By a vote of 29 to 0, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed S. 1391, the $19.6 billion Interior Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2004 on July 10, 2003. The Senate Committee report is numbered S.Rpt. 108-89. (By a vote of 268 to 152 on July 17, 2003, the House of Representatives passed their version, H.R. 2691. The House Committee report accompanying that bill is H.Rpt. 108-195.) 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/int04h.htm and a printable version in pdf format is available at http://www.calinst.org/pubs/int04h.pdf . An analysis of the House version of the FY 2004 Interior Appropriations bill is available at http://www.calinst.org/pubs/int04h.htm and a printable version in pdf format is available at http://www.calinst.org/pubs/int04h.pdf .

On July 10, 2003, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved S. 1391, its FY04 Appropriations for the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies. The Committee report accompanying the bill is S.Rpt. 108-89. Total funding of $19.6 billion in the bill is $173 million below the FY03 enacted level, and about $123 million above the President’s budget request.

The Committee recommends an appropriation of $25,600,000 for land acquisition, an increase of $1,914,000 above the budget estimate. Funding includes:

California Wilderness (CA) $1,000,000

Otay Mountain/Kuchamaa Habitat Conservation Plan (CA) $1,500,000

Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument (CA) $1,000,000

The Committee recommends an appropriation of $106,672,000, which is equal to the budget request.

The Committee recommends $942,244,000 for resource management, $718,000 above the budget estimate. The Committee has not continued bill language concerning the Natural Communities Conservation Planning project in California. The Committee notes this project is eligible to compete for funds from the Section 6 Habitat Conservation Planning Grants program through the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund.

Funding for resource management includes $32,596,00 for migratory bird management, an increase of $1,475,000 above the request. The Committee agrees to the following distribution of funds for joint ventures:

Intermountain West $997,000

Central Valley $548,000

Pacific Coast $697,000

San Francisco Bay $368,000

The Committee recommends $64,689,000, an increase of $23,952,000 above the budget request. The Committee’s recommendation includes:

San Diego National Wildlife Refuge $2,500,000

San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge $1,500,000

The Committee recommends $341,531,000 for construction, an increase of $14,274,000 above the budget request. The Committee recommends the following distribution of funds:

Pacific Coast Immigration Museum, CA $385,000

San Francisco Maritime NHP, CA (rehabilitate C.A. Thayer [complete]) $1,177,000

Sequoia and Kings Canyon NP, CA (replace potable water tanks and provide fire suppression at park headquarters) $2,210,000

The funds provided for planning of the Pacific Coast Immigration Museum complete the Federal commitment to the project.

The Committee recommends an appropriation of $928,864,000 for the United States Geological Survey (USGS) for fiscal year 2004, an amount of $9,592,000 above the fiscal year 2003 enacted level.

Within the appropriation, the Committee recommends $169,580,000 for biological research, an amount $235,000 below the enacted level. Funding includes $500,000 for a decision support system for Lake Tahoe.

SEC. 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.

The Committee recommends $81,073,000 for forest health management activities, which is $946,000 below the budget request and $190,000 above the enacted level. Within the funds provided, for the cooperative lands program $2,000,000 is for hazardous tree removal in the Lake Arrowhead and Idyllwild areas of southern California.

The Committee recommends $176,747,000 for cooperative forestry, which is $9,124,000 above the enacted level. Within this appropriation, the Committee has provided $84,716,000 for the forest legacy program which is $16,336,000 above the enacted level. This allocation also includes the use of an additional $6,000,000 from prior year funds for projects which have either failed or received funding from other sources. The Committee recommends the following distribution of funds:

CA Dofflemeyer Ranch $2,500,000

CA Six Rivers to the Sea $1,350,000

Also within the funds provided is $24,020,000 for the Economic Action Program, including $2,500,000 for Lake Tahoe erosion control grants.

The Committee recommends an appropriation of $1,370,731,000, an increase of $17,287,000 above the enacted level, and an increase of $1,158,000 compared to the Administration’s request.

The Committee recommends $242,464,000 for land management planning activities, including inventory and monitoring, which is $6,200,000 less than the budget request. This reduction reflects a transfer of funds to the research appropriation to consolidate funding for the Forest Inventory and Analysis program. Within the funds provided for inventorying and monitoring, $400,000 shall be used for adaptive management activities at Lake Tahoe.

The Committee recommends $193,606,000 for vegetation and watershed management activities which is $1,000,000 above the budget request. Funding includes $3,550,000 for wetland and riparian restoration, urban lot management, and other activities at Lake Tahoe.

The Committee recommendation includes the full funding requested by the Administration for the Quincy Library Group project in California.

The Committee recommends a total appropriation of $1,543,072,000 for wildland fire management activities, which is $1,297,000 above the request and $463,896,000 below the enacted level (which included $636,000,000 to partially repay previous emergency fire suppression expenditures). Of the funds provided for hazardous fuels reduction, $2,100,000 shall be allocated for work at Lake Tahoe.

The Committee recommends $228,764,000 for road maintenance and capital improvement, which is $2,580,000 below last year’s enacted amount and $16,594,000 below the Administration’s request. Of the funds provided $148,781,000 is for maintenance and $79,983,000 is for capital improvement. Within the funds provided for capital improvement, $2,500,000 is for retrofitting and road decommissioning in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

The Committee recommends $77,040,000 for land acquisition, $32,910,000 above the budget request. Distribution of funds includes:

Lake Tahoe sensitive lands (CA/NV) $4,000,000

Sierra Nevada inholdings $2,000,000

The Committee recommends $36,000,000 for the Elk Hills school lands fund, the same as the budget request and the fiscal year 2003 level. These funds will become available on October 1, 2004.

The Committee recommends $20,700,000 for the Presidio Trust, the same as the budget request.

SEC. 332. Amends the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act to modify cost sharing requirements.