The Administration strongly believes that now is the time to
provide a permanent stream of significant new resources to support
State and community efforts to protect wildlife and local green
spaces, reinforce Federal efforts to save natural and historic
treasures, and expand efforts at all levels to protect ocean and
coastal resources. Such investment would be both a gift to our
children of today and a promise to our children of tomorrow. This
priority is reflected in the President's Lands Legacy Initiative,
which has been put before the Congress in each of the past two
years.
The Administration is pleased that H.R. 701 seeks to achieve many
of the same goals as the President's Lands Legacy Initiative, and
therefore urges prompt House passage of the bill. We do remain
concerned about several aspects of H.R. 701, and strongly support
amendments to improve and strengthen the legislation and thus
increase the likelihood of final enactment of an historic
conservation legacy. We look forward to final legislation that meets
the above goals, and that
- contains no burdensome or unnecessary restrictions on current
Federal authorities, while providing fully protected and permanent
funding for all Land and Water Conservation Fund monies;
- ensures that all monies available under its provisions be used
for purposes consistent with the environmental and conservation
goals of the bill;
- ensures that funding for wildlife-related entities and
programs is primarily targeted to benefit at-risk and non-game
species;
- establishes no new incentives for offshore exploration or
development, while ensuring coastal activities are consistent with
State Coastal Zone Management Plans;
- provides appropriate oversight authority to the Commerce
Department for coastal or marine plans without modifying the
existing responsibilities of other agencies; and
- provides appropriate protection for existing programs
delineated in the Administration's Lands Legacy Initiative,
including appropriate marine, coastal, forest, urban, and
agriculture programs, that already are working well to advance the
goals of this legislation.
The Administration supports protected and permanent funding for
conservation purposes that is achieved through sound mechanisms
within a balanced budget framework. We commend the sponsors for
dropping the off-budget treatment in the original bill in the
Managers' Amendment. While we regret that an amendment addressing
concerns about offshore incentives was not made part of the
Managers' Amendment by the Rules Committee, we understand that the
amendment will be offered on the floor by Representatives Boehlert
(R-NY), Markey (D-MA), and Pallone (D-NJ), and we strongly support
its adoption.
The Administration looks forward to working with the House and
the Senate to ensure enactment of an historic conservation legacy
this year.
Pay-As-You-Go Scoring
OMB's preliminary scoring estimate of this bill is that it would
result in an increase in direct spending of about $7.8 billion in
Fiscal Years 2001-2005. The bill does not contain provisions to
offset the net budget costs. As a result, if the bill were enacted
without any further action to provide offsets, it could contribute
to a sequester of mandatory spending. The Administration supports
this bill and will work with the Congress to ensure that such an
unintended sequester does not occur.
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