II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1695

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to assess up to $2 per person

visiting the Grand Canyon or other national park to secure bonds for

capital improvements to the park, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 23, 1996

Mr. MCCAIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to assess up to

$2 per person visiting the Grand Canyon or other national park to secure bonds for capital improvements

to the park, 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 Parks Capital

5 Improvements Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:
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•S 1695 IS

1 (1) FUNDRAISING ORGANIZATION.—The term

2 ‘‘fundraising organization’’ means an entity author3 ized to act as a fundraising organization under sec4 tion 3(a).

5 (2) NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION.—The term

6 ‘‘National Park Foundation’’ means the foundation

7 established under the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to estab8 lish the National Park Foundation’’, approved De9 cember 18, 1967 (16 U.S.C. 19e et seq.).

10 (3) PARK.—The term ‘‘park’’ means—

11 (A) the Grand Canyon National Park; and

12 (B) any other national park designated by

13 the Secretary that has an approved general

14 management plan with capital needs in excess

15 of $5,000,000.

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

17 the Secretary of the Interior.

18 SEC. 3. FUNDRAISING ORGANIZATION.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may enter into a

20 memorandum of agreement under section 4 with an entity

21 to act as an authorized fundraising organization for the

22 benefit of the park.

23 (b) BONDS.—The fundraising organization shall

24 issue taxable bonds in return for the park surcharge col25 lected under section 5.
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1 (c) PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS.—The fundraising

2 organization shall abide by all relevant professional stand3 ards regarding the issuance of securities and shall comply

4 with all Federal and State law.

5 (d) AUDIT.—The fundraising organization shall be

6 subject to an audit by the Secretary.

7 (e) NO LIABILITY FOR BONDS.—The United States

8 shall not be liable for the security of any bonds issued

9 by the fundraising organization.

10 SEC. 4. MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT.

11 The fundraising organization shall enter into a

12 memorandum of agreement that specifies—

13 (1) the amount of the bond issue;

14 (2) the maturity of the bonds, not to exceed 20

15 years;

16 (3) the per capita amount required to amortize

17 the bond issue, provide for the reasonable costs of

18 administration, and maintain a sufficient reserve

19 consistent with industry standards; and

20 (4) any project that will be funded with the

21 bond proceeds and the specific responsibilities of the

22 Secretary and the fundraising organization with re23 spect to the project.
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1 SEC. 5. PARK SURCHARGE.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi3 sion of law, the Secretary of the Interior may authorize

4 the Superintendent of the park to charge and collect, in

5 addition to the entrance fee collected pursuant to section

6 4 of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965

7 (16 U.S.C. 460l–6a), a surcharge in an amount not to

8 exceed $2 for each individual charged the entrance fee.

9 (b) USE.—The surcharge shall be used by the fund10 raising organization to amortize the bond issue, provide

11 for the reasonable costs of administration, and maintain

12 a sufficient reserve consistent with industry standards.

13 (c) EXCESS FUNDS.—Any funds collected in excess

14 of the amount necessary to amortize the bond issue, pay

15 reasonable administrative expenses, and maintain a suffi16 cient reserve, as determined by the bond underwriter, shall

17 be remitted to the National Park Foundation to be used

18 for the benefit of all units of the National Park System.

19 SEC. 6. USE OF BOND PROCEEDS.

20 (a) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—

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

22 bond proceeds under this Act may be used for a

23 project for the design, construction, operation, main24 tenance, repair, or replacement of a facility in the

25 park.
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1 (2) LIMITATION.—A project referred to in para2 graph (2) shall be consistent with—

3 (A) the laws governing the National Park

4 System;

5 (B) any law governing the park; and

6 (C) the general management plan for the

7 park.

8 (b) INTEREST ON BOND PROCEEDS.—Any interest

9 earned on bond proceeds shall—

10 (1) be used by the fundraising organization

11 to—

12 (A) meet reserve requirements; and

13 (B) defray reasonable administrative ex14 penses; and

15 (2) to the extent funds are available in excess

16 of the amount required for paragraph (1), be remit17 ted to the National Park Foundation for the benefit

18 of all units of the National Park System.

19 SEC. 7. ADMINISTRATION.

20 The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of

21 the Treasury, shall issue regulations to carry out this Act.

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