Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 402 - Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act Amendments

(House)
(Young (R) AK)

The Administration has no objection to the purposes of H.R. 402, but is concerned about the provision transferring to the United States the Wrangell Institute in Wrangell, Alaska. The provision would require the Department of the Interior to assume a potentially multi-million dollar hazardous substance clean-up liability for lands which were selected.by — and conveyed to — an Alaska Native Corporation in 1978. Transfer of the property should be delayed pending completion of a report — required by this legislation — addressing the issue of hazardous substance contamination claims arising from lands transferred to native corporations.

Pay-As-You-Go Scoring

H.R. 402 would affect direct spending; it is, therefore, subject to the pay-as-you-go requirement of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990. OMB's preliminary scoring estimate of this bill indicates that its enactment would result in a net zero impact on the deficit. Final scoring of this legislation may deviate from this estimate.