[Senate Report 109-246]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 408
109th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 109-246
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STE. GENEVIEVE COUNTY NATIONAL HISTORICAL SITE STUDY ACT OF 2005
_______
April 20, 2006.--Ordered to be printed
Filed under authority of the order of the Senate of April 7, 2006
_______
Mr. Domenici, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 1728]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the Act (H.R. 1728) to authorize the Secretary of the
Interior to study the suitability and feasibility of
designating portions of Ste. Genevieve County in the State of
Missouri as a unit of the National Park System, and for other
purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon
without amendment and recommends that the Act do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE MEASURE
The purpose of H.R. 1728 is to authorize the Secretary of
the Interior to study the suitability and feasibility of
designating portions of Ste. (Sainte) Genevieve County in the
State of Missouri as a unit of the National Park System, and
for other purposes.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, was once part of France's Upper
Louisiana Territory, a vast area that encompassed the
Mississippi and Missouri River drainage basins, and included
much of what is now the middle third of the United States. The
town, located along the Mississippi River in southeast
Missouri, was settled in the 1700s by French colonists. The
colonists came to mine lead, harvest salt from a local saline
stream, and grow export crops along the Mississippi River
bottomland.
To this day, Ste. Genevieve contains an impressive share of
the colonial French buildings remaining in North America,
including three of five known remaining ``poteaux-en-terre''
houses, structures built around posts anchored in the ground.
Similar structures in other old French towns were swept away by
floods of the Mississippi in the 19th century.
H.R. 1728 would authorize the Secretary to study the
suitability and feasibility of designating the French Colonial
structures and locations within the Ste. Genevieve County,
Missouri, as a unit of the National Park Service. The
structures and locations to be studied include Bequette-
Ribault, St. Gemme-Amoureaux and Wilhauk homes, as well as Le
Grand Champ field, historic downtown Ste. Genevieve, and a
prehistoric Native American Village.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
H.R. 1728 was introduced by Representatives Carnahan and
Emerson on April 20, 2005 and passed by the House of
Representatives on a voice vote, on February 28, 2005. H.R.
1728 was referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources on March 1, 2006.
An identical bill, S. 323, was introduced by Senators
Talent and Bond on February 8, 2005. The Subcommittee on
National Parks held a hearing on S. 323 on March 15, 2005. At
its business meeting on March 8, 2006, the Committee on Energy
and Natural Resources ordered H.R. 1728 favorably reported.
Similar bills were introduced by Senators Bond and Talent
(S. 1105) in the 108th Congress and by Senators Bond and
Carnahan (S. 1638) in the 107th Congress.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open
business session on March 8, 2006, by unanimous voice vote of a
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 1728.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1 entitles the bill the ``Ste. Genevieve County
National Historic Site Study Act of 2005''.
Section 2 sets forth congressional findings.
Section 3 defines key terms.
Section 4 directs the Secretary of the Interior to complete
a study within three years after funds are made available and
to report findings from the study to Congress.
Section 5 authorizes an appropriation of funds necessary to
carry out the act.
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The following estimate of costs of this measure has been
provided by the Congressional Budget Office.
H.R. 1728--Ste. Genevieve County National Historic Site Study Act of
2005
H.R. 1728 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to
conduct a study to determine the suitability and feasibility of
establishing an area of historical houses in Ste. Genevieve,
Missouri, as a unit of the National Park System. Based on
information provided by the National Park Service and assuming
the availability of appropriated funds, CBO estimates that
carrying out the proposed study would cost about $200,000 over
the next three years. Enacting H.R. 1728 would not affect
direct spending or revenues.
The legislation contains no intergovernmental or private-
sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal
governments.
On November 22, 2005, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for
H.R. 1728, the French Colonial Heritage National Historic Site
Study Act of 2005, as ordered reported by the House Committee
on Resources on November 16, 2005. The two versions of the
legislation are similar and the cost estimates are identical.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew
Pickford. This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine,
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION
In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in
carrying out H.R. 1728. The Act is not a regulatory measure in
the sense of imposing Government-established standards or
significant economic responsibilities on private individuals
and businesses.
No personal information would be collected in administering
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal
privacy.
Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the
enactment of H.R. 1728, as ordered reported.
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
The views of the Administration on S. 323, a similar bill,
were included in testimony received by the Committee at a
hearing on the bill on March 15, 2005. This testimony follows:
Statement of Janet Snyder Matthews, Associate Director for Cultural
Resources, National Park Service, Department of the Interior
Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to present the
Department's views on S. 323, a bill to authorize the Secretary
of the Interior to study the suitability and feasibility of
designating the French Colonial Heritage Area in the State of
Missouri as a unit of the National Park System.
While the Department is supportive of S. 323, with the
minor clarification provided in this testimony, we believe that
available funding should be first directed toward completing
previously authorized studies. Currently, 31 studies are in
progress, and we hope to complete and transmit 19 to Congress
by the end of calendar year 2005.
S. 323 would authorize the Secretary to complete a study on
the suitability and feasibility of designating the French
Colonial Heritage Area as a unit of the National Park System.
The French Colonial Heritage Area (Area) includes the Bequette-
Ribault, St. Gemme-Amoureaux, and Wilhauk homes, and the
related and supporting historical assets in Ste. Genevieve
County, Missouri. The Area contains some of the only existing
examples of the French Colonial Period settlement, including
two of the five poteaux-en-terre (post-in-the-ground) vertical
log French buildings remaining in North America, dating from
circa 1785, in addition to several other important historical
resources. The Area is located within the expanded boundaries
of Ste. Genevieve National Historic District (District), a
National Historic Landmark. No current National Park System
unit has comparable historic features providing the cultural
backdrop required to adequately interpret the story of the
early French in the New World.
In April 1980, the Midwest Regional Office of the National
Park Service completed a brief Reconnaissance Report of Ste.
Genevieve Historic District. The Reconnaissance Report reviewed
the District's cultural, natural, scenic, and recreational
resources as well as ownership patterns and possible threats to
the District. The Reconnaissance Report will provide valuable
background information should this legislation be enacted
authorizing a more in-depth study of suitability and
feasibility, which includes a review of management
alternatives.
The Department would like to work with the Committee to
clarify some potentially confusing language in the bill. While
the bill authorizes a study on the suitability and feasibility
of designating a new unit of the National Park System, it also
identifies the study area as the ``French Colonial Heritage
Area.'' A national heritage area differs from a unit of the
National Park Service in a number of different ways, most
notably is that a national heritage area is locally driven and
does not include management by the National Park Service,
whereas a unit is managed wholly or in part by the National
Park Service.
If the intent of the bill only is to study the area for
potential designation as a national heritage area, we recommend
amending the bill to authorize a feasibility study to examine
such designation. If the intent is to study the area for
potential inclusion as a new National Park System unit, or if
it is unclear which type of designation is desired, the bill
should be clarified by eliminating the references to the term
``heritage area''. A suitability and feasibility study to
designate an Area as a unit will examine a range of
alternatives, including whether a national heritage area
designation is more appropriate than creating a new unit. We
will be happy to work with the subcommittee to develop
clarifying language prior to enactment of this legislation.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared remarks. I would
be pleased to answer any questions you or other members of the
Subcommittee may have.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no
changes in existing law are made by the Act H.R. 1728, as
ordered reported.