II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2817

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture

to establish permanent recreation fee authority.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 29, 2000

Mr. GRAHAM (for himself and Mr. GORTON) 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 and the Secretary

of Agriculture to establish permanent recreation fee authority.

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 ‘‘Recreation Fee Au5 thority Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:

8 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ means—

9 (A) the National Park Service;
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1 (B) the United States Fish and Wildlife

2 Service;

3 (C) the Bureau of Land Management;

4 (D) the Bureau of Reclamation; and

5 (E) the Forest Service.

6 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’

7 means—

8 (A) with respect to the Department of the

9 Interior, the Secretary of the Interior, acting

10 through—

11 (i) the Director of the National Park

12 Service;

13 (ii) the Director of the United States

14 Fish and Wildlife Service;

15 (iii) the Director of the Bureau of

16 Land Management; or

17 (iv) the Commissioner of Reclamation;

18 and

19 (B) with respect to the Department of Ag20 riculture, the Secretary of Agriculture, acting

21 through the Chief of the Forest Service.

22 SEC. 3. RECREATIONAL FEE PROGRAM.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 4 of the

24 Land and Water Conservation Fund Act (16 U.S.C. 460l–
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1 6a), effective beginning on October 1, 2001, the

2 Secretary—

3 (1) may establish, charge, and collect fees for—

4 (A) admission to an area, site, or project

5 on land under the jurisdiction of an agency; and

6 (B) the use of a recreation area, site, facil7 ity, visitor center, equipment, and service (in8 cluding a reservation) of an agency by an indi9 vidual or a group;

10 (2) in establishing a fee under this Act, shall—

11 (A) ensure, to the maximum extent prac12 ticable, that the fee is fair and equitable, by

13 taking into consideration—

14 (i) the direct and indirect cost of the

15 fee to the Federal Government;

16 (ii) the revenue benefits to the Fed17 eral Government;

18 (iii) the benefits to the visitor derived

19 from fees;

20 (iv) the cumulative effect of fees

21 charged to the public;

22 (v) the public policy or management

23 objectives served by charging the fee;

24 (vi) the comparable recreation fees

25 charged by other public agencies;
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1 (vii) the economic and administrative

2 feasibility of fee collection; and

3 (viii) other pertinent factors; and

4 (B) require that any implementation or al5 teration of a recreation fee shall be approved in

6 advance by a board of review, to be appointed

7 by the Secretary;

8 (3) may enter into contracts, which may provide

9 for reasonable commissions or reimbursements, with

10 any public or private entity to provide fee collection

11 and processing services;

12 (4) may authorize the use of volunteers to col13 lect fees charged under paragraph (1);

14 (5) may sell and accept—

15 (A) Golden Eagle Passports, Golden Age

16 Passports, and Golden Access Passports, estab17 lished under paragraphs (1), (4), and (5), re18 spectively, of section 4(a) of the Land and

19 Water Conservation Fund Act (16 U.S.C. 460l–

20 6a); and

21 (B) National Park Passports established

22 under section 602 of the National Parks Omni23 bus Management Act of 1998 (16 U.S.C.

24 5992); and
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1 (6) may develop, sell, and accept single or

2 multiagency passports.

3 (b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary

4 may enter into cooperative agreements with other Federal

5 agencies and State, local, and tribal governments to collect

6 fees at areas, sites, or projects located on land and water

7 under the jurisdiction of the Secretary or the other Fed8 eral agency, State, local, or tribal government.

9 (c) DISCOUNTED OR FREE ADMISSION OR USE.—In

10 establishing a fee under this Act, the Secretary may pro11 vide discounted or free admission or use, as determined

12 to be appropriate by the Secretary, for individuals or

13 groups including—

14 (1) persons 17 years of age or younger;

15 (2) volunteers;

16 (3) groups from schools or other bona fide edu17 cational institutions in cases in which admission or

18 use is for educational purposes; and

19 (4) other entities or individuals that the Sec20 retary determines to be appropriate.

21 (d) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary may promul22 gate such regulations as are necessary to carry out this

23 Act.

24 (e) DISTRIBUTION OF RECEIPTS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Fees collected under sub2 section (a) shall—

3 (A) be deposited in a special account in the

4 Treasury established for each agency that col5 lects fees under this Act; and

6 (B) remain available to the Secretary with7 out further Act of appropriation until expended.

8 (2) DISTRIBUTION.—

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not less than 80 per10 cent of amounts collected as fees at a specific

11 area, site, or project, as determined by the Sec12 retary, shall remain available for use at the spe13 cific area, site, or project at which the fees were

14 collected.

15 (B) USE OF FEES AT NONCOLLECTION

16 SITES.—

17 (i) IN GENERAL.—The amounts col18 lected as fees at a specific area, site, or

19 project that are not distributed in accord20 ance with subparagraph (A) shall remain

21 available for use by each agency that col22 lected the fees, on an agency-wide basis.

23 (ii) USE BY AGENCY.—Amounts under

24 clause (i) shall be distributed for use in ac25 cordance with subsection (f)(1) to units of
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1 each agency having the greatest need for

2 funds, as determined by the Secretary.

3 (C) DISBURSEMENT UNDER COOPERATIVE

4 AGREEMENT.—

5 (i) IN GENERAL.—A cooperative

6 agreement described in subsection (b) may

7 provide for an initial disbursement of fees

8 collected under the agreement to parties to

9 the agreement.

10 (ii) REMAINING AMOUNTS.—Fees col11 lected under clause (i) that are retained by

12 an agency shall be distributed under sub13 paragraphs (A) and (B).

14 (f) EXPENDITURES.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts available under

16 subsection (e)(2)(A) for expenditure at a specific

17 area, site, or project—

18 (A) shall be accounted for separately; and

19 (B) may be used for—

20 (i) repair, maintenance, facility en21 hancement, and infrastructure (including

22 projects relating to visitor enjoyment, vis23 itor health and safety, visitor access, and

24 environmental compliance);
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1 (ii) interpretation, visitor information,

2 visitor services, and signage;

3 (iii) enhancement of habitat;

4 (iv) assessment, protection, preserva5 tion, and restoration of natural, cultural,

6 and historical resources;

7 (v) law enforcement relating to public

8 use; and

9 (vi) direct operating or capital costs

10 associated with the fee system authorized

11 by this Act, including—

12 (I) the costs of fee collections;

13 (II) the costs of notification of

14 fee requirements;

15 (III) the costs of direct infra16 structure;

17 (IV) fee management administra18 tive costs;

19 (V) the costs of the bonding of

20 volunteers;

21 (VI) start-up costs; and

22 (VII) the costs of analysis and

23 reporting of program accomplishments

24 and impacts.
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1 (2) REMAINING AMOUNTS.—Amounts available

2 under subsection (e)(2)(B) for expenditure agency3 wide—

4 (A) shall be accounted for separately; and

5 (B) may be used for the purposes de6 scribed in paragraph (1) for areas, sites, or

7 projects selected by each agency.

8 (3) PRIORITIZATION OF PROJECTS.—In

9 prioritizing expenditures under this subsection for

10 projects, an agency should give high priority to de11 ferred maintenance projects.

12 (g) SIGNAGE AND INFORMATION AT RECREATION

13 FEE PROJECT SITES.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop,

15 and require the display of, uniform signage at each

16 unit where work is being performed or services are

17 being provided using recreation fee revenues.

18 (2) USE.—Signs developed under paragraph (1)

19 shall—

20 (A) inform park visitors of examples of

21 their ‘‘recreation fees at work’’;

22 (B) include a contact number and an

23 Internet address where the public may access

24 additional information about the recreation fee

25 program; and
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1 (C) be presented in such a way as to in2 form visitors that recreation fees—

3 (i) are used at the site from which

4 they are collected; and

5 (ii) are appreciated by the agency and

6 other visitors.

7 (h) ENFORCEMENT AND PROTECTION OF RE8 CEIPTS.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—

10 (A) ENFORCEMENT.—The Secretary shall

11 enforce payment of the fees authorized by this

12 section.

13 (B) EVIDENCE OF NONPAYMENT.—If the

14 display of proof of payment of a fee, or the pay15 ment of a fee within a certain time period, is

16 required, failure to display the proof or pay

17 within the time specified shall be considered

18 prima facia evidence of nonpayment.

19 (C) VEHICULAR VIOLATIONS.—The reg20 istered owner and occupants of a vehicle

21 charged for a violation involving the vehicle

22 shall be jointly liable for penalties imposed

23 under this subsection, unless the owner can

24 show that the vehicle was used without the ex25 press or implied permission of the owner.
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1 (2) FEE COLLECTION DEVICES.—It shall be un2 lawful for a person to—

3 (A) break into;

4 (B) tamper with; or

5 (C) attempt to break into;

6 with the intent to commit larceny, any device or

7 structure used, in whole or in part, to collect or

8 store fees under this Act.

9 (3) PENALTY.—

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—A violation relating to

11 a payment of a fee described in paragraph (1)

12 shall be punishable as a Class B misdemeanor.

13 (B) FEE COLLECTION DEVICES.—A viola14 tion of paragraph (2) shall be punishable—

15 (i) as a Class B misdemeanor, if the

16 violation results in a loss to the Federal

17 Government in an amount that is less than

18 $10,000; or

19 (ii) as a Class A misdemeanor, if the

20 violation results in a loss to the Federal

21 Government in an amount of $10,000 or

22 more.

23 (i) FUNDS FOR OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE.—

24 Income derived from fees collected under this Act shall
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1 not be used to displace any funds requested in any budget

2 submission for—

3 (1) the National Park Service;

4 (2) the United States Fish and Wildlife Service;

5 (3) the Bureau of Land Management; or

6 (4) the Bureau of Reclamation.

7 (j) NO ACCOUNTING AS REVENUE ALLOCATIONS.—

8 Amounts collected under this section shall not be taken

9 into account for purposes of—

10 (1) section 33 of the Act of July 22, 1937

11 (commonly known as the ‘‘Bankhead–Jones Farm

12 Tenant Act’’) (7 U.S.C. 1012);

13 (2) the Act of May 23, 1908 (16 U.S.C. 500);

14 (3) section 13 of the Act of March 1, 1911

15 (commonly known as ‘‘Weeks Law’’) (16 U.S.C.

16 500);

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

18 et seq.);

19 (5) section 401 of the Act of June 15, 1935 (16

20 U.S.C 715s);

21 (6) chapter 69 of title 31, United States Code;

22 (7) the Act of June 14, 1926 (43 U.S.C. 869–

23 4);

24 (8) section 6 of the Act of May 24, 1939 (43

25 U.S.C. 1181f et seq.);
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1 (9) title II of the Act of August 8, 1937 (43

2 U.S.C. 1181f–1 et seq.); and

3 (10) any other provision of law relating to rev4 enue allocations.

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