Congressional Research Service Reports - 225 Matching Results
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- Energy and Mineral Development on Federal Land
- No Description Available.
- World Heritage Convention and U.S. National Parks
- This report describes the operation of the UNESCO Convention and will be updated periodically. The World Heritage Fund provides technical assistance to countries requesting help in protecting World Heritage sites.
- Historic Preservation: Background and Funding
- This report summarizes the federal role in historic preservation. It provides descriptions of and funding information for some of the major preservation programs, including the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF), the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the National Register for Historic Places. Some Members of Congress have given historic preservation programs close scrutiny and have recommended that historic preservation activities be supported increasingly by the private sector.
- Federal Lands Managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Forest Service (FS): Issues for the lllth Congress
- This report discusses actions that Congress is considering, which could affect the various uses and management of federal lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service, such as: legislation, administrative or regulatory proposals, and litigation and judicial decisions. Issue areas include onshore energy resources, administration of hardrock mining, wildfire protection, management of wild horses and burros, designation of the National Landscape Conservation System, wilderness designation, management of national forest roadless areas, and Forest Service implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
- Federal Lands Provisions of Economic Stimulus Legislation (P.L. 111-5)
- This report discusses the major federal lands provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5, H.R. 1). It focuses on provisions in the law related to four federal agencies: the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service. These provisions relate to construction, resource management, and wildland fire management.
- Reform of U.S. International Taxation: Alternatives
- This report describes and assesses the principal prescriptions that have been offered for broad reform of the international system. It begins with an overview of current law and possible revisions. It then sets the framework for considering economic efficiency as well as tax shelter activities. Finally, it reviews alternative approaches to revision in light of those issues.
- Issues Regarding a National Land Parcel Database
- This report provides a summary of some of the issues regarding the creation of a national land parcel database, or cadastre. The report identifies some of the perceived needs for a national cadastre, legislative and administrative options that could lead to a national land parcel database, and some of the challenges and concerns.
- Federal Land Ownership: Acquisition and Disposal Authorities
- This report describes the primary authorities of the following agencies for acquiring and disposing of federal land. These four federal agencies--the National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and Bureau of Land Management (BLM), all in the Department of the Interior (DOI), and the U.S. Forest Service (FS) in the Department of Agriculture--administer about 95% of those lands.
- Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): A Primer for the 114th Congress
- This report discusses the history of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), the basic issues in the debate over wilderness versus development, the Native interests, and the energy and biological resources at stake.
- Federal Lands and Natural Resources: Overview and Selected Issues for the 113th Congress
- This report introduces some of the broad themes and issues Congress considers when addressing federal land policy and resource management. Federal land policy includes questions about the extent and location of the federal estate.
- National Park System: What Do the Different Park Titles Signify?
- This report addresses questions that legislators have asked about park unit titles, when considering proposals to establish new park units, to redesignate existing units, or to change the provisions governing a unit It also discusses potential advantages and disadvantages of systemwide recommendations to simplify park nomenclature.
- Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data
- Numerous issues affecting federal land management are before Congress. They include the extent of federal ownership, and whether to decrease, maintain, or increase the amount of federal holdings; the condition of currently owned federal infrastructure and lands, and the priority of their maintenance versus new acquisitions; the optimal balance between land use and protection, and whether federal lands should be managed primarily to produce national or local benefits; and border control on federal lands along the southwest border.
- Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): A Primer for the 112th Congress
- In the ongoing energy debate in Congress, one issue has been whether to approve energy development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR or Refuge) in northeastern Alaska or whether to continue to prohibit development to protect the area's biological, recreational, and subsistence values. ANWR is rich in fauna, flora, and oil and natural gas potential. Its development has been debated for more than 50 years, but sharp increases in energy prices from late 2000 to early 2001, in 2004-2008, and in 2011 from a variety of causes (e.g., terrorist attacks, oil spills, and energy infrastructure damage from hurricanes), have repeatedly intensified the debate. This primer provides background for analyzing the various claims through an examination of its history, and an analysis of its geological, biological, human, and economic resources.
- Recreation on Federal Lands
- The growing and diverse nature of recreation on federal lands has increased the challenge of balancing recreation with other land uses, and balancing different types of recreation. Motorized recreation has been particularly controversial, with issues centering on access and environmental impacts. The 109th Congress may consider legislation and conduct oversight on issues involving recreation on federal lands, including traditional recreational pursuits and newer forms of motorized recreation. Other federal land recreation issues of possible interest include recreational uses within the National Wildlife Refuge System, recreation at federal water, recreation fees, and Grand Canyon Colorado River management.
- Recreation on Federal Lands
- The growing and diverse nature of recreation on federal lands has increased the challenge of balancing recreation with other land uses, and balancing different types of recreation. Motorized recreation has been particularly controversial, with issues centering on access and environmental impacts. The 109th Congress may consider legislation and conduct oversight on issues involving recreation on federal lands, including traditional recreational pursuits and newer forms of motorized recreation. Other federal land recreation issues of possible interest include recreational uses within the National Wildlife Refuge System, recreation at federal water, recreation fees, and Grand Canyon Colorado River management.
- Marine Protected Areas: An Overview
- Marine protected areas (MPAs) are generally defined as areas reserved by law or other effective means to protect part or all of the enclosed environment. This report identifies a number of issues related to establishing MPAs in the United States. It begins by defining the concept and administrative actions taken to provide spatial protection in marine areas. It then considers some of the key issues and potential benefits and costs of designating additional MPAs. It concludes by considering potential areas of congressional interest for the 111th Congress. Existing federal laws related to the use of MPAs are summarized in the Appendix.
- Issues Regarding a National Land Parcel Database
- This report provides a summary of some of the issues regarding the creation of a national land parcel database, or cadastre. The report identifies some of the perceived needs for a national cadastre, legislative and administrative options that could lead to a national land parcel database, and some of the challenges and concerns. The report also summarizes and briefly discusses recommendations in a 2007 National Research Council (NRC) report that concluded "...a national approach is necessary to provide a rational and accountable system of property records."
- Delegation of the Federal Power of Eminent Domain to Nonfederal Entities
- Congress has on several occasions delegated its power of eminent domain to entities outside the federal government -- public and private corporations, interstate compact agencies, state and local governments, and even individuals. The constitutionality of such delegation, and of the exercise of such power by even private delegates, is today beyond dispute. However, among delegates with both federal and private characteristics, there is some subjectivity to deciding which to list in a report limited to "nonfederal entities." For delegatees of federal eminent domain power listed here, delegations since 1920 have primarily been to Amtrak, hydroelectric facilities (for dams and reservoirs), and entities engaged in the movement of electricity, gas, and petroleum (the last one expired), and for interstate bridges.
- Memorials: Creating National, State, and Local Memorials
- This report provides information on the mandatory steps to building a memorial on federal property in the District of Columbia. It also provides information on creating memorials in Arlington National Cemetery, within the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery System, and in state veterans' cemeteries. In addition, it discusses public and private initiatives at the state and local levels to create memorials including successful local fund-raising efforts.
- Legislative Maps of ANWR
- No Description Available.
- Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): Controversies for the 109th Congress
- This report discusses the ongoing debate about whether or not to approve energy development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Current law forbids energy leasing in the Refuge. This report addresses several legislative options on the issue, as well as policymakers' arguments for and against development, especially in the wake of increasing terrorism since 2000-2001.
- Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): Controversies for the 109th Congress
- This report discusses the ongoing debate about whether or not to approve energy development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Current law forbids energy leasing in the Refuge. This report addresses several legislative options on the issue, as well as policymakers' arguments for and against development, especially in the wake of increasing terrorism since 2000-2001.
- Mining on Federal Lands
- This report discusses the General Mining Law of 1872, which is the law that grants free access to individuals and corporations to prospect for minerals in public domain lands, and allows them, upon making a discovery, to stake (or “locate”) a claim on that deposit.
- Legal Issues Related to Proposed Drilling for Oil and Gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)
- This report discusses the legal issues considered by Congress on whether to permit drilling for oil and gas in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska.
- Legal Issues Related to Proposed Drilling for Oil and Gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)
- This report outlines legal issues around permit drilling for oil and gas in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), Alaska as background for congressional legislation. Updated March 9, 2004.
- Legal Issues Related to Proposed Drilling for Oil and Gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)
- This report discusses the legal issues considered by Congress on whether to permit drilling for oil and gas in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska.
- Land and Water Conservation Fund: Current Status and Issues
- No Description Available.
- Land and Water Conservation Fund: Current Status and Issues
- This report discusses the current congressional issues which include (1) deciding the amount to appropriate each year to each of the four federal agencies, and to the state grant program; (2) identifying which lands should be acquired; and (3) determining whether the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) funds should be appropriated for additional related purposes.
- Snowmobiles: Environmental Standards and Access to National Parks
- No Description Available.
- Snowmobiles: Environmental Standards and Access to National Parks
- No Description Available.
- Land and Water Conservation Fund: Overview, Funding History, and Current Issues
- This Congressional Research Service Report for Congress details the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) Act of 1965 with emphasis on the fund's history, purpose, and current issues. - Updated July 10, 2006
- Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): Controversies in the 109th Congress
- This report discusses the ongoing debate about whether or not to approve energy development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Current law forbids energy leasing in the Refuge. This report addresses several legislative options on the issue, as well as policymakers' arguments for and against development, especially in the wake of increasing terrorism since 2000-2001.
- Sport Hunting in Alaska
- This report describes the legislated that's been suggested during the 98th Congress to move considerable Alaskan acreage from National park and Monument appointment to National Preserve status, through which hunting and trapping rules on these lands would be eased.
- Recreation on Federal Lands
- No Description Available.
- Outdoor Recreation: Is a New Commission Needed?
- No Description Available.
- Wilderness: Overview and Statistics
- The U.S. Forest Service established the first protected "wilderness area" under its own discretion in 1924. In 1964, the Wilderness Act established the National Wilderness Preservation System, reserved to Congress the authority to designate wilderness areas, and directed the Secretaries of Agriculture and of the Interior to review certain lands for their wilderness potential. The Act also designated 54 wilderness areas with 9 million acres of Forest Service land. Congress began expanding the Wilderness System in 1968, and today, there are 631 wilderness areas, totalling nearly 104 million acres, in 44 States.
- Land and Water Conservation Fund: Current Status and Issues
- No Description Available.
- Marine Protected Areas: An Overview
- Some Members of Congress are among the many people who are interested in considering limiting human activity in some areas of the marine environment as one response to mounting evidence of deteriorating conditions and declining populations of living resources. The purposes of proposed additional limits would be to both stem the decline and permit the rehabilitation of these environments and populations. One method of implementing this concept is to designate areas where activity would be limited, often referred to as marine protected areas (MPAs).
- Grazing Fees: An Overview and Current Issues
- This report briefly discusses charging fees for grazing private livestock on federal lands, which is a long-standing but contentious practice. Generally, livestock producers who use federal lands want to keep fees low, while conservation groups and others believe fees should be raised to approximate "fair market value."
- Federal Real Property: Inventory and Disposal Initiatives
- This report provides background and discusses the inventory and disposal of public lands and other Federal property. For many years the Federal Government has operated under a statutory policy of retaining public domain lands and has disposed of the proceeds from the sale of surplus property other than by the reduction of the national debt. Under the present system, the Government disposes of some types of land when it is determined to be surplus to Government needs, or, in the case of public lands, when it is determined that the national interest would best be served by the sale or exchange of particular tracts of land.
- Leasing of Energy and Mineral Resources on Federal Lands
- This report discusses the leasing of energy and mineral resources on federal lands. Leasing of energy minerals has been an issue of varying intensity for most of the past century, as oil, gas, and coal became indispensable commodities in both U.S. and world commerce.
- Federal Land Management Agencies: Background on Land and Resources Management
- This report provides an overview of how federal lands and resources are managed, the agencies that manage the lands, the authorities under which these lands are managed, and some of the issues associated with federal land management. The report is divided into nine sections.
- The Availability of Nonfuel Minerals on Federal Lands: Background on the Issue
- The following report reviews the laws and practices that govern the extraction of non-fuel minerals from federal lands, and the restrict ions against such extract ions. Moreover, the federal land management agencies that regulate such activities are identified, and their responsibilities discussed.
- Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Lands and National Forests
- The 109th Congress is considering issues related to the public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the national forests managed by the Forest Service (FS). The Administration is addressing issues through budgetary, regulatory, and other actions. Several key issues of congressional and administrative interest are covered here.
- Paleontological Resources Preservation Act: Proposal for the Management and Protection of Fossil Resources Located on Federal Lands
- Report on a preservation act designed to manage and preserve fossils on federal land, including background issues, reports from the secretary of the interior, case laws, pending legislation, and more.
- The Endangered Species Act and Claims of Property Rights "Takings": A Summary of the Court Decisions
- This report first outlines the ESA provisions most relevant to the act’s impacts on private property, and then surveys the major ESA-relevant principles of Fifth Amendment takings law. The report then proceeds to its core topic: the court decisions adjudicating whether government measures based on the ESA effect a taking of property under the Fifth Amendment. The cases address four kinds of ESA measures: (1) restrictions on land uses that might adversely affect species listed as endangered or threatened; (2) reductions in water delivery to preserve lake levels or instream flows needed by listed fish; (3) restrictions on the defensive measures a property owner may take to protect his/her property from listed animals; and (4) restrictions on commercial dealings in members of listed species.
- The Endangered Species Act and Claims of Property Rights "Takings"
- This report first outlines the ESA provisions most relevant to the act’s impacts on private property, and then surveys the major ESA-relevant principles of Fifth Amendment takings law. The report then proceeds to its core topic: the court decisions adjudicating whether government measures based on the ESA effect a taking of property under the Fifth Amendment. The cases address four kinds of ESA measures: (1) restrictions on land uses that might adversely affect species listed as endangered or threatened; (2) reductions in water delivery to preserve lake levels or instream flows needed by listed fish; (3) restrictions on the defensive measures a property owner may take to protect his/her property from listed animals; and (4) restrictions on commercial dealings in members of listed species.
- Condemnation of Private Property for Economic Development: Legal Comments on the House-Passed Bill (H.R. 4128) and Bond Amendment
- The prohibition on economic development condemnations extends not only to land taken for the explicit purpose of economic development but also to land subsequently so used. The latter coverage raises the possibility that although a parcel was initially condemned for a non-prohibited purpose, its use years later for a prohibited one would trigger the two-year cut-off of federal funds. Nor does there seem to be any proportionality requirement between the prohibited condemnations and the length and scope of the federal funds suspension. If Congress’ Spending Power includes a proportionality requirement for conditions on federal funds, as the Court suggests, the absence of proportionality in some of the bill’s applications may raise a constitutional issue.
- The Endangered Species Act and Claims of Property Rights "Takings"
- This report first outlines the ESA provisions most relevant to the act’s impacts on private property, and then surveys the major ESA-relevant principles of Fifth Amendment takings law. The report then proceeds to its core topic: the court decisions adjudicating whether government measures based on the ESA effect a taking of property under the Fifth Amendment. The cases address four kinds of ESA measures: (1) restrictions on land uses that might adversely affect species listed as endangered or threatened; (2) reductions in water delivery to preserve lake levels or instream flows needed by listed fish; (3) restrictions on the defensive measures a property owner may take to protect his/her property from listed animals; and (4) restrictions on commercial dealings in members of listed species.
- Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): Controversies for the 109th Congress
- This report discusses the ongoing debate about whether or not to approve energy development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Current law forbids energy leasing in the Refuge. This report addresses several legislative options on the issue, as well as policymakers' arguments for and against development, especially in the wake of increasing terrorism since 2000-2001.