29–006 

113TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 113–221 

ENSURING PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT IN THE CREATION OF 

NATIONAL MONUMENTS ACT 

SEPTEMBER 20, 2013.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, from the Committee on Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

together with 

DISSENTING VIEWS 

[To accompany H.R. 1459] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 1459) to ensure that the National Environmental Policy 

Act of 1969 applies to the declaration of national monuments, and 

for other purposes, 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. 1459 is to ensure that the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 applies to the declaration of national 

monuments. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

Established in 1906, the Antiquities Act (16 U.S.C. 431) authorizes the President to proclaim national monuments on federal lands 

and regulate the care and study of our nation’s antiquities. Created 

to quickly reserve and protect historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, or other objects of historic or scientific interest, 

the Act has been used to designate tracks of land well beyond ‘‘the 

smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of 

the objects to be protected.’’ Since the Act’s inception in 1906, 

Presidents have proclaimed a total of 137 monuments, a number of 


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which have been contentious, and Presidential authority under the 

Act has been reduced twice. Following the unpopular 1943 proclamation of Jackson Hole National Monument, legislation incorporating Jackson Hole into Grand Teton National Park included a 

requirement for Congressional consent for any future creation or 

enlargement of National Monuments in Wyoming. Similarly, after 

controversial designations in Alaska, Congressional approval became necessary for designations in Alaska greater than 5,000 

acres. 

The Antiquities Act has been abused by Presidents of both parties, particularly in the West where the timing and large scope of 

many designations have resulted in unnecessary hardship to local 

communities dependent upon access and use of the land and resources within the designations. To date, no court challenges have 

succeeded in undoing a Presidential designation. 

The Antiquities Act is outdated. Since its enactment, numerous 

laws like the Historic Preservation Act, Native American Graves 

Preservation and Repatriation Act, Archeological and Historic Preservation Act, Archeological Resources Preservation Act, and the 

National Environmental Policy Act are actively being used to protect and preserve American antiquities, artifacts and locations. 

Antiquities Act designations should be limited to areas that face 

clearly-articulated, imminent threats. The Act was designed to prevent damage to specific sites, not to be a national land-use planning tool covering vast landscapes or as a backdoor maneuver to 

lock up lands, including private property and other inholdings, for 

purposes that deny public access for recreation and job-creation. 

There is no good reason for major land-use decisions, like monuments created under the Antiquities Act, to be done in secret without allowing proper stakeholder input. 

H.R. 1459 would guarantee public participation in National 

Monument decisions by ensuring large-scale presidential designations abide by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA, 42 

U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). It prohibits the inclusion of private property 

without the approval of property owners. The bill allows the President to provide emergency protections for a genuinely threatened 

site of up to 5,000 acres, but limits these emergency designations 

to three years without Congressional approval. The bill would also 

allow no more than one designation per state during any presidential four-year term. Finally, the bill requires a study of the costs 

associated with managing the National Monument. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 1459 was introduced on April 10, 2013, by Congressman 

Rob Bishop (R–UT). The bill was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on 

Public Lands and Environmental Regulation. On April 16, 2013, 

the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On July 24, 2013, the 

full Natural Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The 

Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation was 

discharged by unanimous consent. Congressman Rau ́l Grijalva (D– 

AZ) offered an amendment designated .025 to the bill; the amendment was not adopted by voice vote. Congresswoman Niki Tsongas 

(D–MA) offered an amendment designated .027 to the bill; the 


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amendment was not adopted by a roll call vote of 13 to 24, as follows: 


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Date: July 24,2013 

Committee on Natural Resources 

u.s. lIouse of Representatives 

I I 3th Congress 

Recorded Vote #: 2 

Meeting on I Amendment on: H.R.1459 . Tsongas.On, Not agreed to by a vote of 13 yeas and 24 nays 

MEMBERS Yes l'lo Pres MEMBERS Yes No 

Mr. Hastings, W A, Chairman X Mr. Duncan of SC X 

IIII'. De(azio, OR, Ranking X Mr. Cardenas, CA 

Mr. Young, AK X Mr. Tipton, CO X 

Mr. Paleomavae/<a, AS Mr. Hors/iml, NV 

Mr. Gohmert, TX X jj"'. C~"'. " X 

Mr. Palione, NJ Mr. Hllffinan, CA X 

Mr. Bishop, UT X Mr. Labrador, ID 

IMrs. Napolitano, CA X Mr. Rlliz, CA X 

Mr. Lamhorn, CO X Mr. Southerland, FL X 

.111'. Holl, NJ :Vh Shea·Porler, NI! X 

[VIr. "littman, V A X Mr. I'lores, TX X 

kIr. Grijalva, AZ X 1\4r. LOH'('milaf, CA X 

Mr. Broun, GA X Mr, Runyan, NJ X 

Afs. BordaI/o. GU X Atr. Garcia, FL X 

Mr. Fleming, LA X Mr. Amodei, NV X 

Mr. Cos/a, CA ,VIr. CartH'right. PA X 

Mr. McClintock, CA X Mr. Mullin, OK X 

.AIr. Sahlal1, CNMf Mr. Stewart, UT X 

Mr. Thompson, PA X Mr. Haines, MT X 

Ms. Dwnga5i, )\1A X ;\'1r. Cramer, NO 

IMs. Lummis, WY X Mr. LaMalfa, CA X 

Mr. Pierluisi. PR X Mr.Smith,MO X 

Mr. Benishek, MI X VUC({J1(1;' 

Ms. Hal/a/msa, HI X 

TOTALS 13 24 

Pres 
5 

No further amendments were offered, and the bill was then 

adopted and ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by a roll call vote of 26 to 14, as follows: 


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rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with HEARINGInsert offset folio 6 here HR221.002

Date: July 24, 2013 

Committee on Natural Resources 

u.s. House of Representativcs 

1 13th Congress 

Recorded Vote #: 3 

Meeting on I Amendment on: H.R.14S9 - To adopt and favorably report the bilt to the House, agreed to by a 

vote 01'26 yeas and 14 nays 

lVIElVIBERS Yes No Pres lVIElVIBERS Yes No Pres 

lVIr. Hastings, WA, Chairman X Mr. Duncan ofSC X 

--r- Mr. Dejilzio, OR, Ranking X Mr. Cardenas, CA 

lVIr. Young, AK X lVIr. Tipton, CO X 

Mr. Faleomavaega, AS Mr. Hors(ord, NV 

lVIr. Gohmert, TX X lVIr. Gosar. AZ X 

Mr. Pallone, NJ 

~'""" X 

lVIr. Bishop, UT X brador, ID X 

Mrs. Napolitano, CA X RIllZ, CA X 

lVIr. Lamborn, CO X ilVlr. Southerland, FL X 

Mr. Holt, NJ A!s. Shea-Porter, NH X 

Mr. Wittman, V A X Mr. Flores, TX X 

Mr. Grijalva, AL X Mr. Lowenthal, CA X 

lVIr. Broun, GA ~ Mr. Runyan, NJ X 

Ms. Bordallo, GU X Mr. Garcia, FL X 

lVIr. Fleming, LA X Mr. Amodei, NV X 

Mr. Costa. CA X fUr. lartH:right. PA X 

Mr. lVIcClintock, CA X lVIr. Mullin, OK X 

Mr. SaNan, CNMI 1VIr. Stewart, UT X 

Mr. Thompson, PA X lVIr. Daines, MT X 

lv[v. Tsongas, MA X lVIr. Cramer, NO X 

Ms. Lummis, \VY X Mr. La:\talfa, CA X 

Mr. Pierluisi, PR X lVIr. Smith, MO X 

lVIr. Benishek, lVII X VaC(111GY 

Als. f1anabllsa, HI X 

TOTALS 26 14 
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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. 1459—Ensuring Public Involvement in the Creation of National Monuments Act 

H.R. 1459 would amend the process of designating new national 

monuments. The Antiquities Act of 1906 authorizes the President 

to declare landmarks, structures, and other objects of historic or 

scientific interest that are on federal land to be national monuments. H.R. 1459 would require an environmental review of any 

potential monuments that are greater than 5,000 acres. The designation of a national monument would expire after three years for 

any monument less than 5,000 acres unless the monument was 

designated by a change in the law. Under the bill, every designation would be followed by a feasibility study of the costs of managing the monument. The legislation also would limit the number 

of designations the President could make to one per state during 

a four-year term. 

Based on information provided by the National Park Service, 

CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 1459 would cost about $2 

million over the 2014–2018 period. Over the past 10 years, 16 national monuments have been established. CBO estimates that the 

additional studies required under the legislation would increase the 

cost of designating a new monument by about $300,000. Enacting 

H.R. 1459 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, 

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

H.R. 1459 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 Martin von Gnechten. 

The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, 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, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. 


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Based on information provided by the National Park Service, CBO 

estimates that implementing H.R. 1459 would cost about $2 million 

over the 2014–2018 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 ensure that the National Environmental Policy Act 

of 1969 applies to the declaration of national monuments. 

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. 

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, 

existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): 

ACT OF JUNE 8, 1906 

CHAP. 3060.—An Act For the preservation of American antiquities. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 

United States of America in Congress assembled, 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 2. øThat the President¿ (a) That the President of the United 

States is hereby authorized, in his ødiscretion, to declare¿ discretion, subject to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), to declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands owned 

or controlled by the Government of the United States to be national 


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monuments, and may reserve as a part thereof parcels of land, the 

limits of which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area 

compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to 

be protected: Provided, That when such objects are situated upon 

a tract covered by a bona fide unperfected claim or held in private 

ownership, the tract, or so much thereof as may be necessary for 

the proper care and management of the object, may be relinquished 

to the Government, and the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to accept the relinquishment of such tracts in behalf of the 

Government of the United States. No more than one declaration 

shall be made in a State during any presidential four-year term of 

office without an express Act of Congress. (b) A declaration under this section shall— 

(1) not include private property without the informed written 

consent of the owner of the private property affected by the declaration; 

(2) be considered a major Federal action under the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), if it 

affects more than 5,000 acres; 

(3) be categorically excluded under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and expire 

three years after the date of the declaration (unless specifically 

designated as a monument by Federal law), if it affects 5,000 

acres or less; and 

(4) be followed by a feasibility study that includes an estimate 

of the costs associated with managing the monument in perpetuity, including any loss of Federal and State revenue, which 

shall be submitted to the Committee on Natural Resources of 

the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and 

Natural Resources of the Senate and made available on the 

website of the Department of the Interior not later than one year 

after the date of the declaration. 

* * * * * * * 


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DISSENTING VIEWS 

H.R. 1459 is a disingenuous proposal to weaken the President’s 

authority to establish National Monuments under the Antiquities 

Act. The bill would apply the National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) to future Presidential monument declarations. While the 

majority has repeatedly sought to truncate or prohibit environmental reviews for drilling and mining, H.R. 1459 aims to require 

heightened environmental analysis for potentially time-sensitive 

conservation proposals. 

H.R. 1459 would deem a monument designation above 5,000 

acres a major federal action, requiring environmental review. The 

bill also limits the President to one monument designation per 

state, per year. These arbitrary hurdles are only intended to undermine the Antiquities Act and slow down conservation. Congress 

passed the Antiquities Act of 1906 to give Presidents the latitude 

to protect historically and culturally significant sites. Previous Congresses understood the importance of allowing the Executive 

Branch to move quickly to conserve resources, particularly given 

the pace of Congressional action. 

Sixteen Presidents, both Republicans and Democrats, have used 

the Antiquities Act to establish National Monuments. Some of the 

nation’s most cherished and visited National Parks, including the 

Grand Canyon, were first designated National Monuments because 

past Presidents had the foresight to set them aside. Presidents 

have used the Antiquities Act to protect resources central to the 

American story and identity, including Native American sacred 

sites, historic battlefields, and natural treasures like the Grand 

Staircase Escalante. With the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument 

and the Harriet Tubman National Monument, among others, recent declarations by President Obama have included sites significant to an even more diverse range of American communities. 

H.R. 1459 incorrectly assumes that Presidential proclamations 

are done in secret, without the support of local stakeholders. Earlier this year, President Obama established five new National 

Monuments, all with broad support from local communities and affiliated public interest groups. At the hearing for H.R. 1459, the 

committee heard testimony from the Mayor of Hampton, Virginia, 

the site of the National Monument at Fort Monroe, established in 

2011 by President Obama. The Mayor highlighted the inclusiveness 

of the process and the importance of the monument for her community. 

In the 112th Congress, ten bills were introduced to designate 

monuments or protect areas as historic sites; only five of those bills 

were heard by the Committee and only two, both sponsored by Republicans, were put before the full House of Representatives. Three 

of the new monuments established by President Obama had bills 


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filed in the House last Congress; none of those bills received a 

hearing. 

The Majority complains about the Antiquities Act and then fails 

to give new monument proposals a fair hearing. The Majority opposes new monument designations before they happen, but has 

never sought legislation to overturn a monument after it has been 

designated. Given this level of dysfunction, it is more important 

than ever that the authority granted the President in the Antiquities Act more than a century ago remain effective. 

PETER A. DEFAZIO. 

NIKI TSONGAS. 

RAU ́ L M. GRIJALVA. 

JOE GARCIA. 

ALAN LOWENTHAL. 

GRACE F. NAPOLITANO. 

TONY CA ́ RDENAS. 

RUSH HOLT. 

Æ 


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