Taxpayers for Common has urged Congress to oppose H.R. 4570, the Omnibus Parks Bill of 1998, when it is considered this week. The bill is a dangerous mix of giveaways and flawed public policy that Congress has not had sufficient time to review. Among the worst of the provisions included in H.R. 4570 are:

    * WATER ASSET TRANSFERS: The legislation would mandate the transfer of several water projects from the Bureau of Reclamation to local water districts. Several of these proposed transfers do not provide a fair return on taxpayer investments and significantly undervalue the underlying assets. For example, estimates place the future value of oil and gas lease revenues in the Carlsbad Irrigation District at about $1.9 million. Under the bill, Carlsbad would get the future royalties at no cost. 

    * TIMBER SUBSIDIES: The bill would increase subsidies to the timber industry. Title IX establishes a new program to sell federal timber, ostensibly to reduce fire hazards in urban wildland interface areas. It also authorizes the timber industry to receive credits for undertaking “forestry management” projects in the sale area. This section would authorize up to $150 million for the forest management credit program. Furthermore, Section 922 of Title IX would authorize “such sums as may be necessary” to carry out this title, thus creating a new program with no ceiling. It would establish an unneeded, wasteful program for the Forest Service, an agency plagued by an historic lack of fiscal accountability. 

Inserting hundreds of provisions into one omnibus bill circumvents the public process and creates more wasteful government programs. This process does not allow Congress the time necessary to make decisions based on the merits of each provision. It only serves to shelve the public process at taxpayer expense.

If there are worthy, routine, non-controversial pieces of park legislation that merit consideration, Congress should consider them as separate bills.

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