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[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 743 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 743

  To amend the National Park Service Concessions Policy Act to foster 
 competition among concessioners, to improve management of concessions 
 consistent with the preservation of resources and the purposes of the 
             National Park System, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 2, 1993

  Mr. Synar introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
  To amend the National Park Service Concessions Policy Act to foster 
 competition among concessioners, to improve management of concessions 
 consistent with the preservation of resources and the purposes of the 
             National Park System, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND DEFINITION.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``National Park 
Revitalization Act''.
    (b) Definition.--As used in this Act, the term ``National Park 
Service Concessions Policy Act'' means the Act entitled ``An Act 
relating to the establishment of concession policies in the areas 
administered by National Park Service and for other purposes'' (16 
U.S.C. 20-20g).

SEC. 2. CONTRACTS.

    (a) Maximum Period; Requirements.--Section 3(a) of the National 
Park Service Concessions Policy Act (16 U.S.C. 20b(a)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(a)'';
            (2) in paragraph (1) (as designated by paragraph (1) of 
        this subsection), by inserting after the first sentence the 
        following: ``Except as provided in paragraph (3), the period of 
        a contract entered into under this Act may not exceed 10 
        years.''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
    ``(2) Contracts entered into under this Act after the date of 
enactment of this paragraph shall--
            ``(A) be consistent with the laws relating to the National 
        Park System and the unit concerned;
            ``(B) be implemented in accordance with the purposes of the 
        National Park System and the general management plan for the 
        unit of the National Park System concerned;
            ``(C) to the maximum extent practicable, contain similar 
        terms and conditions in order to facilitate administration;
            ``(D) to the extent applicable, provide for acquisition of 
        the possessory interest of a concessioner in a manner 
        consistent with the objective of section 6(c); and
            ``(E) shall be transferable or assignable only upon the 
        consent of the Secretary after reconsideration and possible 
        redetermination of the contract terms, including the franchise 
        fee.
    ``(3) The period of a contract may be for a period greater than 10 
years if the Secretary finds that a longer period is necessary for the 
acquisition of possessory interest under section 6(c); except that in 
no event may the period be greater than 15 years.
    ``(4) In entering contracts under this Act, consideration of 
revenue to the United States shall be subordinate to the objectives of 
protecting and preserving areas administered by the National Park 
Service and of providing adequate and appropriate services for visitors 
at reasonable rates.''.
    (b) Repeal of Obligation of United States to Compensate for Loss of 
Investment.--Paragraph (1) of section 3(a) of the National Park Service 
Concessions Policy Act (16 U.S.C. 20b(a)) (as amended by subsection 
(a)) is further amended by striking the last sentence and inserting the 
following: ``Effective with respect to contracts entered into, renewed, 
transferred, assigned, or renegotiated under this Act after the date of 
enactment of this sentence, the United States shall not be obligated to 
compensate the concessioner for such structures, fixtures, or 
improvements.''.
    (c) Franchise Fees.--Section 3(d) of the National Park Service 
Concessions Policy Act (16 U.S.C. 20b(d)) is amended to read as 
follows:
    ``(d) Franchise fees, however stated, shall be based on annual 
gross receipts from the concession and shall not be less than 22.5 
percent of the annual gross receipts from that concession. Provision 
shall be made for reconsideration and possible readjustment of 
franchise fees at least every 5 years unless the contract period is for 
a lesser period of time.''.
    (d) Utility Costs.--(1) Section 3 of the National Park Service 
Concessions Policy Act (16 U.S.C. 20b) is amended by adding at the end 
the following:
    ``(e) The concessioner shall be responsible for all utility costs 
incurred by the concessioner in the operation of the concession under 
contracts entered into, renewed, transferred, assigned, or renegotiated 
under this Act after the date of enactment of this subsection.''.
    (2) Paragraph 4 of the first section of the Act entitled ``An Act 
to facilitate the management of the National Park System and 
miscellaneous areas administered in connection with that System, and 
for other purposes'' (16 U.S.C. 1b(4)) is amended by striking 
``concessioners,''.

SEC. 3. REPEAL OF PREFERENTIAL RIGHTS AND POSSESSORY INTEREST.

    (a) Additional Contracts.--Section 4 of the National Park Service 
Concessions Policy Act (16 U.S.C. 20c) is amended by striking ``and may 
grant to such concessioner a preferential right to provide such new or 
additional accommodations, facilities, or services''.
    (b) Renewal of Contracts.--(1) The first sentence of section 5 of 
the National Park Service Concessions Policy Act is amended by striking 
``giving preference in the renewal of contracts or permits and in the 
negotiation of new contracts or permits to the''.
    (2) Section 5 of the National Park Service Concessions Policy Act 
is amended by adding at the end the following: ``The Secretary may not 
give a preference in the renewal of contracts or permits under this 
Act.''.
    (c) Possessory Interests.--Section 6 of the National Park Service 
Concessions Policy Act is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(a)'' after ``Sec. 6'';
            (2) by inserting at the end of subsection (a) (as 
        designated by paragraph (1)) the following: ``This subsection 
        shall not apply to contracts entered into, renewed, 
        transferred, assigned, or renegotiated after the date of 
        enactment of this sentence.''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Effective with respect to contracts entered into, renewed, 
transferred, assigned, or renegotiated under this Act after the date of 
enactment of this subsection, all right, title, and interest to any 
structure, fixture, or improvement acquired or constructed on land 
owned by the United States within an area administered by the National 
Park Service shall vest in the United States.
    ``(c) The Secretary shall acquire any possessory interest 
established before the date of enactment of this subsection relating to 
any contract subject to subsection (a) with funds made available by 
section 10(2). Possessory interests relating to a concession shall be 
acquired before the end of the first contract period beginning after 
the date of enactment of this subsection that relates to that 
concession.
    ``(d) Except as provided in section 11 of the Act entitled `An Act 
to establish the National Park Foundation', approved December 18, 1967, 
the Secretary may not approve the direct or indirect transfer of the 
possessory interest relating to a contract subject to this Act.''.

SEC. 4. AVAILABILITY OF AUDIT INFORMATION.

    The first undesignated paragraph of section 9 of the National Park 
Service Concessions Policy Act (16 U.S.C. 20g) is amended by adding at 
the end the following: ``A record of each audit under this section 
shall be available to the public in a manner that does not reveal trade 
secrets and commercial or financial information that is privileged or 
confidential.''.

SEC. 5. USE OF FRANCHISE FEES.

    (a) In General.--The National Park Service Concessions Policy Act 
is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 10. USE OF FRANCHISE FEES.

    ``All receipts from franchise fees, however stated, collected 
pursuant to this Act after September 30, 1991, shall be covered into a 
special account established in the Treasury of the United States. 
Amounts covered into the account in a fiscal year shall be available 
without further appropriation after the end of the fiscal year as 
follows:
            ``(1) 2.5 percent of such receipts shall be available for 
        the purposes of section 3 of the National Park System Visitor 
        Facilities Fund Act.
            ``(2) 77.5 percent of the receipts shall be allocated among 
        the units of the National Park System in the same proportion as 
        franchise fees from a unit bears to the total amount collected 
        from all units under this section and shall be for capital and 
        resource management, interpretation, and conservation needs and 
        acquisition of possessory interest under section 6.
            ``(3) The remaining 20 percent shall be allocated among the 
        units of the National Park System on the basis of capital and 
        resource management, interpretation, and conservation need as 
        determined by the Director.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 3 of the National Park System 
Visitor Facilities Fund Act (16 U.S.C. 19bb) is amended by striking 
``all National Park System concession fees, including franchise fees 
and building user fees,'' and inserting ``2.5 percent of all National 
Park System concession franchise fees and all National Park System 
concession building user fees''.
    (c) National Park Foundation.--The Act entitled ``An Act to 
establish the National Park Foundation'' (16 U.S.C. 19c-19n) is amended 
by adding at the end the following:
    ``Sec. 11. The Foundation is authorized to acquire the possessory 
interest relating to a concession if that possessory interest, upon 
acquisition by the Foundation, is transferred to the United States. For 
the purpose of this section, the term `possessory interest' has the 
meaning given such term under section 6 of the Act entitled `An Act 
relating to the establishment of concession policies in the areas 
administered by National Park Service and for other purposes', approved 
October 9, 1965.''.

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