[Senate Report 109-1]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 8
109th Congress Report
SENATE
1st Session 109-1
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NORTHERN RIO GRANDE NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA ACT
_______
February 16, 2005.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Domenici, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 63]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (S. 63) to establish the Northern Rio Grande
National Heritage Area in the State of New Mexico, and for
other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably
thereon with amendments and recommends that the bill, as
amended, do pass.
The amendments are as follows:
1. On page 3, line 2, insert ``National'' before
``Heritage''.
2. On page 5, line 10, strike ``secretary'' and insert
``Secretary''.
PURPOSE OF THE MEASURE
The purpose of S. 63 is to establish the Northern Rio
Grande National Heritage Area in the State of New Mexico.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
S. 63 would establish the Northern Rio Grande National
Heritage Area in northern New Mexico along the Rio Grande
River, including the cities of Taos and Santa Fe and the
community of San Juan Pueblo. The proposed heritage area would
encompass a rich mosaic of natural and cultural history which
predates Spanish settlement of the region in 1598. The region
reflects the continuing home of people of Hispanic, Native
Americans and Anglo-American descent. Northern New Mexico is
home to eight Pueblo communities. The Taos Pueblo represents a
community that has been inhabited for over a thousand years--
the longest period of time in the United States. The nation's
oldest church and first Spanish Mission can be found in Santa
Fe and the San Juan Pueblo, respectively.
In 1991, the National Park Service study entitled
``Alternative Concepts for Commemorating Spanish Colonization''
identified several alternatives consistent with the
establishment of a National Heritage Area. These included
conducting a comprehensive archaeological and historical
research program, coordinating a comprehensive interpretation
program, and interpreting a cultural heritage scene.
S. 63 would designate a National Heritage Area in northern
New Mexico to assist local communities in preserving and
interpreting the resources in the area. A proposed corporation,
the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area, Inc., will act
on a non-profit basis to manage the heritage area. The Board of
the Northern Rio Grande Heritage Area, Inc. would include 15 to
25 trustees selected from the three counties within the area
(Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, and Taos Counties), including
representatives from local communities and Pueblos.
The combination of cultures, languages, folk arts, customs,
architecture, and spectacular natural resources make northern
New Mexico unique within our nation's culture and history.
Establishment of the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area
will assist in the preservation and interpretation of the
area's unique and nationally significant resources.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
S. 63 was introduced by Senators Bingaman and Domenici on
January 24, 2005. During the 107th Congress, the Committee
considered identical legislation, S. 2576. The Subcommittee on
National Parks held a hearing on S. 2576 on June 20, 2002. The
text of S. 2576 was incorporated as an amendment to H.R. 695,
establishing an Oil Region National Heritage Area in
Pennsylvania. H.R. 695 was ordered reported (H.R. Rept. 107-
123), as amended, by a voice vote on July 31, 2002 and passed
the Senate by unanimous consent on November 20, 2002. The House
of Representatives did not consider the bill prior to the sine
die adjournment of the 107th Congress. During the 108th
Congress, the Committee considered identical legislation, S.
211. S. 211 was introduced by SenatorsBingaman and Domenici on
January 23, 2003. The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered
S. 211 favorably reported (S. Rept. 108-293) on June 16, 2004. S. 211
passed the Senate by unanimous consent on September 15, 2004. S. 211
passed the House of Representatives with an amendment on October 7,
2004.
Similar text to S. 211 (as passed by the Senate) was also
included as title XVIII of S. amendment 4085 to S. 1521, which
passed the Senate by unanimous consent on December 7, 2004. The
House of Representatives did not consider the bill prior to the
sine die adjournment of the 108th Congress.
At its business meeting on February 9, 2005, the Committee
on Energy and Natural Resources ordered S. 63, as amended,
favorably reported.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in an
open business session on February 9, 2005, by a unanimous voice
vote of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S.
63, if amended as described herein.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1 entitles the bill the ``Northern Rio Grande
National Heritage Area Act.''
Section 2 sets forth congressional findings.
Section 3 defines key terms.
Section 4 establishes the Northern Rio Grande National
Heritage Area in the State of New Mexico, encompassing the
counties of Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, and Taos. The Northern Rio
Grande National Heritage Area, Inc., a New Mexico chartered
non-profit corporation, is designated as the management entity,
and a Board of Directors for the management entity, shall be
established, including representatives of affected counties,
cities, tribes and pueblos, and the general public.
Section 5 sets forth the authorities and duties of the
management entity.
Section 6 states that the Secretary of the Interior may
provide technical and financial assistance upon request by the
management entity for development and implementation of the
management plan. Priority will be given to actions that
facilitate conservation of significant resources and for
opportunities consistent with the resources of the heritage
area.
Section 7 contains several savings provisions, including
statements that this Act does not affect in any way any
authority of any government to regulate the use of private
lands within the heritage area or grant the management entity
authority to regulate privately owned lands or affect the
Federal Government's trust responsibilities and the government-
to-government obligations to any federally recognized Indian
tribes.
Section 8 terminates the authority to assist the management
entity 15 years after the date of enactment.
Section 9 authorizes to be appropriated $10,000,000 to
carry out this Act, with no more than $1,000,000 authorized to
be appropriated in any given fiscal year. The Federal share may
not exceed 50 percent of the total costs of any given activity.
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The following estimate of the cost of this measure has been
provided by the Congressional Budget Office.
February 11, 2005.
Hon. Pete V. Domenici,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 63, the Northern Rio
Grande National Heritage Area Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis.
Sincerely,
Douglas Holtz-Eakin.
Enclosure.
S. 63--Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area Act
S. 63 would establish the Northern Rio Grande National
Heritage Area in New Mexico and would designate the Northern
Rio Grande National Heritage Area, Inc., as the managing entity
for the area. The nonprofit corporation would be responsible
for developing and implementing a management plan for the
protection, development, and management of cultural and other
area resources. Finally, the legislation would authorize the
appropriation of $10 million, not to exceed $1 million
annually, for technical and financial assistance to the
corporation over the next 15 years.
Assuming appropriation of the authorized amounts, CBO
estimates that implementing S. 63 would cost $10 million over
the next 10 to 15 years. Such amounts would be used to cover a
portion of the costs of planning, establishing, operating, and
interpreting the heritage area. Enacting this legislation would
have no effect on revenues or direct spending.
S. 63 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 Lisa Cash
Driskill. The estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine,
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. 63. 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. 63, as ordered reported.
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
The views of the Administration were included in testimony
received by the Committee at a hearing on July 16, 2002.
Department of the Interior,
Office of the Secretary,
Washington, DC, July 16, 2002.
Hon. Jeff Bingaman,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: This letter sets forth the views of the
Department of the Interior on S. 2576, a bill to authorize the
establishment of the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area
in New Mexico.
The Department recognizes the appropriateness of
designating the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area, as
it has the characteristics necessary to be established as a
national heritage area and the potential to meet the
expectations of the National Park Service's National Heritage
Area Program. We recommend, however, that the committee defer
action on S. 2576 during the remainder of the 107th Congress.
The Department has reviewed our progress on the President's
Initiative to eliminate the deferred maintenance backlog, and
it is clear that we need to continue to focus our resources on
caring for existing areas in the National Park System. While
the designation of the heritage area will not result in
additional acquisition or capital costs, the authorization
provides for technical and grant assistance costs. Under this
Act, total appropriations of $10 million are authorized through
the fiscal year 2017, of which not more than $1,000,000 may be
appropriated for any fiscal year. The Federal share of the
costs for any activity funded under this Act shall not exceed
50 percent.
S. 2576 would establish the Northern Rio Grande National
Heritage Area in Santa Fe County, Rio Arriba County, and Taos
County in New Mexico. The bill designates the Northern Rio
Grande National Heritage Area, Inc. a non-profit corporation
chartered in the State of New Mexico, as the management entity
for the heritage area. The management entity would be made up
of representatives from Santa Fe County, Rio Arriba County, and
Taos County, New Mexico, and Native American Tribes
participating in the heritage area. The bill also authorizes
the development of a management plan for the heritage area. If
the plan is not submitted within three years, the heritage area
becomes ineligible for federal funding until a plan is
submitted to the Secretary. Additionally, S. 2576 outlines the
duties of the management entity and prohibits the use of
federal funds to acquire real property or interests in real
property. At the request of the management entity, the
Secretary would be authorized to provide technical and
financial assistance to develop and implement the management
plan.
The creation of the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage
Area would encompass the long history of the cultural mosaic
developed by Native American occupation, early Spanish
settlement, Mexican Period settlement, mining, ranching, and
other pioneer settlements, and the continuing influence of
people of Hispanic, Anglo-American, and Native American
descent. The area demonstrates the antiquity of native cultures
as well as the genealogical longevity of the descendants of
Spanish ancestors who settled in the area in 1598. The
combination of cultures, languages, folk-arts, customs, and
architecture make northern New Mexico unique within our
national culture and history.
The National Park Service has defined a National Heritage
Area as a place where natural, cultural, historic and
recreational resources combine to form a nationally distinctive
landscape arising from patterns of human activity. Heritage
conservation efforts are grounded in a community's pride and
interest in its history and traditions. Preserving the
integrity of the cultural landscape and local stories means
that future generations will be able to understand and define
who they are, where they come from, and what ties them to their
home. Thus, through the designation of the Northern Rio Grande
National Heritage Area, these peoples will be better able to
understand their rich and complex heritage as well as share it
with the many visitors to northern New Mexico.
On a natural scale, the heritage area would provide a new
partnership for management and protection of long natural
vistas, isolated high desert valleys, mountain ranges and among
the best air, water and night sky qualities found in the United
States. Few roadways interrupt the ridges and range topography.
A variety of flora and fauna are often present. Aside from its
spectacular natural and scenic vistas, the area includes
outstanding recreational resources.
As we have previously testified, there are several steps
the National Park Service believes should be taken prior to
Congress designating a national heritage area to help ensure
that the heritage area is successful.
The stages are: a completion of a suitability/feasibility
study; the public involvement in the suitability/feasibility
study; gather a demonstration of widespread public support
among heritage area residents for the proposed designation; and
a commitment to the proposal from the appropriate players which
may include governments, industry, and private, non- profit
organizations, in addition to the local citizenry.
We believe that studies that have been completed or are
underway meet the intent of these criterion. The proposed
establishment is based on many years of work conducted by
various local community organizations in New Mexico. One such
study by the National Park Service, Alternative Concepts for
Commemorating Spanish Colonization (1991), identified several
alternatives consistent with the establishment of a National
Heritage Area, including coordination with supporting
historical research programs, such as the NPS Intermountain
Spanish Colonial Research Center in Albuquerque, and NPS
archaeological research programs in Santa Fe. This report and
other related reports such as, The Camino Real de Tierra
Adentro Feasibility Study (1997), conducted in New Mexico have
included input from organizations, agencies, tribal
representatives, a cross-section of citizens in the region, and
potential partners who would be involved in the creation and
management of a National Heritage Area. This activity is
consistent with Secretary Norton's `4-Cs' effort, demonstrating
the benefits of consultation, communication and coordination in
the service of conservation.
A number of Federal agencies, including prominently the
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Forest Service are
major land managers within the area covered by this
legislation. For example, the BLM manages over a half million
acres of Federal land within the proposed Heritage Area
including important cultural, prehistoric, and historic sites
as well as several Areas of Critical Environmental Concern
(ACESs). We believe that the legislation should allow for the
participation of all Federal partners, along with state, tribal
and local partners, in the Heritage Area.
The Office of Management and Budget advises that there is
no objection to the presentation of this report from the
standpoint of the Administration's program.
Sincerely,
Craig Manson,
Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
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 S. 63 as ordered
reported.