The Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs puts out weekly reports on hearings, new legislation and other activities on the Hill. The following is the September 9th summary.

In order to obtain the full text of any of the bills that appear below, click on the following link: http://thomas.loc.gov/ . That will take you to Thomas, the Library of Congress legislative tracking system. Enter the bill number in the “Search Bill Text” block, being sure to also click on the “Bill Number” option below the block.

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New Public Laws

Nothing to report.

Floor Action

Nothing to report.

 Committee Activity

On September 9th, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands (Bishop) held a hearing on the following bills of interest to the National Park Service.  The DOI witness was Bob Ratcliffe, Deputy Assistant Director, Renewable Resources and Planning, Bureau of Land Management.  The backup witnesses were Bert Frost, Associate Director for Natural Resource Stewardship and Science, National Park Service and Jeff Rupert, Acting Deputy Assistant Director for the National Wildlife Refuge System at the Fish and Wildlife Service.

These two bills pertain to recreational fishing, hunting and shooting on federal public lands – H.R. 2834, the Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act, and H.R. 1444, which concerns hunting and land management planning. The Department strongly supports the goal of promoting recreational fishing, hunting and shooting opportunities. The Department strongly opposes provisions of the bills which exclude management decisions from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).  The Department is also concerned that provisions of these bills seem to duplicate or overlap with existing management authorities and policies. The Department strongly opposes the provisions of H.R. 2834, which undermine the provisions of the Wilderness Act.  The Department welcomed the opportunity to work with the Committee to promote highly important and traditional outdoor recreation activities

New Bills Introduced     

The following bills of interest to the NPS were introduced:

• H.R. 1901 (Rush, D-IL-1), to amend the Workforce Act of 1998 regarding the work opportunity tax credit with respect to youth hired in 2009 or 2010 under the youth opportunity grants program to lower the maximum eligibility age of such youth from 24 to 21.
• H.R. 2364 (Malony, D-NY-14), to amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and title 5, United States Code, to permit leave to care for a domestic partner, parent-in-law, adult child, sibling, grandchild, or grandparent who has a serious health condition, and for other purposes.
• H.R. 2840 (LoBiondo, D-NJ-2), to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to regulate discharges from commercial vessels, and for other purposes.
• H.R. 2852 (Bishop, R-UT-1), to authorize Western States to make selections of public land within their borders.
• H.R. 2865 (Grimm, R-NY-13), 9/11 Memorial Cross National Monument Establishment Act of 2011, To establish the 9/11 Memorial Cross located at the National 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York as a national monument, and for other purposes.
• S. Res. 260 (Webb, D-VA), a resolution commemorating the 75th anniversary of the dedication of Shenandoah National Park.

Upcoming Committee Activity

On September 13th, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands (Bishop) will hold a hearing on the following bills of interest to the National Park Service at 10:00 a.m. in Room 1334 Longworth House Office Building.  The DOI witness has not yet been determined:

• H.R. 302 (Foxx, R-NC-5), to provide for State approval of national monuments, and for other purposes.
• H.R. 758 (Nunes, R-CA-21), to amend the Act popularly known as the Antiquities Act of 1906 to require certain procedures for designating national monuments, and for other purposes.
• H.R. 817 (Herger, R-CA-2), to amend the Antiquities Act of 1906 to place additional requirements on the establishment of national monuments under that Act, and for other purposes.
• H.R. 845 (Rehberg, MT-At Large), to prohibit the further extension or establishment of national monuments in Montana, except by express authorization of Congress, and for other purposes.
• H.R. 846 (Labrador, R-ID-1), to prohibit the further extension or establishment of national monuments in Idaho, except by express authorization of Congress, and for other purposes.
• H.R. 2147 (Bishop, R-UT-1), to prohibit the further extension or establishment of national monuments in Utah except by express authorization of Congress.

On September 15th, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands (Bishop) will hold a hearing on bills of interest to the National Park Service at 10:00 am in Room 1334 Longworth House Office Building.  The DOI witness will be Bert Frost, Associate Director for Natural Resource Stewardship and Science.

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For additional information, please visit the Legislative and Congressional Affairs Office website at http://www.nps.gov/legal/

Contact Information
Name: Elaine Hackett