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[Senate Report 115-315]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                     Calendar No. 542
115th Congress        }                       {               Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session           }                       {               115-315

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         DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT AGREEMENTS

                                _______
                                

                 August 1, 2018.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

        Ms. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural
                   Resources, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 2897]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (H.R. 2897) to authorize the Mayor of the 
District of Columbia and the Director of the National Park 
Service to enter into cooperative management agreements for the 
operation, maintenance, and management of units of the National 
Park System in the District of Columbia, and for other 
purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute and an 
amendment to the title and recommends that the bill, as 
amended, do pass.

                               AMENDMENTS

    The amendments are as follows:
    Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. AUTHORIZING COOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT AGREEMENTS BETWEEN THE 
                    DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND THE SECRETARY OF THE 
                    INTERIOR.

    The Secretary of the Interior may enter into a cooperative 
management agreement with the District of Columbia in accordance with 
section 101703 of title 54, United States Code.

    Amend the title so as to read: ``An Act to authorize the 
Mayor of the District of Columbia and the Secretary of the 
Interior to enter into cooperative management agreements.''

                                PURPOSE

    The purpose of H.R. 2897, as ordered reported, is to 
authorize the Mayor of the District of Columbia and the 
Secretary of the Interior to enter into cooperative management 
agreements.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    The National Park Service (NPS) manages over 20 units of 
the National Park System within the District of Columbia. In 
addition to the well-known memorials around the National Mall, 
the NPS also manages numerous local parks located throughout 
the District of Columbia. More than 42.5 million visitors 
experience the national park units in the District of Columbia 
each year, which provide a variety of attractions for tourists 
and residents alike.
    Park units located within the District of Columbia often 
face notable challenges of existing in a federal district and 
urban environment while needing to meet the needs of local 
residents as well as visitors. Sites within the District of 
Columbia must compete for resources with the approximately 85 
million acres managed by the NPS throughout the United States 
and its territories.
    The District of Columbia has expressed an interest in 
funding some of the costs associated with rehabilitating and 
modernizing parks owned by the NPS within its boundaries. For 
example, the Mayor's office has set aside $13.9 million in 
local funds to build new facilities at Franklin Park. According 
to the NPS, ``Franklin Park, at five acres, is one of the 
largest NPS squares in Center City D.C. and therefore provides 
a signal opportunity to serve the community and enhance urban 
living.''
    In an effort to address the deferred maintenance backlog 
and improve visitor services, some state and local governments 
have signed cooperative management agreements with the NPS to 
help manage specific services. Under current federal law, 54 
U.S.C. 101703, the NPS may enter into such an agreement with a 
State or local government agency for the cooperative management 
of parks. However, there is ambiguity concerning whether the 
District of Columbia, as a federal district, may participate in 
this authority.
    As ordered reported, H.R. 2897 clarifies that this existing 
authority also applies to the District of Columbia.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    H.R. 2897 was introduced in the House of Representatives by 
Rep. Norton on June 13, 2017, and referred to the House 
Committee on Natural Resources and the House Committee on 
Oversight and Government Reform. On December 4, 2017, H.R. 2897 
was reported by the Committee on Oversight and Government 
Reform (H. Rept. 115-436, Part I). On December 5, 2017, H.R. 
2897 was reported by the Committee on Natural Resources (H. 
Rept. 115-436, Part II). H.R. 2897 passed the House of 
Representatives by voice vote on January 16, 2018.
    Similar legislation, S. 1956, was introduced by Senator 
Murkowski on October 5, 2017.
    The Senate Subcommittee on National Parks conducted a 
hearing on S. 1956 and H.R. 2897 on February 14, 2018.
    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open 
business session on May 17, 2018, and ordered H.R. 2897 
favorably reported, as amended.

                        COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 
open business session on May 17, 2018, by a majority voice vote 
of a quorum present recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 2897, 
if amended as described herein.

                          COMMITTEE AMENDMENT

    During its consideration of H.R. 2897, the Committee 
adopted an amendment in the nature of a substitute which 
authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to enter into a 
cooperative management agreement with the District of Columbia 
in accordance with section 101703 of title 54, United States 
Code.
    The Committee also adopted an amendment to the title.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Authorizing cooperative management agreements between the 
        District of Columbia and the Secretary of the Interior

    This section authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to 
enter into a cooperative management agreement with the District 
of Columbia in accordance with section 101703 of title 54, 
United States Code.
    Under this section, states and local units of government 
have the authority to enter into cooperative management 
agreements with the National Park Service. This legislation 
clarifies that the District of Columbia may also enter into 
such agreements.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

    The following estimate of the costs of this measure has 
been provided by the Congressional Budget Office:
    H.R. 2897 would authorize the District of Columbia to enter 
into cooperative management agreements (CMAs) with the National 
Park Service (NPS) to operate and maintain NPS parks located 
within its borders. The NPS uses CMAs to establish cooperative 
practices, to address the use of shared resources that touch 
both NPS and state or local lands, and to transfer funds to 
perform work on such resources. Under current law, state and 
local governments can enter into CMAs with the NPS. The bill 
would clarify that the District of Columbia may also enter into 
such agreements.
    CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 2897 would result in 
no significant cost to the federal government. According to the 
NPS, any maintenance or repair project affected by a CMA would 
generally be completed by the NPS whether or not such an 
agreement is in place. Enacting H.R. 2897 would not affect 
direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go 
procedures do not apply.
    CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2897 would not increase 
net direct spending or on budget deficits in any of the four 
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
    H.R. 2897 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
    On August 16, 2017, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for 
H.R. 2897, as ordered reported by the House Committee on 
Oversight and Government Reform on July 19, 2017. On October 
17, 2017, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 2897, as 
ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on 
October 4, 2017. All of the versions of the legislation are 
similar, and CBO's estimates of the budgetary effects are the 
same.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Janani 
Shankaran. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, 
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                      REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION

    In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following 
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in 
carrying out H.R. 2897. The bill is not a regulatory measure in 
the sense of imposing Government-established standards or 
significant economic responsibilities on private individuals 
and businesses.
    No personal information would be collected in administering 
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal 
privacy.
    Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the 
enactment of H.R. 2897, as ordered reported.

                   CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

    H.R. 2897, as ordered reported, does not contain any 
congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits, 
or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    The testimony provided by the Department of the Interior at 
the February 14, 2018, hearing on H.R. 2897 follows:

Statement of P. Daniel Smith, Deputy Director, Exercising the Authority 
    of the Director of the National Park Service, Department of the 
                                Interior

    Chairman Daines, Ranking Member King, and members of the 
Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to present the 
Department of the Interior's views on H.R. 2897 and S. 1956, 
bills to authorize the Mayor of the District of Columbia and 
the Director of the National Park Service to enter into 
cooperative management agreements for the operation, 
maintenance, and management of units of the National Park 
System in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes.
    The Department supports the goal of both H.R. 2897 and S. 
1956, which are substantially identical. However, we would like 
to work with the bill sponsors and the committee to ensure that 
these bills achieve this goal and would not affect other 
existing authorities. These bills would clarify that the 
National Park Service (NPS) and the Mayor of the District of 
Columbia (District) may enter into cooperative management 
agreements (CMA) to more efficiently and effectively manage NPS 
land in the District.
    Cooperative management agreement authority, codified at 54 
U.S.C. 101703, authorizes the NPS to enter into CMAs to jointly 
manage land where a unit of the NPS is located adjacent to or 
near a State or local park area, and cooperative management 
between the NPS and a State or local government agency will 
allow for better management of the parks. For example, CMAs may 
allow for sharing goods and services or authorize employees to 
work on lands owned by agencies participating in such 
agreements.
    The CMA authority in the statute does not expressly state 
that the authority applies to the District. For purposes of 
Title 54 of the U.S. Code, the NPS generally interprets the 
term ``State or local government'' to include the District of 
Columbia, and in our view, the term ``State or local 
government'' in Section 101703 does include the District of 
Columbia. However, we understand that the District has 
questioned its own authority to enter into binding CMAs with 
the National Park Service.
    In 2012, the NPS, the District, and the DowntownDC Business 
Improvement District (BID) began a potential partnership 
through a CMA with the aim of rehabilitating Franklin Park, a 
federally-owned, NPS-administered square in downtown D.C. Under 
this partnership, the District would rehabilitate and operate 
the park, with the NPS retaining all other jurisdiction. The 
NPS and the District would partner with a new park management 
entity to provide maintenance and sustained programming. The 
District has budgeted $13.8 million to complete design work and 
construction associated with the rehabilitation. The BID will 
dedicate funding to pay for the management entity.
    The Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital 
Planning Commission have both approved the concept plan for the 
CMA, and the NPS has completed necessary environmental and 
historic preservation compliance. Also, the NPS and the 
District have negotiated the terms of the CMA and a related 
construction agreement for the rehabilitation and long-term 
operation of the park. However, the agreement has not been 
finalized because of the District's uncertainty about whether 
the District has the authority to enter into a CMA with the 
NPS.
    H.R. 2897 and S. 1956 seek to assure that the District does 
have that authority, in order to help expedite the 
rehabilitation of Franklin Park. We recommend that both bills 
be revised to state that they are clarifying the District's 
authority, rather than that they are granting the District new 
authority, and to otherwise meet the goals of the legislation. 
We would be happy to provide suggested language for that 
purpose.
    Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. I would be 
pleased to answer any questions you or other members of the 
Subcommittee may have.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no 
changes in existing law are made by the bill as ordered 
reported.

                                  [all]
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