49–006 

114TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 114–213 

JOHN MUIR NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE EXPANSION ACT 

JULY 21, 2015.—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 

together with 

[To accompany H.R. 1289] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 1289) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire 

approximately 44 acres of land in Martinez, California, 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 ‘‘John Muir National Historic Site Expansion Act’’. 

SEC. 2. JOHN MUIR NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE LAND ACQUISITION. 

(a) ACQUISITION.—The Secretary of the Interior may acquire by donation the approximately 44 acres of land, and interests in such land, that are identified on the 

map entitled ‘‘John Muir National Historic Site Proposed Boundary Expansion’’, 

numbered 426/127150, and dated November, 2014. 

(b) BOUNDARY.—Upon the acquisition of the land authorized by subsection (a), the 

Secretary of the Interior shall adjust the boundaries of the John Muir Historic Site 

in Martinez, California, to include the land identified on the map referred to in subsection (a). 

(c) ADMINISTRATION.—The land and interests in land acquired under subsection 

(a) shall be administered as part of the John Muir National Historic Site established 

by the Act of August 31, 1964 (Public Law 88–547; 78 Stat. 753; 16 U.S.C. 461 note). 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 1289 is to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire approximately 44 acres of land in Martinez, California. 


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BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The John Muir National Historic Site, established by Congress in 

1964, is located in the San Francisco Bay Area, in Martinez, California. The historic site preserves the 14-room Italianate Victorian 

mansion where the naturalist and writer John Muir lived, as well 

as a nearby 325 acre tract of native oak woodlands and grasslands 

historically owned by the Muir family. 

This legislation was introduced to authorize the Department of 

the Interior to acquire by donation approximately 44 acres to include in the John Muir National Historic Site. The acreage to be 

donated by the John Muir Land Trust is directly adjacent to the 

current property boundary and will allow for better public access 

to trails. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 1289 was introduced on March 4, 2015, by Congressman 

Mark DeSaulnier (D–CA). The bill was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on Federal Lands. On June 10, 2015, the Natural Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee was 

discharged by unanimous consent and Congressman Bishop (R–UT) 

offered Amendment #1 that was adopted by unanimous consent. 

The bill as amended was ordered favorably reported to the House 

of Representatives by unanimous consent on June 11, 2015. 

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. 1289—John Muir National Historic Site Expansion Act 

H.R. 1289 would expand and adjust the boundary of the John 

Muir National Historic Site in California to include approximately 

44 acres of donated land. The bill stipulates that the land would 

be donated voluntarily by the Muir Heritage Land Trust and would 

be administered as part of the historic site. 

Based on information provided by NPS, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 1289 would not have a significant impact on the 

federal budget. Under the legislation, the additional acres could 


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only be acquired through donation. We estimate that annual costs 

to operate and maintain the new properties would be minimal because NPS does not anticipate the need for additional resources or 

expenditures to manage the property once it is acquired. Enacting 

H.R. 1289 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, 

pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. 

H.R. 1289 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Mann Burnett. The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, 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. The Congressional Budget Office concludes that 

enactment of this bill ‘‘would not have a significant impact on the 

federal budget.’’ 

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 authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire 

approximately 44 acres of land in Martinez, California. 

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. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

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


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CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing law. 

Æ 


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