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Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 2686 - Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, FY 1992

July 30, 1991

STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY

(Senate Floor)
(Sponsor: Byrd (D), West Virginia)

The purpose of this Statement of Administration Policy is to provide the Administration's views on the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, FY 1992, as reported by the Committee.

In the Administration's view, the bill reported by the Senate Committee is a marked improvement over the bill as passed by the House. The Administration commends the Committee for taking several constructive steps toward developing a bill that is more substantially aligned with the Administration's priorities.

The Committee has funded firefighting at the requested level, ensuring that anticipated needs will be met within the discretionary spending limits established by the Budget Enforcement Act (BEA). In addition, the Committee has restored requested operational funding for certain high-priority programs under the President's America the Beautiful initiative; eliminated funding for Urban Park grants; deleted grazing fee increases set outside the process established by Executive Order; removed the funding cap imposed by the House on the Sport Fishing Restoration Program (Wallop-Breaux); fully funded enacted Indian water rights and land claim settlements; and restored funding for the White House Visitors' Center.

However, the Administration does have several concerns about the Committee bill, noted below, and respectfully requests that the Senate address these concerns. The July 26th letter of the Secretary of the Interior to the Senate Appropriations Committee discusses these concerns and indicates that he would recommend disapproval of the bill if the concerns are not addressed.

National Parks. Forests, and Wildlife Refuges

The Committee has restored operational funding for certain America the Beautiful (ATB) programs, which include recreation, resource protection, and other initiatives for our public lands. However, the Administration objects to an overall $190 million, or 21-percent, reduction in total requested ATB funding. At a time when visits to national parks and forests are reaching record levels and placing these parks and forests under increasing stress, the Administration strongly believes that funds to protect these valuable resources should not be reduced.

The Administration urges the Senate to restore full funding for nationally significant ATB resource protection and tree planting programs. These include Federal and State land acquisition, including Everglades National Park in Florida; the President's program to plant one billion trees a year; the new and widely acclaimed program to protect America's remaining battlefields, which are threatened by imminent development and other intrusive forces; the "Targeted Parks" initiative to improve monitoring and protection for parks facing acute natural resource problems; and Coastal America, which would protect and restore coastal resources at the national, regional, and watershed levels.

It is the Administration's view that full funding for these important programs can be restored by redirecting funds presently allocated to construction projects of less national significance than the ATB programs.

Strategic Petroleum Reserve Scoring

The Administration objects to the transfer of $123 million of the proceeds from the test sale of Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) oil in the SPR Petroleum account to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve account. The Administration believes that the SPR facilities account should be fully funded at the level requested in the President's Budget and that the test sale receipts should be used for the acquisition of oil. Receipts from the sale are scored as mandatory and should not be used to offset FY 1992 discretionary spending.

Clean Coal Technology

The Administration has serious concerns with the Committee bill's provision for a sixth general request for proposals in the Clean Coal Technology program. Language of the Committee bill states that funding for these proposals is to be provided from unobligated balances of prior Clean Coal Technology appropriations. By law, these balances are to be used to fund overruns of up to 20 percent in projects selected in the first five rounds of competition. Total requirements for such funds will not be known with certainty for many years, and clearly not by November 1, 1993 — the date by which the Secretary would be required to report to the Senate and House on the availability of prior-year unobligated balances under the Committee's proposal. In the Administration's view, suggesting that funds will be available for a sixth round of competition is inappropriate.

Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Moratoria

The Administration opposes the Committee's moratoria on all activity in Bristol Bay, Alaska, and on Sale 137 in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. The Administration opposes new moratoria imposed by the House and retained by the Committee on activities associated with Sale 145 in the Atlantic and Sale 151 in the Florida panhandle, both of which are contained in Interior's proposed leasing plan for mid-1992 through 1997. The plan's reforms would make the OCS oil and gas program more selective, judicious, and environmentally sound; therefore, the Administration believes that continued legislative moratoria are inappropriate and unnecessary.

OCS Leasing and Environmental Studies Program

The Administration strongly opposes the Committee's elimination of requested funding for environmental studies, lease administration, and environmental assessments of the OCS. In the President's June 1990 announcement regarding the OCS activities, the President directed the Department of the Interior to develop adequate scientific and environmental information through additional studies in order to determine whether leasing should occur in a number of environmentally sensitive OCS areas.

The elimination of funding for the leasing and environmental studies program would seriously impair the Department of the Interior's ability to make sound decisions in a timely fashion and to address leasing concerns of States and localities, should a decision be made to allow leasing.

Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Management Improvement

The Administration is concerned about language in the Committee bill, and the related omission of funding ($1.3 million), that would restrict efforts to improve the management and accountability of BIA. The Administration believes that restricting organizational reforms of the BIA would perpetuate long-standing problems affecting the delivery of services to Indians. The Administration needs the flexibility to implement reforms that have been endorsed by the joint tribal and Federal advisory committee examining the BIA.

BIA Dam Safety

Language in the Committee bill would prevent the transfer of technical responsibility for dam safety from the BIA to the Bureau of Reclamation. Lives are at stake as long as serious and long-standing safety deficiencies go uncorrected at various BIA dams. BIA has failed to correct these deficiencies, so the Administration must be permitted to take reasonable, alternative steps to do so before a tragedy occurs.

Department of the Interior Management

The Administration strongly opposes the Committee's deletion of funding for many departmental management activities. Implementation of long-overdue improvements involving the BIA and other Interior bureaus would suffer major, unnecessary delays because of these reductions. In addition, the Committee has not provided requested funding for preparation and audit of Interior annual statements required to implement the 1990 Chief Financial Officers Act (CFOs Act). The small savings achieved by the Committee's reductions would disproportionately weaken the present and future organizational structure needed to ensure the effective, efficient delivery of Interior programs and services to the public. The Administration urges the Senate to restore the $15 million for departmental management and implementation of the CFOs Act.

Additional information concerning the Administration's views on the Senate Committee bill is attached.

Attachment


FY 1992 INTERIOR APPROPRIATIONS BILL: SENATE COMMITTEE BILL
REDUCTIONS IN RESOURCE PROTECTION TO FUND UNREQUESTED PROJECTS
__________________ (dollars in millions)__________________

Reductions   Increases  

• America the Beautiful Natural/Historical Resource Programs:

-190

• Interior Department Construction (much for unneeded new buildings and other facilities) : (est.)

+200

—Land Acquisition

(-78)

—Palau Water and Sewer Systems

(+2)

—Treeplanting

(-77)

—Uneconomic BIA Irrigation Projects

(+27)

—American Battlefield Protection

(-8) • Non-Competitive Grants for Local Washington, D.C., Arts and Cultural Organizations +7

—Everglades National Park (FL) Land Acquisition

(-8) • State Grants for Activities where Unused Federal Funds Already Exist +21

—North American Wetlands Conservation

(-7)   ____

—Resource Protection for Targeted National Parks

(-5)   +228

—Coastal America

(-5)    

• National Park Management/Operations

-35    

• Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge (IL) Superfund Site Cleanup

-10    

• OCS Leasing and Environmental Studies

-23    
  ____    
  -258    

(Senate Floor)

ADDITIONAL CONCERNS
H.R. 2686 — INTERIOR AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS BILL, FY 1992

MAJOR PROVISIONS OPPOSED BY THE ADMINISTRATION

A. Funding Levels

Departments of the Interior and Agriculture:

America the Beautiful (ATB) Reductions. The Administration commends the Senate Committee for restoring operational funding for certain ATB programs, but objects to the inadequate total funding the Committee bill would provide for the ATB initiative. For the Department of the Interior, the Committee mark is $57 million, or 10 percent below the President's request. At a time when visits to our national parks, refuges, and other Federal recreation areas are reaching record levels and placing them under increasing stress, the Administration strongly opposes cuts in funds designed to protect these valuable resources in order to fund low-priority earmarked projects.

The Committee has reduced Interior funding for many nationally significant ATB natural and historical resource programs, including Everglades National Park, Florida, expansion (-$8 million)y American Battlefield Protection (-$7.5 million); Targeted Parks (-$5 million); and Coastal America (-$5 million).

Everglades land acquisition would enhance the national park's water quality and quantity by restoring natural flows into the park. The Battlefield Protection program would help meet the challenge confronting many important battlefield sites across the U.S. that remain unprotected and threatened with development.

Targeted Parks would improve monitoring and protection in 10 parks that face acute natural resource problems of national significance. Full funding of this initiative would preserve the natural beauty and resources of these units and provide resource management models useful to other National Park System units. Coastal America would build upon multi-agency expertise to protect and restore coastal resources at the national, regional, and watershed levels.

For the Department of Agriculture, the Committee bill would reduce Forest Service ATB programs by $133 million, or 38 percent, below the President's request. Within this amount, the Forestry Stewardship Incentives Program, an important component of ATB and the President's Tree Planting Initiative, would be reduced $77 million below the request. This reduction would significantly impair the agency's ability to meet the President's goal of planting one billion trees per year. Much of this reduction is used by the Committee to fund lower- priority programs. The Administration urges the Senate to restore funding for all of the ATB programs.

Interior Construction. The Administration objects to the Committee's funding level for construction. The Committee bill would provide approximately $200 million, or 65 percent, more than the President's request for Interior's land management agencies and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Much of the additional funding is unnecessary and directed at marginal or lower-priority projects not in the Department's backlog of needed health and safety projects. The additional construction projects are generally discretionary or non-critical and can be postponed or foregone. It is the Administration's view that new construction is a lower priority than providing quality operations, maintenance, and rehabilitation of existing facilities.

Hard Rock Mining Claim Holding Fee. The Administration objects to the Committee's deletion of the proposed Hard Rock Mining Claim Holding Fee. This proposed $100 fee would replace current "diligence" provisions of the 1872 Mining Law that require holders of mining claims to perform $100 worth of annual assessment work in order to maintain a claim. In addition to generating $80.2 million in revenue for the General Fund of the Treasury, the Administration's proposal would provide $12.3 million to Interior's Bureau of Land Management for operation of the Mining Law Administration program and up to $5.0 million to fund collection of the fee.

The Administration believes that this proposal, as a replacement for the current diligence requirement, would be far more convenient for the claim holder and much more protective of the environment. In addition, it would improve mineral production and generate revenue benefits. The Senate is urged to restore the Administration's proposal, adopting the Mining Claim Holding Fee language.

Minerals Management Service: Technical Information Management System. The Administration opposes the Committee's elimination of requested funding ($7 million) for the Minerals Management Service's (MMS) proposed multi-year, multi-phase technical information management system (TIMS). TIMS would streamline and upgrade environmental, scientific, engineering, and land management activities so that better and more accurate OCS leasing decisions could be made.

The funding requested in the President's FY 1992 Budget would provide for the initial replacement of outdated equipment and the beginning development of new software. By not providing any funding for this new initiative, the Committee bill would force MMS to rely on an obsolete computer system and would constrain its ability in the future to conduct environmentally sound lease sales in promising geologic areas.

North American Wetlands Conservation Fund. The Administration commends the Committee for adding back $8.5 million for the North American Wetlands Reserve Fund. However, the Administration believes that this program should be funded at the requested level of $15 million. This program supports high- priority wetlands acquisition and restoration programs — in cooperation with the States, nonprofit organizations, Canada, and Mexico — that are aimed at restoring the nation's declining migratory waterfowl populations.

Section 318 Reductions. The Administration objects to the Committee's across-the-board reduction recommended in section 318 of the bill. This reduction could result in the curtailment of high- priority programs within the Department of the Interior. For example, the Committee has reduced funding for the management of park areas by $11 million. If the four-percent reduction mandated by section 318 were applied, a total reduction of approximately $35 million in funds for the continuing operation of our National Parks would result.

Palau Capital Improvements. The Administration objects to the $2 million increase above the request for capital improvement projects (water and sewer systems) in the Trust Territory of Palau. Complete or partial funding for construction projects was provided in FY 1991. Given the inadequate oversight in the past, the Administration believes that Palau should prove its capability in managing these funds before receiving increases. In addition, funding increase for these projects would be a disincentive for Palau to move toward greater self-sufficiency.

Departmental Procurement System. The Administration objects to the Committee's $3 million reduction to the request for Interior's Geological Survey prototype, department-wide procurement system. Procurement system reform is a long-term investment designed, ultimately, to save millions of taxpayer dollars by eliminating costly, duplicative individual procurement actions. Implementation of this important financial management system cannot be effectively carried out unless these funds are restored to the requested level.

Commission of Fine Arts:

National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs Grant. The Administration objects to the Committee's provision of $7 million for general operating support on a non-competitive grant basis to Washington, D.C., arts and cultural organizations. This funding is unnecessary as it is a duplication of existing Federal nationwide competitive grants.

Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation:

Land Acquisition and Development. The Administration objects to the elimination of the requested $14 million in borrowing authority from the Land Acquisition and Development account. This money would be used to allow timely completion of the mission of the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation, without unnecessary cost increases, by consolidating ownership of the last remaining undeveloped block.

B. Language Provisions

BIA Trust Fund Management. The Administration objects to the Committee's inclusion of bill language added by the House that is intended to prevent the transfer of tribal and individual Indian trust fund accounts to any contractor until all accounts have been reconciled, audited, and certified. A joint review by Interior and the Office of Management and Budget of BIA financial management problems associated with the $2 billion Indian trust funds is under way, and a report addressing these problems will be issued by the end of 1991. Interior needs flexibility to manage these accounts properly while the reconciling and auditing process proceeds over the next five years. The language of the Committee bill would unduly restrict the Administration from implementing needed improvements until the reconciling and auditing process is completed.

Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) Oil Financing. The Administration continues to believe that innovative financing contracts with one or more oil-producing nations can provide attractive Strategic Petroleum Reserve fill opportunities. However, the Administration's ability to negotiate such an arrangement would be undermined by the committee bill's requirement for Congressional approval of each such contract through enactment of new legislation. Therefore, the Administration strongly recommends that this requirement, both as expressed in the FY 1991 Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (P.L. 101-512) and in the FY 1992 bill reported by the Committee, be deleted.

Indian Health Service (IHS). The Administration objects to the Committee's continued prohibition on the implementation of the final rule on IHS health care services eligibility. In addition to circumventing the established Federal rulemaking procedures, the Administration believes that continued avoidance of eligibility issues prevents efficient program operation and maintains unnecessary anxiety for potential and current beneficiaries.

The Administration supports the Senate's decision to follow the House's consolidation of the IHS maintenance and repair funding in a single account. Consolidating funds will improve understanding of funding levels and accountability.

Committee Approval Provisions. The Administration objects to bill language that purports to restrict the use of funds or to limit agency actions unless approval is granted by Congressional committees. Such provisions are unconstitutional (see INS v. Chadha. 462 U.S. 919 (1983)). This objection applies to several provisions that have been included in previous Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Acts, as well as to a new provision in the Committee bill concerning the alteration of the appropriations structure of the Indian Health Service. In any event, the Executive Branch will continue to provide the Committee notification and consultation that interbranch comity requires in matters in which Congress has indicated such a special interest.

Energy Conservation Employment Floors. The bill would increase the FTE level for conservation programs from 352 to 397. The Administration believes that this increase in personnel is unnecessary and would interfere with Departmental and Administration efforts to reduce overhead and make program operations more efficient. The Administration is committed to ensuring that conservation programs are managed effectively and supports the hiring or retention of a sufficient number of employees. However, the Administration believes that raising the mandated minimum number of staff does not represent effective management.

George Bush, Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 2686 - Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, FY 1992 Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/330816

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