INTERNATIONAL AUTHORITY FOR SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION COUNCIL TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1985 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON INTERIOR AND INSULAR AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met at 10 a.m., in room 1310, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. John F. Seiberling (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Mr. SEIBERLING. The Subcommittee on Public Lands will please come to order. Our meeting today is an oversight hearing to review what various agencies under the Interior Committee's jurisdiction are doing to provide assistance to other countries on environmental and natural and cultural resource issues. Under the committee's rules for the 99th Congress, the Subcommittee on Public Lands has, among other things, jurisdiction over cooperative efforts to encourage, enhance, and improve international programs for the conservation of land and related resources, particularly as they may affect conservation efforts on the public lands of the United States. The subcommittee also has jurisdiction, of course, over all measures and matters involving the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands and also Antarctica. More specifically, the subcommittee also has jurisdiction over the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, which was authorized by the 1980 amendments to the National Historic Preservation Act and included both natural and cultural sites. That act also authorized the participation of the United States as a member in the International Center for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property located in Rome, Italy. In addition, the Interior Committee as a whole has an interest in a number of other international treaties and programs, including the Western Hemisphere Convention on Nature Protection and Wildlife Preservation in the Western Hemisphere, an extremely important subject matter, to which the United States and virtually all the countries of Central and South America, plus Cuba and Haiti, are parties. We also share concerns over the implementation of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, CITES for short and pronounced sigh-teez, and the Man and the Biosphere Program initiated through Unesco. Indeed, if there is one thing we have learned over the past few years, it is that the issues confronting the United States in conservation and resource protection are not limited to our border. Desertification, acid rain, deforestation, ground water contamination, et cetera these and other environmental problems simply transcend national boundaries. For example, many of our so-called native songbirds are in danger of extinction because their winter habitats in Central and South America are rapidly being destroyed. Last November I was asked to represent the United States at an Inter-Parliamentary Conference on the Environment sponsored by the Inter-Parliamentary Union in cooperation with the United Nations Environment Program whose headquarters is in Nairobi. The conference came up with a number of excellent recommendations for addressing international environmental concerns. One of the resolutions called for the Inter-Parliamentary Union, in cooperation with UNEP, to convene a meeting in 1986 to survey the progress made in implementing the conference's recommendations, which were, indeed, important ones. Hopefully the hearing today will provide information useful in carrying out the conference's recommendations. The idea for today's hearing also came out of recommendations which I made to the Developing Country Task Force, sponsored by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, that the relevant committees of Congress should review what domestic agencies are doing to assist developing countries to improve their natural and cultural resources and environmental conditions. Although our hearing will not be limited to developing countries, they will undoubtedly certainly receive a good deal of our attention since their problems and needs are usually so much greater than in more developed countries, at least with respect to the land resource itself. This hearing is the first one to be held in our committee covering the wide range of international activities and programs in domestic agencies we oversee. Our purpose is to learn about these programs firsthand, to examine their accomplishments and determine whether any improvements are needed. I think this hearing is occurring at an auspicious time; the week after the chairman of this committee and the chairman of this subcommittee and Congressman Weaver and three other members of this committee returned from a weeklong visit to the Soviet Union with most of that time spent in eastern Siberia. Our host there was the so-called Hydromet organization, the equivalent of EPA and several other environmental agencies rolled into one in the Soviet Government. We saw a great deal of what was being done by the Soviets to protect their air and water quality, to ensure reforestation, to prevent the contamination of important natural resources, like Lake Baikal, to engage in widespread preservation of historic monuments, and in general to do many of the things we are trying to do in this country. The spirit of cooperation and free and open discussion between ourselves and our Soviet hosts was very great indeed, and I think Chairman Udall and all members who were on that committee trip would agree that it was extremely important and worthwhile. I was delighted that our first witness today, Secretary Montoya, was with us on that trip. Of course he can speak for himself as to what his reactions were, but I would assume that he would agree with me that this was one channel of communication which focused on our common interest with the Soviet Union in protecting our environment, and the people and resources in it, from destruction and harmful activities and at the same time developed a cooperative and harmonious approach rather than a confrontational one. Heaven knows we have enough bases for confrontation and discord with the Soviets; it is about time we started exploring channels where we have an interest in common. So I think that fits right in with what we are trying to do with this hearing although the hearing itself is on a much broader base. I will be happy to recognize at this point any other members if they have any opening remarks. Mr. Strang. Mr. STRANG. No, Mr. Chairman. Mr. SEIBERLING. Thank you very much. Our first witness today is the Honorable Richard T. Montoya, Assistant Secretary for Territorial and International Affairs, Department of the Interior. He is accompanied by representatives of each of the operating bureaus which have international activities. I understand Secretary Montoya will present the Department's oral testimony and the agency representatives will be available for responding to members' questions. It would be helpful if each of them would stand as I introduce them so that both the members and the recorder will be able to identify them. In addition to Secretary Montoya, they are as follows: Mr. Robert G. Sturgill, International Programs Officer, Office of Territorial Affairs, Department of the Interior. They are all from the Department of the Interior, so I won't repeat that. Mr. Robert C. Horton, Director, Bureau of Mines. Mr. Len Richeson, Special Assistant to the Director for Program Operations, Office of Surface Mining. Mr. Sammie D. Guy, Chief, Division of Foreign Activities, Bureau of Reclamation. Mr. Bruce B. Hanshaw, Assistant Director for Research, U.S. Geological Survey. Mr. Robert C. Milne, Chief, Office of International Affairs, National Park Service. Mr. Lawrence N. Mason, Chief, Office of International Affairs, Fish and Wildlife Service. Mr. Arnold E. Petty, Deputy Director for Administration, Bureau of Land Management. Mr. John B. Rigg, Associate Director for Offshore Minerals, Office of Minerals Management Service. Rick, I feel like I did with Mr. Nureyev. When we met in the Kremlin with the Deputy Chairman of the Soviet Council of Ministers he was flanked on both sides of the long table by all of his assistant chiefs. I see that you have an equally impressive array of assistants with you, and I appreciate very much your bringing them before us. Without further ado, I recognize the Honorable Richard Montoya, Assistant Secretary for Territorial and International Affairs, Department of the Interior. [Prepared statements of Hon. Richard T. Monotya, Robert C. Horton, Len Richeson, Sammie D. Guy, Bruce B. Hanshaw, Robert C. Milne, Lawrence N. Mason, Arnold E. Petty, and John B. Rigg may be found in appendix I.] STATEMENT OF HON. RICHARD T. MONTOYA, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR TERRITORIAL AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ACCOMPANIED BY ROBERT G. STURGILL, INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS OFFICER, OFFICE OF TERRITORIAL AFFAIRS; ROBERT C. HORTON, DIRECTOR, BUREAU OF MINES; LEN RICHESON, SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE DIRECTOR FOR PROGRAM OPERATIONS, OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING; SAMMIE D. GUY, CHIEF, DIVISION OF FOREIGN ACTIVITIES, BUREAU OF RECLAMATION; BRUCE B. HANSHAW, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR RESEARCH, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY; ROBERT C. MILNE, CHIEF, OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE; LAWRENCE N. MASON, CHIEF, OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE; ARNOLD E. PETTY, DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR ADMINISTRATION, BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT; AND JOHN B. RIGG, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR OFFSHORE MINERALS, OFFICE OF MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE Mr. MONTOYA. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. It is not often that we get up here to visit with this committee regarding the other half of my job, the international portion of the Department of the Interior and our Office of Territorial and International Affairs. Mr. Chairman, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and Chairman Údall for giving me the opportunity to accompany you to the Soviet Union and to participate with the congressional delegation that toured Siberia. I, too, thought that it was a useful exercise that was quite enlightening and really does set the tone for what we are doing today. In addition to the folks that you introduced from the Department of the Interior, I would like to introduce Steve Sander, sitting at my left, and Larry Morgan, who is the Director of our Congressional and Public Affairs within my secretariat. Mr. SEIBERLING. Before we go ahead, I would like to offer the opportunity to sit on the lower tier here to the people standing in the back of the room, and if they want to occupy the last two or three end seats in the upper tier, they are welcome to do so. I remember when I was a boy I once read that if all the students who sleep in class were laid end to end they would be much more comfortable. I suspect that if the people who are standing in back were given the opportunity to sit they would also be much more comfortable. Mr. MONTOYA. Mr. Chairman, as you said, during our trip to the Soviet Union we did see that the topics we are discussing todaythe environment, our natural resource protection and cultural issues were topics that do apply not just in the Soviet Union or at the Department of the Interior, but globally. I am pleased to say that the Department of the Interior was able to react almost immediately to Department of State's request for assistance to Mexico City in their devastating earthquake. We sent 17 Department of the Interior personnel down to Mexico City to assist the Mexican Government. As one of Mexican descent, I find this a graphic example of how the U.S. Government can react to a tragedy and show that we are indeed good neighbors with our neighbors to the South. We know for a fact that our personnel from Department of the Interior saved 10 lives. Of course far more than that were saved by the efforts of the administration and the U.S. Government that went down to Mexico City, but it has been documented that our Department of the Interior personnel saved 10 lives. Our assistance to Mexico City consisted of search and rescue teams from the National Park Service and the Bureau of Mines and included TV and sophisticated personnel locating equipment from the Bureau of Mines and from the Bureau of Land Management. We had rope, helicopters, giant water containers. This was something that was requested by the Mexican Government and was graciously accepted by them. As I said, this was a response team that was put together almost immediately. The system does work. People often ask me why in the Department of the Interior we have so many international programs. Well, the fact of the matter is, as you alluded to in your opening statement, Mr. Chairman, this is a very small world and there is commonality in the area of environment, our natural resources and the cultural heritage, because there are a finite amount of these to go around. We have long been involved in international work but on a reimbursable basis, by and large. International activity at Interior is not based on legislative grant of general authority. In fact we have only three of our eight technical agencies that have modest specific authority for dealing with international affairs; they are National Park Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Fish and Wildlife Service. For parks, protected areas, and wildlife, we have U.S. Government treaty obligations, bilateral agreements, and public laws that require us to cooperate with other nations. Currently much of our international work, Mr. Chairman, is done with the Agency for International Development under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. My comments, Mr. Chairman, are a summary of my statement. I would hope that the entire statement would be included for the record. Mr. SEIBERLING. Without objection, your statement and the accompanying statements of all of those who are with you will be included in the record in full. Mr. MONTOYA. There are four major reasons why the Department of the Interior is involved in the international activities sphere. The first one is to conduct international facets of our domestic programs such as management of migratory birds, border park management, title IV of the Historic Preservation Act, enforce |