Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA) (H.R. 701) and a Related Initiative in the 106th Congress

Publication Date: January 2001

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

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Research Area: Energy

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Abstract:

Legislation to allocate revenues from Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas activities for federal and state resource acquisition and protection, urban recreation, wildlife protection, and related purposes passed the House on May 11, 2000 and was approved by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on July 25, 2000, but no further action was taken. This report compares these two bills with current law. The two versions contain some significant differences. The bulk of the House version is permanently funded, while the Senate version is considered discretionary spending. Opponents worried that enacting these bills could increase the rate at which the federal government acquires private lands, increase pressure to expand development in the OCS, or (in the case of the House bill) remove significant funding decisions from the annual appropriations process. Supporters believed that more dependable federal funding in larger amounts for diverse resource protection purposes was long overdue, and argued that the revenues generated by depletion of one resource (development of offshore oil and gas) should be used to augment efforts to conserve other resources. Many programs that would have been funded in these bills were also in the Clinton Administration's "Lands Legacy Initiative", which is reviewed in an appendix. Congress approved a $1.6 billion version of this initiative in FY2001 Interior and Commerce appropriations (which is not permanently funded) after it became clear that CARA would not be enacted. This report will not be updated.