Union Calendar No. 60

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 260

[Report No. 104–133]

A BILL

To provide for the development of a plan and a

tem, and for other purposes.considered for addition to the National Park Sysand to reform the process by which areas aremanagement review of the National Park System

JUNE 7, 1995

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commitordered to be printed tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
IB

Union Calendar No. 60

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 260

[Report No. 104–133]

To provide for the development of a plan and a management review of

the National Park System and to reform the process by which areas

are considered for addition to the National Park System, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 4, 1995

Mr. HEFLEY (for himself, Mr. HANSEN, and Mr. VENTO) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources

JUNE 7, 1995

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 4, 1995]

A BILL

To provide for the development of a plan and a management

review of the National Park System and to reform the

process by which areas are considered for addition to

the National Park System, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Park System

3 Reform Act of 1995’’.

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

5 As used in this Act:

6 (1) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of

7 the Interior.

8 (2) The term ‘‘Plan’’ means the National Park

9 System Plan developed under section 101.

10 (3) The term ‘‘Commission’’ means the National

11 Park System Review Commission established pursu12 ant to section 103.

13 (4) The term ‘‘Congressional resources commit14 tees’’ means the Committee on Resources of the House

15 of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and

16 Natural Resources of the Senate.

17 TITLE I—NATIONAL PARK

18 SYSTEM PLAN

19 SEC. 101. PREPARATION OF NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM PLAN.

20 (a) PREPARATION OF PLAN.—The Secretary of the In21 terior, acting through the Director of the National Park

22 Service, shall prepare a National Park System Plan to

23 guide the direction of the National Park System into the

24 next century. The Plan shall include each of the following:

25 (1) Identification of goals and objectives for use

26 in defining the mission and role of the National Park
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1 Service and the National Park System in preserving

2 our Nation’s heritage, relative to other efforts at the

3 Federal, State, local, and private levels. This state4 ment shall include a refinement for the definition of

5 ‘‘nationally significant’’ for purposes of inclusion in

6 the National Park System.

7 (2) Criteria to be used in determining which

8 themes and types of resources are appropriate for rep9 resentation in the National Park System, as well as

10 criteria for judging individual sites, areas, and

11 themes that are appropriate for inclusion as units of

12 the National Park System.

13 (3) Identification of what constitutes adequate

14 representation of a particular resource type or theme

15 in the National Park System.

16 (4) Identification of which aspects of the Na17 tion’s heritage are adequately represented in the exist18 ing National Park System.

19 (5) Identification of appropriate aspects of the

20 Nation’s heritage not currently or adequately rep21 resented in the National Park System.

22 (6) Priorities of the themes and types of re23 sources which should be added to the National Park

24 System in order to provide more complete representa25 tion of our Nation’s heritage.
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1 (7) A thorough analysis of the role of the Na2 tional Park System and the National Park Service

3 with respect to (but not limited to) conservation of

4 natural areas and ecosystems; preservation of indus5 trial America; preservation of intangible cultural her6 itage such as arts, music, and folklife; presidential

7 sites; open space protection; and provision of outdoor

8 recreation opportunities.

9 (8) A comprehensive financial management plan

10 for the National Park System which identifies all

11 funding available to the agency, how funds will be al12 located to support various programs, and the level of

13 service to be provided.

14 (b) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND CONSULTATION.—

15 During the preparation of the Plan under subsection (a),

16 the Secretary shall ensure broad public participation in a

17 manner which, at a minimum, consists of the following two

18 elements:

19 (1) Solicitation of the views of the American

20 public with regard to the future of the National Park

21 System. Opportunities for public participation shall

22 be made available throughout the planning process

23 and shall include specific regional public meetings.

24 (2) Consultation with other Federal land man25 agement agencies, State and local officials, resource
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1 management, recreation and scholarly organizations,

2 and other interested parties as the Secretary deems

3 advisable.

4 (c) TRANSMITTAL OF REPORT.—Prior to the end of the

5 second complete fiscal year commencing after the date of

6 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall transmit the Plan

7 developed under this section to the Congressional resources

8 committees.

9 (d) CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL.—Unless Congress en10 acts a joint resolution rejecting all or modifying part of

11 the Plan within 180 calendar days after the date of its

12 transmittal to Congress, the Plan shall be deemed approved.

13 (e) IDENTIFICATION OF UNITS OF THE NATIONAL

14 PARK SYSTEM.—The Secretary shall submit to the Congres15 sional resources committees an official list of areas or units

16 of the National Park System within 180 days after the date

17 of the enactment of this Act. The Secretary shall establish

18 a set of criteria for the purpose of developing such list and

19 shall transmit those criteria to the Congressional resources

20 committees.

21 (f) AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH UNITS OF THE NA22 TIONAL PARK SYSTEM.—After the enactment of this Act,

23 units or areas of the National Park System may only be

24 established pursuant to an Act of Congress or by Presi25 dential action in accordance with the Act entitled ‘‘An Act
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1 for the preservation of American antiquities’’ (16 U.S.C.

2 431 et seq.).

3 SEC. 102. MANAGEMENT REVIEW OF NATIONAL PARK

4 SYSTEM.

5 (a) SELECTION CRITERIA.—(1) The Secretary shall,

6 not later than 45 days after transmittal of the Plan under

7 section 101(c), publish in the Federal Register and transmit

8 to the Congressional resources committees the criteria pro9 posed to be used by the Department of the Interior in re10 viewing existing units of the National Park System under

11 this section. The Secretary shall provide an opportunity for

12 public comment on the proposed criteria for a period of at

13 least 30 days.

14 (2)(A) The Secretary shall, within 60 days of the

15 transmittal of proposed criteria under paragraph (1), pub16 lish in the Federal Register and transmit to the Congres17 sional resources committees the final criteria to be used in

18 carrying out this section. Except as provided in subpara19 graph (B), such criteria shall be the final criteria to be used

20 unless disapproved by a joint resolution of Congress enacted

21 not more than 30 legislative days after receipt of the final

22 criteria. For the purpose of the preceding sentence, the term

23 ‘‘legislative day’’ means a day on which both Houses of

24 Congress are in session.
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1 (B) The Secretary may amend such criteria, but such

2 amendments may not become effective until they have been

3 published in the Federal Register, opened to public comment

4 for at least 30 days, and transmitted to the Congressional

5 resources committees in final form.

6 (b) REVIEW.—(1)(A) Using the Plan deemed to be ap7 proved pursuant to section 101(d) and the criteria devel8 oped pursuant to subsection (a), the Secretary shall review

9 the existing National Park System to determine whether

10 any existing units or significant portions of such units do

11 not conform to the Plan. For any such areas, the Secretary

12 shall determine whether there are more appropriate alter13 natives for managing all or a portion of such units, includ14 ing through partnerships or direct management by States,

15 local governments, other agencies and the private sector.

16 (B) The Secretary shall develop a report which con17 tains a list of any unit of the National Park System where

18 National Park Service management should be terminated

19 and a list of any portion of units where National Park

20 Service management should be modified as a result of

21 nonconformance with the Plan. No area or portion of an

22 area which Congress has designated as a national park may

23 be included in the report.

24 (2) Should any such unit or portion of such unit not

25 be recommended for continued National Park Service man-
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1 agement, the Secretary shall make recommendations regard2 ing management by an entity or entities other than the Na3 tional Park Service.

4 (3) For any such unit or portion of such unit deter5 mined to have national significance, prior to including such

6 unit or portion of such unit on a list under paragraph (1),

7 the Secretary shall identify feasible alternatives to National

8 Park Service management which will protect the resources

9 of and assure continued public access to the unit.

10 (c) CONSULTATION.—In developing the report referred

11 to in subsection (b), the Secretary shall consult with other

12 Federal land management agencies, State and local offi13 cials, resource management, recreation and scholarly orga14 nizations, and other interested parties as the Secretary

15 deems advisable.

16 (d) TRANSMITTAL.—Not later than 18 months after the

17 Plan has been deemed approved, the Secretary shall trans18 mit the report developed under this section simultaneously

19 to the Congressional resources committees and the Commis20 sion. The report shall contain the recommendations of the

21 Secretary for termination of National Park Service man22 agement for any unit of the National Park System that is

23 determined not to conform with the Plan, a list of portions

24 of units where National Park Service management should

25 be modified, and the recommendations for alternative man-
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1 agement by an entity or entities other than the National

2 Park Service for such unit.

3 SEC. 103. NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM REVIEW COMMISSION.

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION; DUTIES.—(1)

5 Following completion of the Plan as specified in section

6 101, a National Park System Review Commission shall be

7 established.

8 (2) The Commission shall either review the report de9 veloped under section 102 or, if the Secretary fails to de10 velop and transmit such report, develop the report itself.

11 In conducting its review (or developing the report, if nec12 essary), the Commission shall be subject to the provisions

13 of sections 102 (b) and (c) in the same manner as such

14 provisions apply to the Secretary. If the Secretary develops

15 and transmits the report, the review of the Commission

16 shall be limited to the manner in which the criteria have

17 been applied to the existing National Park System. In addi18 tion the Commission shall seek broad public input and en19 sure the opportunity for input from persons who would be

20 directly affected by recommendations regarding National

21 Park System units identified in its report.

22 (3) Within 2 years after the date of its establishment,

23 the Commission shall prepare and transmit to the Congres24 sional resources committees a report of its work under para25 graph (2) in which the Commission recommends a list of
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1 National Park System units where National Park Service

2 management should be terminated and a list of portions

3 of units where National Park Service management should

4 be modified.

5 (b) MEMBERSHIP AND APPOINTMENT.—The Commis6 sion shall consist of 11 members, each of whom shall have

7 substantial familiarity with, and understanding of, the Na8 tional Park System and related fields. In addition, the

9 Commission members shall have expertise in natural

10 sciences, history, archaeology, and outdoor recreation. Five

11 members of the Commission, one of whom shall be the Direc12 tor of the National Park Service, shall be appointed by the

13 Secretary. Two members shall be appointed by the Speaker

14 of the United States House of Representatives in consulta15 tion with the chairman of the Committee on Resources, and

16 one member shall be appointed by the Minority Leader of

17 the House or Representatives in consultation with the rank18 ing minority member of the Committee on Resources. Two

19 members shall be appointed by the President pro tempore

20 of the United States Senate, in consultation with the chair21 man of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

22 and one member shall be appointed by the Minority Leader

23 of the Senate in consultation with the ranking minority

24 member of the Committee on Energy and Natural Re25 sources. Each member shall be appointed within three
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1 months after the completion of the Plan as specified in sec2 tion 101.

3 (c) CHAIR.—The Commission shall elect a chair from

4 among its members.

5 (d) VACANCIES.—Vacancies occurring on the Commis6 sion shall not affect the authority of the remaining members

7 of the Commission to carry out the functions of the Commis8 sion. Any vacancy in the Commission shall be promptly

9 filled in the same manner in which the original appoint10 ment was made.

11 (e) QUORUM.—A simple majority of Commission

12 members shall constitute a quorum.

13 (f) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at least

14 quarterly or upon the call of the chair or a majority of

15 the members of the Commission.

16 (g) COMPENSATION.—Members of the Commission

17 shall serve without compensation as such. Members of the

18 Commission, when engaged in official Commission business,

19 shall be entitled to travel expenses, including per diem in

20 lieu of subsistence, in the same manner as persons employed

21 intermittently in government service under section 5703 of

22 title 5, United States Code.

23 (h) TERMINATION.—The Commission established pur24 suant to this section shall terminate 90 days after the trans-
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1 mittal of the report to Congress as provided in subsection

2 (a).

3 (i) LIMITATION ON NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

4 STAFF.—The Commission may hire staff to carry out its

5 assigned responsibilities. Not more than one-half of the pro6 fessional staff of the Commission shall be made up of cur7 rent employees of the National Park Service.

8 (j) STAFF OF OTHER AGENCIES.—Upon the request of

9 the Commission, the head of any Federal agency may de10 tail, on a reimbursable basis, any of the personnel of such

11 agency to the Commission to assist the Commission.

12 (k) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—Subject to such

13 rules as may be adopted by the Commission, the Commis14 sion may procure temporary and intermittent services to

15 the same extent as authorized by section 3109(b) of title

16 5, United States Code, but at rates determined by the Com17 mission to be advisable.

18 (l) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.—(1) The Commis19 sion shall for the purpose of carrying out this title hold

20 such public hearings, sit and act at such times and places,

21 take such testimony, and receive such evidence as the Com22 mission deems advisable.

23 (2) The Commission may make such bylaws, rules, and

24 regulations, consistent with this title, as it considers nec25 essary to carry out its functions under this title.
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1 (3) When so authorized by the Commission, any mem2 ber or agent of the Commission may take any action which

3 the Commission is authorized to take by this section.

4 (4) The Commission may use the United States mails

5 in the same manner and upon the same conditions as other

6 departments and agencies of the United States.

7 (5) The Secretary shall provide to the Commission any

8 information available to the Secretary and requested by the

9 Commission regarding the Plan and any other information

10 requested by the Commission which is relevant to the duties

11 of the Commission and available to the Secretary.

12 SEC. 104. SUBSEQUENT ACT OF CONGRESS REQUIRED TO

13 MODIFY OR TERMINATE A PARK.

14 Nothing in this Act shall be construed as modifying

15 or terminating any unit of the National Park System with16 out a subsequent Act of Congress. This limitation shall not

17 limit any existing authority of the Secretary.

18 SEC. 105. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

19 There are hereby authorized to be appropriated

20 $2,000,000 to carry out the purposes of this title.

21 SEC. 106. COMMENDATION AND PROTECTION OF NATIONAL

22 PARK RANGERS.

23 (a) FINDING.—The Congress recognizes the dedication,

24 expertise and courage of the men and women who serve as

25 rangers and other employees of the National Park Service
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1 and finds their service to the protection of our park re2 sources and the safety of the hundreds of millions of Ameri3 cans who visit our national parks each year to be indispen4 sable.

5 (b) PROTECTION OF NATIONAL PARK SERVICE EM6 PLOYEES.—As soon as possible as part of the report devel7 oped under section 101, the Secretary shall report on the

8 procedures that have been instituted to report to the United

9 States Attorney or other appropriate law enforcement offi10 cial any intimidation, threats, or acts of violence against

11 employees of the National Park Service related to their

12 duties.

13 TITLE II—NEW AREA

14 ESTABLISHMENT

15 SEC. 201. STUDY OF NEW PARK SYSTEM AREAS.

16 Section 8 of the Act of August 18, 1970, entitled ‘‘An

17 Act to improve the Administration of the National Park

18 System by the Secretary of the Interior, and to clarify the

19 authorities applicable to the system, and for other purposes’’

20 (16 U.S.C. 1a–1 and following) is amended as follows:

21 (1) By inserting ‘‘GENERAL AUTHORITY.—’’

22 after ‘‘(a)’’.

23 (2) By striking the second through the sixth sen24 tences of subsection (a).
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1 (3) By redesignating the last two sentences of

2 subsection (a) as subsection (f) and inserting in the

3 first of such sentences before the words ‘‘For the pur4 poses of carrying’’ the following: ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION

5 OF APPROPRIATIONS.—’’.

6 (4) By striking subsection (b).

7 (5) By inserting the following after subsection

8 (a):

9 ‘‘(b) STUDIES OF AREAS FOR POTENTIAL ADDITION.—

10 (1) At the beginning of each calendar year, along with the

11 annual budget submission, the Secretary shall submit to the

12 Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives

13 and to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

14 of the United States Senate a list of areas recommended

15 for study for potential inclusion in the National Park

16 System.

17 ‘‘(2) In developing the list to be submitted under this

18 subsection, the Secretary shall give consideration to those

19 areas that have the greatest potential to meet the established

20 criteria of national significance, suitability, and feasibility.

21 The Secretary shall give special consideration to themes,

22 sites, and resources not already adequately represented in

23 the National Park System as identified in the National

24 Park System Plan to be developed under section 101 of the

25 National Park System Reform Act of 1995.
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1 ‘‘(3) No study of the potential of an area for inclusion

2 in the National Park System may be initiated after the date

3 of enactment of this subsection, except as provided by spe4 cific authorization of an Act of Congress.

5 ‘‘(4) Nothing in this Act shall limit the authority of

6 the National Park Service to conduct preliminary resource

7 assessments, gather data on potential study areas, provide

8 technical and planning assistance, prepare or process nomi9 nations for administrative designations, update previous

10 studies, or complete reconnaissance surveys of individual

11 areas requiring a total expenditure of less than $25,000.

12 ‘‘(5) Nothing in this section shall be construed to apply

13 to or to affect or alter the study of any river segment for

14 potential addition to the national wild and scenic rivers

15 system or to apply to or to affect or alter the study of any

16 trail for potential addition to the national trails system.

17 ‘‘(c) REPORT.—(1) The Secretary shall complete the

18 study for each area for potential inclusion in the National

19 Park System within 3 complete fiscal years following the

20 date of enactment of specific legislation providing for the

21 study of such area. Each study under this section shall be

22 prepared with appropriate opportunity for public involve23 ment, including at least one public meeting in the vicinity

24 of the area under study, and after reasonable efforts to no-
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1 tify potentially affected landowners and State and local

2 governments.

3 ‘‘(2) In conducting the study, the Secretary shall con4 sider whether the area under study—

5 ‘‘(A) possesses nationally significant natural or

6 cultural resources, or outstanding recreational oppor7 tunities, and that the area represents one of the most

8 important examples of a particular resource type in

9 the country; and

10 ‘‘(B) is a suitable and feasible addition to the

11 system.

12 ‘‘(3) Each study—

13 ‘‘(A) shall consider the following factors with re14 gard to the area being studied—

15 (i) the rarity and integrity of the resources;

16 (ii) the threats to those resources;

17 (iii) whether similar resources are already

18 protected in the National Park System or in

19 other public or private ownership;

20 (iv) the public use potential;

21 (v) the interpretive and educational poten22 tial;

23 (vi) costs associated with acquisition, devel24 opment and operation;
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1 (vii) the socioeconomic impacts of any des2 ignation;

3 (viii) the level of local and general public

4 support, and

5 (ix) whether the area is of appropriate con6 figuration to ensure long-term resource protec7 tion and visitor use;

8 ‘‘(B) shall consider whether direct National Park

9 Service management or alternative protection by

10 other public agencies or the private sector is appro11 priate for the area;

12 ‘‘(C) shall identify what alternative or combina13 tion of alternatives would in the professional judg14 ment of the Director of the National Park Service be

15 most effective and efficient in protecting significant

16 resources and providing for public enjoyment; and

17 ‘‘(D) may include any other information which

18 the Secretary deems to be relevant.

19 ‘‘(4) Each study shall be completed in compliance with

20 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.

21 ‘‘(5) The letter transmitting each completed study to

22 Congress shall contain a recommendation regarding the

23 Secretary’s preferred management option for the area.

24 ‘‘(d) NEW AREA STUDY OFFICE.—The Secretary shall

25 establish a single office to be assigned to prepare all new
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1 area studies and to implement other functions of this

2 section.

3 ‘‘(e) LIST OF AREAS.—At the beginning of each cal4 endar year, along with the annual budget submission, the

5 Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Resources of

6 the House of Representatives and to the Committee on En7 ergy and Natural Resources of the United States Senate a

8 list of areas which have been previously studied which con9 tain primarily historical resources, and a list of areas

10 which have been previously studied which contain pri11 marily natural resources, in numerical order of priority for

12 addition to the National Park System. In developing the

13 lists, the Secretary should consider threats to resource val14 ues, cost escalation factors, and other factors listed in sub15 section (c) of this section. The Secretary should only include

16 on the lists areas for which the supporting data is current

17 and accurate.’’.

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