II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 448 

To codify the existing Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program of 

the National Park Service, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2023 

Mr. PADILLA (for himself, Ms. COLLINS, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. KING, Mr. 

SANDERS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. BOOKER, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. WARREN, Mr. PETERS, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, Mr. OSSOFF, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. 

CASEY, and Mr. LUJA ́N) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To codify the existing Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program 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 ‘‘Outdoors for All Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti2 ty’’ means an entity that represents or otherwise 

3 serves a qualifying area. 

4 (2) ELIGIBLE NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The 

5 term ‘‘eligible nonprofit organization’’ means an or6 ganization that is described in section 501(c)(3) of 

7 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and is exempt 

8 from taxation under section 501(a) of such code. 

9 (3) ENTITY.—The term ‘‘entity’’ means— 

10 (A) a State; 

11 (B) a political subdivision of a State, in12 cluding— 

13 (i) a city; 

14 (ii) a county; and 

15 (iii) a special purpose district that 

16 manages open space, including a park dis17 trict; and 

18 (C) an Indian Tribe, urban Indian organi19 zation, or Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian 

20 community or organization. 

21 (4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

22 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 

23 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

24 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 


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1 (5) LOW-INCOME COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘low2 income community’’ means any census block group 

3 in which 30 percent or more of the population are 

4 individuals with an annual household equal to, or 

5 less than, the greater of— 

6 (A) an amount equal to 80 percent of the 

7 median income of the area in which the house8 hold is located, as reported by the Department 

9 of Housing and Urban Development; and 

10 (B) an amount equal to 200 percent of the 

11 Federal poverty line. 

12 (6) OUTDOOR RECREATION LEGACY PARTNER13 SHIP PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Outdoor Recreation 

14 Legacy Partnership Program’’ means the program 

15 established under section 3(a). 

16 (7) QUALIFYING AREA.—The term ‘‘qualifying 

17 area’’ means— 

18 (A) an urbanized area or urban cluster 

19 that has a population of 25,000 or more in the 

20 most recent census; 

21 (B) 2 or more adjacent urban clusters with 

22 a combined population of 25,000 or more in the 

23 most recent census; or 


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1 (C) an area administered by an Indian 

2 Tribe or an Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian 

3 community organization. 

4 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

5 the Secretary of the Interior. 

6 (9) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

7 the several States, the District of Columbia, and 

8 each territory of the United States. 

9 SEC. 3. GRANTS AUTHORIZED. 

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.— 

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

12 an outdoor recreation legacy partnership program 

13 under which the Secretary may award grants to eli14 gible entities for projects— 

15 (A) to acquire land and water for parks 

16 and other outdoor recreation purposes in quali17 fying areas; and 

18 (B) to develop new or renovate existing 

19 outdoor recreation facilities that provide out20 door recreation opportunities to the public in 

21 qualifying areas. 

22 (2) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants to eligible 

23 entities under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

24 give priority to projects that— 


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1 (A) create or significantly enhance access 

2 to park and recreational opportunities in an 

3 urban neighborhood or community; 

4 (B) engage and empower underserved com5 munities and youth; 

6 (C) provide employment or job training op7 portunities for youth or underserved commu8 nities; 

9 (D) establish or expand public-private 

10 partnerships, with a focus on leveraging re11 sources; and 

12 (E) take advantage of coordination among 

13 various levels of government. 

14 (b) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of receiving a 

16 grant under subsection (a), an eligible entity shall 

17 provide matching funds in the form of cash or an in18 kind contribution in an amount equal to not less 

19 than 100 percent of the amounts made available 

20 under the grant. 

21 (2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive all or 

22 part of the matching requirement under paragraph 

23 (1) if the Secretary determines that— 


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1 (A) no reasonable means are available 

2 through which the eligible entity can meet the 

3 matching requirement; and 

4 (B) the probable benefit of the project out5 weighs the public interest in the matching re6 quirement. 

7 (3) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Not more 

8 than 10 percent of funds provided to an eligible enti9 ty under a grant awarded under subsection (a) may 

10 be used for administrative expenses. 

11 (c) CONSIDERATIONS.—In awarding grants to eligible 

12 entities under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consider 

13 the extent to which a project would— 

14 (1) provide recreation opportunities in under15 served communities in which access to parks is not 

16 adequate to meet local needs; 

17 (2) provide opportunities for outdoor recreation 

18 and public land volunteerism; 

19 (3) support innovative or cost-effective ways to 

20 enhance parks and other recreation— 

21 (A) opportunities; or 

22 (B) delivery of services; 

23 (4) support park and recreation programming 

24 provided by cities, including cooperative agreements 


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1 with community-based eligible nonprofit organiza2 tions; 

3 (5) develop Native American event sites and 

4 cultural gathering spaces; and 

5 (6) provide benefits such as community resil6 ience, reduction of urban heat islands, enhanced 

7 water or air quality, or habitat for fish or wildlife. 

8 (d) ELIGIBLE USES.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a 

10 grant recipient may use a grant awarded under sub11 section (a) for a project described in paragraph (1) 

12 or (2) of that subsection. 

13 (2) LIMITATIONS ON USE.—A grant recipient 

14 may not use grant funds for— 

15 (A) incidental costs related to land acquisi16 tion, including appraisal and titling; 

17 (B) operation and maintenance activities; 

18 (C) facilities that support semiprofessional 

19 or professional athletics; 

20 (D) indoor facilities, such as recreation 

21 centers or facilities that support primarily non22 outdoor purposes; or 

23 (E) acquisition of land or interests in land 

24 that restrict access to specific persons. 


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1 SEC. 4. REVIEW AND EVALUATION REQUIREMENTS. 

2 In carrying out the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Part3 nership Program, the Secretary shall— 

4 (1) conduct an initial screening and technical 

5 review of applications received; 

6 (2) evaluate and score all qualifying applica7 tions; and 

8 (3) provide culturally and linguistically appro9 priate information to eligible entities (including low10 income communities and eligible entities serving low11 income communities) on— 

12 (A) the opportunity to apply for grants 

13 under this Act; 

14 (B) the application procedures by which el15 igible entities may apply for grants under this 

16 Act; and 

17 (C) eligible uses for grants under this Act. 

18 SEC. 5. REPORTING. 

19 (a) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than 30 days after 

20 the last day of each report period, each State lead agency 

21 that receives a grant under this Act shall annually submit 

22 to the Secretary performance and financial reports that— 

23 (1) summarize project activities conducted dur24 ing the report period; and 

25 (2) provide the status of the project. 


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1 (b) FINAL REPORTS.—Not later than 90 days after 

2 the earlier of the date of expiration of a project period 

3 or the completion of a project, each State lead agency that 

4 receives a grant under this Act shall submit to the Sec5 retary a final report containing such information as the 

6 Secretary may require. 

Æ 


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