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[House Report 106-923]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

106th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     106-923

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 INTERPRETIVE CENTER AND MUSEUM, DIAMOND VALLEY LAKE, HEMET, CALIFORNIA

                                _______
                                

October 2, 2000.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Young of Alaska, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                             together with

                            ADDITIONAL VIEWS

                        [To accompany H.R. 4187]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 4187) to assist in the establishment of an interpretive 
center and museum in the vicinity of the Diamond Valley Lake in 
southern California to ensure the protection and interpretation 
of the paleontology discoveries made at the lake and to develop 
a trail system for the lake for use by pedestrians and 
nonmotorized vehicles, having considered the same, report 
favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill 
do pass.

                          purpose of the bill

    The purpose of H.R. 4187 is to assist in the establishment 
of an interpretive center and museum in the vicinity of the 
Diamond Valley Lake in southern California to ensure the 
protection and interpretation of the paleontology discoveries 
made at the lake and to develop a trail system for the lake for 
use by pedestrians and nonmotorized vehicles.

                  background and need for legislation

    Diamond Valley Lake, California, part of the Eastside 
Reservoir Project, is the result of a joint effort by State and 
local authorities to address possible water shortage problems 
in Southern California. The man-made lake is located in the 
fast-growing area of the Domenigoni/Diamond Valleys in 
Riverside County, California. Dam construction on the Diamond 
Valley Lake project began in September of 1995, and was 
completed in December of 1999. The construction of the 
reservoir's West Dam, East Dam, and Saddle Dam was the largest 
earthen work project in the history of the United States, and 
involved more than 110 million cubic yards of embankment 
construction. Filling of the reservoir began in May 2000, 
culminating nearly 12 years of planning, designing, 
engineering, and construction. More than $2 billion of non-
federal funds have been used to develop the 4.5 mile-long 
Diamond Valley Lake. The surrounding area is one of the fastest 
growing population centers in the State of California with no 
Bureau of Recreation or National Park Service facilities.
    H.R. 4187 will help provide recreational and educational 
opportunities to the region by assisting in the funding of the 
design, construction, furnishing, and operation of an 
interpretive center and museum. The center and museum will be 
known as the Western Center for Archaeology and will house an 
assortment of archaeological and paleontological remains which 
were excavated during the construction of the reservoir. More 
than 300 prehistoric sites were identified during reservoir 
preparations and are considered equal or more significant than 
those at the La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles. One of these 
sites has been tested and found to be over 9,000 years old. The 
Western Center would also be available to provide storage and 
state-of-the-art curation services for other valuable artifacts 
that many federal agencies have been unable to properly care 
for in recent years. The federal contribution to the Center 
will be $9.5 million out of a project total cost of $40 
million.
    This bill also provides funding to share in the cost of the 
design, construction, and maintenance of a trails system around 
Diamond Valley Lake and the surrounding area. The trails will 
provide nonmotorized recreation for visitors to the area. The 
federal contribution to the trails system will be $4.5 million 
out of a total project cost of $10.9 million. H.R. 4187 also 
contains a matching requirement that all non-federal parties 
are to secure funds in amount that is at least equal to those 
provided by the federal government. Total authorized 
appropriated amounts are not to exceed $14 million.

                            committee action

    H.R. 4187 was introduced on April 5, 2000, by Congressman 
Ken Calvert (R-CA). The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on 
National Parks and Public Lands. On June 27, 2000, the 
Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On September 20, 2000, 
the Full Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee 
on National Parks and Public Lands was discharged from further 
consideration of the bill by unanimous consent. No amendments 
were offered and the bill was ordered favorably reported to the 
House of Representatives by unanimous consent.

            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 
revenues or tax expenditures.
    3. Government Reform Oversight Findings. Under clause 
3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives, the Committee has received no report of 
oversight findings and recommendations from the Committee on 
Government Reform on this bill.
    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, September 28, 2000.
Hon. Don Young,
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. 4187, a bill to 
assist in the establishment of an interpretive center and 
museum in the vicinity of the Diamond Valley Lake in southern 
California to ensure the protection and interpretation of the 
paleontology discoveries made at the lake and to develop a 
trail system for the lake for use by pedestrians and 
nonmotorized vehicles.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Megan 
Carroll (for federal costs), and Victoria Heid Hall (for the 
state and local costs).
            Sincerely,
                                          Barry B. Anderson
                                    (For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
    Enclosure.

H.R. 4187--A bill to assist in the establishment of an interpretive 
        center and museum in the vicinity of the Diamond Valley Lake in 
        southern California to ensure the protection and interpretation 
        of the paleontology discoveries made at the lake and to develop 
        a trail system for the lake for use by pedestrians and 
        nonmotorized vehicles

    CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 4187 would cost $14 
million over the 2001-2005 period, assuming appropriation of 
the authorized amounts. The bill would not affect direct 
spending or receipts; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would 
not apply. H.R. 4187 contains no intergovernmental or private-
sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
    H.R. 4187 would authorize the appropriation of up to $14 
million for the federal government's share of the costs of 
establishing and operating an interpretive center, museum, and 
trail system on nonfederal lands near Diamond Valley Lake, 
California. Under the bill, any federal funds provided for the 
projects must be matched with funds from nonfederal sources, 
which may include the state of California and local governments 
in the state. Such spending would be voluntary on the part of 
those governments. The bill would have no other significant 
impact on the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
    According to the Bureau of Land Management, federal 
assistance provided under H.R. 4187 would take the form of 
grants to a local museum foundation and a local water district 
in the amounts estimated to be necessary for the projects each 
year. Based on information from the water district, CBO 
estimates that outlays for those grants would total about $1 
million in 2002, $3 million in 2003, $5 million in 2004, and $5 
million in 2005, assuming appropriation of the necessary 
amounts.
    On September 28, 2000, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for 
S. 2977, similar legislation ordered reported by the Senate 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on September 20, 
2000. The two bills are very similar, and our cost estimates 
are the same.
    The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Megan Carroll 
(for federal costs), and Victoria Heid Hall (for the state and 
local costs). This estimate was approved by Robert A. Sunshine, 
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.

                            ADDITIONAL VIEWS

    H.R. 4187 authorizes the federal government to pay for up 
to one quarter of the costs for a $40 million visitor's 
facility to be constructed as part of a vast recreational 
complex being developed around a new locally owned water 
project in California. The complex is reported to include golf 
courses, restaurants, and concert areas centered around this 
new reservoir.
    There is no federal connection to this project. None of the 
facilities, nor any of the land, are federally owned or 
operated. We are told that during construction, important 
archeological artifacts were discovered and therefore the 
federal government should pay for a visitor's center. However, 
if these artifacts are truly important, funding for their 
preservation is available through existing grant programs and 
earmarked funding for a visitor's center is therefore 
unnecessary.
    It has also been argued that, because the local water 
district was required to set aside a nature preserve as a 
species mitigation measure, federal funds should be used for a 
visitor's center. The set-aside was required by law, and does 
not entitle this project to a taxpayer-funded visitor's center.
    In our view, Congress should allocate federal resources to 
address multi-billion dollar maintenance and construction 
backlogs on federal lands. Non-federal projects such as this 
one should receive the bulk of their funding from the states or 
localities which own and operate them, with any federal funds 
coming through existing, discretionary grant programs.

                                   George Miller.
                                   Owen Pickett.
                                   Cal Dooley.

                                  
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