Detailed Summary

Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010 - Makes appropriations for the Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and related agencies for FY2010.

<b>Title I: Department of the Interior - </b>Makes appropriations for FY2010 to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for: (1) land and resource management; (2) construction; (3) land acquisition; (4) Oregon and California grant lands; (5) range improvements; (6) service charges, deposits, and forfeitures with respect to public lands; and (7) miscellaneous trust funds.

Appropriates funds for FY2010 to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for: (1) resource management; (2) construction; (3) land acquisition; (4) expenses related to carrying out the Endangered Species Act of 1973; (5) the National Wildlife Refuge Fund; (6) expenses related to carrying out the North American Wetlands Conservation Act; (7) financial assistance for projects to promote the conservation of neotropical migratory birds; (8) 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 (9) wildlife conservation grants to states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, and Indian tribes.

Makes appropriations for FY2010 to the National Park Service (NPS) for: (1) the National Park System (including expenses for carrying out programs of the U.S. Park Police); (2) expenses for national recreation and preservation programs; (3) expenses related to carrying out the Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996, including for the development of a program to catalogue, preserve, provide research, develop curriculum and courses, and conduct forums on the important works and papers of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; (4) construction; and (5) 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 FY2010.

Makes appropriations for FY2010 to: (1) the U.S. Geological Survey for surveys, investigations, and research; (2) the Minerals Management Service (MMS) 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, (including transfer of funds), construction (including transfer of funds), Indian land and water claim settlements and miscellaneous payments to Indians, a program to consolidate fractional interests in Indian lands by direct expenditure or cooperative agreement, and for Indian guaranteed loans; (5) the Office of the Secretary for departmental offices; (6) provide assistance to U.S. territories and to carry out the Compacts of Free Association with respect to the Marshall Islands, Palau, and Micronesia (including transfer of funds); (6) the Office of the Solicitor; (7) the Office of Inspector General; (8) provide for the operation of trust programs for Indians (including transfer of funds), including the estate planning assistance program provided under the the Indian Land Consolidation Act; (9) wildland fire management, including for wildfire suppression to support federal emergency response actions (including transfers of funds); and (10) the Central Hazardous Materials Fund for expenses of the Department of the Interior and its component offices and bureaus for response action, including associated activities, performed pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA); and (11) the Department of the Interior for natural resource damage assessment and restoration.

Sets forth authorized and prohibited uses of specified funds.

Authorizes the use of funds available under title IV (Abandoned Mine Reclamation) of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 for any required non-federal share of the cost of projects funded by the federal government for the purpose of environmental restoration related to the treatment or abatement of acid mine drainage from abandoned mines.

(Sec. 108) Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to acquire lands, 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. 109) Bars any proposed new use of the Arizona &amp; California Railroad Company's right-of-way for the conveyance of water from proceeding unless the Secretary of the Interior certifies that such use is within the scope of the right-of-way.

Prohibits any funds to the Department of the Interior from being used, in relation to any proposal to store water underground for the purpose of export, for approval of any right-of-way or similar authorization on the Mojave National Preserve or lands managed by the Needles Field Office of the BLM, or for carrying out any activities associated with such right-of-way or similar approval.

(Sec. 110) Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to enter into cooperative agreements with a state or political subdivision or any nonprofit if the agreement will: (1) serve a mutual interest of the parties to the agreement in carrying out the programs administered by the Department of the Interior; and (2) all parties will contribute resources to the accomplishment of these objectives. Bars such agreements from being subject to a competitive process, at the Secretary's discretion.

(Sec. 111) Makes certain civil and criminal penalties under the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act applicable to leases authorizing exploration for or development of coal, any other solid material, or any geothermal resource on federal or Indian lands and leases, easements, right of ways, or other agreements for use of the Outer Continental Shelf or certain of its mineral, oil, and natural gas resources to the same extent as if such lease, easement, right of way, or other agreement was an oil and gas lease.

(Sec. 112) Prohibits funds from being used to further reduce the number of axis or fallow deer at Point Reyes National Seashore in California.

(113) Directs the MMS, in FY2010, to collect a non-refundable inspection fee as prescribed by this section, to be deposited in the Royalties and Offshore Minerals Management account, from the designated operator for specified facilities on the Outer Continental Shelf that are subject to inspection by the MMS that are above the waterline, except mobile offshore drilling units, and are in place at the start of such fiscal year.

(Sec. 114) Amends Public Law 109-131 (relating to payments to provide for educational services for students attending schools within Yosemite National Park in California) to extend the authorization for the Secretary of the Interior to provide payments to the Bass Lake Joint Union Elementary School District and the Mariposa Unified School District for such services through FY2013.

(Sec. 115) Amends the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to bar any privately owned property from being included in the Northern Plains National Heritage Area in North Dakota unless the owner of the property provides a request to the management entity for such inclusion. Requires private property included in the Heritage Area to be immediately withdrawn when the owner provides a notice to the management entity requesting removal. Requires public property included in the Heritage Area to be immediately withdrawn upon notification from the appropriate state or local government entity.

(Sec. 116) Sets forth provisions regarding the admission of visitors to historic attractions within the Pearl Harbor Naval Complex, including the Battleship Missouri Memorial.

Requires the proceeds of any amounts collected as fees to be used for the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument in Hawaii.

Prohibits anything in this section from: (1) regulating or approving rates for admission to a historic attraction; (2) regulating or managing visitor services within the Complex, other than services managed by the NPS as part of the Monument; or (3) charging an entrance fee for admission to the Monument.

Prohibits anything in this section from authorizing the Secretary or any organization that administers or manages a historic attraction to take any action in derogation of the preservation and protection of the values and resources of the Monument.

(Sec. 117) Provides for FY2010 assistance levels to Palau.

Limits assistance to FY2009 levels. Withholds such assistance if trust fund withdrawals exceed $5 million.

(Sec. 118) Amends the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2000 to remove the requirement that Fort Baker, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California, remain under exclusive federal jurisdiction.

(Sec. 119) Bars the use of funds in this Act for the establishment or implementation of a plan for the reduction in the number of elk in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota, unless certain residents are licensed to cull such elk.

(Sec. 120) Extends, for 10 years, the Drake's Bay Oyster Company's Reservation of Use and Occupancy and associated special use permit within Drake's Estero at Point Reyes National Seashore in California. Makes such extended authorization subject to annual payments to the United States based on the market value of use of the federal property for the duration of such renewal. Instructs the Secretary of the Interior to take into consideration recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Report pertaining to shellfish agriculture in the Seashore before modifying any terms and conditions of the extended authorization.

(Sec. 121) Extends through FY2010 the authority of the MMS to accept contributions of money and services to conduct work in support of the orderly exploration and development of Outer Continental Shelf resources.

(Sec. 122) Directs the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of the national significance, suitability, and feasibility of including the Honouliuli Gulch and associated sites within Hawaii in the National Park System.

Requires such study to evaluate the Honouliuli Gulch, associated sites on Oahu, and other islands in Hawaii respecting: (1) their significance as a component of World War II; (2) their significance as related to the forcible internment of Japanese Americans, European Americans, and other individuals; and (3) historic resources at those sites.

(Sec. 123) Prohibits the use of any funds in this Act to impede, prohibit, or restrict activities of the Secretary of Homeland Security on public lands for achieving operational control, as defined under the Secure Fence Act of 2006, over the international land and maritime borders of the United States.

(Sec. 124) Permits any private property owner within an existing or new National Heritage Area to opt out of participating in any plan, project, program, or activity conducted within that Heritage Area when the owner provides a notice to the local coordinating entity of the owner's decision to opt out of participation in such plan, project, program, or activity.

<b>Title II: Environmental Protection Agency </b>- Makes appropriations for FY2010 to the 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 Trust Fund Program; (7) expenses to carry out the EPA's 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.

Rescinds permanently a specified amount from unobligated balances to carry out projects and activities funded through the State and Tribal Assistance Grants account. Prohibits any amounts from being rescinded from amounts designated by Congress as an emergency requirement pursuant to the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget or the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

(Sec. 201) Authorizes the Administrator of the EPA to carry out and submit to Congress the results of a study defining black carbon, assess its impacts on global and regional climate, and identify the most cost-effective ways of reducing black carbon emissions in order to improve global and domestic public health and to mitigate the climate impacts of black carbon.

Provides from amounts under this title under the heading &quot;Environmental Programs and Management&quot; for operations and administration, up to a specified amount to be: (1) transferred to the account used to fund the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards of the EPA; and (2) used by the EPA Administrator to carry out this section.

<b>Title III: Related Agencies </b>- Makes appropriations for FY2010 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 (including transfers of funds); (4) land acquisitions, including specified National Forest areas in Utah, Nevada, and California; (5) range rehabilitation, protection, and improvement; (6) gifts, donations, and bequests for forest and rangeland research; (7) federal land management in Alaska; (8) wildland fire management (including transfers of funds); and (9) the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Fund.

Prohibits reprogramming of any of the funds available to the Forest Service without the advance approval of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations, in accordance with the reprogramming procedures contained in title IV of this Act.

Makes appropriations for FY2010 to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for: (1) the Indian Health Service (IHS) and Indian health facilities; and (2) the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Makes appropriations for FY2010 in specified amounts for various purposes to the: (1) Executive Office of the President; (2) Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (including transfer of funds); (3) Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation; (4) Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development; (5) Smithsonian Institution, including for carrying out activities under the Civil Rights History Project Act of 2009; (6) National Gallery of Art; (7) John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; (8) Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; (9) National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities, including the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH); (10) Commission of Fine Arts, including expenses for National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs; (11) Advisory Council on Historic Preservation; (12) National Capital Planning Commission; (13) U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum; (14) Presidio Trust; and (15) Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission.

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

(Sec. 403) Prohibits funds from being used to provide specified personal services.

(Sec. 404) 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. 405) Prohibits funds from being used to plan, prepare, or offer for sale timber from trees classified as giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) which are located on National Forest System or BLM lands in a manner different than such sales were conducted in FY2009.

(Sec. 406) Prohibits funds from being used to accept or process applications for a patent for any mining or mill site claim, subject to exception. Requires a report.

(Sec. 407) Regulates contract support costs.

(Sec. 409) Prohibits funds provided in this Act from being used to conduct preleasing, leasing, and related activities under either the Mineral Leasing Act or the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act within the boundaries of a National Monument as such boundary existed on January 20, 2001, except where such activities are allowed under the presidential proclamation establishing the monument.<br>

(Sec. 410) Permits the Secretaries of Agriculture and of the Interior to make reciprocal agreements in which the individuals furnished under such agreements to provide fire management services are considered, for tort liability, employees of the foreign country receiving the services when the individuals are engaged in fire suppression. 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. 411) 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.

(Sec. 412) Prohibits funds available by this or any other Act from being used in FY2010 for competitive sourcing studies and related activities involving Forest Service personnel.

(Sec. 413) Prohibits: (1) unless otherwise provided in this Act, any funds appropriated in this Act for the acquisition of lands or interests in lands from being spent for the filing of declarations of taking or complaints in condemnation without the approval of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations; and (2) applying this provision to funds appropriated to implement the Everglades National Park Protection and Expansion Act of 1989, or to funds appropriated for federal assistance to the state of Florida to acquire lands for Everglades restoration.

(Sec. 414) Provides a specified amount to the EPA for transfer to the Department of the Navy for clean-up activities at Treasure Island Naval Station--Hunters Point Annex, California, in addition to the amounts otherwise provided to the EPA in this Act.

(Sec. 415) Requires the renewal of certain National Forest System lands grazing permits that expired, were transferred, or were waived during FY2010.

(Sec. 416) Bars the IHS, until October 1, 2011, 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 located within an area served by an Alaska Native regional health entity. Treats Eastern Aleutian Tribes Inc. the Council of Athabasean Tribal Governments, and the Native Village of Eyak as such entities to which funds may be disbursed.

(Sec. 417) Regulates specified Alaskan timber sales.

(Sec. 418) Amends the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 to extend the authority of the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to enter into cooperative forestry agreements and contracts for watershed restoration and protection services in Colorado until September 30, 2014.

(Sec. 419) Amends the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 to increase the number of members of the National Council on the Arts who shall: (1) serve on the Council; and (2) constitute a quorum.

(Sec. 420) Prohibits funds in this Act or any other Act from being used to promulgate or implement any regulation requiring the issuance of permits under the Clean Air Act for carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, water vapor, or methane emissions resulting from biological processes associated with livestock production.

(Sec. 421) Prohibits funds from being used to implement any rule requiring mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions from manure management systems emitting less than 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year.

(Sec. 422) Allocates, within the amounts appropriated in this Act, funding in the amounts specified for those projects and purposes delineated in the table titled &quot;Congressionally Directed Spending&quot; included in the committee report accompanying this Act.

(Sec. 423) Prohibits the distribution of any funds under this Act to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) or its subsidiaries.

(Sec. 424) Prohibits the use of any funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for wildland fire management in the District of Columbia.

(Sec. 425) Authorizes the Director of the Geological Survey, using funds under this Act, to conduct a specified evaluation of the aquifers in the area of the Jungo Disposal Site in Humboldt County, Nevada.

(Sec. 426) Encourages the Administrator of the EPA to consider all appropriate criteria relating to the buyout and relocation of residents of properties Treece, Kansas, who are subject to risks related to chat (waste material formed in the course of milling operations employed to recover lead and zinc from metal-bearing ore minerals in the Tri-State Mining District of Southwest Missouri, Southeast Kansas and Northeast Oklahoma). Prohibits, for the purpose of the remedial action under CERCLA that includes permanent relocation of residents of Treece, any such relocation from being subject to the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970.

(Sec. 427) Amends the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to: (1) enter into cooperative agreements with certain private entities, as described in that Act, under which the facilities and technical expertise of the Department of Agriculture (under current law, the Agricultural Research Service) shall be made available for the operation of pilot plants and other large-scale preparation facilities in bringing technologies necessary for the development and commercialization of new biobased products to the point of practical application; and (2) rent equipment to such entities.

(Sec. 428) Expresses the sense of the Senate that the Senate: (1) supports the National Vehicle Mercury Switch Recovery Program as an effective way of reducing mercury pollution from electric arc furnaces used by the steel industry to melt scrap metal from old vehicles; and (2) urges the Program's founders to secure private sector financial support so that the successful efforts of the Program in reducing mercury pollution may continue.

(Sec. 429) Amends the National Forest Foundation Act to increase the number of members of the governing Board of Directors of the National Forest Foundation from 15 to up to 30 Directors.

(Sec. 430) Prohibits the use of any funds made available by this Act to increase the amount of cabin user fees under the Cabin User Fee Fairness Act of 2000 to an amount beyond the amount levied on December 31, 2009.

(Sec. 431) Establishes in the Treasury the Federal Land Assistance, Management, and Enhancement Fund (Flame Fund).

Authorizes appropriations for the Flame Fund. Expresses the intent of Congress with respect to the expenditure of amounts appropriated to the Flame Fund.

Expresses the sense of Congress that further amounts appropriated to the Flame Fund should be designated as necessary to meet emergency needs.

Instructs the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture (the Secretaries) to notify specified congressional committees (the congressional committees) whenever only an estimated 60 days worth of funding remains in the Flame Fund.

Requires the transfer of unobligated wildland fire suppression funds into the Flame Fund.

Requires amounts in the Flame Fund to be made available to the Secretaries to pay the costs of catastrophic emergency wildland fire suppression activities that are separate from amounts annually appropriated for routine wildfire suppression activities.

Makes amounts in the Flame Fund available to the Secretaries only after such Secretaries issue a declaration that a wildland fire suppression activity is eligible for funding from the Fund. Permits such a declaration to be issued only if certain conditions are met with respect to the fire's size and severity, or the costs of suppression have exceeded specified appropriated amounts.

Continues funding for anticipated and predicted wildland fire suppression activities within appropriate agency budgets. Expresses the intent of Congress that funding made available through the Flame Fund be used only for purposes and in instances consistent with this section.

Requires obligating any amounts in the Flame Fund and any funds appropriated for wildfire suppression on federal land before the transfer of funds from non-fire accounts for wildfire suppression.

Directs the Secretaries to establish an accounting and reporting system for the Flame Fund compatible with existing National Fire Plan reporting procedures.

Requires the Secretaries to report annually to the congressional committees on the use of amounts from the Flame Fund, and recommendations to improve administrative control and oversight of the Fund. Requires such report to be made available to the public. Requires the Secretaries to submit to the congressional committees estimates of anticipated wildfire suppression costs in order to improve budgeting and funding. Subjects the methodology for the development of the estimates to peer review to ensure that they were developed using the best available climate, weather, and other relevant data and models and other analytic tools. Prescribes a schedule for submission of such estimates.

(Sec. 432) Requires the Secretaries to submit a report to Congress that contains a cohesive wildland fire management strategy, consistent with the recommendations of recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports regarding management strategies.

Sets forth required elements of the strategy, including that the strategy provide for: (1) the reinvestment by the Secretaries in non-fire programs; (2) the allocation of hazardous fuels reduction funds based on the priority of hazardous fuels reduction projects; (3) assessing the impacts of climate change on the frequency and severity of wildland fire; and (4) studying the effects of invasive species on wildfire risk.

Directs the Secretaries, at least once during every five-year period beginning on the date of submission of the strategy, to revise it to address any changes affecting it, including changes respecting landscape, vegetation, climate, and weather.

(Sec. 433) Prohibits any funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act from being: (1) used to make any payments in connection with civilian and military contracts not awarded using competitive procedures; or (2) awarded by grants not subject to merit-based competitive procedures, needs-based criteria, or other procedures specifically authorized by law to select the grantee or award recipient. Makes such prohibition non-applicable to the awarding of specified contracts and grants.

(Sec. 434) Provides for the posting of reports required to be submitted by federal agencies or departments to the House or Senate appropriations committee on the public website of those agencies upon receipt by the committee concerned. Makes such requirement non-applicable to a report if the public posting of such report compromises national security or the report contains proprietary information.

(Sec. 436) Requires any purchases of chat from the Tar Creek Superfund Site to be: (1) counted at twice their purchase price; and (2) eligible to be counted toward meeting the federally required disadvantaged business enterprise set-aside on federally funded projects in order to expedite the cleanup of federal and Indian land at the Site. Makes such requirement applicable only if the purchase of chat is made from at least one restricted Indian owner or an Indian tribe.

Status of the Legislation

Latest Major Action: 10/29/2009: Conference report agreed to in House. Status: On agreeing to the conference report Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: 247 - 178 (Roll no. 826).

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