I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8288 

To correct shortfalls in the Great American Outdoors Act by providing fairness and parity to Eastern States, strengthening commitments to urban 

recreation, establishing logic in funding priorities, and ensuring appropriate consequences for shifts in funding sources, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 

Mr. BISHOP of Utah introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To correct shortfalls in the Great American Outdoors Act 

by providing fairness and parity to Eastern States, 

strengthening commitments to urban recreation, establishing logic in funding priorities, and ensuring appropriate consequences for shifts in funding sources, 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 ‘‘Improving the Not5 So-Great American Outdoors Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ENSURING FAIRNESS AND PARITY FOR EASTERN 

2 STATES. 

3 Section 200306(a) of title 54, United States Code, 

4 is amended by adding the at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(5) Except for amounts specifically authorized 

6 by an Act of Congress, not less than 50 percent of 

7 the land acreage or interests in land acreage ac8 quired pursuant to this section shall be east of the 

9 100th meridian.’’. 

10 SEC. 3. STRENGTHENING COMMITMENTS TO URBAN 

11 RECREATION. 

12 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible enti15 ty’’ means— 

16 (i) a State; 

17 (ii) a political subdivision of a State, 

18 including— 

19 (I) a city; and 

20 (II) a county; 

21 (iii) a special purpose district, includ22 ing park districts; and 

23 (iv) an Indian Tribe. 

24 (B) POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS AND INDIAN

25 TRIBES.—A political subdivision of a State or 

26 an Indian Tribe shall be considered an eligible 


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1 entity only if the political subdivision or Indian 

2 Tribe represents or otherwise serves a quali3 fying urban area. 

4 (2) OUTDOOR RECREATION LEGACY PARTNER5 SHIP GRANT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Outdoor Recre6 ation Legacy Partnership Grant Program’’ means 

7 the program established under subsection (b). 

8 (3) QUALIFYING URBAN AREA.—The term 

9 ‘‘qualifying urban area’’ means an area identified by 

10 the Census Bureau as an ‘‘urban area’’ in the most 

11 recent census. 

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

13 the Secretary of the Interior. 

14 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

15 an outdoor recreation legacy partnership grant program 

16 under which the Secretary may award grants to eligible 

17 entities for projects— 

18 (1) to acquire land and water for parks and 

19 other outdoor recreation purposes; 

20 (2) to develop new or renovate existing outdoor 

21 recreation facilities; and 

22 (3) to develop projects that provide opportuni23 ties for outdoor education and public lands vol24 unteerism. 

25 (c) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 


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

2 grant under subsection (b), an eligible entity shall 

3 provide matching funds in the form of cash or an in4 kind contribution in an amount equal to not less 

5 than 100 percent of the amounts made available 

6 under the grant. 

7 (2) SOURCES.—The matching amounts referred 

8 to in paragraph (1) may include amounts made 

9 available from State, local, nongovernmental, or pri10 vate sources. 

11 (3) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive all or 

12 part of the matching requirement under paragraph 

13 (1) if the Secretary determines that— 

14 (A) no reasonable means are available 

15 through which an applicant can meet the 

16 matching requirement; and 

17 (B) the probable benefit of such project 

18 outweighs the public interest in such matching 

19 requirement. 

20 (d) ELIGIBLE USES.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—A grant recipient may use a 

22 grant awarded under this section— 

23 (A) to acquire land or water that provides 

24 outdoor recreation opportunities to the public; 

25 and 


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1 (B) to develop or renovate outdoor rec2 reational facilities that provide outdoor recre3 ation opportunities to the public, with priority 

4 given to projects that— 

5 (i) create or significantly enhance ac6 cess to park and recreational opportunities 

7 in an urban or suburban area that lacks 

8 access to such activities; 

9 (ii) engage and empower underserved 

10 communities and youth; 

11 (iii) provide opportunities for youth 

12 employment or job training; 

13 (iv) establish or expand public-private 

14 partnerships, with a focus on leveraging re15 sources; and 

16 (v) take advantage of coordination 

17 among various levels of government. 

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

19 may not use grant funds for— 

20 (A) grant administration costs; 

21 (B) incidental costs related to land acquisi22 tion, including appraisal and titling; 

23 (C) operation and maintenance activities; 

24 (D) facilities that support semiprofessional 

25 or professional athletics; 


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1 (E) indoor facilities such as recreation cen2 ters or facilities that support primarily non-out3 door purposes; or 

4 (F) acquisition of land or interests in land 

5 that restrict access to specific persons. 

6 (e) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE REQUIREMENTS.—In 

7 carrying out the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership 

8 Grant Program, the Secretary shall— 

9 (1) conduct an initial screening and technical 

10 review of applications received; and 

11 (2) evaluate and score all qualifying applica12 tions. 

13 (f) REPORTING.—Each grant recipient that receives 

14 a grant under this section shall annually submit to the 

15 Secretary performance and financial reports that— 

16 (1) summarize project activities conducted dur17 ing the report period; and 

18 (2) provide the status of the project, including 

19 of description of how the project has improved ac20 cess to parkland, open space, or recreational facili21 ties from the community perspective. 

22 (g) FUNDING.—Section 200306(a) of title 54, United 

23 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol24 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(7) Five percent of the amounts shall be allo2 cated to provide grants under the Outdoor Recre3 ation Legacy Partnership Grant Program estab4 lished under section 3 of the Improving the Not-So5 Great American Outdoors Act.’’. 

6 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHING LOGIC IN FUNDING PRIORITIES. 

7 Section 200402(b) of title 54, United States Code, 

8 is amended by— 

9 (1) redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph 

10 (4); and 

11 (2) adding the following after paragraph (2)— 

12 ‘‘(3) INSUFFICIENT FUNDS.—In any of fiscal 

13 years 2021 through 2025 in which the total amount 

14 deposited into the Fund is less than $1,900,000,000, 

15 sufficient funds (if available) under section 200306 

16 5 of title 54, United States Code, shall also be avail17 able for the uses of the Fund in accordance with this 

18 chapter in such amounts as are necessary to ensure 

19 that a total of $1,900,000,000 is available for those 

20 uses for that fiscal year. If sufficient funds are not 

21 available under section 200306 of title 54, United 

22 States Code, to ensure the $1,900,000,000 total, 

23 then the maximum amount allocated to that section 

24 shall be made available for the uses of the Fund.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. TRANSPARENCY IN PROJECT FUNDING ALLOCA2 TION. 

3 Section 200303(c)(2)(B) of title 54, United States 

4 Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘only in accordance with 

5 the detailed submission to Congress under paragraph (1)’’ 

6 after ‘‘allocated by the President’’ both places it appears. 

7 SEC. 6. APPROPRIATE CONSEQUENCES REGARDING FUND8 ING SOURCES. 

9 In the first fiscal year in which receipts under section 

10 200302(c)(2) of title 54, United States Code, are unavail11 able for deposit in the Land and Water Conservation 

12 Fund established under that section, the Land and Water 

13 Conservation Fund shall be repealed, any existing unobli14 gated balances shall revert to the general Treasury, and 

15 any future revenues and collections that would have been 

16 deposited in that Fund shall instead be deposited in the 

17 general Treasury. 

18 SEC. 7. ENSURING AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR MAINTE19 NANCE BACKLOG. 

20 Section 200302(c) of title 54, United States Code, 

21 is amended by striking ‘‘not less than’’. 

22 SEC. 8. CONFORMING AMENDMENT. 

23 Section 200306(a)(2)(B) of title 54, United States 

24 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

25 ‘‘(iii) LIMITATION.—Except for areas 

26 specifically authorized by Act of Congress, 


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1 not more than 15 percent of the acreage 

2 added to the National Forest System pur3 suant to this section shall be west of the 

4 100th meridian.’’. 

Æ 


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