I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4533

To promote entrepreneurial management of the National Park Service, and

for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 26, 1994

Mr. VENTO (by request) introduced the following bill; which was referred to

the Committee on Natural Resources

A BILL

To promote entrepreneurial management of the National

Park Service, 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Park Service

5 Entrepreneurial Management Reform Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 In furtherance of the Act of August 25, 1916 (39

8 Stat. 535), as amended (16 U.S.C. 1, 2–4), which directs

9 the Secretary of the Interior to administer areas of the

10 National Park System in accordance with the fundamental

11 purpose of conserving the scenery, wildlife, natural and

12 historic objects, and providing for their enjoyment in a
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1 manner that will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment

2 of future generations, the Congress finds that—

3 (1) management of the National Park System

4 requires entrepreneurial strategies that will enable

5 the National Park Service to meet the increasing de6 mands placed on the System by the American public;

7 and

8 (2) in order to preserve the natural and cultural

9 resources of the System for future generations and

10 provide for appropriate enjoyment of those re11 sources, the National Park Service must increase

12 revenues by reforming the nature, level and collec13 tion of fees, and increasing voluntary donations and

14 partnerships.

15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

16 As used in this Act, the term—

17 (1) ‘‘park’’ means a unit of the National Park

18 System; and

19 (2) ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the In20 terior.

21 SEC. 4. FEES.

22 (a) ADMISSION FEES.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish

24 reasonable admission fees to be charged at units of
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1 the National Park System where the Secretary de2 termines that such fees are appropriate and feasible.

3 (2) ANNUAL PASSES.—For admission or en4 trance into any unit of the National Park System

5 designated by the Secretary pursuant to this section,

6 or into several specific units located in a particular

7 geographic area, or for entrance to all units where

8 an admission fee is charged, the Secretary is author9 ized to make available annual admission permits for

10 reasonable fees to be determined by the Secretary.

11 (3) SINGLE VISITS.—The Secretary shall estab12 lish reasonable admission fees for a single visit at

13 any unit of the National Park System designated by

14 the Secretary pursuant to this section for persons

15 who choose not to purchase an annual pass.

16 (b) RECREATION USE FEES.—The Secretary shall

17 establish reasonable fees for specialized outdoor recreation

18 sites, facilities, equipment, or services that are provided

19 or furnished at Federal expense.

20 (c) SPECIAL PARK USES.—The Secretary shall estab21 lish reasonable fees for uses of park units that require spe22 cial arrangements including permits. The fees shall cover

23 all costs of providing necessary services associated with

24 special uses and shall be credited to the appropriation cur25 rent at that time.
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1 (d) RETENTION OF FEES.—(1) Except as provided

2 below, fees collected pursuant to subsections 4 (a) and (b)

3 of this Act shall be deposited in the special fund account

4 established in Section 4 of the Land and Water Conserva5 tion Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460 1–6a(i)(4)).

6 (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, be7 ginning in fiscal year 1995 and thereafter, an amount

8 equal to 15 percent of the total fees collected in the imme9 diate preceding fiscal year pursuant to subsections 4 (a)

10 and (b) shall be deducted from the current year collections

11 and shall be deposited into a special fund established in

12 the Treasury of the United States titled ‘‘Fee Collection

13 Support—National Park System’’ and shall be available

14 to the Secretary without further appropriation to cover the

15 costs of collection of the fees, to remain available until

16 expended.

17 (3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, be18 ginning in fiscal year 1996 and thereafter, 50 percent of

19 the difference in additional receipts collected during the

20 immediate preceding fiscal year as compared to total re21 ceipts collected in fiscal year 1993 shall be deducted from

22 the current year collections and shall be covered into a

23 special fund established in the Treasury of the United

24 States titled ‘‘National Park Renewal Fund’’, and shall

25 be available to the Secretary without further appropriation
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1 for infrastructure needs at parks, including but not limited

2 to facility refurbishment, repair and replacement, resource

3 protection, interpretive/educational media (exhibits), and

4 other infrastructure projects beneficial to park resources,

5 to remain available until expended.

6 (4) In fiscal year 1995 only, fees authorized to be

7 collected pursuant to subsections 4 (a) and (b) of this Act

8 may be collected only to the extent provided in advance

9 in appropriations acts and shall be credited to the appro10 priate special fund accounts described in this Act. In addi11 tion, said fees shall be available for the purposes of this

12 Act only to the extent provided in advance in appropria13 tions acts and are authorized to be appropriated to remain

14 available until expended. In fiscal year 1996 and there15 after, fees collected as authorized to be collected pursuant

16 to subsections 4 (a) and (b) of this Act may be collected

17 as authorized by this Act and shall be available as pro18 vided in this Act without further provision in appropria19 tions acts.

20 (e) USE OF FEES.—The Secretary shall develop pro21 cedures for the use of these receipts that ensure account22 ability and demonstrated results consistent with the pur23 poses of this Act. The Secretary shall report annually to

24 Congress on the expenditure of funds from fees collected,
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1 beginning after the first full fiscal year following enact2 ment of this Act.

3 (f) DISCOUNTS.—In establishing the fees authorized

4 in this section, the Secretary shall establish appropriate

5 discounts for educational groups, persons sixty-two years

6 of age older, or persons who are blind or permanently dis7 abled. The Secretary may also establish criteria when the

8 fees may be waived for these groups or individuals.

9 (g) CRITERIA.—All fees established pursuant to this

10 section shall be fair and equitable, taking into consider11 ation the direct and indirect cost to the Government, the

12 benefits to the recipient, the public policy or interest

13 served, the comparable fees charged by non-Federal public

14 and private agencies, the economic and administrative fea15 sibility of fee collection and other pertinent factors. The

16 Secretary shall from time to time review the fees for con17 sistency with the provisions of this subsection and provide

18 timely public notice of any proposed changes in the fees.

19 SEC. 5. DONATIONS.

20 (a) REQUESTS FOR DONATIONS.—In addition to

21 other authorities the Secretary may have to accept the do22 nation of lands, buildings, other property, services, and

23 moneys for the purposes of the National Park System, the

24 Secretary is authorized to solicit donations of money,

25 property, and services from individuals, corporations,
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1 foundations and other potential donors who the Secretary

2 believes would wish to make such donations as an expres3 sion of support for the national parks. Such donations

4 may be accepted and used for any authorized purpose or

5 program of the National Park Service, and donations of

6 money shall remain available for expenditure without fis7 cal year limitation. Any employees of the Department to

8 whom this authority is delegated shall be set forth in regu9 lations issued by the Secretary pursuant to paragraph (d).

10 (b) EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION.—Employees of the

11 National Park Service may solicit donations only if the

12 request is incidental to or in support of, and does not

13 interfere with their primary duty of protecting and admin14 istering the parks or administering authorized programs,

15 and only for the purpose of providing a level of resource

16 protection, visitor facilities, or services for health and safe17 ty projects, recurring maintenance activities, or for other

18 routine activities normally funded through annual agency

19 appropriations. Such requests must be in accordance with

20 guidelines issued pursuant to paragraph (d).

21 (c) PROHIBITIONS.—(1) A donation may not be ac22 cepted in exchange for a commitment to the donor on the

23 part of the National Park Service or which attaches condi24 tions inconsistent with applicable laws and regulations or

25 that is conditioned upon or will require the expenditure
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1 of appropriated funds that are not available to the Depart2 ment, or which compromises a criminal or civil position

3 of the United States or any of its departments or agencies

4 or the administrative authority of any agency of the

5 United States.

6 (2) In utilizing the authorities contained in this sec7 tion employees of the National Park Service shall not di8 rectly conduct or execute major fund raising campaigns,

9 but may cooperate with others whom the Secretary may

10 designate to conduct such campaigns on behalf of the Na11 tional Park Service.

12 (d) REGULATIONS AND GUIDANCE.—The Secretary

13 shall issue regulations setting forth those positions to

14 which he has delegated his authority under paragraph (a)

15 and the categories of employees of the National Park Serv16 ice that are authorized to request donations pursuant to

17 paragraph (b). Such regulations shall also set forth any

18 limitations on the types of donations that will be requested

19 or accepted as well as the sources of those donations.

20 (2) The Secretary shall publish guidelines which set

21 forth the criteria to be used in determining whether the

22 solicitation or acceptance of contributions of lands, build23 ings, other property, services, moneys and other gifts or

24 donations authorized by this section would reflect unfavor25 ably upon the ability of the Department of the Interior
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1 or any employee to carry out its responsibilities or official

2 duties in a fair and objective manner, or would com3 promise the integrity or the appearance of the integrity

4 of its programs or any official involved in those programs.

5 The Secretary shall also issue written guidance on the ex6 tent of the cooperation that may be provided by National

7 Park Service employees in any major fund raising cam8 paign which the Secretary has designated others to con9 duct pursuant to paragraph (c)(2).

10 SEC. 6. CHALLENGE COST–SHARE AGREEMENTS.

11 (a) AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary is authorized to

12 negotiate and enter into challenge cost-share agreements

13 with cooperators. For purposes of this section, the term—

14 (1) ‘‘challenge cost-share agreement’’ means

15 any agreement entered into between the Secretary

16 and any cooperator for the purpose of sharing costs

17 or services in carrying out authorized functions and

18 responsibilities of the Secretary with respect to the

19 National Park System; and

20 (2) ‘‘cooperator’’ means any State or local gov21 ernment, public or private agency, organization, in22 stitution, corporation, individual, or other entity.

23 (b) USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.—In carrying out chal24 lenge cost-share agreements, the Secretary is authorized,

25 subject to appropriation, to provide the Federal funding
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1 share from any funds available to the National Park Serv2 ice.

3 SEC. 7. COST RECOVERY FOR DAMAGE TO PARK RE4 SOURCES.

5 Any funds payable to United States as restitution on

6 account of damage to park resources or property shall be

7 paid to the Secretary. Any such funds, and any other

8 funds received by the Secretary as a result of forfeiture,

9 compromise, or settlement on account of damage to park

10 resources or property shall be available without appropria11 tion and may be expended by the Secretary without regard

12 to fiscal year limitation to improve, protect, or rehabilitate

13 any park resources or property which have been damaged

14 by the action of a permittee or any unauthorized person.

15 SEC. 8. CONSISTENCY WITH OTHER LAWS.

16 (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), to the extent

17 that the provisions of this Act are inconsistent with section

18 4 of the Land and Water Conservation Act of 1965 as

19 amended (16 U.S.C. 4601–6a) or any other provision of

20 law, including any provision that prohibits or limits the

21 charging of a reasonable recreation or other fee, the provi22 sions of this Act shall prevail.

23 (b) The following sections of the Land and Water

24 Conservation Act of 1965 as amended (16 U.S.C. 4601–

25 6a) will apply to this Act:
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1 (1) RULES AND REGULATIONS; ESTABLISH2 MENT; ENFORCEMENT POWERS; PENALTY FOR VIO3 LATIONS.—In accordance with the provisions of this

4 section, the Secretary may prescribe rules and regu5 lations for areas under his or her administration for

6 the collection of any fee established pursuant to this

7 section. Persons authorized to enforce any such rules

8 or regulations issued under this subsection may,

9 within areas under the administration or authority

10 of the Secretary and with or, if the offense is com11 mitted in his presence, without a warrant, arrest any

12 person who violates such rules and regulations. Any

13 person so arrested may be tried and sentenced by

14 the United States magistrate judge specifically des15 ignated for that purpose by the court by which he

16 was appointed, in the same manner and subject to

17 the same conditions as provided in subsections (b),

18 (c), (d), and (e) of section 3401 of title 18. Any vio19 lations of the rules and regulations issued under this

20 subsection shall be punishable by a fine of not more

21 than $1,000.

22 (2) CRITERIA, POSTING AND UNIFORMITY OF

23 FEES.—Clear notice that a fee has been established

24 pursuant to this section shall be prominently posted

25 at each area and at appropriate locations therein
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1 and shall be included in publications distributed at

2 such areas.

3 (3) CONTRACTS WITH PUBLIC OR PRIVATE EN4 TITIES FOR VISITOR RESERVATION SERVICES.—The

5 Secretary, under such terms and conditions as he

6 deems appropriate, may contract with any public or

7 private entity to provide visitor reservation services.

8 Any such contract may provide that the contractor

9 shall be permitted to deduct a commission to be

10 fixed by the agency head from the amount charged

11 the public for providing such services and to remit

12 the net proceeds therefrom to the contracting agen13 cy.

14 (4) FEDERAL AND STATE LAWS UNAF15 FECTED.—Nothing in this Act shall authorize Fed16 eral hunting or fishing licenses or fees or charges for

17 commercial or other activities not related to recre18 ation, nor shall it affect any rights or authority of

19 the States with respect to fish and wildlife, nor shall

20 it repeal or modify any provision of law that permits

21 States or political subdivisions to share in the reve22 nues from Federal lands or any provision of law that

23 provides that any fees or charges collected at par24 ticular Federal areas shall be used for or credited to
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1 specific purposes or special funds as authorized by

2 that provision of law.

3 (5) SELLING OF PERMITS AND COLLECTION OF

4 FEES BY VOLUNTEERS AT DESIGNATED AREAS; COL5 LECTING AGENCY DUTIES; SURETY BONDS; SELLING

6 OF ANNUAL ADMISSION PERMITS BY PUBLIC AND

7 PRIVATE ENTITIES UNDER ARRANGEMENTS WITH

8 COLLECTING AGENCY HEAD.—When authorized by

9 the Secretary, volunteers at designated areas may

10 sell permits and collect fees authorized or established

11 pursuant to this section. The Secretary shall ensure

12 that such volunteers have adequate training regard13 ing—

14 (A) the sale of permits and the collection

15 of fees,

16 (B) the purposes and resources of the

17 areas in which they are assigned, and

18 (C) the provision of assistance and infor19 mation to visitors to the designated area.

20 The Secretary shall require a surety bond for any

21 such volunteer performing services under this sub22 section. Funds available to the collecting agency may

23 be used to cover the cost of any such surety bond.

24 The head of the collecting agency may enter into ar25 rangements with qualified public or private entities
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1 pursuant to which such entities may well (without

2 cost to the United States) annual admission permits

3 (including Golden Eagle Passports) at any appro4 priate location.

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