59–006 

114TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 114–430 

AMENDING THE GULLAH/GEECHEE CULTURAL HERITAGE ACT TO EXTEND THE AUTHORIZATION FOR THE GULLAH/GEECHEE CULTURAL 

HERITAGE CORRIDOR COMMISSION 

FEBRUARY 24, 2016.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State 

of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. BISHOP of Utah, from the Committee on Natural Resources, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 3004] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 3004) to amend the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage 

Act to extend the authorization for the Gullah/Geechee Cultural 

Heritage Corridor Commission, 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. 3004 is to amend the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act to extend the authorization for the Gullah/ 

Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

Congress designated the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, an area of land stretching from North Carolina to Florida, on 

October 12, 2006 (Public Law 109–338). As a National Heritage 

Area, the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor is not part of 

the National Park System; however, the act authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to provide technical and financial assistance 

for the development and implementation of a management plan. 

The Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act (Public Law 109–338) 

authorized the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission to implement the Corridor’s management plan, ultimately 

adopted in 2012. Although the Heritage Corridor was authorized 

through October 12, 2021, the Commission was only authorized 

through October 12, 2016. Without any legislative change, the Corridor will have to be managed by a different, yet unconstituted enVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:11 Feb 27, 2016 Jkt 059006 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR430.XXX HR430

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tity. H.R. 3004 simply extends the authorization for the Commission to October 12, 2021, to be consistent with the length of authorization for the Corridor. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 3004 was introduced on July 9, 2015, by Congressman 

James E. Clyburn (D–SC). The bill was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on Federal Lands. On February 2, 2016, the Natural Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee was 

discharged by unanimous consent. No amendments were offered, 

and the bill was ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous consent on February 3, 2016. 

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 

Natural Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in the body of this report. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII 

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) 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)(2)(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. 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: 

H.R. 3004—To amend the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act to 

Extend the Authorization for the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission 

H.R. 3004 would extend the authorization for the Gullah/Geechee 

Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission (commission) through October 12, 2021. The Gullah/Geechee Corridor was established as a 

heritage area in 2006 and is not part of the National Park System 

(NPS). While the Secretary of the Interior provides technical and 

financial assistance for the development and implementation of the 

area’s management plan, that plan is implemented by the commission. 

Under current law, only the commission can implement the heritage area’s management plan and spend funds appropriated for 

that purpose. Although the heritage corridor is authorized through 

October 12, 2021, the commission is authorized only through October 12, 2016. 

Based on information from the NPS, CBO expects that if the authority for the commission is not extended, any funds appropriated 

for the corridor would be used for other purposes. Therefore, CBO 

estimates that enacting the legislation would not result in signifiVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:11 Feb 27, 2016 Jkt 059006 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR430.XXX HR430

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cant additional costs to the federal government over the 2017–2021 

period. 

Because enacting H.R. 3004 would not affect direct spending or 

revenues, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO estimates 

that enacting H.R. 3004 would not increase net direct spending or 

on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027. 

H.R. 3004 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 Marin Burnett. The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant 

Director for Budget Analysis. 

2. Section 308(a) of 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. CBO estimates that enactment of the bill ‘‘would 

not result in significant additional costs to the federal government 

over the 2017–2021 period.’’ 

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 amend the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act 

to extend the authorization for the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission. 

EARMARK STATEMENT

This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, limited 

tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined under clause 9(e), 

9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4 

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5 

Directed Rule Making. The Chairman does not believe that this 

bill directs any executive branch official to conduct any specific 

rule-making proceedings. 

Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not establish or 

reauthorize a program of the federal government known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was not included in 

any report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress 

pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111–139 or identified in the 

most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program Information Act (Public Law 95–220, 

as amended by Public Law 98–169) as relating to other programs. 

FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT

The functions of the previously authorized advisory committee 

being extended by the bill are not currently being nor could they 

be performed by one or more agencies, a different advisory comVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:11 Feb 27, 2016 Jkt 059006 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR430.XXX HR430

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mittee already in existence or by enlarging the mandate of an existing advisory committee. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill, 

as reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italic, 

and existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in 

roman): 

NATIONAL HERITAGE AREAS ACT OF 2006 

* * * * * * * 

TITLE II—ESTABLISHMENT OF 

NATIONAL HERITAGE AREAS 

* * * * * * * 

Subtitle I—Gullah/Geechee Heritage 

Corridor 

SEC. 295. SHORT TITLE. 

This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Act’’. 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 295D. GULLAH/GEECHEE CULTURAL HERITAGE CORRIDOR COMMISSION. 

(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established a local coordinating entity to be known as the ‘‘Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission’’ whose purpose shall be to assist Federal, 

State, and local authorities in the development and implementation 

of a management plan for those land and waters specified in section 295C(b). 

(b) MEMBERSHIP.—The local coordinating entity shall be composed of 15 members appointed by the Secretary as follows: 

(1) Four individuals nominated by the State Historic Preservation Officer of South Carolina and two individuals each nominated by the State Historic Preservation Officer of each of 

Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida and appointed by the 

Secretary. 

(2) Two individuals from South Carolina and one individual 

from each of Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida who are recognized experts in historic preservation, anthropology, and 

folklore, appointed by the Secretary. 

(c) TERMS.—Members of the local coordinating entity shall be appointed to terms not to exceed 3 years. The Secretary may stagger 

the terms of the initial appointments to the local coordinating entiVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:11 Feb 27, 2016 Jkt 059006 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6601 E:\HR\OC\HR430.XXX HR430

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ty in order to assure continuity of operation. Any member of the 

local coordinating entity may serve after the expiration of their 

term until a successor is appointed. A vacancy shall be filled in the 

same manner in which the original appointment was made. 

(d) TERMINATION.—The local coordinating entity shall terminate 

ø10 years¿ 15 years after the date of enactment of this Act. 

* * * * * * * 

Æ 


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