By a vote of 29 to 0, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed S. 2708, the $19.3 billion Interior Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2003 on June 27, 2002. The Senate Committee report is numbered S.Rpt. 107-201. (By a vote of 377 to 46 on July 17, 2002, the House of Representatives passed their version, H.R. 5093. The House Committee report accompanying that bill is H.Rpt. 107-564.) To date, the Senate version has not reached the floor.

The following represents a quick analysis of the bill from a California perspective as prepared by the California Institute. We apologize for any errors or omissions in our discussion of these documents, and would appreciate any input/feedback on how to make improving corrections. The ordering of items generally reflects their presence in the bill and does not mean to imply any relative importance.

This appropriations analysis is available on the California Institute web site at http://www.calinst.org/pubs/int03s.htm and a printable version in Adobe Acrobat ("pdf") format is available at http://www.calinst.org/pubs/int03s.pdf . An analysis of the House version of the FY 2003 Interior Appropriations bill is available at http://www.calinst.org/pubs/int03h.htm and in pdf format at http://www.calinst.org/pubs/int03h.pdf .

SENATE FY03 DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR APPROPRIATIONS

The Senate Interior appropriations committee report provides a total of $9.6 billion for the Department of Interior, and $9.7 billion for related agencies. Within the Department of Interior, spending was broken out as follows: Bureau of Land Management – $1.9 billion, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – $1.3 billion, National Park Service – $2.4 billion, U.S. Geological Survey – $927 million, Minerals Management Service – $172 million, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement – $297 million, and Bureau of Indian Affairs – $2.3 billion.

At non-Interior Department agencies, spending totals included: Forest Service – $4 million, Interior-related accounts at the Department of Energy – $1.8 billion, Indian Health Service – $2.8 billion, Smithsonian Institution $538 million, National Endowment for the Arts – $118 million, National Endowment for the Humanities – $128 million, and Presidio Trust – $21,327.

The following represents specific items pertaining to California which were contained in the Senate bill.

LAND AND WATER RESOURCES

Bureau of Land Management

Payments in Lieu of Taxes

The Committee recommends $220,000,000 for Payments in Lieu of Taxes, of which $100,000,000 is from the conservation spending category. The amount provided is an increase of $55,000,000 above the budget request.

Land Acquisition

Cosumnes River Watershed $2,500,000

King Range National Conservation Area 2,000,000

Otay Mountain Wilderness 2,000,000

Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains NM 2,000,000

Squaw Leap Management Area (San Joaquin River) 900,000

Oregon and California Grant Lands

The Committee recommends an appropriation of $105,633,000, which is equal to the budget request.

FISH AND WILDLIFE AND PARKS

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Resource Management

The Committee recommends $924,620,000 for resource management, $21,016,000 above the budget estimate.

Ecological Services

The Committee recommends $228,582,000 for ecological services, an increase of $17,435,000 above the budget estimate. For the ecological services activity, the Committee recommends an increase of $6,635,000 for the endangered species subactivity, including an increase of $923,000 in listing general programs. Within that program, the Committee recommends an increase of $200,000 in consultation programs for the Central Valley and Southern California Habitat Conservation Plan.

Refuges and Wildlife

The Report language states: "The Committee recognizes the agreement reached by the Fish and Wildlife Service, the State of California, and a private landowner for the purchase of salt ponds in the San Francisco Bay area for inclusion in the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge. The Committee urges the Fish and Wildlife Service to allocate resources to provide for maintenance and operations associated with the refuge’s increased size."

A total of $998,000, the budget estimate, is recommended to continue the Salton Sea recovery program, contingent on matching funds from the State of California. The Report states: "The Committee does not object to including this program in the regular operations account in fiscal year 2004 and beyond."

Migratory Bird Management

For the Pacific Coast, the Committee recommends $397,000 under this program, and for the San Francisco Bay, the recommendation is $282,000. For the Central Valley, the Committee recommends 438,000.

Construction

The Committee recommends $42,182,000 for construction, an increase of $6,780,000 above the budget estimate. Included in this funding are the following projects:

Klamath Basin NWR Complex – Water Supply and Management Phase IV – $1,000,000

Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR – Seismic Safety Rehabilitation of Shop Buildings Phase II [cc] – $200,000.

Land Acquisition

The Committee recommends $89,055,000, $18,671,000 above the

budget request for FWS land acquisition. The land acquisition pro-gram

is funded through the conservation spending category. Included in the funding are the following:

Sacramento NWR $1,100,000

San Diego NWR 2,000,000

ENERGY AND MINERALS

U.S. Geological Survey

The Committee recommends an appropriation of $926,667,000 for the United States Geological Survey (USGS) for fiscal year 2003. This amount is $12,665,000 above the current year enacted level and $59,329,000 above the budget estimate.

Biological Resources

The Committee recommends $172,227,000 for Biological Resources. This amount is $5,838,000 above the current year enacted level and $11,746,000 above the budget estimate. The Report states: "The Committee does not agree with many of the reductions proposed in the budget estimate and has restored the following . . . $1,000,000 for additional work at Lake Tahoe, which will include $500,000 for a decision support system, and $500,000 to initiate the process for a place-based study.

The Committee notes the interest that has been expressed in establishing additional State cooperative research units and, therefore, directs the Survey to develop a priority system for expanding the current program."

U.S. FOREST SERVICE

Forest Health Management

The Committee recommends $84,412,000 for forest health management, which is $16,108,000 above the enacted level. The Committee has provided $44,374,000, an increase of $1,070,000 above the enacted level, for Federal lands forest health management which is for fixed cost increases.

The Report also provides $15,000,000 to support the administration’s new proposed fund to rapidly respond to invasive species problems. This is $3,032,000, however, more than the Administration’s request. The Report states: "The Committee has included bill language that assures these funds are available for the full spectrum of invasive species including pests, pathogens, and plants. Within the funds provided is $5,000,000 for research and control of Sudden Oak Death, including $2,500,000 for control and containment activities and $2,500,000 for research. The Committee expects the Forest Service to focus these activities in States which have had Sudden Oak Death outbreaks such as California, Arkansas, and Mississippi or in States where the risk of outbreaks is high due to the high concentration of oak species."

Cooperative Forestry

The Committee has provided $85,000,000 for the forest legacy program which is $20,000,000 above the enacted level and is derived from the conservation spending category. Included in that funding is $2.6 million for the East Sacramento Oak Woodlands, phase 1.

Economic Action Program

The Committee Report notes that "the administration proposed to eliminate the Economic Action Program for fiscal year 2003. However, the Committee believes that the EAP programs are crucial to assisting rural timber-dependent communities, many of which have acute economic problems." Accordingly, the Committee recommends $29,700,000 for the Economic Action Programs (EAP), which is $29,700,000 above the request and $5,980,000 below the enacted level.

Included in that funding under Special Projects is $5 million for Lake Tahoe erosion control grants.

Land Management Planning

The Committee recommends $248,901,000 for land management planning activities, including inventorying and monitoring, which is $5,227,000 above the enacted level. The increases above the enacted level are $4,827,000 for fixed costs and $400,000 (for a total of $600,000) to support adaptive management activities at Lake Tahoe.

Vegetation and watershed management

The Committee recommends $192,384,000 for vegetation and watershed management, which is an increase of $2,271,000 above the enacted level. Included in that total is $1,000,000 (for a total of $4,550,000) for wetland and riparian restoration, urban lot management, and other activities at Lake Tahoe.

Lake Tahoe

The Committee Report states: "The Committee notes that it has provided a total of $24,000,000 for activities in the Lake Tahoe Basin. This is an increase of $2,980,000 above the enacted level and $17,150,000 above the budget request. Within the National Forest System appropriation these amounts are allocated as follows, $600,000 within inventorying and monitoring to support adaptive management work, $150,000 within recreation, heritage, and wilderness management, $50,000 within wildlife and fisheries management, $4,550,000 within vegetation and watershed management, and $350,000 for landownership management. To the extent that a change in the program of work is necessitated by a change in priorities in the field the distribution of these funds may be revised upon notification and consultation with the Committee. The Committee has also provided $5,000,000 within the State and Private Forestry appropriation, $3,000,000 in the Capital Improvement and Maintenance appropriation, $3,000,000 within the Wildland Fire Management Appropriation, $350,000 from the Roads and Trails fund, and approximately $6,950,000 within the Land Acquisition appropriation for activities at Lake Tahoe."

Wildland Fire Management

The Committee recommends a total appropriation of $1,369,291,000 for wildland fire management activities, which is $153,000 above the budget request. Of the funds provided for hazardous fuels, a total of $3,000,000 is allocated for fuels reduction work at Lake Tahoe, including work on urban lots.

Roads

The Committee recommends $235,566,000 for road maintenance and capital improvement, which is an increase of $3,673,000 above the budget request, and $5,900,000 above the enacted level. The funding includes $3,000,000 to be allocated for retrofitting and road decommissioning in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Land Acquisition

The Committee recommends $157,679,000 for land acquisition, $27,169,000 above the budget request. This program is funded under the conservation spending category. Included in the funding is $6.7 million for the acquisition of critically sensitive lands in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

The Committee also makes the following allocation recommendations:

Big Sur Ecosystem Los Padres NF $3,000,000

SPI, North Fork American River Tahoe NF 2,000,000

Law Enforcement Operations

The Committee recommends $84,000,000 for law enforcement operations, which is $5,000,000 above the enacted level. The Report states: "the Committee remains concerned with law enforcement problems created by marijuana cultivation and the operation of methamphetamine labs on forest system lands in States throughout the Nation, such as California, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Louisiana. These problems have been increasingly difficult for the agency to address given the growing number of personnel vacancies that have opened in the law enforcement program. The Committee believes that the agency should utilize the additional funds provided by the Committee to begin filling these vacancies, particularly in areas that are experiencing high levels of illegal drug activity."

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

Construction

Channel Islands NP (animal protection devices) $2,116,000

Death Valley NP (replace maintenance facility) 2,007,000

Death Valley NP (replace roof) 550,000

Golden Gate NRA (repair balconies at Alcatraz) 1,210,000

Golden Gate NRA, CA (renovate Cliff House) 1,914,000

Japanese American History – Presidio (design) 600,000

Joshua Tree NP (repair campgrounds) 560,000

Pacific Coast Immigration Station (study) 200,000

SF Maritime NHP (C.A. Thayer) 5,010,000

The Report states: "Funds provided for the Pacific Coast Immigration Station and the Japanese American History project at the Presidio are for completion of ongoing planning and feasibility studies. All funding for actual construction (estimated at $7,200,000) will need to be raised through partnerships with the private and non-profit sectors."

NATIONAL PARKS SERVICE

Land Acquisition

The Committee recommends $238,205,000 for land acquisition and State assistance, a reduction of $47,852,000 below the budget request. The land acquisition program is funded through the conservation spending category. The Report includes in the funding $2 million for the Mojave National Park.

PRESIDIO TRUST FUND

The Committee recommends $21,327,000 for the Presidio Trust, a decrease of $1,798,000 from the fiscal year 2002 enacted level and the same level as the Administration’s budget request.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Section 118 authorizes the National Park Service to enter into a cooperative agreement with the Golden Gate National Parks Association to provide fee-based education, interpretive and visitor service functions within the Crissy Field and Fort Point areas of the Presidio.

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Elk Hills School Land Funds

The Committee recommends $36,000,000 for the Elk Hills school lands fund, the same as the budget request and the FY 2002 level. The funds will become available on October 1, 2003.

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