Interior Department FY2005 Appropriations bill

This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2005 - Makes appropriations for the Department of the Interior and related agencies for FY 2005.

Title I: Department of the Interior - Makes appropriations for FY 2005 to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for: (1) land and resource management; (2) wildland fire management; (3) remedial action of hazardous waste substances; (4) construction; (5) land acquisition; (6) Oregon and California grant lands; (7) range improvements; (8) service charges, deposits, and forfeitures with respect to public lands; and (9) miscellaneous trust funds.

Appropriates funds for FY 2005 to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for: (1) resource management; (2) construction; (3) land acquisition; (4) the Landowner Incentive Program that provides assistance to private landowners for private conservation efforts; (5) the Private Stewardship Grants Program; (6) expenses related to carrying out the Endangered Species Act of 1973; (7) the National Wildlife Refuge Fund; (8) expenses related to carrying out the North American Wetlands Conservation Act; (9) financial assistance for projects to promote the conservation of neotropical migratory birds; (10) expenses related to carrying out, through the Multinational Species Conservation Fund, the African Elephant Conservation Act, the Asian Elephant Conservation Act of 1997, the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act of 1994, and the Great Ape Conservation Act of 2000; and (11) wildlife conservation grants to States, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, and Indian tribes.

Makes appropriations for FY 2005 to the National Park Service (NPS) for: (1) the National Park System; (2) the U.S. Park Police; (3) expenses for national recreation and preservation programs; (4) expenses related to carrying out the Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996; (5) construction; and (6) land acquisition and State assistance from the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Rescinds specified contract authority to obligate funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund for FY 2005.

Makes appropriations for FY 2005 to: (1) the U.S. Geological Survey for surveys, investigations, and research; (2) the Minerals Management Service for royalty and offshore minerals management and oil spill research; (3) the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement for regulation and technology and the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund; (4) the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) for operation of Indian programs, construction, Indian land and water claim settlements and miscellaneous payments to Indians, and Indian guaranteed loans; (5) assistance to U.S. territories and to carry out the Compacts of Free Association with respect to the Marshall Islands and Palau; (6) the Department of the Interior for departmental management (including transfer of funds); (7) make payments in lieu of taxes to units of local government containing certain Federally owned lands; (8) the Offices of the Solicitor and of the Inspector General; (9) trust programs for Indians; (10) a program for consolidation of fractional interests in Indian lands by direct expenditure or cooperative agreement; and (11) the Department of the Interior for natural resource damage assessment and restoration.

Sets forth authorized and prohibited uses of specified funds.

(Sec. 119) Prohibits claim maintenance and location fees from being increased until the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture have complied with the following obligations: (1) the establishment of a nationwide tracking system to determine and address the length of time from submission of a plan of operations to mine on public lands to final approval of such submission; and (2) filing of a report to specified congressional committees which provides information on the causes of delays in approval of mining plans of operations and recommending steps to reduce such delays.

(Sec. 124) Provides that nothing in the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002 affects the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Sac and Fox Nation v. Norton, 240 F.3d 1250 (2001).

Prohibits the conduct of gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act on certain lands described in the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001, or land that is contiguous to such land, regardless of whether such land or contiguous land has been taken into trust by the Secretary of the Interior.

(Sec. 125) Prohibits the use of any funds appropriated for the Department of the Interior to study or implement any plan to drain Lake Powell or reduce the water level of the lake below the range of water levels required for the operation of the Glen Canyon Dam.

(Sec. 126) Limits the total amount of all fees imposed by the National Indian Gaming Commission for FY 2006 to $12 million.

(Sec. 127) Makes funds appropriated for FY 2005 under this Act available to the tribes within the California Tribal Trust Reform Consortium, the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community, the Confederated Salish-Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation, and the Chippewa Cree Tribe of the Rocky Boys Reservation through the same methodology as funds were distributed in FY 2003.

Requires this Demonstration Project (sic), under specified conditions, to continue to operate separately and apart from the Department of the Interior's trust reform and reorganization. Prohibits the Department from imposing its trust management infrastructure upon or altering existing trust resource management systems of such tribes which have a self-governance compact and operate in accordance with the Tribal Self-Governance Program. Directs the Department of the Interior to provide funds to the tribes in an amount equal to that required to be provided to the tribes under annual funding agreements under such Program, including funds specifically or functionally related to the provision of trust services to the tribes or their members.

(Sec. 128) Provides for nonrenewable grazing permits authorized in the Jarbidge Field Office, BLM, within the past eight years to be renewed under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 and the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934.

(Sec. 129) Amends the Omnibus Consolidations Appropriations Act, 1997, with regard to the franchise fund established in the Treasury under the franchise fund pilot program, to provide for a certain amount to be retained in such franchise fund for use by the agency or subagency responsible for administering such fund for the acquisition of capital equipment and for the improvement and implementation of financial management, ADP, and other support systems.

(Sec. 130) Instructs that the small mining claim FF-61472 be given notice of defect and the opportunity to cure.

(Sec. 131) Amends the Clark County Conservation of Public Land and Natural Resources Act of 2002 to except cases in which proceeds of a lease are provided to the University of Nevada at Las Vegas Research Foundation to carry out the purposes for which the Foundation was established from specified restrictions on the leasing of land conveyed to the Foundation by the Clark County Department of Aviation.

(Sec. 132) Amends the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to extend, to June 30, 2005, the authority to collect the reclamation fee required from coal mine operators.

(Sec. 133) Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to acquire land, waters, or interests therein for the purpose of operating and maintaining facilities in the support of transportation and accommodation of visitors to Ellis, Governors, and Liberty Islands.

Title II: Related Agencies - Makes FY 2005 appropriations for the Department of Agriculture for the Forest Service for: (1) forest and rangeland research; (2) State and private forestry; (3) the National Forest System; (4) wildland fire management; (5) capital improvement and maintenance; (6) land acquisitions, including specified National Forest areas in Utah, Nevada, and California; (7) range rehabilitation, protection, and improvement; (8) gifts, donations, and bequests for forest and rangeland research; and (9) Federal land management in Alaska.

Defers until October 1, 2005, the availability of certain funds otherwise made available for obligation in prior years for clean coal technology, subject to a specified condition. Makes appropriations for the Department of Energy for: (1) fossil energy research and development that includes acquisition of real property, plants or facilities, technological investigations and research targeting mineral substances, and a Clean Coal Power Initiative; (2) naval petroleum and oil shale reserve activities; (3) installment payments pertaining to the Elk Hills School Lands Fund; (4) implementation of energy conservation activities; (5) implementation of activities of the Energy Information Administration; and (6) the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve.

Specifies that, unless specifically provided for in an appropriations Act, funds made available to the Department of Energy under this Act may not be used to: (1) finance or implement authorized price support or loan guarantee programs; or (2) issue or process procurement documents for various enterprises.

Makes appropriations for FY 2005 to the Department of Health and Human Services for the Indian Health Service and Indian health facilities.

Makes appropriations for FY 2005 to: (1) the Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation; and (2) the Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development.

Makes appropriations in specified amounts for various purposes to: (1) the Smithsonian Institution (earmarking certain funds for the National Museum of the African American History and Culture, the Council of American Overseas Research Centers, and other specified programs); (2) the National Gallery of Art; (3) the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; (4) the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; (5) the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities, including the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities; (6) the Commission of Fine Arts, including expenses for National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs; (7) the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation; (8) the National Capital Planning Commission; (9) the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, for the Holocaust Memorial Museum; and (10) the Presidio Trust Fund.

Title III: General Provisions - Sets forth limitations on the use of funds under this Act.

(Sec. 305) Prohibits any assessments, from being levied against any program, budget activity, subactivity, or project funded by this Act without advance notice to, and approval by, the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations.

(Sec. 323) Permits the Secretaries of Agriculture and of the Interior (Secretaries) to make reciprocal agreements in which the individuals furnished by an agreement to provide fire management services are considered, for tort liability, employees of the foreign country receiving the services when the individuals are fighting fires. Prohibits the Secretaries from making any agreement in which a foreign country does not assume any and all responsibility for acts or omissions of American firefighters who are firefighting in such foreign country.

(Sec. 326) Allows the Secretaries of Agriculture and of the Interior (Secretaries), in awarding a Federal contract for any of specified purposes with funds made available by this Act, to give consideration to local contractors who are from economically disadvantaged rural communities and who provide employment and training for dislocated and displaced workers. Allows the Secretaries to award grants or cooperative agreements in certain areas to various entities, including local non-profits and the Youth Conservation Corps. Includes in such areas habitat restoration or management and forest hazardous fuels reduction.

(Sec. 327) Prohibits: (1) any funds appropriated in this Act for the acquisition of lands or interests in lands from being expended for the filing of declarations of taking or complaints in condemnation without the approval of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations; and (2) such prohibition from being applied to funds appropriated to implement the Everglades National Park Protection and Expansion Act of 1989 or to funds appropriated for Federal assistance to Florida to acquire lands for Everglades restoration purposes.

(Sec. 328) Provides for procedures regarding the process of any application for judicial review of a Record of Decision for any timber sale in Region 10 of the Forest Service that had a notice of intent prepared (currently, that had a notice of intent prepared on or before January 1, 2003) .

(Sec. 329) Limits the amounts of funds made available by this Act or any other Act to the Departments of Energy or the Interior to initiate or continue competitive sourcing studies in FY 2005 for programs, projects, and activities for which funds are appropriated by this Act until the appropriate Secretary submits a reprogramming proposal to the Committees on Appropriations and it has been processed consistent with certain reprogramming guidelines.

Limits funds appropriated by this Act to $2 million in FY 2005 for use by the Forest Service for competitive sourcing studies and related activities.

Amends the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2004 to repeal requirements regarding separate justification of competitive sourcing activities in budgets of the U.S. Government submitted by the President to Congress.

(Sec. 330) Requires: (1) estimated overhead charges, deductions, reserves or holdbacks from programs, projects and activities to support governmentwide, departmental, agency or bureau administrative functions or headquarters, regional or central office operations to be presented in annual budget justifications; and (2) changes to such estimates to be presented to the Committees on Appropriations for approval.

(Sec. 331) Prohibits the use of funds in this Act or prior Acts making appropriations for the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies from being used to implement SAFECOM or Disaster Management.

(Sec. 333) Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture, until September 30, 2006, to permit the State Forester of Utah to perform forest, rangeland, and watershed restoration services on National Forest System lands in Utah. Mandates that restoration services provided are to be on a project to project basis as planned or made ready for implementation under existing authorities of the Forest Service. Prohibits the delegation of any decision required to be made under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 respecting any treatment activity to restore and improve forest, rangeland, and watershed health to any officer or employee of the State of Utah.

(Sec. 334) Exempts each unit of general local government that lies in whole or in part within the White Mountain National Forest and residents within the boundaries of such unit from any requirement to pay a Program Fee (parking permit or passport) imposed by the Secretary of Agriculture (the Secretary) for access to the Forest. Directs the Secretary to establish a method of identifying persons who are exempt from paying such user fees. Permits such method to include a drivers license as a valid form of identification.

(Sec. 335) Prohibits an entity that enters into a contract with the United States to operate the National Recreation Reservation Service (or any successor service) from carrying out any duties under the contract using: (1) a contact center located outside the United States; or (2) employees that are not U.S. residents. Prohibits the waiver of such requirements by the Secretary of the Interior. Restricts telecommuting by employees of a contact center operated under such a contract to telecommuting from one location to another in the United States.

(Sec. 336) Amends the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) to allow the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior to permit fishery research, management, enhancement, and rehabilitation activities within wilderness and wilderness study areas designated by such Act.

(Sec. 337) Permits: (1) individuals who qualify for subsistence uses of resources in Alaska but who are unable to participate in the taking of fish, wildlife, or other resources due to age, infirmity, or disability, to designate an individual to engage in subsistence for them; and (2) designated individuals to be reimbursed the costs of engaging in subsistence without such payments deeming the subsistence a commercial activity.

(Sec. 338) Directs the Secretary of the Army (the Secretary) to carry out drought conservation measures described in a section 7-03.3 of the 2004 Missouri River Master Water Control Manual if, as of any date in a year, the Secretary determines that Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin System water-in-storage is at or below 40,000,000 acre-feet.

(Sec. 339) States that, for FY 2005 through 2007, a decision made by the Secretary of Agriculture to authorize grazing on an allotment shall be categorically excluded from documentation in an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement if: (1) the decision continues current grazing management of the allotment; (2) monitoring indicates that current grazing management is meeting, or satisfactorily moving toward, objectives in the land and resource management plan, as determined by the Secretary; and (3) no extraordinary circumstances exist. Limits the total number of allotments that may be categorically excluded to 900.

(Sec. 340) Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to provide that the established use and occupancy as of June 6, 2003, of lands and maintenance or replacement of facilities and structures for commercial recreation services at Stub Creek, Arctic Creek, and Smith Gulch on the Salmon River in Idaho shall continue to be authorized, subject to such reasonable regulation as the Secretary of Agriculture deems appropriate, including rules that would provide for termination for non-compliance, and, if terminated, reoffering the site through a competitive process.

(Sec. 341) Authorizes the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to make grants to the Eastern Nevada Landscape Coalition for the study and restoration of rangeland and other lands in Nevada's Great Basin in order to help assure the reduction of hazardous fuels and for related purposes. Requires the Director of BLM to enter into a cooperative agreement with the Coalition for the Great Basin Restoration Project, including hazardous fuels and mechanical treatments and related work. Authorizes appropriations.

(Sec. 342) Authorizes and directs the Secretary of Agriculture to convey in fee simple without compensation, Lots 1 and 2 of U.S. Survey 13150 to the Community of Elfin Cove, Alaska.

(Sec. 343) Bars the IHS, after September 30, 2004, from disbursing funds for the provision of health care services pursuant to the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act to any Alaska Native village or Alaska Native village corporation that is located within the area served by an Alaska Native regional health entity. Treats Eastern Aleutian Tribes Inc., as such an entity to whom funds may be disbursed.

(Sec. 344) Directs the NPS, in accordance with provisions under ANILCA relating to the establishment of administrative sites and visitor facilities within any conservation system unit in Alaska or outside the boundaries of and in the vicinity of such a unit, using funds previously appropriated, to: (1) not later than December 31, 2004, purchase the seven identified parcels of real property in Seward, Alaska, that have been selected for the administrative complex, visitor facility, plaza, and related parking for the Kenai Fjords National Park and Chugach National Forest, which shall be known as the Mary Lowell Center; (2) transfer to the City of Seward any remaining balance of previously appropriated funds not necessary for property acquisition and design upon the vacation by the City of Seward of Washington Street between 4th Avenue and 5th Avenue; and (3) transfer title of the appropriate portions thereof to the Federal Government, provided that the City uses any such funds for the related waterfront planning, pavilions, boardwalks, trails, or related purposes that compliment the new federal facility.

Title IV: Supplemental Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2005 for Urgent Wildland Fire Suppression Activities - Appropriates funds for FY 2005 to the Department of the Interior's BLM and the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service for wildland fire management. Provides that such funds shall only become available if funds provided for wildland fire suppression in Title I (with respect to the BLM) or II (with respect to the Forest Service) of this Act will be exhausted imminently and the appropriate Secretary notifies the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations and the Budget of the need for these additional funds. Prohibits any funds under this title from being transferred to other appropriation accounts of: (1) the Department of the Interior; or (2) the Forest Service.

Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish an independent cost-control review panel to examine and report on fire suppression costs for individual wildfire incidents that exceed $10 million in cost. Provides that, if the independent review panel report finds that appropriate actions were not taken to control suppression costs for one or more such wildfire incidents, then an amount equal to the aggregate estimated excess costs of suppressing those wildfire incidents shall be transferred to the Treasury from unobligated balances remaining at the end of FY 2005 in the Wildland Fire Management, National Forest System, and Capital Improvement and Maintenance accounts, if available.