not being but should be recovered and preserved in the public interest. The Secretary shall initiate action within sixth days of notification to him by an agency pursuant to subsection (a), and within such time as may be agreed upon with the head of the responsible agency in all other cases. The responsible agency upon request of the Secretary is hereby authorized to assist the Secretary and to transfer to the Secretary such funds as may be necessary, in an amount not to exceed one per centum of the total amount appropriated for such project, activity, or program, to enable the Secretary to conduct such survey or other investigation and recover and preserve such data (including analysis and publication) or, in the case of small projects which cause extensive scientific, prehistorical, historical, or archeological damage, such large amount as may be mutually agreed upon by the Secretary and the responsible Federal agency as being necessary to affect adequate protection and recovery: Provided, That the costs of such survey, recovery, analysis, and publication shall be considered nonreimbursable project costs. "(c) The Secretary shall keep the responsible agency notified at all times of the progress of any survey or other investigation made under this Act, or of any work undertaken as a result of such survey, in order that there will be as little disruption or delay as possible in the carrying out of the functions of such agency. "(d) A survey or other investigation similar to that provided for by subsection (b) of this section and the work required to be preformed as a result thereof shall so far as practicable also be undertaken in connection with any dam, project, activity, or program which has been heretofore authorized by any agency of the United States, by any private person or corporation holding a license issued by any such agency, or by Federal law. "(e) The Secretary shall consult with any interested Federal and State agencies, educational and scientific organizations, and private institutions and qualified individuals, with a view to determining the ownership of and the most appropriate repository for any relics and specimens recovered as a result of any work performed as provided for in this section. "SEC. 4. In the administration of this Act, the Secretary may "(1) accept and utilize funds transferred to him by any Federal agency pursuant to this Act; "(2) enter into contracts or make cooperative agreements with any Federal or State agency, any educational or scientific organization, or any institution, corporation, association, or qualified individual; "(3) obtain the services of exports and consultants or organizations thereof in accordance with section 3109 of title 5, United States Code; and "(4) accept and utilize funds made available for salvage archeological purposes by any private person or corporation. "SEC. 5. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act." Mr. TAYLOR. In the absence of objection, a copy of all of the departmental reports which are before the members will be made a part of the record at this point. (The departmental reports follow:) Hon. WAYNE N. ASPINALL, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Chairman, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, House of Representatives, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This responds to your request for views of this Department on eight identical bills, H.R. 6257, H.R. 6258, H.R. 6259, H.R. 6276, H.R. 6916, H.R. 7737, H.R. 8089, and H.R. 9073 "To amend the Act of June 27, 1960 (74 Stat. 220), relating to the preservation of historical and archeological data", and three similar measures, H.R. 735, H.R. 2205, and H.R. 3607. We recommend the enactment of II.R. 6259 or H.R. 6276. The Act of June 27, 1960 (74 Stat. 220), provides that before any agency of the United States undertakes the construction of a dam, or issues a license for that purpose, it shall give written notice to the Secretary of the Interior. Upon receipt of such notice, the Secretary is directed to survey the affected area and ascertain whether historical and archeological data exist and should be preserved, and if so, to collect and preserve such data. The Act authorizes the appropriation of such sums as may be necessary to carry out its purposes. H.R. 6259 and H.R. 6276 will amend the 1960 Act by re-enacting its major provisions, but with the following significant changes: (1) broadening the scope of activity that will give rise to a salvage program to include not only dam construction but any Federal, federally assisted, or federally licensed activity; (2) authorizing the Secretary to conduct a survey and salvage program upon notification not only be the instigating agency but upon notification by any other Federal or State agency or responsible private organization of individual; and (3) authorizing the instigating agency to expend program activity funds for recovery and preservation of data, or upon notice by the Secretary, to transfer to him up to one percent of the amount appropriated for the activity in order to enable the Secretary to conduct the survey and salvage required. The Secretary of the Interior, under the 1960 Act through the National Park Service has spent approximately $1 million per year on historical and archeological surveys and recovery of data located at proposed Federal or federally licensed dam and reservoir sites. A major problem in conducting an adequate program of salvage archeology is the great increase in recent years of the number of small construction projects which are injurious to archeological values. Many of these are outgrowths of construction of major dams, and include such activities as landleveling and construction of irrigation systems. Others such as construction of road and other developments on Indian lands, construction in connection with defense programs and others are also causing a greatly increased need for salvage archeology. Our present program attempts to respond to this need, as exemplified by budgeted items for miscellaneous small reservoirs in the Northeast Region, and landleveling in the Southeast and Midwest Regions. Just as the nature of these projects is different from the construction of major dams, however, the answer to the need for salvage archeology is not apparently best met by the traditional method of advance programming by the Service for individual projects. For instance, the Soil Conservation Service is conducting activities affecting archeological values in its watershed program carried out under authority of the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act (68 Stat. 666; 16 U.S.C. 1001), as amended. This Act authorizes Federal assistance to qualified local organizations to conserve and improve water and related resources in watersheds not exceeding 250,000 acres in size. By January 1968, 827 projects had been authorized. The projects are for the most part small, and involve Federal assistance to local organizations. Communication is difficult because of the quantity of small projects and minimal leadtime, thereby making advance salvage funding unsatisfactory. If the Soil Conservation Service were authorized to provide on an actual need basis at the time of construction, salvage activities could be directly responsive to the need for salvage caused by the current construction program. Following are several instances from the Southwest Region where significant remains were destroyed by federally funded, sponsored, or licensed projects because there was neither authority nor sufficient leadtime given by the responsible agency, nor sufficient funds to accomplish the work on an emergency basis: 1. Phreatophyte clearing and related construction along the Gila River by the united efforts of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Geological Survey, and the San Carlos Apache Tribe. 2. Construction of the Southwest International Airport, Fort Worth, Texas. Any archeological remains in this area are significant, and because of the immense land area involved, there was undoubtedly some loss. Paleontological remains were salvaged by the Shuler Museum, SMU, through emergency funds provided by our Southwest Archeological Center. 3. Construction of roads and other features at Fort Bliss (and doubtless other military installations) has destroyed known sites of archeological significance. 4. Public Health Service-Bureau of Indian Affairs-White Mountain Apache Tribe housing project at Cedar Creek, Arizona. In this instance much of a large pueblo site was destroyed before salvage action could begin. It appears, therefore, that there is a need to provide a more flexible basis for conducting surveys and recovery of data than is afforded by the notice procedures, applicable only to dam and reservoir construction, of the 1960 Act. By (1) broadening the Federal activity subject to survey, (2) allowing the Sec retary to act on information furnished by the public and private agencies, and (3) permitting the instigating agency to transfer funds, up to one percent of the total appropriated, on the basis of need, we believe H.R. 6259 and H.R. 6276 will greatly assist in our ability to recover significant historical and archeological data. If the contemplated program is to be effective, the funds required for the protective activities should be available in advance of any construction activities. Generally speaking, appropriations for a project are spread out over a period of years. We intend, to the extent possible, to request appropriation of the full amount authorized for the recovery, protection, and preservation of the data prior to initiation of the project. To the extent that oher agencies may ask this Department to recover and preserve the data, we would expect them to request the full amount authorized in their appropriations so that the funds may be transferred promptly. Of course, under the terms of H.R. 6259 and H.R. 6276, project construction agencies may prefer to undertake salvage work themselves, without transferring funds to this Department. For example, agencies of the Department of Agriculture might choose this course. We would hope, however, that in so doing, other such agencies would program salvage funds well in advance of construction activities. The Office of Management and Budget has advised that there is no objection to the presentation of this report from the standpoint of the Administration's program. Sincerely yours, Hon. WAYNE N. ASPINALL, NATHANIEL P. REED, Assistant Secretary of the Interior. DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, Washington, D.C., March 16, 1972. Chairman, Committee on Interior, and Insular Affairs, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in reply to your request for the views of the Department of Defense on H.R. 6257, 6258, 6259, 6276, 6916, 7737, 8089, and 9073, 92d Congress, bills "To amend the Act of June 27, 1960 (74 Stat. 220) relating to the preservation of historical and archeological data." The Department of the Army has been assigned responsibility for reporting on these bills. The Act of June 27, 1960 (74 Stat. 220), which the bills would amend, provides for the salvage of historical and archeological remains being flooded or destroyed by dams constructed or licensed by the Federal Government. It requires that, before any agency of the United States undertakes or issues a license for the construction of a dam, it must give written notice to the Secretary of the Interior setting forth the site of the proposed dam and the approximate area to be flooded. The Secretary of the Interior is directed to conduct a survey of the area to be flooded to ascertain whether the area contains historical and archeological data which should be preserved, and if so, to perform work to collect and preserve the data. The Act provides for similar surveys and work in connection with any dam authorized prior to the date of enactment. The bills would amend the Act by extending its coverage to all Federal, federally assisted, or federally licensed projects, activities and programs, and would authorize the agency involved to either expend its funds to recover and preserve archeological data or transfer funds to the Secretary of the Interior for this purpose. The funds authorized to be transferred could not exceed one percentum of the total amount appropriated in connection with the agency's project, activity, or program. The bills would also require that the agency involved notify the Secretary of the Interior upon learning that its existing or proposed project, activity or program affects, or may affect, adversely any significant scientific, prehistoric, historical or archeological data. The agency may then undertake the recovery and preservation of such data on its own or may request that the Secretary undertake the recovery and transfer funds to the Secretary up to one percentum of the total amount appropriated for the agency's project, activity or program. The bills would further authorize the Secretary to initiate a survey or investigation when the possible presence of such data is brought to his attention, and to recover and preserve that data if the responsible agency, after notice from the Secretary, does not take steps to so preserve such data in the public interest. With regard to the bills' application to federally licensed projects, programs and activities, we interpret them as not applying to the permit authority of the Department of the Army. Under the Act of March 3, 1899 (33 U.S.C. 401 et seq), any dredging, filling, dumping, discharging, or erection of structures in navigable waters of the United States is prohibited unless authorized by the Secretary of the Army. No license. in the usual sense, is involved, but only a revocable permit. If this permit activity is intended to be covered by the bills, we feel that the permittee, and not this Department, should properly bear the cost of recovering and preserving archeological data as part of the cost of being allowed to perform work in the navigable waters of the United States. Subject to the preceding comment, the Department of the Army has no objection to enactment of the bills. The Office of Management and Budget advises that, from the standpoint of the Administration's program, there is no objection to the presentation of this report for the consideration of the committee. Sincerely, (Signed) ROBERT F. FROEHLKE, Secretary of the Army. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Hon. WAYNE N. ASPIN ALL, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, D.C., April 6, 1972. Chairman, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: As you requested, here is our report on identical bills H.R. 735, H.R. 2205, H.R. 3607, and identical bills H.R. 6257, H.R. 6258, H.R. 6259, H.R. 6276, H.R. 6916, H.R. 7737, H.R. 8089 and H.R. 9073, bills "To amend the Act of June 27, 1960 (74 Stat. 220), relating to the preservation of historical and archeological data." This Department recommends that these bills not be enacted unless several significant points are clarified. The Act of June 27, 1960, presently provides that the Secretary of the Interior will survey and arrange for the preservation of historical and archeological data which might otherwise be irreparably lost or destroyed as a result of the construction of Federal dams or federally licensed dams. These bills would broaden the Act in the following ways -In addition to the presently covered dams, coverage would be extended to any alteration of the terrain caused as a result of any Federal, federally assisted, or federally licensed activity or program. The provisions of the bills could be interpreted to have retroactive effect in connection with any uncompleted dam, project, activity, or program previously authorized. -Presently historical and archeological data are covered. These bills would add scientific and prehistorical data. -Presently, only such data “which might otherwise be irreparably lost or destroyed" are covered. These bills change the coverage on pages 3 and 4 to data which might be "adversely affected." -The bills would authorize not to exceed one per centum of the total amount appropriated in connection with such project, activity or program to be transferred to the Secretary of the Interior to survey. investigate and preserve such data, or a larger amount as mutually agreed upon by the Secretary of the Interior and the responsible Federal agency for smaller projects which cause extensive damage to such data. II.R. 6257, and identical bills, also provides that an appropriate share of the costs would be borne by the grantee in cases involving Federal grant-in-aid programs. Clarification is needed as to the intent of the provision on page 4 concerning the specified amount to be transferred for a project, activity or program for investigation, recovery and preservation of such data, with respect to the unit of activity which the one per centum specified in the bills would apply. That part of the proposed amendment (item (2), page 2) specifically, “any alteration of the terrain caused as a result of any Federal, federally assisted, or federally licensed activity or program" needs clarification, as to the areas of applicability. As written, this provision could be construed as applying to essentially every activity of the Federal Government-defense, space, natural resources, agriculture, commerce and transportation, community development and housing, health, education, etc.—wherein Federal assistance, directly or indirectly, resulted in action altering the terrain. Clarification is needed on the definition of "responsible agency," particularly in regard to cases involving (a) multiagency assistance or (b) indirect Federal assistance. These bills would authorize the operating Federal agency to make the surveys and investigations relating to the archeological and other data and to take recovery and preservation action on other than major dam construction projects. We agree that in those cases where agencies have or can obtain the capability of evaluating archeological and related data they should have the opportunity to do so directly. This will enable these agencies to better plan and control the timing and progress of programs and projects affecting such data and at the same time fulfill their responsibilities as to the quality of the environment. The Forest Service presently has the capability to perform archeological investigations on the National Forests and to take action to preserve archeological data. In other situations, the Department works with the Department of the Interior, local historical and archeolobical associations and universities in evaluating the impact of projects and programs on historical and archeological data. The Office of Management and Budget advises that there is no objection to the presentation of this report from the standpoint of the Administration's program. Sincerely, T. K. COWDEN, Assistant Secretary. Hon. WAYNE N. ASPIN ALL, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION, Chairman, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in response to your request for the views of this Department on the following bills: H.R. 735, 2205, 3607-"To amend the Act of June 27, 1960 (74 Stat. 220), relating to the preservation of historical and archeological data." The Department of Transportation endorses the purposes and objectives of these bills. Indeed, our Federal Highway Administration now maintains a program of archeological and palentological salvage as authorized by 23 U.S.C. 305. Under this program, when a projected highway will pass through an area which may contain historical objects, the appropriate Federal or State authority can be advised of the proposed location of the highway so as to enable such authority to determine the likelihood of the highway construction destroying historical objects. Even when objects are not discovered until construction has begun, construction can be halted, appropriate authorities notified, and steps taken to excavate and preserve the objects. If preservation is not practicable, data concerning the objects can be recorded. Archeological surveys are considered part of the costs for the projects and are eligible for Federal-aid reimbursement. Similarly, the cost of excavation or recordation of data is eligible for Federal-aid participation. As we understand the bills, an agency could use project funds for its own efforts in the recovery, protection, and preservation of data, or it shall notify the Secretary of the Interior and transfer to him not to exceed 1 per centum of project funds so that he may conduct such activities. We note this authority is permissive and would not require that Federal-aid highway funds or the funds of any other program administered by this Department be transferred to the Secretary of the Interior for this purpose. |