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107TH CONGRESS REPT. 107–410 " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session Part 1

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT

ACT

APRIL 16, 2002.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of

the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. HANSEN, from the Committee on Resources,

submitted the following

R E P O R T

[To accompany H.R. 3421]

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill

(H.R. 3421) to provide adequate school facilities within Yosemite

National Park, 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 ‘‘Yosemite National Park Education Improvement

Act’’.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

(1) The three elementary schools serving the children of employees of Yosemite National Park are served by the Bass Lake Joint Union Elementary School

District and the Mariposa Unified School District.

(2) The schools are in remote mountainous areas and long distances from

other educational and administrative facilities of the two local educational agencies.

(3) Because of their remote locations and relatively small number of students,

schools serving the children of employees of the Park provide fewer services in

more basic facilities than the educational services and facilities provided to students that attend other schools served by the two local educational agencies.

(4) Because of the long distances involved and adverse weather and road conditions that occur during much of the school year, it is impractical for the children of employees of the Park who live within or near the Park to attend other

schools served by the two local educational agencies.

(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to authorize the Secretary of the Interior

to provide supplemental funding and other services that are necessary to assist the

State of California or local educational agencies in California in providing educational services for students attending schools located within the Park.

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SEC. 3. PAYMENTS FOR EDUCATIONAL SERVICES.

(a) AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE FUNDS.—For fiscal years 2003 through 2007, the Secretary may provide funds to the Bass Lake Joint Union Elementary School District

and the Mariposa Unified School District for educational services to students who

are dependents of persons engaged in the administration, operation, and maintenance of the Park or students who live at or near the Park upon real property of

the United States.

(b) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—Payments made by the Secretary under this

section may not be used for new construction, construction contracts, or major capital improvements, and may be used only to pay public employees for services otherwise authorized by this Act.

(c) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF FUNDS.—Payments made under this section shall not exceed the lesser of $750,000 in any fiscal year or the amount necessary to provide students described in subsection (a) with educational services that are normally

provided and generally available to students who attend public schools elsewhere in

the State of California.

(d) ADJUSTMENT OF PAYMENTS.—Subject to subsection (c), the Secretary is authorized to adjust payments made under this section if the State of California or the

appropriate local educational agencies do not continue to provide funding for educational services at Park schools at per student levels that are equivalent to or

greater than those provided in the fiscal year prior to the date of enactment of this

Act.

(e) SOURCE OF PAYMENTS.—

(1) AUTHORIZED SOURCES.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), in order to

make payments under this section, the Secretary may use funds available to the

National Park Service from appropriations, donations, or fees.

(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Funds from the following sources may not be used to make

payments under this section:

(A) Fees authorized and collected under the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–4 et seq,).

(B) The recreational fee demonstration program under section 315 of the

Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996

(as contained in section 101(c) of Public Law 104–134; 16 U.S.C. 460l–6a

note).

(C) The national park passport program established under section 602 of

the National Parks Omnibus Management Act of 1998 (16 U.S.C. 5992).

(D) Emergency appropriations for Yosemite flood recovery.

(f) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions apply:

(1) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—The term ‘‘local educational agencies’’ has

the meaning given that term in section 9101(26) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

(2) EDUCATIONAL SERVICES.—The term ‘‘educational services’’ means services

that may include maintenance and minor upgrades of facilities and transportation to and from school.

(3) PARK.—The term ‘‘Park’’ means Yosemite National Park.

(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the Interior.

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 3421 is to provide adequate school facilities

within Yosemite National Park, and for other purposes.

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

Yosemite Valley, El Portal and Wawona schools serve the children of employees of Yosemite National Park and its concessionaire. These small kindergarten through grade 12 facilities are

in dire straits and are in danger of closing. There has been a precipitous decline in the number of families living in Yosemite National Park and concessionaire housing following historic January

1997 floods. This has reduced the number of students in the three

schools and thus funding from the State of California based upon

the average daily attendance. This has left inadequate resources to

pay for mandated levels of educational services and virtually no

funds for construction, maintenance or other operations of the

schools. To address this shortcoming, Congressman George RadanoVerDate 11-MAY-2000 07:23 Apr 17, 2002 Jkt 099006 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\A410P1.XXX pfrm09 PsN: A410P1
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vich sought and obtained in the Fiscal Year 2000 Labor/HHS/Education appropriations Bill an earmark for the Mariposa County

School District to maintain services at two of the three schools.

However, obtaining special earmarks each year is an inadequate

way to budget for schools, and the alternative of legislation was

identified.

All three schools, while in different circumstances, are similarly

situated in that access to ‘‘town schools’’ where more services are

available is very difficult. Yosemite Valley is well over one hour

from the town of Mariposa on a narrow mountainous road. El Portal is also over 40 minutes from Mariposa, and Wawona is over 30

minutes from Oakhurst on a narrow mountain road. All three

schools are at nearly 4000 feet, and have many snow days. The

roads between Yosemite National Park and the outlying communities are often closed due to weather or rockslides. It would be

nearly impossible and clearly dangerous to transport the students

in these conditions.

In addition, there is precedent for financial support of park-based

schools in other national parks. Yellowstone National Park has operated a park-based school that since 1948 has had statutory provisions for supplemental funds and facilities provided by the National Park Service (NPS).

As ordered reported, H.R. 3421 would authorize the Secretary of

Interior to provide supplemental funding and other services necessary to assist the State of California or local school districts in

providing educational services for students attending the three

schools located within Yosemite National Park. Payments for educational services and facilities would be derived from Park entrance

and user fees or from donated funds. H.R. 3421 creates a very limited support program for three isolated small schools serving NPS

employees and NPS concessionaire employees in an isolated area.

This will ensure an adequate education for these employees’ children while supporting a dedicated workforce for the Park.

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 3421 was introduced on December 6, 2001, by Congressman

George Radanovich (R–CA). The bill was referred to the Committee

on Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on

National Parks, Recreation, and Public Lands. The bill was additionally referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce. On December 13, 2001, the Subcommittee held a hearing on

the bill. On March 7, 2002, the Subcommittee met to mark up the

bill. Mr. Radanovich offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute that clarified funds may be used for general upkeep and

maintenance of school facilities and are prohibited from being used

for new construction, construction contracts, or major capital improvements, established a five year authorization on payments and

limits total pavements for educational services to $750,000.00 in

any fiscal year, and restricted the source of the funding under the

Act. It was adopted by voice vote. The bill, as amended, was then

ordered favorably reported to the Full Committee by voice vote. On

March 20, 2002, the Full Resources Committee met to consider the

bill. Congressman Radanovich offered an amendment in the nature

of a substitute that made two technical changes and clarified that

only public employees may be paid from funds authorized under

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the Act for services permitted by the Act. The amendment was

adopted by unanimous consent. The bill as amended was ordered

favorably reported by unanimous consent to the House of Representatives.

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 Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in

the body of this report.

CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Article I, section 8 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 tax expenditures. According

to the Congressional Budget Office, enactment of this bill could increase direct spending, but any such increase would be less than

$500,000 a year.

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 is to provide adequate school facilities within Yosemite

National Park.

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:

U.S. CONGRESS, CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, Washington, DC, April 8, 2002.

Hon. JAMES V. HANSEN, Chairman, Committee on Resources,

House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 3421, the Yosemite National Park Education Improvement Act.

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If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Megan Carroll.

Sincerely,

BARRY B. ANDERSON

(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).

Enclosure.

H.R. 3421—Yosemite National Park Education Improvement Act

Summary: H.R. 3421 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to make payments to two California school districts that serve

the families of Yosemite National Park employees. The school districts would use those funds to enhance educational services provided to their students.

CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 3421 would cost $750,000

in 2003 and about $4 million over the 2003–2007 period, assuming

the availability of appropriated funds. The bill could increase directs spending; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would apply,

but we estimate that any such increase would be less than

$550,000 a year. H.R. 3421 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform

Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal

governments. Enacting this legislation could benefit the California

school districts eligible to receive the authorized funds.

Estimated cost to the Federal Government: For this estimate,

CBO assumes that H.R. 3421 will be enacted by the end of fiscal

year 2002 and that amounts necessary to implement the bill will

be appropriated near the start of each fiscal year. The estimated

budgetary impact of H.R. 3421 is shown in the following table. The

costs of this legislation fall within budget function 300 (natural resources and environment).

By fiscal year, in millions of dollars—

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION

Estimated Authorization Level ...................................................................... 1 1 1 1 1

Estimated Outlays ......................................................................................... 1 1 1 1 1

Basis of estimate: For each of fiscal years 2003 through 2007,

H.R. 3421 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to pay a

total of up to $750,000 to two California school districts that serve

the families of Yosemite National Park employees. To make those

payments, H.R. 3421 would authorize the Secretary to use appropriated funds, donations, or offsetting receipts from certain fees collected by the National Park Service (NPS). For this estimate, CBO

assumes that the Secretary would principally rely on appropriated

funds to make the payments authorized by the bill because very

few collections and donations are available to spend on new activities. Hence, we estimate that implementing H.R. 3421 would increase new activities. Hence, we estimate that implementing H.R.

3421 would increase discretionary spending by $750,000 a year

over the next five years, assuming the availability of appropriated

funds. That annual amount could be lower if the Secretary chooses

to use funds from other sources to make payments to the school

districts, as discussed below.

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Pay-as-you-go considerations: H.R. 3421 would authorize the Secretary to use certain fees and donations to make payments to the

school districts. According to the NPS, the agency already has authority to spend nearly all such collections; hence, we estimate that

any increase in direct spending of such fees under H.R. 3421 would

be less than $500,000 a year.

Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: H.R. 3421 contains

no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in

UMRA and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. Enacting this legislation could benefit the California school

districts eligible to receive the authorized funds.

Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Megan Carroll; impact on

State, local, and tribal governments: Marjorie Miller; impact on the

private sector: Lauren Marks.

Estimate approved by: Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4

This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

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.

COMMITTEE CORRESPONDENCE

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

COMMITTEE ON RESOURCES,

Washington, DC, April 9, 2002.

Hon. JOHN BOEHNER,

Chairman, Committee on Education and the Workforce,

Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: On March 20, 2002, the Committee on Resources ordered favorably reported H.R. 3421, to provide adequate

school facilities within Yosemite National Park, and for other purposes. This bill was referred primarily to the Committee on Resources and additionally to the Committee on Education and the

Workforce.

H.R. 3421 is a narrowly drawn bill which addresses a problem

experienced by three small, isolated schools located in Yosemite

National Park in California. These schools serve the children of the

Park employees and its concessionaire and have suffered a lack of

funds for basic educational services and facility maintenance and

repair. Congressman George Radanovich, chairman of our Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands and the

representative of this area, has sought an alternative source of

funds to supplement existing funds for the schools.

With slightly over 50 legislative days left in the 107th Congress,

Congressman Radanovich would like to move H.R. 3421 expeditiously to the Floor for consideration by the House in the hope that

it could be enacted before the start of the fall school term. I understand that the Subcommittee on National Parks staff has worked

closely with your staff to ensure that the bill does not impinge on

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Department of Education programs and that this work was reflected in an amendment adopted to the bill during its consideration by the Committee on Resources.

Therefore, I ask that you allow the Committee on Education and

the Workforce to be discharged from further consideration of the

bill to allow it to be scheduled for a House vote as quickly as possible. By not fully exercising the Committee on Education and the

Workforce’s referral, you would in no way be waiving your jurisdiction over the subject matter of the bill nor would this action be

precedent for any other bill. Moreover, if a conference on this bill

or a similar Senate bill should become necessary, I would support

your request to have your Committee represented on the conference

committee. Finally, I would be pleased to include this letter and

your reply in the Committee on Resources bill report to document

our agreement.

I thank you for your assistance in this matter and that of your

staff. I look forward to your response to my request.

Sincerely,

JAMES V. HANSEN,

Chairman.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE,

Washington, DC, April 12, 2002.

Hon. JAMES V. HANSEN,

Chairman, Committee on Resources, Longworth HOB, Washington,

DC.

DEAR CHAIRMAN HANSEN: Thank you for your letter of April 9,

2002 and for working with me regarding H.R. 3421, the ‘‘Yosemite

National Park Educational Facilities Improvement Act,’’ which was

referred to the Committee on Resources and in addition the Committee on Education and the Workforce. I very much appreciate the

cooperation both you and Rep. George Radanovich have given in

crafting legislation that meets our mutual concerns. I thank you for

adopting those changes to the legislation during your markup. As

a result, I do not intend to hold a hearing or markup on this legislation.

In agreeing to waive consideration by our Committee, I would expect you to agree that the procedural route should not be construed

to prejudice the Committee on Education and the Workforce’s jurisdictional interest and prerogatives on this or any similar legislation

and will not be considered as precedent for consideration of matters

of jurisdictional interest to my Committee in the future. I would

also expect your support in my request to the Speaker for the appointment of conferees from my Committee with respect to matters

within the jurisdiction of my Committee should a conference with

the Senate be convened on this or similar legislation.

I would appreciate your including my letter in your Committee’s

report to accompany H.R. 3421. Again, I thank you for working

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with me in developing this legislation and I look forward to working with you on issues in the future.

Sincerely,

JOHN BOEHNER, Chairman.

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