II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 831

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

from park entrance fees or 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 19, 1999

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 set aside up

to $2 per person from park entrance fees or 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘National Parks Capital Improvements Act of 1999’’.

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of

7 this Act is as follows:
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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Definitions.

Sec. 3. Fundraising organization.

Sec. 4. Memorandum of agreement.

Sec. 5. National park surcharge or set-aside.

Sec. 6. Use of bond proceeds.

Sec. 7. Administration.

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

2 In this Act:

3 (1) FUNDRAISING ORGANIZATION.—The term

4 ‘‘fundraising organization’’ means an entity author5 ized to act as a fundraising organization under sec6 tion 3(a).

7 (2) MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT.—The term

8 ‘‘memorandum of agreement’’ means a memo9 randum of agreement entered into by the Secretary

10 under section 3(a) that contains the terms specified

11 in section 4.

12 (3) NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION.—The term

13 ‘‘National Park Foundation’’ means the foundation

14 established under the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to estab15 lish the National Park Foundation’’, approved De16 cember 18, 1967 (16 U.S.C. 19e et seq.).

17 (4) NATIONAL PARK.—The term ‘‘national

18 park’’ means—

19 (A) the Grand Canyon National Park; and

20 (B) any other national park designated by

21 the Secretary that has an approved general
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1 management plan with capital needs in excess

2 of $5,000,000.

3 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

4 the Secretary of the Interior.

5 SEC. 3. FUNDRAISING ORGANIZATION.

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

7 memorandum of agreement under section 4 with an entity

8 to act as an authorized fundraising organization for the

9 benefit of a national park.

10 (b) BONDS.—The fundraising organization for a na11 tional park shall issue taxable bonds in return for the sur12 charge or set-aside for that national park collected under

13 section 5.

14 (c) PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS.—The fundraising

15 organization shall abide by all relevant professional stand16 ards regarding the issuance of securities and shall comply

17 with all applicable Federal and State law.

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

19 subject to an audit by the Secretary.

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

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

22 by the fundraising organization.

23 SEC. 4. MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT.

24 The fundraising organization shall enter into a

25 memorandum of agreement that specifies—
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1 (1) the amount of the bond issue;

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

3 years;

4 (3) the per capita amount required to amortize

5 the bond issue, provide for the reasonable costs of

6 administration, and maintain a sufficient reserve

7 consistent with industry standards;

8 (4) the project or projects at the national park

9 that will be funded with the bond proceeds and the

10 specific responsibilities of the Secretary and the

11 fundraising organization with respect to each

12 project; and

13 (5) procedures for modifications of the agree14 ment with the consent of both parties based on

15 changes in circumstances, including modifications

16 relating to project priorities.

17 SEC. 5. NATIONAL PARK SURCHARGE OR SET-ASIDE.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi19 sion of law, the Secretary may authorize the Super20 intendent of a national park for which a memorandum of

21 agreement is in effect—

22 (1) to charge and collect a surcharge in an

23 amount not to exceed $2 for each individual other24 wise subject to an entrance fee for admission to the

25 national park; or
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1 (2) to set aside not more than $2 for each indi2 vidual charged the entrance fee.

3 (b) SURCHARGE IN ADDITION TO ENTRANCE

4 FEES.—A national park surcharge under subsection (a)

5 shall be in addition to any entrance fee collected under—

6 (1) section 4 of the Land and Water Conserva7 tion Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–6a);

8 (2) the recreational fee demonstration program

9 authorized by section 315 of the Department of the

10 Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act,

11 1996 (as contained in Public Law 104–134; 110

12 Stat. 1321–156; 1321–200; 16 U.S.C. 460l–6a

13 note); or

14 (3) the national park passport program estab15 lished under title VI of the National Parks Omnibus

16 Management Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–391;

17 112 Stat. 3518; 16 U.S.C. 5991 et seq.).

18 (c) LIMITATION.—The total amount charged or set

19 aside under subsection (a) may not exceed $2 for each

20 individual charged an entrance fee.

21 (d) USE.—A surcharge or set-aside under subsection

22 (a) shall be used by the fundraising organization to—

23 (1) amortize the bond issue;

24 (2) provide for the reasonable costs of adminis25 tration; and
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1 (3) maintain a sufficient reserve consistent with

2 industry standards, as determined by the bond un3 derwriter.

4 (e) EXCESS FUNDS.—Any funds collected in excess

5 of the amount necessary to fund the uses in subsection

6 (d) shall be remitted to the National Park Foundation to

7 be used for the benefit of all units of the National Park

8 System.

9 SEC. 6. USE OF BOND PROCEEDS.

10 (a) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—

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

12 bond proceeds under this Act may be used for a

13 project for the design, construction, operation, main14 tenance, repair, or replacement of a facility in the

15 national park for which the bond was issued.

16 (2) PROJECT LIMITATIONS.—A project referred

17 to in paragraph (1) shall be consistent with—

18 (A) the laws governing the National Park

19 System;

20 (B) any law governing the national park in

21 which the project is to be completed; and

22 (C) the general management plan for the

23 national park.

24 (3) PROHIBITION ON USE FOR ADMINISTRA25 TION.—Other than interest as provided in subsection
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1 (b), no part of the bond proceeds may be used to de2 fray administrative expenses.

3 (b) INTEREST ON BOND PROCEEDS.—

4 (1) AUTHORIZED USES.—Any interest earned

5 on bond proceeds may be used by the fundraising or6 ganization to—

7 (A) meet reserve requirements; and

8 (B) defray reasonable administrative ex9 penses incurred in connection with the manage10 ment and sale of the bonds.

11 (2) EXCESS INTEREST.—All interest on bond

12 proceeds not used for purposes of paragraph (1)

13 shall be remitted to the National Park Foundation

14 for the benefit of all units of the National Park Sys15 tem.

16 SEC. 7. ADMINISTRATION.

17 The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of

18 Treasury, shall promulgate regulations to carry out this

19 Act.

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