[House Report 109-628]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
109th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 109-628
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TO AUTHORIZE THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE TO PAY FOR SERVICES RENDERED BY
SUBCONTRACTORS UNDER A GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION INDEFINITE
DELIVER/INDEFINITE QUANTITY CONTRACT ISSUED FOR WORK TO BE COMPLETED AT
THE GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK
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September 6, 2006.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
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Mr. Pombo, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 3961]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 3961) to authorize the National Park Service to pay for
services rendered by subcontractors under a General Services
Administration Indefinite Deliver/Indefinite Quantity Contract
issued for work to be completed at the Grand Canyon National
Park, having considered the same, report favorably thereon
without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 3961 is to authorize the National Park
Service to pay for services rendered by subcontractors under a
General Services Administration Indefinite Deliver/Indefinite
Quantity Contract issued for work to be completed at the Grand
Canyon National Park.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
During 2002 and 2003, the National Park Service (NPS)
issued approximately 43 task orders to Pacific General, Inc.
(PGI), a California-based construction firm, under an
Indefinite Deliver/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract for work
to be performed at the Grand Canyon National Park (GCNP).
PGI subcontractors performed work on numerous projects at
GCNP, including new entrance stations at North Rim and Desert
View, rehabilitated cabins at North Rim, improvements to the
Colorado River Bridge at Phantom Ranch and a new South Rim
wastewater treatment plant. These projects have benefitted
thousands of tourists who visit the Park each year. Although
PGI certified that payments were being sent to subcontractors
and suppliers, complaints were received from many
subcontractors that they had not received payment. The NPS had
paid over $10 million to PGI, of which $1.3 million was owed,
but unpaid to subcontractors. In addition, the NPS never
verified that PGI was indeed bonded.
Today, PGI is out of business and 38 small companies based
in Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah and Washington still have
not been paid and many are close to bankruptcy. The NPS does
not have the authority to pay the subcontractors directly for
their work. H.R. 3961 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior
to pay subcontractors for work performed at the Park under the
PGI IDIQ contract between 2002 and 2003.
COMMITTEE ACTION
H.R. 3961 was introduced on September 29, 2005, by
Congressman Rick Renzi (R-AZ). The bill was referred to the
Committee on Resources, and within the Committee to the
Subcommittee on National Parks. On March 30, 2006, the
Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On July 19, 2006, the
Full Resources Committee met to consider the bill, at which
time the Subcommittee on National Parks was discharged from
further consideration of the bill by unanimous consent. No
amendments were offered and the bill was ordered favorably
reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous consent.
CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT
Article I, section 8, clause 3 and Article IV, section 3,
clause 2 of the Constitution of the United States grant
Congress the authority to enact this bill.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B)
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2)
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this
bill does not contain any new budget authority, credit
authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax
expenditures. According to the Congressional Budget Office,
enactment of H.R. 3961 would result in direct spending of $1
million in 2007, but that amount would be offset by less
spending over the 2008-1010 period, and the net impact on
direct spending over 2007-2010 would thus be ``insignificant.''
3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. The bill does
not authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives does not
apply.
4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office:
H.R. 3961--A bill to authorize the National Park Service to pay for
services rendered by subcontractors under a General Services
Administration Indefinite Deliver/Indefinite Quantity Contract
issued for work to be completed at the Grand Canyon National
Park
Summary: H.R. 3961 would require the National Park Service
(NPS) to make payments to certain subcontractors who performed
work at the Grand Canyon National Park but were not paid by the
prime contractor. CBO estimates that implementing the bill
would increase direct spending by about $1 million in 2007, but
that amount would be offset by less spending over the 2008-2010
period, and the net impact of the bill on direct spending over
the 2007-2010 period would be insignificant.
The legislation contains no intergovernmental or private-
sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
(UMRA) and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal
governments.
Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated
budgetary impact of H.R. 3961 is shown in the following table.
The costs of this legislation fall within budget function 300
(natural resources and environment).
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By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
--------------------------------------------
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
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CHANGES IN DIRECT SPENDING
Estimated budget authority......................................... 1 * * * 0
Estimated outlays.................................................. 1 * * * 0
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Note: * = less than $500,000.
Basis of estimate: H.R. 3961 would require the NPS to use
collections from the Grand Canyon National Park's entrance fees
to pay subcontractors associated with Pacific General, Inc.
(PGI), a California-based firm for construction work performed
in 2002 and 2003. The NPS has paid $10 million to PGI through a
General Services Administration contract for numerous Grand
Canyon National Park construction projects, and $1.3 million of
that amount was owed, but not paid to the firm's
subcontractors. PGI has since gone out of business.
Entrance fees collected by the NPS are recorded in the
budget as offsetting receipts and are available without further
appropriation. For this estimate, CBO assumes that H.R. 3961
will be enacted near the start of fiscal year 2007. CBO expects
that requiring the NPS to pay PGI's subcontractors would cost
$1.3 million in 2007. CBO estimates that spending of park
entrance fees would be reduced by $1.3 million over the 2008-
2010 period. Thus, the bill's net impact on spending over the
2007-2010 period would not be significant.
Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: The
legislation contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in UMRA and would impose no costs on state,
local, or tribal governments.
Estimate prepared by: Federal costs: Matthew Pickford;
Impact on state, local, and tribal governments: Marjorie
Miller; Impact on the private sector: Amy Petz.
Estimate approved by: Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW
This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or
tribal law.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
If enacted, this bill would make no changes to existing
law.