H. R. 2466
One Hundred Sixth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the sixth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine
An Act
Making appropriations for the Department of the Interior and related agencies
for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2000, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the
following sums are appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury
not otherwise appropriated, for the Department of the Interior
and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2000,
and for other purposes, namely:
TITLE I—DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
MANAGEMENT OF LANDS AND RESOURCES
For expenses necessary for protection, use, improvement,
development, disposal, cadastral surveying, classification, acquisi-
tion of easements and other interests in lands, and performance
of other functions, including maintenance of facilities, as authorized
by law, in the management of lands and their resources under
the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management, including the
general administration of the Bureau, and assessment of mineral
potential of public lands pursuant to Public Law 96–487 (16 U.S.C.
3150(a)), $644,218,000, to remain available until expended, of which
$2,147,000 shall be available for assessment of the mineral potential
of public lands in Alaska pursuant to section 1010 of Public Law
96–487 (16 U.S.C. 3150); and of which not to exceed $1,000,000
shall be derived from the special receipt account established by
the Land and Water Conservation Act of 1965, as amended (16
U.S.C. 460l–6a(i)); and of which $2,500,000 shall be available in
fiscal year 2000 subject to a match by at least an equal amount
by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, to such Foundation
for cost-shared projects supporting conservation of Bureau lands
and such funds shall be advanced to the Foundation as a lump
sum grant without regard to when expenses are incurred; in addi-
tion, $33,529,000 for Mining Law Administration program oper-
ations, including the cost of administering the mining claim fee
program; to remain available until expended, to be reduced by
amounts collected by the Bureau and credited to this appropriation
from annual mining claim fees so as to result in a final appropria-
tion estimated at not more than $644,218,000, and $2,000,000,
to remain available until expended, from communication site rental
fees established by the Bureau for the cost of administering commu-
nication site activities, and of which $2,500,000, to remain available
H. R. 2466—2
until expended, is for coalbed methane Applications for Permits
to Drill in the Powder River Basin: Provided, That unless there
is a written agreement in place between the coal mining operator
and a gas producer, the funds available herein shall not be used
to process or approve coalbed methane Applications for Permits
to Drill for well sites that are located within an area, which as
of the date of the coalbed methane Application for Permit to Drill,
are covered by: (1) a coal lease; (2) a coal mining permit; or (3)
an application for a coal mining lease: Provided further, That appro-
priations herein made shall not be available for the destruction
of healthy, unadopted, wild horses and burros in the care of the
Bureau or its contractors.
WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT
For necessary expenses for fire preparedness, suppression oper-
ations, emergency rehabilitation and hazardous fuels reduction by
the Department of the Interior, $292,282,000, to remain available
until expended, of which not to exceed $9,300,000 shall be for
the renovation or construction of fire facilities: Provided, That such
funds are also available for repayment of advances to other appro-
priation accounts from which funds were previously transferred
for such purposes: Provided further, That unobligated balances of
amounts previously appropriated to the ‘‘Fire Protection’’ and
‘‘Emergency Department of the Interior Firefighting Fund’’ may
be transferred and merged with this appropriation: Provided fur-
ther, That persons hired pursuant to 43 U.S.C. 1469 may be fur-
nished subsistence and lodging without cost from funds available
from this appropriation: Provided further, That notwithstanding
42 U.S.C. 1856d, sums received by a bureau or office of the Depart-
ment of the Interior for fire protection rendered pursuant to 42
U.S.C. 1856 et seq., protection of United States property, may
be credited to the appropriation from which funds were expended
to provide that protection, and are available without fiscal year
limitation: Provided further, That not more than $58,000 shall
be available to the Bureau of Land Management to reimburse
Trinity County for expenses incurred as part of the July 2, 1999
Lowden Fire.
CENTRAL HAZARDOUS MATERIALS FUND
For necessary expenses of the Department of the Interior and
any of its component offices and bureaus for the remedial action,
including associated activities, of hazardous waste substances,
pollutants, or contaminants pursuant to the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, as
amended (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.), $10,000,000, to remain available
until expended: Provided, That notwithstanding 31 U.S.C. 3302,
sums recovered from or paid by a party in advance of or as
reimbursement for remedial action or response activities conducted
by the department pursuant to section 107 or 113(f ) of such Act,
shall be credited to this account to be available until expended
without further appropriation: Provided further, That such sums
recovered from or paid by any party are not limited to monetary
payments and may include stocks, bonds or other personal or real
property, which may be retained, liquidated, or otherwise disposed
of by the Secretary and which shall be credited to this account.