Date: 11 May 2000

From: Environment & Energy Daily - May 11, 2000

The House on Thursday passed one of the largest pieces of conservation-oriented legislation undertaken in years by a 315-102 vote. The bill, H.R. 701, boosts coastal restoration, wildlife recovery and parkland renewal funds with $2.8 billion in offshore drilling royalties.

The Conservation and Reinvestment Act, H.R. 701 (H.Rpt. 106-499, Part I), underwent two days of debate with two dozen amendments offered, though only a few succeeded. Many more aimed at strengthening private property rights and clamping down on federal land acquisition were defeated.

One of the main points of objection was that the bill funds federal land acquisition, which opponents say would put private property rights at stake.

"I would not support a bill that did not protect the rights of private property owners," said bill author Resources Committee Chairman Don Young (R-Alaska). Young and committee ranking Democrat George Miller (Calif.) spearheaded the effort to craft the CARA legislation to fulfill Congress' obligation to use revenues from tapping nonrenewable oil and gas resources for conservation purposes, Miller said on the floor.

The CARA bill would create the Conservation and Reinvestment Act Fund with $2.8 billion in outer continental shelf (OCS) oil and gas development royalties each year for 15 years. Under the measure, the Land and Water Conservation Fund would receive full $900 million funding -- half for federal land purchases and half as matching grants to states for conservation purposes.

Coastal states would get $1 billion for shoreline restoration. The bill also would earmark $350 million for wildlife conservation and restoration; $125 million for the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery program; $100 million for the Historic Preservation Fund; $200 million for federal and Indian lands restoration; and $150 million for conservation easements and species recovery.

Another $200 million in interest generated by the CARA fund would be directed to payment in lieu of taxes ($125 million) and refuge revenue sharing ($75 million).

The amendments that passed included one from Young to erase the provision that would change the states' funding formula every five years, which opponents said would encourage states to allow more drilling to get more money.

Also approved by voice vote was Rep. Mark Souder's (R-Ind.) amendment stating that CARA funds are not meant to detract from the National Park Service's annual appropriations.

Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Ohio), who chairs the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, also offered a successful amendment that would require states to have a dedicated land acquisition fund before they could receive LWCF money. He said it would help ensure that federal dollars are matched by the states.

A last-minute amendment offered by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) strengthened wording in another amendment from Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) ensuring that Medicare and Social Security funds would not be affected by the bill.

Also accepted were provisions offered by Rep. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) to allow the Urban and Community Forestry Assistance Programs to be eligible for funds under the portion allotted to the Agriculture secretary, and by Rep. Rick Hill (R-Mont.) to allow for no net gain in federal lands in Montana until the administration comes up with a plan on buying and disposing of lands.

Amendments that failed included:

• Regula's to block coastal assistance funds to states with moratoria on oil and gas leasing (by a 109-317 vote);
• Rep. George Radanovich's (R-Calif.) to have the bill fully fund payment in lieu of taxes (PILT) and the Fish and Wildlife Service's refuge revenue sharing program (by a 153-273 vote);
• Rep. Tom Tancredo's (R-Colo.) to remove $450 million in federal land acquisition funding under LWCF and redirect it toward urban parks, farmland protection program and endangered species recovery (by a 109-315 vote);
• Rep. Helen Chenowth-Hage's (R-Idaho) to bar funds from going to national monuments that were created by the Antiquities Act after 1995 (by a 160-265 vote);
• Rep. Richard Pombo's (R-Calif.) to shield private property owners from the effects of nearby federal land acquisition under CARA (by a 171-253 vote);
• Rep. John Peterson's (R-Pa.) to allow federal land purchases only within the borders of existing federal sites (by a 108-310 vote);
• Rep. Doc Hastings' (R-Wash.) to direct half of the federal land acquisition funds under LWCF to go toward maintenance of existing federal sites (by a 169-256 vote);
• Reps. John Sweeney (R-N.Y.) and John McHugh's (R-N.Y.) to allow local governments to veto federal and state land purchases under LWCF (by a 187-238 vote);
• Reps. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) and Greg Walden's (R-Ore.) to require disposal of federal lands or state approval before new federal lands may be bought in states already 50 percent federally owned (by a 157-266 vote);
• Rep. Doug Ose's (R-Calif.) to stipulate that funds expended under the bill would only be given as grants to states for cities or counties of 100,000 or more, all PILT and refuge revenue sharing payments must be paid in full first, and Congress must deem that maintenance and repair backlogs in national areas are also paid (by a 56-365 vote); and
• A substitute amendment from Rep. William Thornberry (R-Texas) to make the bill subject to annual appropriations, reduce LWCF by one-fourth in line with maintenance backlog reductions, give PILT $200 million and install new private property rights provisions (by a 126-291 vote).