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107TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 107–88

WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT ACT OF 2001

JUNE 6, 2001.—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

REPORT

[To accompany H.R. 1000]

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill

(H.R. 1000) to adjust the boundary of the William Howard Taft National Historic Site in the State of Ohio, to authorize an exchange

of land in connection with the historic site, 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 ‘‘William Howard Taft National Historic Site Boundary Adjustment Act of 2001’’.

SEC. 2. EXCHANGE OF LANDS AND BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT, WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, OHIO.

(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

(1) HISTORIC SITE.—The term ‘‘historic site’’ means the William Howard Taft

National Historic Site in Cincinnati, Ohio, established pursuant to Public Law

91–132 (83 Stat. 273; 16 U.S.C. 461 note).

(2) MAP.—The term ‘‘map’’ means the map entitled ‘‘Proposed Boundary Map,

William Howard Taft National Historic Site, Hamilton County, Cincinnati,

Ohio,’’ numbered 448/80,025, and dated November 2000.

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

acting through the Director of the National Park Service.

(b) AUTHORIZATION OF LAND EXCHANGE.—

(1) EXCHANGE.—The Secretary may acquire a parcel of real property consisting of less than one acre, which is depicted on the map as the ‘‘Proposed

Exchange Parcel (Outside Boundary)’’, in exchange for a parcel of real property,

also consisting of less than one acre, which is depicted on the map as the ‘‘Current USA Ownership (Inside Boundary)’’.

(2) EQUALIZATION OF VALUES.—If the values of the parcels to be exchanged

under paragraph (1) are not equal, the difference may be equalized by donation,

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payment using donated or appropriated funds, or the conveyance of additional

land.

(3) ADJUSTMENT OF BOUNDARY.—The Secretary shall revise the boundary of

the historic site to reflect the exchange upon its completion.

(c) ADDITIONAL BOUNDARY REVISION AND ACQUISITION AUTHORITY.— (1) INCLUSION OF PARCEL IN BOUNDARY.—Effective on the date of the enactment of this Act, the boundary of the historic site is revised to include an additional parcel of real property, which is depicted on the map as the ‘‘Proposed

Acquisition’’. (2) ACQUISITION AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may acquire the parcel referred

to in paragraph (1) by donation, purchase from willing sellers with donated or

appropriated funds, or exchange.

(d) AVAILABILITY OF MAP.—The map shall be on file and available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the National Park Service.

(e) ADMINISTRATION OF ACQUIRED LANDS.—Any lands acquired under this section

shall be administered by the Secretary as part of the historic site in accordance with

applicable laws and regulations.

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R.1000 is to adjust the boundary of the William

Howard Taft National Historic Site in the State of Ohio, to authorize an exchange of land in connection with the historic site, and for

other purposes.

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The William Howard Taft National Historic Site, located in Cincinnati, Ohio, was established on December 2, 1969. The historic

site commemorates the only man to serve as President and Chief

Justice of the United States. The site includes the restored home

where Taft was born and the Taft Educational Center. Total visitation to the historic site in 1999 was 5,960 people.

H.R. 1000 would authorize the Secretary of Interior to acquire a

parcel of private property consisting of less than one acre adjacent

to the National Historic Site (NHS) currently owned by Sabis Educational Systems, Inc. in exchange for a parcel of property consisting of less than one acre half a block away from the NHS currently owned by the National Park Service. The exchange of land

would provide for more contiguous plots of land adjacent to the

NHS for anticipated expansion. The bill would also authorize the

acquisition of an additional parcel of property adjacent to the NHS

where an apartment building exists. The property is currently

owned by Sanning LLC. The Secretary would acquire the parcel of

land only by donation, purchase from willing sellers with donated

funds, or exchange.

Once the additional land is acquired, the Secretary would revise

the boundary of the William Howard Taft NHS to reflect the exchange. If the values of the parcels to be exchanged are not of

equal value, the difference may be equalized by donation, payment

using donated or appropriated funds, or the conveyance of additional land.

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 1000 was introduced on March 13, 2001, by Congressman

Rob Portman (R–OH). The bill was referred to the Committee on

Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation, and Public Lands. On April 26, 2001, the

Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On May 16, 2001, the

Full Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The SubVerDate 11-MAY-2000 04:07 Jun 07, 2001 Jkt 089012 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR088.XXX pfrm04 PsN: HR088
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committee on National Parks, Recreation, and Public Lands was

discharged from further consideration of the bill by unanimous consent. Congressman Joel Hefley (R–CO) offered an amendment in

the nature of a substitute that made two changes to the original

bill: (1) It corrected the map number used for the ‘‘Proposed Boundary Map,’’ and (2) it authorized the National Park Service to use

appropriated funds to acquire the Sanning LLC. parcel of land adjacent to the park. The amendment was adopted by voice vote. The

bill as amended was then ordered favorably reported to the House

of Representatives by voice vote.

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, and Article IV, section 3, 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, or credit authority. According to the Congressional Budget Office, enactment of

H.R. 1000 could affect receipts through a cash equalization payment for the land exchanged for the addition to the William Howard Taft National Historic Site. However, any changes in receipts

would be ‘‘insignificant.’’

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 adjust the boundary of the William Howard Taft

National Historic Site in the State of Ohio and to authorize an exchange of land in connection with the historic site.

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:

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U.S. CONGRESS, CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, Washington, DC, May 24, 2001.

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. 1000, the William Howard Taft National Historic Site Boundary Adjustment Act of 2001.

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

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis.

Sincerely,

STEVEN M. LIEBERMAN

(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).

Enclosure.

H.R. 1000—William Howard Taft National Historic Site Boundary

Adjustment Act of 2001

H.R. 1000 would revise the boundary of the William Howard Taft

National Historic Site (Taft NHS). Assuming appropriation of the

necessary amounts, CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would cost the federal government between $0.9 million and

$1.4 million over the next three years. The bill also could affect receipts; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would apply, but we expect any change in receipts would be insignificant.

The bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would

have no significant impact on the budgets of state, local, or tribal

governments.

H.R. 1000 would expand the boundary of the Taft NHS to include

a small parcel of contiguous land, which the National Park Service

(NPS) could then acquire by purchase, donation, or exchange. The

bill also would authorize the NPS to acquire an additional contiguous property in exchange for a similarly sized tract within the

NHS. The site’s boundary would then be redrawn to reflect the

transfer. Any difference in the values of the two properties could

be equalized by a donation to the government from the current

property owner, or by a cash payment to that party from the NPS.

Based on information provided by the NPS and assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO estimates that the cost of

acquiring the property added to the Taft NHS by the bill would be

between $0.7 million and $1.2 million over the next three years.

Because a cash equalization payment would be authorized by the

bill, pay-as-you-go procedures would apply. We expect that the exchange for the second panel of land would have no significant effect

on the federal budget, however, because the properties are similar

in value. CBO estimates that additional costs to develop the property that would be acquired under the bill would total $0.2 million

over the next three years, and that annual costs to administer the

new lands would be minimal.

The staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis. The estimate

was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for

Budget Analysis.

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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.

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