Appropriations bill FY2007, Interior

Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2007 - Makes appropriations for the Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and related agencies for FY2007.

Title I: Department of the Interior - Makes appropriations for FY2007 to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for: (1) land and resource management; (2) wildland fire management (including transfer of funds); (3) construction; (4) land acquisition; (5) Oregon and California grant lands; (6) range improvements; (7) service charges, deposits, and forfeitures with respect to public lands; and (8) miscellaneous trust funds.

Appropriates funds for FY2007 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, the Great Ape Conservation Act of 2000, and the Marine Turtle Conservation Act of 2004; and (11) wildlife conservation grants to states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, and Indian tribes.

Makes appropriations for FY2007 to the National Park Service (NPS) for: (1) the National Park System; (2) 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 FY2007.

Makes appropriations for FY2007 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 for operation of Indian programs, construction, Indian land and water claim settlements and miscellaneous payments to Indians (including transfer of funds), 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, Palau, and Micronesia; (6) the Department of the Interior for departmental management; (7) make payments in lieu of taxes to units of local government containing certain federally owned lands; (8) the Central Hazardous Materials Fund for expenses of the Department of the Interior and its component offices and bureaus for the remedial action of hazardous waste substances, pollutants, or contaminants pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act; (9) the Office of the Solicitor; (10) the Office of the Inspector General; (11) trust programs for Indians; (12) a program for consolidation of fractional interests in Indian lands by direct expenditure or cooperative agreement; and (13) the Department of the Interior for natural resource damage assessment and restoration.

Sets forth authorized and prohibited uses of specified funds.

(Sec. 117) Prohibits a provision of the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002 concerning the determination of whether land is a "reservation" from affecting the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Sac and Fox Nation v. Norton (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, whether or not such land has been taken into trust by the Secretary of the Interior.

(Sec. 118) 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. 119) Limits the total amount of all fees imposed by the National Indian Gaming Commission for FY2008 to $13 million.

(Sec. 120) Makes funds appropriated for FY2007 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 used to distribute funds in FY2003.

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.

(Sec. 121) Provides for: (1) the renewal of nonrenewable grazing permits authorized by the Jarbidge Field Office of the BLM within the past nine years; and (2) the Animal Unit Months contained in the most recently expired nonrenewable grazing permit, authorized between March 1, 1997, and February 28, 2005, to continue in effect under the renewed permit. Prohibits anything in this section from being deemed to extend such nonrenewable permits beyond the standard one-year term.

(Sec. 122) 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.

(Sec. 123) Directs the Secretary of the Interior, upon request by the permittee for the Clark Mountain Allotment lands adjacent to the Mojave National Preserve, to also issue a special use permit for that portion of the grazing allotment located within the Preserve. Instructs the Secretary to consider the permit to be one transferred in accordance with a specified section of the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2004 concerning grazing permits.

(Sec. 124) Declares that the NPS final winter use rules for managing winter visitation and recreational use in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway for up to three winter seasons shall be in force and effect for the winter use season of 2006-2007 that commences on or about December 15, 2006.

(Sec. 125) Prohibits the use of funds to set up Centers for Excellence and Partnership Skills Bank training without prior approval of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations.

Title II: Environmental Protection Agency - Makes appropriations for FY2007 to EPA for: (1) science and technology; (2) environmental programs and management; (3) the Office of Inspector General; (4) buildings and facilities; (5) the Hazardous Substance Superfund (including transfers of funds); (6) the Leaking underground Storage Tank Program; (7) expenses to carry out EPA responsibilities under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 concerning oil spill response; and (8) state and tribal assistance grants for environmental programs and infrastructure assistance.

(Sec. 201) Prohibits the use of funds under this Act to contravene or delay the implementation of Executive Order No. 12898 of February 11, 1994 (relating to federal actions to address environmental justice in minority populations and low-income populations).

(Sec. 202) Prohibits the use of funds under this Act to contravene or delay the implementation of requirements regarding certification determination with respect to contractors who are engaged in renovation or remodeling activities in target housing, public buildings constructed before 1978, and commercial buildings that create lead-based paint hazards.

Title III: Related Agencies - Makes appropriations for FY2007 to 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 (including transfers of funds); (5) capital improvement and maintenance (including transfer of funds); (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.

Makes appropriations for FY2007 to the Department of Health and Human Services for: (1) the Indian Health Service and Indian health facilities; and (2) the National Institutes of Health for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Makes appropriations in specified amounts for various purposes to the: (1) Executive Office of the President; (2) the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board; (3) the Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation; (4) the Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development; (5) the Smithsonian Institution (earmarking certain funds for the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Council of American Overseas Research Centers, and other specified programs); (6) the National Gallery of Art; (7) the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; (8) the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; (9) the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities, including the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities; (10) the Commission of Fine Arts, including expenses for National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs; (11) the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation; (12) the National Capital Planning Commission; (13) the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum; (14) the Presidio Trust; and (15) the White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance.

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

(Sec. 405) Requires: (1) estimated overhead charges, deductions, reserves or holdbacks from programs, projects, activities, and subactivities to support governmentwide, departmental, agency or bureau administrative functions or headquarters, regional or central operations to be presented in annual budget justifications and subject to approval by the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations; and (2) changes to such estimates to be presented to such Committees for approval.

(Sec. 415) 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. 416) Allows the 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 contracts, 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. 418) Limits the amounts of funds made available by this Act or any other Act to the Department of the Interior to initiate or continue competitive sourcing studies in FY2007 for programs, projects, and activities for which funds are appropriated by this Act until such time as the appropriate Secretary submits a reprogramming proposal to the Committees on Appropriations and it has been processed consistent with the reprogramming guidelines included in the report accompanying this Act.

Limits funds appropriated by this Act to $2.5 million in FY2007 for use by the Forest Service for competitive sourcing studies and related activities.

Exempts the Forest Service from implementing the Letter of Obligation and post-competitive accountability guidelines where a competitive sourcing study involved 65 or fewer full-time equivalents, the performance decision was made in favor of the agency provider, no net savings were achieved by conducting the study, and such study was completed prior to the date of this Act.

Directs agencies funded in this Act, in preparing any reports to the Committees on Appropriations on competitive sourcing activities, to include all costs attributable to conducting the competitive sourcing competitions and staff work to prepare for competitions or to determine the feasibility of starting competitions, including costs attributable to paying outside consultants and contractors and, in accordance with full cost accounting principles, all costs attributable to developing, implementing, supporting, managing, monitoring, and reporting on competitive sourcing, including personnel, consultant, travel, and training costs associated with program management.

Instructs the Secretary of Agriculture, in carrying out any competitive sourcing study involving Forest Service employees, to: (1) determine whether any of the employees concerned are also qualified to participate in wildland fire management activities; and (2) take into consideration the effect that contracting with a private sector source would have on the ability of the Forest Service to effectively and efficiently fight and manage wildfires.

(Sec. 419) Prohibits the use of funds in this Act or prior Acts making appropriations for the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies from being provided to the managing partners or their agents for the SAFECOM or Disaster Management projects.

(Sec. 420) Extends the authority for: (1) the pilot program for enhancing Forest Service administration of rights-of-way and other land uses; and (2) the deposit of all fees collected to recover the costs of processing applications for, and monitoring compliance with, authorizations to use and occupy National Forest System lands pursuant to certain Acts.

(Sec. 421) Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to acquire a parcel of real property, including improvements, of the Inland Valley Development Agency of San Bernardino, California, or its successors and assigns, generally comprising Building No. 3 and Building No. 4 of the former Defense Finance and Accounting Services complex located at the southwest corner of Tippecanoe Avenue and Mill Street in San Bernardino adjacent to the former Norton Air Force Base.

Allows the Secretary, as full consideration for such property, to terminate certain leasehold rights of the United States received pursuant the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2005. Permits the acquisition of the property to be carried out without appraisals, environmental or administrative surveys, consultations, analyses, or other considerations of the condition of such property.

(Sec. 422) Prohibits the use of any of the funds made available in this Act to study, without specific authorization from Congress, a competitive sourcing activity of the Secretary or Agriculture or the Secretary of the Interior, including support personnel of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior, relating to wildfire management or wildfire suppression programs.

(Sec. 423) Prohibits any of the funds made available in this Act from being used to work on, or enter into a contract to carry out, the Fire Program Analysis system, unless both the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior certify to the Comptroller General that this funding will accomplish the existing work plan, as determined by the Wildland Fire Leadership Council, and that state wildfire agencies will be full participants in the use and development of such system.

(Sec. 424) Bars any officer or employee of the Smithsonian Institution or any of its subsidiary organizations from being compensated directly or indirectly at an annual rate of pay in excess of the statutorily established rate of pay of the President.

(Sec. 425) Prohibits the use of any funds made available in this Act for the sale or slaughter of wild free-roaming horses and burros (all unbranded and unclaimed horses and burros on U.S. public lands).

Title V: Additional General Provisions - (Sec. 501) Prohibits the use of any of the funds made available by this Act to contravene the federal buildings performance and reporting requirements of Executive Order No. 13123 ("Greening the Government Through Efficient Energy Management"), part 3 of title V of the National Energy Conservation Policy Act (relating to federal energy management), or subtitle A of title I of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (relating to energy efficiency with respect to federal programs).

(Sec. 502) Prohibits the use of any of the funds made available in this Act to issue any new lease that authorizes production of oil or natural gas under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to any lessee under an existing lease issued by the Department of the Interior pursuant to the Outer Continental Shelf Deep Water Royalty Relief Act, where such existing lease is not subject to limitations on royalty relief based on market price.

(Sec. 503) Prohibits the use of any of the funds made available in this Act to plan, design, study, or construct, for the purpose of harvesting timber by private entities or individuals, a forest development road in the Tongass National Forest.

(Sec. 504) Prohibits the use of any funds made available in this Act to send or otherwise pay for the attendance of more than 50 employees from a federal department or agency at any single conference occurring outside the United States.

(Sec. 505) Prohibits any funds made available by this Act from being obligated or spent to conduct the San Gabriel Watershed and Mountains Special Resource Study in the cities of Diamond Bar, La Habra, Industry, Chino Hills, and the community of Rowland Heights in Los Angeles County, California (as defined by specified boundaries).

(Sec. 506) Prohibits the use of any of the funds made available in this Act to eliminate or restrict programs that are for the reforestation of urban areas.

(Sec. 507) Prohibits the use of any of the funds made available in this Act to limit outreach programs administered by the Smithsonian Institution.

(Sec. 508) Prohibits the use of any of the funds in this Act by the Administrator of the EPA to implement or enforce the Joint Memorandum published in the Federal Register on January 15, 2003, under Appendix A of the advance notice of proposed rulemaking on the Clean Water Act regulatory definition of "waters of the United States."

(Sec. 509) Prohibits any funds provided in title I of this Act from being spent by the Department of the Interior: (1) for the conduct of offshore natural gas preleasing, leasing, and related activities placed under restriction in the President's moratorium statement of June 12, 1998, in the areas of northern, central, and southern California, the North Atlantic, Washington and Oregon, and the eastern Gulf of Mexico south of 26 degrees north latitude and east of 86 degrees west longitude; (2) to conduct offshore natural gas preleasing, leasing, and related activities in the eastern Gulf of Mexico planning area for any lands located outside Sale 181, as identified in the final Outer Continental Shelf 5-Year Oil and Gas Leasing Program, 1997-2002; or (3) to conduct natural gas preleasing, leasing, and related activities in the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic planning areas.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov