Congressional Research Service Reports - 10 Matching Results
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- Supreme Court Declines to Review Ninth Circuit Court Decision Applying Federal Reserved Water Rights Doctrine to Groundwater
- This report discusses the case of "Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians v. Coachella Valley Water District" relating to groundwater water rights on federal lands. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case in July 2017.
- Department of the Interior Secretarial Order 3356
- This report discusses Department of Interior Secretarial Order 3356 which was issued on September 15, 2017 and directs bureaus and offices that manage public lands to enhance opportunities for hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting while also promoting conservation activities on all public lands including National Monuments. Past orders and related legislation and reactions to the order are also discussed.
- Confederate Symbols: Relation to Federal Lands and Programs
- This report focuses primarily on Confederate symbols administered by three federal entities-- NPS, the VA, and DOD. Each of these entities manages multiple sites or programs that involve Confederate symbols. The report begins with a discussion of recent legislative proposals, and then discusses the agencies' current policies with respect to Confederate symbols, along with issues for Congress.
- Wildfire Suppression Spending: Background, Issues, and Legislation in the 115th Congress
- This report provides background information and analysis of federal funding for wildfire suppression operations on federal lands or for fires that began on federal land. The report provides a discussion of the issues facing Congress and concludes by summarizing several legislative proposals under consideration by the 115th Congress.
- Executive Order for Review of National Monuments: Background and Data
- This report discusses the review process of national monuments established or expanded since 1996 that exceed 100,000 acres that was mandated by President Trump's executive order on April 26, 2017, and its results. The final report from the Interior Department was submitted to the President on August 24, 2017, and made individual recommendations for 10 of the 27 monuments that were reviewed.
- Deferred Maintenance of Federal Land Management Agencies: Fiscal Year 2007-Fiscal Year 2016 Estimates and Issues
- This report discusses the maintenance backlogs/deferred maintenance at the four federal land management agencies (the National Park Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Forest Service). It first provides agency deferred maintenance estimates for FY2016, the most recent fiscal year for which this information is available. It also discusses changes in deferred maintenance over the past decade (FY2007-FY2016) and then identifies some of the factors that likely contributed to these changes.
- PILT (Payments in Lieu of Taxes): Somewhat Simplified
- This report discusses the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program that compensates local jurisdictions (generally counties) for lost tax property tax revenue due to the presence of federal lands in their county. It covers all NPS, NFS, and BLM lands, some National Wildlife Refuge lands, and a few military lands. The payment calculations are based on a complicated five part system and the program has been criticized for paying vastly different amounts to some counties with similar land amounts and complicated inclusion rules Wildlife Refuge land. Past legislation and options for reform are also discussed.
- Executive Order for Review of National Monuments
- This report discusses President Trump's April 16, 2017 executive order requiring the Department of the Interior to review presidentially established national monuments since 1996 that exceed 100,000 acres or where action was taken "without adequate public outreach and coordination". It includes tables of the national monuments effected and numbers of acres protected as a national monument by each President since 1996.
- 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.
- Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data
- This report provides data and an overview of the land owned by federal government, which is roughly 640 million acres, about 28% of the 2.27 billion acres of land in the United States.