Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 1977 - Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, FY 1996

(House Floor)
(Sponsors: Livingston (R) Louisiana; Regula (R) Ohio)

This Statement of Administration Policy provides the Administration's views on H.R. 1977, the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, FY 1996, as approved in conference on December 12, 1995. Your consideration of the Administration's views would be appreciated.

In the November 6, 1995, Statement of Administration Policy to the House, the Administration identified the most troublesome provisions in the original conference report with the goal of arriving at a bill that serves specific, vital interests and that could be signed by the President.

Regrettably, the third conference report does not adequately address the significant funding shortfalls and objectionable legislative riders. If the bill, as approved by the third conference, were presented to the President, he would veto it. With few exceptions, the issues that were identified in the November 6th Statement of Administration Policy remain serious problems and are described below.

Funding Issues

While the Administration appreciates the $50 million in funding restored for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service, this additional funding falls short of the levels needed to maintain these important programs. In addition, the third conference has done nothing to restore funds for the Department of Energy's (DOE's) energy conservation programs.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) budget has been increased in the third conference $25 million above the previous conference level. That would still leave the program $111 million short of the House mark and $159 million below the FY 1995 enacted level. The most significant effect of this action remains the crippling reductions targeted at tribal priority allocation programs, which support essential tribal government, law enforcement, housing improvement, general assistance, Indian child welfare, adult vocational training, road maintenance, and other basic reservation services. The Administration's view is that funding must be restored more substantially for these programs.

DOE's energy conservation programs are still funded at a net level of $536 million. There has been no increase from the first or second conference levels. This funding level is $187 million, or 26 percent, below the net FY 1995 enacted level of $723 million, and 38 percent below the President's request. Funding for these programs must be restored significantly in order to reach acceptable levels.

In addition to the satisfactory resolution of the language issues addressed below, the President will not sign an Interior appropriations bill unless funding for these programs is significantly restored without harming other high-priority programs or unless there is an overall agreement between the Congress and the Administration on budget priorities that addresses the Administration's fundamental concerns about spending priorities both in this bill and elsewhere.

Language Issues

The conference committee has made few changes to the numerous legislative riders in the bill that the Administration finds seriously objectionable. Except for the continuation of the existing mining patent moratorium, the riders that were cited in the November 6th Statement of Administration Policy have not been significantly improved in the third conference. These provisions are so seriously flawed that the Administration sees no way to remedy them; short of removing them altogether. The most serious problems are:

• the Tongass (Alaska) forest management provisions. These provisions would dictate the use of the current forest plan for FY 1996 and FY 1997, require unsustainable timber sale levels, and not allow the plan to be updated during this period;
  
  
• the Interior Columbia River Basin provision. This provision would continue to impede implementation of the comprehensive plan for management of public lands by prohibiting the publication of the final Environmental Impact Statement or Record of Decision and limiting the contents to exclude information on fisheries and watersheds, although it would extend by 90 days the due date for the assessment project. The provision would risk a return to legal gridlock on timber harvesting, grazing, mining, and other economically desirable activities;
  
  
• bill language that provides $500,000 from available funds for the National Park Service (NPS) to develop the Mojave National Preserve's management plan. This provision would still limit funding to $1 for NPS land management operations within the Preserve, while providing $599,000 for operational funding to be managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Report language adopted by the third conference calling for more studies by the Park Service, and prohibiting any transfer of funds to NPS to augment operations, does not change the fact that the Preserve would be starved of funding, and the purposes of the California Desert Act would be undercut; and
  
  
• no change in language from the first conference in a rider to make permanent the protocol for identification of marbled murrelet nests that was included in the FY 1995 rescission bill, thereby eliminating normal flexibility to use new scientific information as it develops.

In addition, the Administration has previously expressed concern about other legislative riders, including the moratorium on future listings and critical habitat designations under the Endangered Species Act, the Department of Energy efficiency standards one-year moratorium, and the provision affecting the Tribe and seven other self-governance tribes in Washington State.

An additional funding issue concerns the severe cuts (nearly 40 percent) to the National Endowment for the Arts (NBA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). These significantly reduced funding levels would jeopardize NBA's and NEH's ability to continue to provide important cultural, educational, and artistic programs for communities across America.