bill, would
total about $1 million over the next five years.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Daniel Hoople.
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
EARMARK STATEMENT
H.R. 5110 does not contain any congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in
clause 9 of rule XXI.
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.