Union Calendar No. 403

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2107

[Report No. 104–757]

A BILL

To amend the Land and Water Conservation Fund

fee program, and for other purposes.agencies through an incentive-based recreationservices provided by Federal land managementAct of 1965 to improve the quality of visitor

SEPTEMBER 4, 1996

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. 403

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2107

[Report No. 104–757]

To amend the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 to improve

the quality of visitor services provided by Federal land management

agencies through an incentive-based recreation fee program, and for

other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 25, 1995

Mr. HANSEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Resources

SEPTEMBER 4, 1996

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 July 25, 1995]

A BILL

To amend the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of

1965 to improve the quality of visitor services provided

by Federal land management agencies through an incentive-based recreation fee program, and for other purposes.
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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 ‘‘Visitor Services Im5 provement and Outdoor Legacy Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

7 The purpose of this Act is to improve the overall qual8 ity of the visitor recreation experience on Federal lands

9 through increased funding provided by an innovative and

10 incentive-based recreation fee program combined with an

11 appropriation targeted to meet the increasing demand for

12 recreational use of the Federal lands.

13 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF EXISTING RECREATION FEE PROGRAM

14 AND ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW RECREATION

15 FEE PROGRAM.

16 Section 4 of the Land and Water Conservation Fund

17 Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–6a) is amended to read as fol18 lows:

19 ‘‘RECREATION FEE PROGRAM

20 ‘‘SEC. 4. (a) PROGRAM GOALS AND POLICIES.—

21 ‘‘(1) CONGRESSIONAL GOALS.—It is the policy of

22 Congress that the Federal land management agencies

23 develop and implement high quality recreation pro24 grams adequate to meet the needs of the American

25 people and to fund a portion of the cost of providing

26 recreation services through recreation fees.
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1 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES.—The admin2 istering Secretaries shall jointly issue an integrated

3 policy for the establishment and collection of recre4 ation fees under this section. Such policy shall—

5 ‘‘(A) permit flexibility with regard to the

6 amounts charged;

7 ‘‘(B) provide for maximization of the num8 ber of persons who pay fees to ensure that fees

9 remain at the lowest possible level;

10 ‘‘(C) provide that comparable fees be

11 charged by the several Federal agencies for simi12 lar services and facilities;

13 ‘‘(D) provide for the establishment of fees in

14 a manner which is equitable among user groups

15 and which accounts for any other fees, such as

16 commercial tour fees and concession fees, which

17 are paid by user groups and used on Federal

18 lands for recreational purposes;

19 ‘‘(E) define administrative overhead and

20 specify accounting procedures to ensure that ad21 ministrative overhead is not included in the cost

22 of visitor services provided;

23 ‘‘(F) provide for a uniform procedure for

24 accounting for fees collected under this section;

25 and
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1 ‘‘(G) recognize the importance of the con2 venience of the public by avoiding fee programs

3 which are overly complex or which would require

4 the payment of numerous fees at a particular

5 area.

6 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section:

7 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTERING SECRETARIES.—The term

8 ‘administering Secretaries’ means—

9 ‘‘(A) the Secretary of Agriculture with re10 spect to the Forest Service; and

11 ‘‘(B) the Secretary of the Interior with re12 spect to the National Park Service, Bureau of

13 Land Management, United States Fish and

14 Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Reclamation.

15 ‘‘(2) AGENCY.—The term ‘agency’ means an

16 agency referred to in paragraph (1) (A), (B), or (C).

17 ‘‘(3) AREA.—The term ‘area’ means an adminis18 trative area managed by an agency, such as a unit

19 of the National Park System, a national forest, a na20 tional wildlife refuge, and a project area with respect

21 to the Bureau of Reclamation, but does not include

22 Bureau of Reclamation areas managed by a non-Fed23 eral entity.
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1 ‘‘(4) AREA OF CONCENTRATED PUBLIC USE.—

2 The term ‘area of concentrated public use’ means an

3 area which—

4 ‘‘(A) provides developed facilities or services

5 necessary to accommodate public use maintained

6 at Federal expense;

7 ‘‘(B) contains at least one major visitor at8 traction, including (but not limited to) a lake,

9 river, historical or cultural site, or geologic fea10 ture; and

11 ‘‘(C) provides public access such that admis12 sion fees can be cost-effectively collected.

13 ‘‘(5) RECREATION FEES.—The term ‘recreation

14 fees’ means admission fees, recreation use fees, and

15 fees granted to Federal agencies from States whether

16 collected by agency personnel or others.

17 ‘‘(6) ADMISSION FEES.—The term ‘admission

18 fees’ means fees charged for entry into any area des19 ignated by the administering Secretary.

20 ‘‘(7) RECREATION USE FEE.—The term ‘recre21 ation use fees’ means the charge for specialized recre22 ation services or facilities furnished at Federal Gov23 ernment expense, including (but not limited to)

24 campgrounds, boat ramps, and back country camping

25 by permit.
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1 ‘‘(8) VISITOR SERVICES.—The term ‘visitor serv2 ices’ means services and costs directly associated with

3 management of recreation visitors to Federal lands,

4 including (but not limited to) such programs as

5 maintenance of facilities which serve primarily visi6 tor recreation use (such as campgrounds, scenic roads,

7 trails, visitor centers and picnic areas), public infor8 mation and interpretation, resource protection di9 rectly related to public use (such as stream improve10 ment to improve fishing or mitigation of impacts to

11 resources resulting from visitor use), and other activi12 ties of personnel assigned predominantly to manage13 ment of visitors or public safety programs, but not in14 cluding costs of regional and Washington head15 quarters offices or any administrative services such as

16 personnel, budget and finance, and procurement.

17 ‘‘(9) PRE-1996 AUTHORIZED RECREATION RE18 CEIPTS.—The term ‘pre-1996 authorized recreation

19 receipts’ means the receipts that would have been re20 ceived for a fiscal year from fees collected under sec21 tion 4 of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act

22 of 1965 as such section was in effect on the day before

23 the date of the enactment of the Visitor Services Im24 provement and Outdoor Legacy Act of 1996.
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1 ‘‘(10) CONCESSION FEES.—The term ‘concession

2 fees’ means fees paid to the United States pursuant

3 to provisions of law other than this section for the

4 privilege of providing concession services, fees paid for

5 the lease of government-owned facilities, and amounts

6 paid for construction of visitor facilities.

7 ‘‘(c) ESTABLISHMENT.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to improve the

9 quality of the visitor experience on Federal lands, the

10 administering Secretaries shall establish and imple11 ment a fee program in accordance with this section

12 which provides for partial recovery of the costs of visi13 tor services provided through admission fees, recre14 ation use fees, and concession fees. In carrying out

15 such program, the administering Secretaries are au16 thorized and directed to collect admission fees in ac17 cordance with this section at areas administered by

18 the National Park Service and areas of concentrated

19 public use. In addition, the administering Secretaries

20 shall collect recreation use fees at areas under their

21 administration.

22 ‘‘(2) FACTORS IN ESTABLISHING AND ADJUSTING

23 AMOUNT OF FEES.—(A) All fees established pursuant

24 to this section shall be fair and equitable, taking into

25 consideration the direct and indirect cost to the Fed-
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1 eral Government, the benefits to the recipient, the

2 public policy or interest served, the comparable recre3 ation fees charged by other public and private enti4 ties, the economic and administrative feasibility of fee

5 collection, convenience to the recreation user, and

6 other pertinent factors.

7 ‘‘(B) Any adjustments in fees shall take into ac8 count the factors specified in subparagraph (A).

9 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC COMMENT AND FEDERAL REGISTER

10 NOTICE ON ADMISSION AND COMMERCIAL TOUR

11 FEES.—(A) In the case of public admission fees, the

12 administering Secretaries shall publish in the Federal

13 Register, for a 30-day comment period, a proposed

14 schedule of all changes to such fees not later than six

15 months prior to such fee changes.

16 ‘‘(B) In the case of changes to commercial tour

17 fees or initiating a new commercial tour fee, the ad18 ministering Secretaries shall publish in the Federal

19 Register—

20 ‘‘(i)(I) for a 30-day comment period, a pro21 posed schedule of all significant changes in such

22 fees not later than 14 months prior to such fee

23 change or initiation; and
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1 ‘‘(II) a final schedule not later than 12

2 months prior to such fee change or initiation;

3 and

4 ‘‘(ii) a schedule of all changes (other than

5 those subject to clause (i)), in such fees not later

6 than six months prior to such fee changes.

7 ‘‘(4) CONTINUATION OF FEE AUTHORITY.—Until

8 an admission or commercial tour fee is initiated and

9 in effect under this section, the admission or commer10 cial tour fee at an area administered by the agencies

11 shall be determined in accordance with the applicable

12 laws in effect on the day before the date of enactment

13 of the Visitor Services Improvement and Outdoor Leg14 acy Act of 1996.

15 ‘‘(5) NOTICE OF FEES.—Clear notice that a fee

16 has been established pursuant to this section, and the

17 amount thereof, shall be prominently posted at appro18 priate locations in each area and shall be included in

19 agency publications distributed with respect to such

20 areas.

21 ‘‘(6) TARGET RECREATION REVENUE GOALS.—

22 Effective for the fifth fiscal year beginning after the

23 enactment of this section, the administering Secretary

24 shall develop annually a target recreation revenue

25 goal for each area administered by the Secretary
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1 which reflects the estimated ability for such area to

2 collect recreation fees. The administering Secretary

3 shall develop that target based on historical data, pro4 jected visitation, and such other data as are available

5 to the Secretary.

6 ‘‘(7) FEE COLLECTION PERSONNEL.—Personnel

7 exclusively assigned to fee collection duties, which are

8 over and above the number of such personnel assigned

9 exclusively to fee collection duties on the day prior to

10 enactment of this Act, shall not be counted against

11 any full-time equivalent ceiling established for that

12 agency.

13 ‘‘(d) RECREATION FEES.—

14 ‘‘(1) SINGLE ADMISSION VISITS.—Reasonable ad15 mission fees for a single visit to any designated area

16 shall be established by the administering Secretary. A

17 ‘single visit’ means a more or less continuous stay

18 within a designated area. Payment of a single visit

19 admission fee shall authorize exits from and reentries

20 to a single designated area for a period of from one

21 to fifteen days, such period to be defined for each des22 ignated area by the administering Secretary based

23 upon a determination of the period of time reasonably

24 and ordinarily necessary for such a single visit. The

25 single visit entrance fee for private parties and com-
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1 mercial tours shall be set by the administering Sec2 retaries and may be adjusted, taking into account the

3 factors specified in subsection (c)(2). The Secretaries

4 shall ensure that where appropriate the admission fee

5 schedule developed provides economic incentives for

6 use of alternative modes of transportation, including

7 mass transportation, at areas experiencing high levels

8 of automobile traffic. The administering Secretaries

9 are authorized to implement admission fee practices

10 which vary by day of the week, season, expedite entry

11 and reduce congestion.

12 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL ADMISSION PERMITS: GOLDEN

13 EAGLE PASSPORT.—

14 (A) GOLDEN EAGLE PASSPORT.—For ad15 mission into any area at which admission fees

16 are charged pursuant to this section, an admis17 sion permit, to be known as the ‘Golden Eagle

18 Passport’, valid for a 12-month period, shall be

19 available. The fee for the passport shall be set

20 jointly by the administering Secretaries, taking

21 into account the factors specified in subsection

22 (c)(2). The permittee and all persons accom23 panying the permittee in a single, private, non24 commercial vehicle or, alternatively, the permit25 tee and the permittee’s spouse, children, and par-
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1 ents accompanying the permittee shall be entitled

2 to general admission into any area designated

3 pursuant to this section. The permit shall be

4 nontransferable, and the unlawful use thereof

5 shall be punishable in accordance with regula6 tions established pursuant to subsection (g). The

7 permit shall be available for purchase at any

8 such designated area.

9 ‘‘(B) The administering Secretaries may

10 authorize units of State or local government, or11 ganizations, businesses, and nonprofit entities to

12 sell and collect admission fees, including the

13 Golden Eagle Passport, subject to such conditions

14 as the Secretaries may jointly prescribe. The Sec15 retaries shall develop detailed guidelines for pro16 motional advertising of non-Federal passport

17 sales and monitor compliance with those guide18 lines. The Secretaries may authorize the seller or

19 sellers to maintain an inventory of Golden Eagle

20 Passports for periods not to exceed six months

21 and to withhold amounts up to, but not exceed22 ing, eight percent of the gross fees collected from

23 Golden Eagle Passport sales as reimbursement

24 for actual expenses of the sales.
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1 ‘‘(3) ANNUAL GEOGRAPHIC ADMISSION PER2 MITS.—For admission into a specific designated area

3 or into several specific areas located in a particular

4 geographic region at which admission fees are charged

5 pursuant to this section, the administering Secretary

6 or Secretaries are authorized to make available an

7 annual admission permit. The permit shall convey

8 the privileges of, and shall be subject to the same

9 terms and conditions as, the Golden Eagle Passport,

10 except that it shall be valid only for admission into

11 the specific area or areas indicated at the time of

12 purchase.

13 ‘‘(4) GOLDEN ACCESS PASSPORT.—The Secretary

14 of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall

15 establish procedures providing for the issuance of a

16 lifetime admission permit to any citizen of, or person

17 legally domiciled in, the United States, if such citizen

18 or person applies for such permit and is permanently

19 disabled. Such procedures shall ensure that a lifetime

20 admission permit shall be issued only to persons who

21 have been medically determined to be permanently

22 disabled. A lifetime admission permit shall be non23 transferable, shall be issued without charge, and shall

24 entitle the permittee and one accompanying individ25 ual to general admission into any area designated
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1 pursuant to this section, notwithstanding the method

2 of travel.

3 ‘‘(5) RECREATION USE FEES.—Each agency de4 veloping, administering, providing, or furnishing at

5 Federal expense services for such activities as camp6 ing, including back country camping under permit,

7 guarded swimming sites, boat launch facilities, group

8 activities including picnic sites, managed parking

9 lots, motorized recreation use and other recreation

10 uses, shall in accordance with this section provide for

11 the collection of recreation use fees at the place of use

12 or any reasonably convenient location. The admin13 istering Secretary may establish both daily and an14 nual recreation use fees. Fees may not be charged by

15 any such agency for the use, either singly or in any

16 combination, of drinking water, wayside exhibits,

17 overlook sites, toilet facilities, or picnic tables.

18 ‘‘(6) COMMERCIAL TOUR USE FEE.—(A) For

19 each area for which an admission fee is charged

20 under this section, the administering Secretary shall

21 charge any fee on a per vehicle basis for each vehicle

22 or vessel and passengers entering the area for the pur23 pose of providing commercial tour services.

24 ‘‘(B) The Secretary of the Interior shall charge

25 a commercial tour fee for aircraft entering the air-
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1 space of units of the National Park System in the

2 same manner and by the same means as provided in

3 section 4(n) of the Land and Water Conservation

4 Fund Act of 1965, as in effect immediately before the

5 enactment of the Visitor Services Improvement and

6 Outdoor Legacy Act of 1996.

7 ‘‘(C) Within 12 months after the date of enact8 ment of the Visitor Services Improvement and Out9 door Legacy Act of 1996, the Secretary of the Interior

10 and the Secretary of Transportation shall jointly sub11 mit a report to the appropriate committees of Con12 gress outlining revisions to the commercial tour fee

13 schedule for aircraft which encourages the use of quiet

14 aircraft technology.

15 ‘‘(7) TRANSPORTATION PROVIDED BY THE SEC16 RETARY.—Where the administering Secretary pro17 vides transportation to visit all or a portion of any

18 area, he may impose a charge for such service. Collec19 tion of such fees may occur at the transportation stag20 ing area or any reasonably convenient location,

21 whether inside or outside of the area boundary. The

22 administering Secretary may enter into arrangements

23 with qualified public or private entities pursuant to

24 which such entities may collect such fees. Such funds

25 collected shall be retained at the area where the serv-
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1 ice was provided and expended for costs associated

2 with the transportation system.

3 ‘‘(8) PERSONS 12 YEARS OF AGE OR UNDER.—

4 The admission fee for a person who is 12 years of age

5 or under at any area for which admission fees are

6 charged on a per person basis shall be no greater than

7 50 percent of the per person admission fee of a person

8 older than 12 years.

9 ‘‘(e) ESTABLISHMENT OF ACCOUNTS AND DEPOSIT OF

10 RECREATION FEES.—

11 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of the

12 Treasury shall establish a special account in the

13 Treasury for each agency which collects recreation fees

14 under this section. Within each such account, the ad15 ministering Secretary shall separately account for re16 ceipts and disbursements of funds for each area.

17 ‘‘(2) DEPOSITS.—(A) The administering Sec18 retary shall deposit in each agency account all re19 ceipts from fees collected pursuant to this section by

20 any Federal agency (or by any public or private en21 tity under contract with a Federal agency).

22 ‘‘(B) All funds from the sale of the Golden Eagle

23 Passport shall be divided among the agencies based on

24 a formula which the administering Secretaries shall

25 devise and which considers total recreation admission
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1 fees collected by the agency and total recreation use

2 at designated admission fee areas provided by the

3 agency. Funds from the sale of the Golden Eagle Pass4 port shall be deposited as recreation fees collected into

5 the appropriate agency account.

6 ‘‘(C) All funds from the sale of geographic ad7 mission permits under subsection (d)(3) shall be di8 vided among the areas for which such permits were

9 issued on the basis of visitor use, length of stay, and

10 other pertinent factors as determined by the admin11 istering Secretaries and shall be deposited as recre12 ation fees collected from those areas into the appro13 priate agency account.

14 ‘‘(3) FEE COLLECTION COSTS.—Notwithstanding

15 any other provision of law, the administering Sec16 retary may, in any fiscal year, withdraw from the

17 special account established under paragraph (1) an

18 amount up to 15 percent of all receipts collected

19 under this section in the preceding fiscal year. The

20 amounts so withdrawn shall be retained by the ad21 ministering Secretaries, and shall be available, with22 out further appropriation, for expenditure by the Sec23 retary concerned to cover fee collection costs, and shall

24 remain available until expended. For the purposes of

25 this paragraph, for any fiscal year, the term ‘fee col-
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1 lection costs’ means those costs for personnel and in2 frastructure directly associated with the collection of

3 fees imposed under this section.

4 ‘‘(4) USE OF RECREATION FEES.—Amounts cov5 ered into the special account for each agency during

6 each fiscal year shall be available after the end of

7 such fiscal year for appropriation for visitor services,

8 except as provided in paragraphs (3) and (5). Funds

9 credited to the special account shall remain available

10 until expended.

11 ‘‘(5) AMOUNTS IN EXCESS OF PRE-1996 AUTHOR12 IZED RECREATION RECEIPTS.—Beginning in fiscal

13 year 1996 and each fiscal year thereafter, all funds

14 deposited in special accounts in the Treasury for each

15 agency under this section which are in addition to

16 funds collected in fiscal year 1995 shall be made im17 mediately available to that agency without further

18 appropriation. Of the amounts made available under

19 this paragraph after the application of paragraph

20 (3), 75 percent shall be allocated among the units or

21 areas of each agency in the same proportion as fees

22 collected from that specific area bear to the total

23 amount of fees collected from all areas of that agency

24 for the fiscal year. In addition, one-third of the

25 amount of recreation fees collected from the area
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1 which exceeds the target recreation revenue goal speci2 fied in subsection (c)(5) for that area shall be made

3 available to that area without further appropriation.

4 The remainder of the fees collected pursuant to this

5 section shall be allocated among each agency’s areas

6 on the basis of need as determined by the Secretary.

7 All such funds shall remain available until expended.

8 Funds deposited into accounts under this paragraph

9 may only be used (A) to fund visitor services on Fed10 eral lands, (B) for repair, rehabilitation, or replace11 ment of visitor use facilities, and (C) for construction

12 of new facilities necessary to establish a recreation fee

13 program at any area.

14 ‘‘(f) ACCOUNTABILITY OF FUNDING.—The Comptroller

15 General of the United States shall conduct periodic audits

16 to ensure that amounts received under this section are fully

17 accounted for and not diverted to administrative overhead

18 or other programs not directly related to visitor services.

19 ‘‘(g) ENFORCEMENT OF FEE COLLECTION POLICIES.—

20 In accordance with the provisions of this section, the ad21 ministering Secretaries may prescribe rules and regulations

22 for areas under their administration for the collection of

23 any fee established pursuant to this section. Persons author24 ized by the administering Secretaries to enforce any such

25 rules or regulations issued under this section may, within
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1 areas under the administration or authority of such admin2 istering Secretary and with or, if the offense is committed

3 in his presence, without a warrant, arrest any person who

4 violates such rules and regulations. Any person so arrested

5 may be tried and sentenced by the United States magistrate

6 specifically designated for that purpose by the court by

7 which he was appointed, in the same manner and subject

8 to the same conditions as provided in subsections (b), (c),

9 (d), and (e) of section 3401 of title 18, United States Code.

10 Any violations of the rules and regulations issued under

11 this subsection shall be punishable by a fine as provided

12 by law.

13 ‘‘(h) NON-FEDERAL RESERVATIONS.—The administer14 ing Secretary, under such terms and conditions as he deems

15 appropriate, may contract with any public or private en16 tity to provide visitor reservation services. Any such con17 tract may provide that the contractor shall be permitted

18 to deduct a commission to be fixed by the agency head from

19 the amount charged the public for providing such services

20 and to remit the net proceeds therefrom to the contracting

21 agency.

22 ‘‘(i) USE OF VOLUNTEERS FOR FEE COLLECTION.—

23 When authorized by the administering Secretary, volunteers

24 at designated areas may collect fees authorized or estab25 lished pursuant to this section. The administering Secretary
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1 shall ensure that such volunteers have adequate training for

2 this purpose. The administering Secretary may require a

3 surety bond for any such volunteer performing services

4 under this subsection. Funds available to the collecting

5 agency may be used to cover the cost of any such surety

6 bond.

7 ‘‘(j) MITIGATION OF ANY IMPACTS OF RECREATIONAL

8 FEES ON LOW-INCOME INDIVIDUALS.—In carrying out this

9 section, the administering Secretaries shall implement such

10 programs as are necessary to ensure any impacts of rec11 reational fees on low-income persons are minimized. The

12 administering Secretaries shall determine any effects on

13 low-income individuals of recreation use and admission fees

14 and shall jointly submit recommendations to the Congress

15 regarding actions to be taken to resolve such impacts. Such

16 recommendations shall be included as part of the four-year

17 report required to be submitted under subsection (m)(1).

18 ‘‘(k) LIMITATIONS ON FEES.—

19 ‘‘(1) ACTIVITIES NOT SUBJECT TO FEES.—Noth20 ing in this section shall be construed to—

21 ‘‘(A) authorize Federal hunting or fishing

22 licenses or fees;

23 ‘‘(B) affect any rights or authority of the

24 States with respect to fish and wildlife;
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1 ‘‘(C) authorize the collection of fees from

2 any person who has a right of access for hunting

3 or fishing privileges under a specific provision of

4 law or treaty;

5 ‘‘(D) authorize charges for commercial or

6 other activities not related to recreation; or

7 ‘‘(E) authorize an admission fee or a com8 mercial tour fee at any area for organized school

9 groups on outings conducted for educational pur10 poses.

11 ‘‘(2) THROUGH TRAVEL.—No admission fee shall

12 be charged for travel by private, noncommercial vehi13 cle or commercial tour vehicle over any national

14 parkway or any road or highway established as a

15 part of the National Federal Aid System, as defined

16 in section 101, title 23, United States Code, which is

17 commonly used by the public as a means of travel be18 tween two places either or both of which are outside

19 the area. Nor shall any fee be charged for travel by

20 private, noncommercial vehicle over any road or high21 way to any land in which such person has any prop22 erty right if such land is within any such designated

23 area.

24 ‘‘(3) PERSONS CONDUCTING GOVERNMENTAL

25 BUSINESS.—No admission fee shall be charged to per-
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1 sons engaged in the conduct of official Federal, State

2 or local government business or to others authorized

3 by the administering Secretary to conduct adminis4 trative duties within the area.

5 ‘‘(4) LIFETIME ADMISSION PERMITS.—No admis6 sion fee shall be charged under this section to any

7 person who possesses a lifetime admission permit is8 sued under section 4(a)(4) of this Act as in effect on

9 the day before the date of the enactment of the Visitor

10 Services Improvement and Outdoor Legacy Act of

11 1996.

12 ‘‘(l) ANNUAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Reports

13 indicating the number and location of fee collection areas,

14 visitor use statistics, fees collected, and other pertinent data,

15 shall be coordinated and compiled by the administering

16 Secretaries and transmitted to the Committee on Resources

17 of the United States House of Representatives and the Com18 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United

19 States Senate. These reports shall be transmitted annually

20 not later than the submission of the President’s budget

21 under section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, and shall

22 include any recommendations which the Secretaries may

23 have with respect to improving the recreation fee program.

24 ‘‘(m) IMPLEMENTATION REPORT; EFFECTIVE DATE

25 FOR FEES AND TARGETS.—Not later than four years after
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1 the date of enactment of the Visitor Services Improvement

2 and Outdoor Legacy Act of 1996, the administering Sec3 retaries shall submit reports to Congress on the implementa4 tion of this section. Such reports shall include the policy

5 statement developed under subsection (a)(2), the likely level

6 of potential cost recovery from the recreation fee program

7 for each agency, the fees to be charged under this section,

8 and the target recreation revenue goals for each area subject

9 to this section. Such fees and target recreation revenue goals

10 shall be effective beginning with the fifth fiscal year begin11 ning after the enactment of the Visitor Services Improve12 ment and Outdoor Legacy Act of 1996 unless Congress en13 acts a joint resolution before the beginning of such fiscal

14 year specifying otherwise.

15 ‘‘(n) EXEMPTION OF FEES.—Amounts collected under

16 this section which exceed the 1995 authorized recreation re17 ceipts shall not be taken into account for the purposes of

18 the Act of May 23, 1908, and the Act of March 1, 1911

19 (16 U.S.C. 500), the Act of March 4, 1913 (16 U.S.C. 501),

20 the Act of July 22, 1937 (7 U.S.C. 1012), the Act of August

21 8, 1937, and the Act of May 24, 1939 (43 U.S.C. 1181f

22 et seq.), the Act of June 14, 1926 (43 U.S.C. 869–4), chapter

23 69 of title 31, United States Code, section 401 of the Act

24 of June 15, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 715s), the Land and Water

25 Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–1–4–460l–
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1 11), and any other provision of law relating to revenue allo2 cation.

3 ‘‘(o) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

4 ‘‘(1) FIRST 4 YEARS.—During the first four fis5 cal years beginning after the enactment of the Visitor

6 Services Improvement and Outdoor Legacy Act of

7 1996, there is authorized to be appropriated for a fis8 cal year amounts which would have been appro9 priated for that fiscal year under section 4 of the

10 Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965, as

11 such section was in effect on the day before the date

12 of enactment of the Visitor Services Improvement and

13 Outdoor Legacy Act of 1996.

14 ‘‘(2) GUARANTEE OF FUNDING ENHANCEMENT

15 BEGINNING WITH THE 5TH FISCAL YEAR.—(A) Effec16 tive for the fifth fiscal year beginning after the enact17 ment of the Visitor Services Improvement and Out18 door Legacy Act of 1996 and thereafter, after target

19 recreation revenue goals are submitted to the Congress

20 under subsection (m), there is authorized to be appro21 priated for each agency for each fiscal year an

22 amount such that the total funding available for visi23 tor services from recreational fees and appropriated

24 amounts is not less than 125 percent of the adjusted

25 1995 base amount.
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1 ‘‘(B) For the purpose of subparagraph (A), the

2 term ‘adjusted 1995 base amount’ means the amount

3 appropriated for visitor services for fiscal year 1995

4 increased or decreased for a fiscal year by the percent5 age (if any) by which the average Consumer Price

6 Index for the preceding fiscal year exceeds the average

7 Consumer Price Index for fiscal year 1995. For pur8 poses of this subparagraph, the term ‘Consumer Price

9 Index’ means the Consumer Price Index for all-urban

10 consumers published by the Bureau of Labor Statis11 tics, Department of Labor.’’.

12 SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

13 (a)(1)(A) Title I of the Department of the Interior and

14 Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1994 is amended by

15 striking out the third proviso under the heading ‘‘ADMINIS16 TRATIVE PROVISIONS’’ which is under the heading ‘‘NA17 TIONAL PARK SERVICE’’ (related to recovery of costs associ18 ated with special use permits).

19 (B) For those recreational activities for which a fee

20 was charged prior to September 30, 1995, under the provi21 sion of law amended by subparagraph (A), the Secretary

22 may continue to charge and retain such fees until such park

23 is able to receive reimbursement under section 4 of the Land

24 and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965, as amended by

25 this Act.
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1 (2) Section 3 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to establish

2 a National Park Service, and for other purposes’’, approved

3 August 25, 1916 (16 U.S.C. 3), is amended—

4 (A) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ after ‘‘3.’’; and

5 (B) by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘(b) The Secretary shall publish regulations governing

7 commercial or nonrecreational special uses of units of the

8 National Park System for which a fee is not authorized to

9 be charged under section 4 of the Land and Water Conserva10 tion Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–6), including (but

11 not limited to) such activities as filming, special athletic

12 or sporting events, weddings, cultural events and festivals.

13 After adoption of such regulations, the Secretary may re14 tain an amount equal to the direct administrative costs as15 sociated with issuing any permits and managing such ac16 tivities (including, but not limited to, personnel costs, clean

17 up costs, and other special services) for which such permit

18 is issued. Such amounts retained shall be credited to the

19 appropriation current at the time, and may only be spent

20 for activities directly in support of the purposes for which

21 the permit was issued. Such amounts retained are author22 ized to remain available until expended.’’.

23 (b) The following Public Laws are amended as follows:

24 (1) Section 5(e) of Public Law 87–657 (16

25 U.S.C. 459c–5(e)), as amended, is hereby repealed.
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1 (2) Section 3(b) of Public Law 87–750 (16

2 U.S.C. 398e(b)) is hereby repealed.

3 (3) Section 4(e) of Public Law 92–589 (16

4 U.S.C. 460bb–3), as amended, is further amended by

5 striking the first sentence.

6 (4) Section 6(j) of Public Law 95–348 (92 Stat.

7 493) is hereby repealed.

8 (5) Section 207 of Public Law 96–199 (94 Stat.

9 77) is hereby repealed.

10 (6) Section 106 of Public Law 96–287 (94 Stat.

11 600) is amended by striking the last sentence.

12 (7) Section 204 of Public Law 96–287 (94 Stat.

13 601) is amended by striking the last sentence.

14 (8) Section 5 of Public Law 96–428 (94 Stat.

15 1842) is hereby repealed.

16 (9) Public Law 100–55 (101 Stat. 371) is hereby

17 repealed.

18 (10) Section 203 of the Alaska National Interest

19 Lands Conservation Act shall not apply with respect

20 to charging an admission fee at Denali National Park

21 and Preserve in Alaska.
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1 SEC. 5. SAVINGS PROVISION RELATING TO AREAS ADMINIS2 TERED BY THE UNITED STATES ARMY CORPS

3 OF ENGINEERS.

4 Areas at civil works projects administered by the Unit5 ed States Army Corps of Engineers shall be subject to sec6 tion 4 of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of

7 1965, as in effect immediately before the enactment of this

8 Act, in lieu of being subject to the amendments made by

9 this Act.