Calendar No. 397

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1693

[Report No. 105–202]

A BILL

To renew, reform, reinvigorate, and protect the

National Park System.

JUNE 5, 1998

Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the

title
II

Calendar No. 397

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1693

[Report No. 105–202]

To renew, reform, reinvigorate, and protect the National Park System.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 27, 1998

Mr. THOMAS (for himself, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. ENZI, Mr. GRAMS, Mr. MURKOWSKI, and Mr. BENNETT) introduced the following bill; which was read

twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

JUNE 5, 1998

Reported by Mr. MURKOWSKI, with an amendment and an amendment to the

title

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

To renew, reform, reinvigorate, and protect the National

Park System.

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 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Vision 2020 National

5 Parks Restoration Act’’.
2

S 1693 RS

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Definitions.

TITLE I—MANAGEMENT REFORM

Sec. 101. Definitions.

Sec. 102. Protection and interpretation of resources.

Sec. 103. Management and career training.

Sec. 104. Strategic management objectives.

Sec. 105. Annual budgets for National Park System.

TITLE II—PROCEDURES FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW

NATIONAL PARKS

Sec. 201. Studies of areas for potential inclusion in the National Park System.

TITLE III—RECREATIONAL FEE DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM

Sec. 301. Extension of the recreational fee demonstration program.

TITLE IV—CONCESSION REFORM

Sec. 401. Purpose.

Sec. 402. Definitions.

Sec. 403. National Park Service Concession Board.

Sec. 404. Concession Manager.

Sec. 405. Concession contracts.

Sec. 406. Revenue flow; fees to the Government.

Sec. 407. Suspension or termination of concession contract.

Sec. 408. Reporting.

Sec. 409. Promotion of the sales of Indian and Alaska Native handicrafts.

Sec. 410. Use of nonmonetary consideration in leases of Government property.

Sec. 411. Applicability of NEPA to renewals and extensions of similar contracts.

Sec. 412. Miscellaneous.

TITLE V—NATIONAL PARK PASSPORT PROGRAM

Sec. 501. Purposes.

Sec. 502. Definitions.

Sec. 503. National park passport program.

Sec. 504. Administration.

Sec. 505. International park passport program.

Sec. 506. Authorization of appropriations.

Sec. 507. Effect on other laws and programs.

TITLE VI—NATIONAL PARKS RESOURCE INVENTORY AND

MANAGEMENT

Sec. 601. Purposes.

Sec. 602. Definitions.

Sec. 603. Unit resource study program.

Sec. 604. Cooperative agreements and contracts.

Sec. 605. Inventory and monitoring program.

Sec. 606. Availability of national parks for scientific study.

Sec. 607. Integration of study results into management decisions.

Sec. 608. Confidentiality of information concerning the nature and location of

sensitive resources.
3

S 1693 RS

Sec. 609. Authorization of appropriations.

TITLE VII—DESIGNATION OF TAX REFUNDS AND

CONTRIBUTIONS FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE NATIONAL PARKS

Sec. 701. Tax refunds and contributions.

Sec. 702. National Parks Trust Fund.

Sec. 703. Expenditures from the National Parks Trust Fund.

TITLE VIII—NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION

Sec. 801. Promotion of local fundraising support.

TITLE IX—COMMERCIAL FILMING IN NATIONAL PARKS

Sec. 901. Definitions.

Sec. 902. Commercial filming in national parks.

TITLE X—CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT BOND

DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM

Sec. 1001. Findings.

Sec. 1002. Capital improvement projects.

Sec. 1003. Issuance of obligations.

Sec. 1004. Financing.

Sec. 1005. Report.

TITLE XI—MISCELLANEOUS

Sec. 1101. United States Park Police.

Sec. 1102. Leases and cooperative management agreements.

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

2 In this Act:

3 (1) NATIONAL PARK.—The term ‘‘national

4 park’’ means a unit of the National Park System.

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

6 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di7 rector of the National Park Service.

8 TITLE I—MANAGEMENT REFORM

9 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS.

10 In this title, the term ‘‘Ranger Career Directive’’

11 means National Park Special Directive 94–3, entitled

12 ‘‘Ranger Careers’’.
4

S 1693 RS

1 SEC. 102. PROTECTION AND INTERPRETATION OF RE2 SOURCES.

3 Recognizing the ever increasing societal pressures

4 being placed upon America’s unique park resources by

5 population growth, urbanization, and the general loss of

6 natural habitats, the Secretary shall continually improve

7 the ability of the National Park System to provide state8 of-the-art protection and interpretation to the resources

9 of the National Park System.

10 SEC. 103. MANAGEMENT AND CAREER TRAINING.

11 (a) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The park rangers shall be

12 responsible for protecting, interpreting, managing, and

13 educating the public about the natural and cultural re14 sources contained within the national parks as well as

15 serving and protecting park visitors.

16 (b) RANGER CAREER PROGRAM.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall

18 strengthen and enhance the park ranger occupation

19 through the ranger careers program designed to en20 able park rangers to meet competently the various

21 new and increasingly difficult challenges that will

22 confront the national parks in the future.

23 (2) STAFFING.—The Associate Director for

24 Park Operations and Education, with administrative

25 support from other units of the National Park Serv26 ice, shall recruit, hire, train, develop, and oversee the
5

S 1693 RS

1 operations of park rangers in a consistent and pro2 fessional manner.

3 (3) CAREER TRAINING.—The Secretary shall

4 establish a park ranger careers program (including

5 a training and competency development program) to

6 provide a managed career progression from the entry

7 level through the senior executive level of the park

8 ranger occupation.

9 (4) MANAGEMENT POSITIONS.—

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall

11 place management positions, including those of

12 park superintendent and higher management

13 levels within the National Park Service, within

14 the park ranger series.

15 (B) OTHER OCCUPATIONS.—The Secretary

16 shall ensure that appropriate measures are

17 taken, which shall include the provision of

18 qualifying academic course work, so that high

19 potential managerial candidates serving in other

20 occupations within the National Park Service

21 have an opportunity to achieve the fundamental

22 qualifications established for park manager po23 sitions.

24 (5) SPECIALIZED POSITIONS.—The Secretary

25 shall ensure that candidates for higher level and spe-
6

S 1693 RS

1 cialized park operations positions in the National

2 Park Service, such as education specialists, interpre3 tation specialists, criminal investigators, and other

4 single-focus positions for which a background in gen5 eral park operations is desirable, are drawn pri6 marily from among park rangers.

7 (6) DESIGN PHASE.—

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year

9 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec10 retary shall complete the design phase of the

11 Ranger Careers program, implementing all as12 pects of the program contained in the Ranger

13 Careers Directive.

14 (B) EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—

15 (i) DEVELOPMENT.—The Secretary,

16 in accordance with the Ranger Careers Di17 rective and in conjunction with the Direc18 tor of the Office of Personnel Manage19 ment, shall develop new qualification and

20 classification standards for park rangers

21 within the National Park Service.

22 (ii) STANDARDS.—Park ranger quali23 fication and classification standards shall

24 ensure that a park ranger will be consid-
7

S 1693 RS

1 ered a professional occupation having an

2 entry level course of study.

3 (iii) COURSE REQUIREMENTS.—The

4 qualifying academic background and bacca5 laureate level degrees for park rangers, re6 gardless of degree title, shall contain sig7 nificant coursework of at least 24 semester

8 hours in the natural or cultural sciences or

9 history, received from an accredited insti10 tution of higher education.

11 (7) PARK RANGER WORKFORCE.—

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Through the Ranger

13 Careers program, the Secretary shall ensure

14 that—

15 (i) the park rangers continue their

16 traditional focus on protecting, managing,

17 interpreting, and educating the public

18 about park resources and managing the

19 use of national parks by the public;

20 (ii) the park rangers will be managed

21 and organized according to its 2 traditional

22 functions of resource and visitor protection

23 and resource education and interpretation;
8

S 1693 RS

1 (iii) both functions of park rangers

2 will share responsibility for managing the

3 public use of national parks;

4 (iv) law enforcement commissioned

5 park rangers will focus primarily on re6 sources law enforcement and criminal in7 vestigations, while also performing public

8 service, resource interpretation, resource

9 education, resource management, and

10 other general duties necessary to protect

11 resources and visitors in parks; and

12 (v)(I) medical and physical fitness

13 qualification standards for designated law

14 enforcement and firefighter park ranger

15 positions reflect the medical and physical

16 fitness standards necessary for rigorous

17 law enforcement and firefighting work; and

18 (II) medical and physical fitness

19 standards are developed and implemented

20 for other physically rigorous park ranger

21 duties in national parks, such as scuba div22 ing, high altitude and high-angle search

23 and rescue, emergency medicine, wilder24 ness and winter operations, caving, and

25 other duties.
9

S 1693 RS

1 (B) PRECEDENCE OF FITNESS STAND2 ARDS.—The medical and physical fitness stand3 ards applicable under subparagraph (A)(v) shall

4 be considered to be appropriate job performance

5 tests for purposes of the Age Discrimination in

6 Employment Amendments of 1996 (110 Stat.

7 3009–23), the Age Discrimination in Employ8 ment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 621 et seq.), and

9 other Federal law relating to discrimination on

10 the basis of age.

11 (8) OPERATIONAL PHASE.—

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—On completion of the

13 design phase of the park ranger Careers pro14 gram, the Secretary shall implement the oper15 ational phase of the program.

16 (B) COMPONENTS.—The Secretary shall

17 implement—

18 (i) the Service-wide park ranger occu19 pation replenishment and diversity plan;

20 (ii) the 2-year candidate park ranger

21 training and development program, which

22 program shall include philosophical and or23 ganizational orientation training for all

24 new park rangers;
10

S 1693 RS

1 (iii) the revised park ranger qualifica2 tion and classification system;

3 (iv) the park ranger competency cer4 tification system; and

5 (v) any other measures necessary to

6 ensure that a fully competent park ranger

7 force is attained and maintained.

8 (9) CENTRALIZED MANAGEMENT.—The Sec9 retary shall centrally manage the park ranger work10 force, with sufficient human and financial resources

11 made available by the Secretary to operate a modern

12 career management system for park rangers.

13 (10) BIENNIAL REPORT.—The Secretary shall

14 report biennially to Congress on the current and

15 projected future ability of park rangers to achieve

16 the assigned role of park rangers in achieving the

17 mission of the National Park Service to conserve

18 park resources unimpaired for future generations

19 while providing for the enjoyment by the public of

20 those resources.

21 (c) FUNDING.—From amounts made available to the

22 Secretary from the fee demonstration program under title

23 III, the Secretary shall use a portion of not to exceed

24 $10,000,000 per year, for the implementation and oper25 ation of the park ranger Career program.
11

S 1693 RS

1 (d) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall report regularly

2 to Congress on the state of the park ranger occupation.

3 SEC. 104. STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—During 2000 and biennially there5 after, the Secretary shall implement a strategic manage6 ment plan for the National Park Service.

7 (b) FOCUS.—The strategic management plan shall

8 focus on functions performed at the national head9 quarters, regional offices, support offices, service centers,

10 and national parks.

11 (c) OBJECTIVES.—The strategic management plan

12 shall have measurable management objectives designed

13 to—

14 (1) implement procedures to ensure that na15 tional parks and offices operate with measurable

16 goals and objectives that ensure strict budget ac17 countability;

18 (2) determine at which levels the various func19 tions can best be performed;

20 (3) evaluate whether specific activities could be

21 consolidated or eliminated; and

22 (4) evaluate the possibility of increasing the use

23 of the private sector in individual National Park

24 Service functions.
12

S 1693 RS

1 (d) REPORT.—Not later than September 30, 2000,

2 the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy

3 and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee

4 on Resources of the House of Representatives a report de5 tailing the actions that will be implemented as a result

6 of the strategic management plan.

7 SEC. 105. ANNUAL BUDGETS FOR NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—As early as practicable before

9 each fiscal year, the superintendent or manager of each

10 national park, central office, and support office of the Na11 tional Park System shall develop and make available to

12 the public a comprehensive annual budget for the national

13 park, central office, and support office, respectively.

14 (b) CONTENTS.—A budget for a national park under

15 subsection (a) shall—

16 (1) describe in detail the annual operating

17 budget for the national park; and

18 (2) reflect the relationships among costs, service

19 levels, and performance standards in the national

20 park.
13

S 1693 RS

1 TITLE II—PROCEDURES FOR ES2 TABLISHMENT OF NEW NA3 TIONAL PARKS

4 SEC. 201. STUDIES OF AREAS FOR POTENTIAL INCLUSION

5 IN THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM.

6 Section 8 of Public Law 91–383 (16 U.S.C. 1a–5)

7 is amended—

8 (1) in subsection (a)—

9 (A) by inserting ‘‘GENERAL AUTHOR10 ITY.—’’ after ‘‘(a)’’;

11 (B) by striking the second through sixth

12 sentences;

13 (C) by striking ‘‘For the purposes of carry14 ing out’’ and inserting the following:

15 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the

16 purposes of carrying out’’; and

17 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the follow18 ing:

19 ‘‘(b) STUDIES OF AREAS FOR POTENTIAL INCLUSION

20 IN THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At the beginning of each

22 calendar year, the Secretary shall submit to the

23 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the

24 Senate and the Committee on Resources of the

25 House of Representatives a list of areas rec-
14

S 1693 RS

1 ommended for study for potential inclusion as new

2 units in the National Park System.

3 ‘‘(2) FACTORS USED IN DEVELOPING LIST.—In

4 developing the list submitted under this subsection,

5 the Secretary shall consider—

6 ‘‘(A) areas that have the greatest potential

7 for meeting the established criteria of national

8 significance, suitability, and feasibility;

9 ‘‘(B) themes, sites, and resources not ade10 quately represented in the National Park Sys11 tem; and

12 ‘‘(C) congressional requests.

13 ‘‘(3) SPECIFIC AUTHORIZATION.—No study of

14 the potential of an area for inclusion in the National

15 Park System may be initiated after the date of en16 actment of the Vision 2020 National Parks Restora17 tion Act, except as provided by specific authorization

18 of an Act of Congress.

19 ‘‘(4) PLANNING ACTIVITIES.—Nothing in this

20 subsection limits the authority of the Secretary to

21 expend not more than $25,000 on any 1 of the fol22 lowing:

23 ‘‘(A) The conduct of a preliminary re24 source assessment.
15

S 1693 RS

1 ‘‘(B) Collection of data on a potential

2 study area.

3 ‘‘(C) Provision of technical and planning

4 assistance.

5 ‘‘(D) Preparation or processing of a nomi6 nation for an administrative designation.

7 ‘‘(E) Updating of a previous study.

8 ‘‘(F) Completion of a reconnaissance sur9 vey of an area.

10 ‘‘(5) NATIONAL WILD AND SCENIC RIVERS SYS11 TEM; NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM.—Nothing in this

12 section applies to, affects, or alters the study of—

13 ‘‘(A) any river segment for potential addi14 tion to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers

15 System; or

16 ‘‘(B) any trail for potential addition to the

17 National Trails System.

18 ‘‘(6) PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT.—In conducting a

19 study under this subsection, the Secretary shall—

20 ‘‘(A) provide an opportunity for public in21 volvement, including at least 1 public meeting

22 in the vicinity of the area under study; and

23 ‘‘(B) make reasonable efforts to notify po24 tentially affected landowners and State and

25 local governments.
16

S 1693 RS

1 ‘‘(7) FACTORS USED IN CONDUCTING STUDY.—

2 In conducting a study of an area under this sub3 section, the Secretary—

4 ‘‘(A) shall consider whether the area—

5 ‘‘(i) possesses nationally significant

6 natural, historic or cultural resources, or

7 outstanding recreational opportunities;

8 ‘‘(ii) represents 1 of the most impor9 tant examples of a particular resource type

10 in the United States; and

11 ‘‘(iii) is a suitable and feasible addi12 tion to the National Park System;

13 ‘‘(B) shall consider—

14 ‘‘(i) the rarity and integrity of the re15 sources of the area;

16 ‘‘(ii) the threats to resources;

17 ‘‘(iii) whether similar resources are al18 ready protected in the National Park Sys19 tem or in other public or private owner20 ship;

21 ‘‘(iv) the public use potential of the

22 area;

23 ‘‘(v) the interpretive and educational

24 potential of the area;
17

S 1693 RS

1 ‘‘(vi) costs associated with acquisition,

2 development, and operation of the area and

3 the source or revenue to pay for the cost;

4 ‘‘(vii) the socioeconomic impacts of in5 clusion of the area in the National Park

6 System;

7 ‘‘(viii) the level of local and general

8 public support for the inclusion;

9 ‘‘(ix) whether the area is of appro10 priate configuration to ensure long-term

11 resource protection and visitor use; and

12 ‘‘(x) the potential impact on the inclu13 sion of the area on existing units of the

14 National Park System;

15 ‘‘(C) shall consider whether direct manage16 ment by the Secretary or alternative protection

17 by other public agencies or the private sector is

18 appropriate for the area;

19 ‘‘(D) shall identify what alternative or

20 combination of alternatives would, as deter21 mined by the Secretary, be most effective and

22 efficient in protecting significant resources and

23 providing for public enjoyment; and

24 ‘‘(E) may include any other information

25 that the Secretary considers pertinent.
18

S 1693 RS

1 ‘‘(8) PREFERRED MANAGEMENT OPTION.—The

2 letter transmitting a completed study to Congress

3 shall contain a recommendation regarding the pre4 ferred management option of the Secretary for the

5 area, and the numerical priority ranking for the area

6 in the current list established under subsection (d).

7 ‘‘(9) DEADLINE FOR STUDIES.—Not later than

8 3 complete fiscal years after the date of enactment

9 of an Act of Congress providing specifically for the

10 study of an area for potential inclusion in the Na11 tional Park System, the Secretary shall complete the

12 study of the area for potential inclusion in the Sys13 tem.

14 ‘‘(c) OFFICE.—The Secretary shall establish a single

15 office to carry out this section.

16 ‘‘(d) LIST OF PREVIOUSLY STUDIED AREAS WITH

17 HISTORICAL OR NATURAL RESOURCES.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At the beginning of each

19 calendar year, the Secretary shall submit to the

20 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the

21 Senate and to the Committee on Resources of the

22 House of Representatives—

23 ‘‘(A) a list of areas that have been pre24 viously studied under this section that contain

25 primarily historical or cultural resources, but
19

S 1693 RS

1 have not been added to the National Park Sys2 tem; and

3 ‘‘(B) a list of areas that have been pre4 viously studied under this section that contain

5 primarily natural resources, but have not been

6 added to the National Park System.

7 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—Each list under paragraph (1)

8 shall list areas in numerical order of priority for ad9 dition to the National Park System.

10 ‘‘(3) FACTORS.—In developing a list under

11 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall consider the fac12 tors described in subsection (b)(2).

13 ‘‘(3) SUPPORTING DATA.—The Secretary shall

14 include on a list under paragraph (1) only areas for

15 which supporting data are current and accurate.’’.

16 TITLE III—RECREATIONAL FEE

17 DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM

18 SEC. 301. EXTENSION OF THE RECREATIONAL FEE DEM19 ONSTRATION PROGRAM.

20 (a) AUTHORITY.—The authority provided to the Na21 tional Park Service under the recreational fee demonstra22 tion program authorized by section 315 of Public Law

23 104–134 (16 U.S.C. 460l–6a note)—

24 (1) is extended through September 30, 2005;

25 and
20

S 1693 RS

1 (2) shall be available for all units of the Na2 tional Park System, except that no recreational ad3 mission fee may be charged at Great Smoky Moun4 tains National Park and Lincoln Home National

5 Historic Site.

6 (b) REPORT.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than September

8 30, 2000, the Secretary of the Interior shall submit

9 to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

10 of the Senate and the Committee on Resources of

11 the House of Representatives a report detailing the

12 status of the recreational fee demonstration program

13 conducted in national parks under section 315 of

14 Public Law 104–134 (16 U.S.C. 460l–6a note).

15 (2) CONTENTS.—The report under paragraph

16 (1) shall contain—

17 (A) an evaluation of the fee demonstration

18 program conducted at each national park;

19 (B) with respect to each national park, a

20 description of the criteria that were used to de21 termine whether a recreational fee should or

22 should not be charged at the national park; and

23 (C) a description of the manner in which

24 the amount of the fee at each national park was

25 established.
21

S 1693 RS

1 TITLE IV—CONCESSION REFORM

2 SEC. 401. PURPOSE.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The purpose of this title is to pro4 vide for the continuing involvement of the private sector

5 in the delivery of high-quality goods and services in the

6 national parks.

7 (b) DETERMINATION.—To accomplish the purpose of

8 this title, Congress has determined that it is in the best

9 interest of visitors to national parks that—

10 (1) the contribution of the private sector to the

11 administration of and investment in the national

12 parks, particularly in the area of visitor services, be

13 an important element of a coordinated program to

14 reinvigorate the national parks for the future;

15 (2) the Secretary continue to solicit persons to

16 enter into contracts with the United States to pro17 vide the goods and services at each national park

18 that are necessary or desirable to provide for public

19 visitation and enjoyment of the national park, in a

20 manner that will ensure the conservation and preser21 vation of the natural, cultural, and biological re22 sources for which the national park was established;

23 (3) substantial economies and improved service

24 to park visitors be achieved by directing the Sec25 retary to contract with an independent third-party
22

S 1693 RS

1 asset manager, with substantial experience in the

2 hospitality, food service, and retail sectors and with

3 recognized business and financial expertise, to un4 dertake many of the functions now conducted by

5 government employees concerning contract prepara6 tion and solicitation, contractor selection, program

7 development, and performance evaluation;

8 (4) the administration of contracts be simplified

9 while ensuring compliance with the terms, condi10 tions, and provisions of each contract;

11 (5) contractors be given adequate incentives to

12 invest in improvements that support their oper13 ations, by affording contractors a reasonable oppor14 tunity to profit from each contract and achieve a

15 reasonable return on any investments made;

16 (6) the bidding procedures for contracts be re17 vised and clarified to increase the competition for

18 each contract, in particular in circumstances in

19 which the Secretary believes that goods and services

20 provided under a contract should be significantly en21 hanced;

22 (7) to the extent consistent with paragraphs (1)

23 through (6), each contract provide for payment of

24 fees or other monetary or nonmonetary consideration

25 to the United States for the benefit of the national
23

S 1693 RS

1 park relating to the contract, and, in certain cases,

2 for the benefit of national parks generally, in order

3 to further enhance the visitor services provided by

4 the National Park Service in each national park; and

5 (8) certain transitional rules may be necessary

6 to prevent dislocation and to ensure that the United

7 States honors commitments under contracts entered

8 into before the date of enactment of this Act.

9 SEC. 402. DEFINITIONS.

10 In this title:

11 (1) CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT.—The term ‘‘cap12 ital improvement’’ means a capital investment made

13 by a concessionaire in a structure, fixture, or non14 removable equipment located in a national park that

15 would be capitalized under generally accepted ac16 counting principles.

17 (2) CONCESSIONAIRE.—The term ‘‘conces18 sionaire’’ means a person providing a concession

19 service under a concession contract with the Sec20 retary.

21 (3) CONCESSION BOARD.—The term ‘‘Conces22 sion Board’’ means the Concession Board appointed

23 under section 403.

24 (4) CONCESSION MANAGER.—The term ‘‘Con25 cession Manager’’ means the Concession Manager of
24

S 1693 RS

1 the National Park Service appointed under section

2 404.

3 (5) CONSUMER PRICE INDEX.—The term ‘‘Con4 sumer Price Index’’ means—

5 (A) the Consumer Price Index—All Urban

6 Consumers published by the Bureau of Labor

7 Statistics of the Department of Labor; or

8 (B) if the index specified in subparagraph

9 (A) is not published, the Consumer Price Index

10 or other regularly published cost-of-living index

11 chosen by the Secretary that approximates the

12 index specified in subparagraph (A).

13 (6) MAINTENANCE ACCOUNT.—The term

14 ‘‘maintenance account’’ means a segregated account

15 established by a concessionaire, as required by a

16 concession contract, for the maintenance of a struc17 ture or other equipment assigned to the conces18 sionaire under the concession contract that directly

19 supports the services provided by the concessionaire.

20 SEC. 403. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CONCESSION BOARD.

21 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within

22 the National Park Service a Concession Board.

23 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Concession Board shall be

24 composed of—
25

S 1693 RS

1 (1) 6 individuals appointed by the Secretary, of

2 whom—

3 (A) 3 shall be past or present employees of

4 the National Park Service with substantial ex5 perience in concession management; and

6 (B) 3 shall be individuals (other than em7 ployees of the National Park Service or conces8 sionaires) with substantial experience in the

9 hospitality industry who have no financial inter10 est in a concessionaire and have no other direct

11 or indirect conflict of interest respecting any

12 concessionaire, the Department of the Interior,

13 or any public interest, political action, or other

14 group or association that actively engages in

15 lobbying activities concerning the national

16 parks; and

17 (2) the Secretary, who shall serve as chair18 person.

19 (c) TERM.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—A member of the Concession

21 Board appointed under subsection (b)(1) shall be ap22 pointed for a term not to exceed 4 years.

23 (2) STAGGERED TERMS.—The Secretary may

24 stagger the terms of members appointed under sub25 section (b)(1).
26

S 1693 RS

1 (3) VACANCIES.—The Secretary may appoint a

2 member to serve for the unexpired term of any de3 parting member.

4 (d) FUNCTIONS.—The Concession Board shall—

5 (1)(A) assist the Secretary in the preparation

6 and issuance of a solicitation for proposals from per7 sons that satisfy the criteria established in section

8 404(a)(3) to serve as Concession Manager;

9 (B) review all proposals received and interview

10 all persons that meet the requirements as specified

11 in the solicitation for proposals; and

12 (C) submit to the Secretary a recommendation

13 for appointment of the Concession Manager;

14 (2) review decisions of the Concession Manager

15 and make recommendations to the Secretary regard16 ing—

17 (A) the selection of concessionaires; and

18 (B) such other matters as the Secretary

19 may refer to the Concession Board;

20 (3) make recommendations to the Secretary re21 garding—

22 (A) allocation of fees collected from conces23 sionaires for the purposes of section 406; and

24 (B) how much funding should be allocated

25 to individual national parks after concession
27

S 1693 RS

1 capital improvement programs and maintenance

2 operations are funded; and

3 (4) mediate disputes between the conces4 sionaires and the Concession Manager or national

5 park superintendents and make recommendations to

6 the Secretary regarding resolution of the disputes.

7 SEC. 404. CONCESSION MANAGER.

8 (a) APPOINTMENT.—

9 (1) CONTRACT AWARD.—The Secretary shall

10 award a single contract for the appointment of a

11 Concession Manager for all national parks.

12 (2) SELECTION.—The contract under para13 graph (1) shall be awarded to the person that sub14 mits the best proposal, as determined by the Sec15 retary after taking into account the recommendation

16 of the Concession Board.

17 (3) CRITERIA.—The Concession Manager shall

18 be an independent, nongovernmental entity—

19 (A) that has substantial experience in the

20 management of large hotel, food service, retail,

21 and recreational properties; and

22 (B) that has no financial interest in a con23 cessionaire or any other direct or indirect con24 flict of interest respecting any concessionaire,

25 the Department of the Interior, or any other
28

S 1693 RS

1 public interest, political action, or other group

2 or association that actively engages in lobbying

3 activities concerning the national parks.

4 (b) TERM.—The term of a contract under subsection

5 (a) shall not exceed 10 years.

6 (c) FUNCTIONS.—The Concession Manager shall—

7 (1) solicit, negotiate, and enforce the terms and

8 conditions of concession contracts in compliance with

9 this title; and

10 (2) submit recommendations to the Secretary

11 regarding the award of concession contracts, includ12 ing—

13 (A) prescription of an economically viable

14 scope of work to be performed (including, if ap15 plicable, a capital investment requirement) that

16 is economically sufficient to generate bidding

17 interest for the concession contract from quali18 fied individuals or businesses;

19 (B) establishment of the terms and condi20 tions of a concession contract in accordance

21 with section 405(a);

22 (C) determine whether to renew a contract

23 without issuance of a prospectus as permitted

24 under section 405(g);
29

S 1693 RS

1 (D) develop a capital improvement and

2 maintenance program for all concession facili3 ties, including development of—

4 (i) overall facility standards based on

5 comparable industry standards; and

6 (ii) site-specific capital improvement

7 and maintenance programs for the areas in

8 which concession activities will be con9 ducted;

10 (E) develop a quality-assurance plan for

11 each concession operation in accordance with

12 subsection (e);

13 (F) conduct periodic inspections to ensure

14 that the terms and conditions of a concession

15 contract are fully complied with and that the

16 standards developed under a quality assurance

17 plan are met;

18 (G) on a regular basis, conduct visitor sur19 veys seeking information regarding concession

20 activities; and

21 (H) review general management and devel22 opment concept plans prepared by the National

23 Park Service and identify provisions of a plan

24 that create undue operational or financial bur25 dens on concessionaires or are otherwise incom-
30

S 1693 RS

1 patible with the visitation service needs of a na2 tional park.

3 (d) PROSPECTUS REQUIREMENTS.—Any prospectus

4 issued by the Concession Manager shall, at a minimum,

5 include—

6 (1) a description of the character, timing, and

7 amount of any capital investments that will be re8 quired under the concession contract, including the

9 payment of the value of possessory interest or lease10 holder surrender value under section 405(b)(1)(G),

11 if any, to the departing concessionaire, as applicable

12 and consistent with section 405;

13 (2) a detailed description of the areas, struc14 tures, fixtures, and nonremovable equipment to be

15 leased or assigned to the concessionaire, and the

16 rental, if any, attributable to government-owned

17 buildings not subject to a leasehold surrender value;

18 (3) a description of any quality assurance plan

19 developed for the concession contract under sub20 section (e);

21 (4) the minimum amount that will be required

22 to be contributed to any maintenance account speci23 fied in the concession contract in accordance with

24 section 405(d), and the current balance of any exist25 ing maintenance account that will be transferred to
31

S 1693 RS

1 the concessionaire, with a detailed description of any

2 maintenance standards that are required to be ad3 hered to by the concessionaire;

4 (5) the term of the concession contract in ac5 cordance with section 405(e);

6 (6) a description of all fees sought by the Gov7 ernment in connection with the concession contract;

8 (7) a description of any personal property to be

9 sold by the departing concessionaire and the cost of

10 the personal property;

11 (8) a description of any special rights held by

12 third parties or limitations that have been or are an13 ticipated to be imposed on the operations of the na14 tional park that might materially affect the proposal;

15 and

16 (9) the criteria that will be used to qualify the

17 bidders and evaluate any proposal received (includ18 ing experience, financial capability, record relative to

19 resource protection, quality of service relative to fa20 cilities assigned, and capital commitment).

21 (e) QUALITY ASSURANCE PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—A

22 quality assurance plan for a concession contract—

23 (1) shall be tailored to the nature and character

24 of the goods and services provided under the conces25 sion contract;
32

S 1693 RS

1 (2) may be based on comparable industry

2 standards;

3 (3) shall be included in contracts as awarded;

4 and

5 (4) shall have the purpose of maximizing the

6 quality of service provided to the public consistent

7 with the terms of the concession contract and the

8 nature and character of the facilities operated under

9 the concession contract.

10 (f) FUNDING OF CONSIDERATION.—All consideration

11 paid to the Concession Manager under a contract under

12 subsection (a) shall be funded with concession contract

13 fees and paid to the Concession Manager in accordance

14 with section 406.

15 (g) STAFFING OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.—

16 (1) REGIONAL AND NATIONAL OFFICES.—Not

17 later than 2 years after the date of enactment of

18 this Act—

19 (A) each regional office shall retain 1 Na20 tional Park Service employee to act as conces21 sion coordinator for the region of the office; and

22 (B) the headquarters of the National Park

23 Service in Washington, D.C., shall retain 3

24 members of the staff to act as concession coor25 dinators for all national parks.
33

S 1693 RS

1 (2) PARK SERVICE EMPLOYEES.—No career

2 full-time employee of the National Park Service as3 signed to concession operations at the time at which

4 the Concession Manager is selected shall be sepa5 rated from the National Park Service by reason of

6 turning the management of concession operations

7 over to the Concession Manager.

8 (3) INTERNAL HIRING.—Any career full-time

9 employee of the National Park Service employed

10 under the auspices of the concession program on the

11 date of enactment of this Act shall be given priority

12 placement for any available position within the Na13 tional Park System notwithstanding any priority re14 employment lists, directives, rules, regulations, or

15 other orders of the Department of the Interior, the

16 Office of Management and Budget, or any other

17 Federal agency.

18 SEC. 405. CONCESSION CONTRACTS.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—

20 (1) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—A concession

21 contract shall include—

22 (A) terms and conditions that are consist23 ent with this title, the general management

24 plan of a national park, and such matters as

25 the Secretary may prescribe regarding resource
34

S 1693 RS

1 protection and other National Park Service con2 cerns; and

3 (B) provisions relating to a description of

4 the goods and services that shall or may be pro5 vided under the concession contract, and the

6 minimum contract requirements with respect to

7 the goods and services, including—

8 (i) visitor services;

9 (ii) purchased goods;

10 (iii) interpretation;

11 (iv) park administrative functions;

12 (v) employee housing and other non13 income producing facilities; and

14 (vi) other services or activities.

15 (2) FRANCHISE FEES.—

16 (A) CONTRACT SPECIFICATION.—The

17 amount of a franchise fee for the privilege of

18 providing concession services under this title

19 shall be specified in a concession contract.

20 (B) CONTENTS.—The franchise fee for a

21 concession contract may include any of the fol22 lowing:

23 (i) An annual cash payment for the

24 privilege of providing concession services.
35

S 1693 RS

1 (ii) Fees for rental or lease of Govern2 ment-owned facilities or land occupied by

3 the concessionaire.

4 (iii) Expenditures for maintenance of

5 or improvements to Government-owned fa6 cilities occupied by the concessionaire.

7 (3) MINIMUM ACCEPTABLE FEE.—

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Concession Man9 ager shall establish a minimum fee for each ap10 plicable category specified in paragraph (2)(B)

11 that is acceptable to the Secretary.

12 (B) BASES.—The amount of a minimum

13 fee shall be based on—

14 (i) historical data, if available; and

15 (ii) industry-specific and other market

16 data available to the Secretary and the

17 Concession Manager.

18 (4) ADJUSTMENT OF FEES.—No franchise fee

19 or other fee collected in connection with a concession

20 contract shall be subject to adjustment during the

21 term of the concession contract except in accordance

22 with a mathmatical formula specified in the conces23 sion contract.

24 (b) CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS.—
36

S 1693 RS

1 (1) POSSESSORY INTERESTS UNDER EXISTING

2 CONTRACTS.—

3 (A) COMPENSATION BY APPRAISAL.—Not

4 less than 12 months before the expiration of a

5 concession contract existing on the date of en6 actment of this Act under which the conces7 sionaire holds a possessory interest, if the

8 amount of compensation has not been agreed to

9 previously by the Secretary and the conces10 sionaire, the concessionaire shall submit to the

11 Secretary an independent appraisal of the

12 sound value (as defined in Public Law 89–249

13 (16 U.S.C. 20 et seq.) of the structures, fix14 tures, or improvements in which the conces15 sionaire has a possessory interest under Public

16 Law 89–249 (16 U.S.C. 20 et seq.).

17 (B) APPRAISALS.—

18 (i) TIMING.—An appraisal under sub19 paragraph (A)—

20 (I) shall be performed by an ap21 praiser with significant experience in

22 the appraisal of assets similar to those

23 to be valued in the appraisal; and

24 (II) shall be dated as of a date

25 not earlier than the date that is 18
37

S 1693 RS

1 months before the date of expiration

2 of the concession contract.

3 (ii) POST-APPRAISAL ACQUISITIONS.—

4 Any structure, fixture, or improvement ac5 quired or constructed after the date of the

6 appraisal in which the concessionaire holds

7 a possessory interest shall be deemed to

8 have a sound value as of the date of acqui9 sition or construction equal to the conces10 sionaire’s original cost adjusted for any

11 physical deterioration of the structure, fix12 ture, or improvement.

13 (C) POSSESSORY INTERESTS.—

14 (i) PURCHASE.—The Secretary shall

15 pay (or cause the succeeding concessionaire

16 to pay) to the concessionaire for the con17 cessionaire’s possessory interest, on the

18 termination of the contract, an amount

19 equal to—

20 (I) the appraised sound value (as

21 determined under this section); or

22 (II) the concessionaire’s original

23 cost for newly constructed or acquired

24 structures, fixtures, or improvements

25 as set forth in paragraph (2);
38

S 1693 RS

1 as applicable, increased by the percentage

2 increase in the Consumer Price Index from

3 the month in which the appraisal was

4 made to the date of payment.

5 (ii) PAYMENT.—The amount under

6 clause (i) shall be paid not later than 30

7 days after the date of termination of the

8 contract or 30 days after the date of the

9 determination of the amount, except to the

10 extent that the amount is carried forward

11 under subparagraph (F).

12 (D) APPRAISAL DISPUTES.—

13 (i) SECOND APPRAISAL.—If the Sec14 retary disagrees with the appraisal submit15 ted by a concessionaire, the Secretary may,

16 not less than 90 days after receipt of the

17 concessionaire’s appraisal, present the con18 cessionaire with an independent appraisal

19 performed by an appraiser with significant

20 experience in the appraisal of assets simi21 lar to those valued in the appraisal submit22 ted by the concessionaire, dated as of the

23 same date as the concessionaire’s ap24 praisal.
39

S 1693 RS

1 (ii) SELECTION OF THIRD AP2 PRAISAL.—If the Secretary and the conces3 sionaire are unable to agree on the ap4 praised value within 30 days after the con5 cessionaire receives the Secretary’s ap6 praisal, the Secretary’s appraiser and the

7 concessionaire’s appraiser shall choose a

8 third appraiser.

9 (iii) COURT DETERMINATION.—If the

10 Secretary fails to make a determination

11 within 60 days after receipt of a report by

12 the third appraiser, the concessionaire may

13 petition the United States Court of Fed14 eral Claims for a determination of the

15 value of the possessory interest. Subject to

16 the right of appeal, a determination by the

17 court shall be binding for purposes of this

18 section on all parties.

19 (E) PAYMENT.—The concessionaire shall

20 pay the cost of the concessionaire’s appraisal

21 and the United States shall pay the cost of the

22 Secretary’s appraisal. If a third appraiser is se23 lected under subparagraph (D), the cost of the

24 third appraisal shall be shared equally by the

25 concessionaire and the United States.
40

S 1693 RS

1 (F) CONVERSION TO LEASEHOLD SURREN2 DER VALUE.—

3 (i) VALUATION OF CAPITAL IMPROVE4 MENTS.—To the extent that a succeeding

5 concessionaire pays for the possessory in6 terest of a preceding concessionaire, the

7 amount paid—

8 (I) shall constitute the initial

9 leaseholder surrender value respecting

10 the applicable capital improvements at

11 the commencement of the concession

12 contract; and

13 (II) shall be valued in accordance

14 with paragraph (2).

15 (ii) CARRYOVER AMOUNTS.—If an ex16 isting concessionaire is awarded a conces17 sion contract, the existing concessionaire

18 shall carry over, as leasehold surrender

19 value under paragraph (2), the amount

20 that any other bidder on the concession

21 contract would have paid to the existing

22 concessionaire under the concession con23 tract, with the remainder of any amount

24 payable to the existing concessionaire to be

25 paid under subparagraph (C).
41

S 1693 RS

1 (2) LEASEHOLD SURRENDER VALUE UNDER

2 NEW CONCESSION CONTRACTS.—

3 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each concession con4 tract that contemplates capital investment by

5 the concessionaire in any capital improvements

6 shall contain a provision requiring that on the

7 expiration or other termination of the conces8 sion contract, the Secretary shall pay, or cause

9 the person that is awarded the successor con10 cession contract to the concession contract to

11 pay, to the concessionaire, as compensation for

12 the concessionaire’s investment in the capital

13 improvement, the leasehold surrender value de14 termined under subparagraph (B).

15 (B) COMPUTATION OF LEASEHOLD SUR16 RENDER VALUE.—

17 (i) PROPERTY RIGHT.—A conces18 sionaire shall have a property right in each

19 capital improvement in which the conces20 sionaire makes an investment as con21 templated by the concession contract, con22 sisting solely of a right to compensation

23 for the capital improvement to the extent

24 of the concessionaire’s leasehold surrender

25 value in the capital improvement.
42

S 1693 RS

1 (ii) PROPERTY RIGHT AS COLLAT2 ERAL.—A property right under clause

3 (i)—

4 (I) may be given as security for

5 financing of a capital improvement;

6 and

7 (II) shall be transferred in con8 nection with any transfer of the con9 cession contract under subsection (f).

10 (iii) DURATION.—The leasehold sur11 render value—

12 (I) shall not be extinguished by

13 the expiration or other termination of

14 a concession contract; and

15 (II) may not be taken for public

16 use, except on payment of just com17 pensation.

18 (iv) CALCULATION.—The amount of

19 the leasehold surrender value for a capital

20 improvement shall be an amount that is

21 equal to—

22 (I) the cost of the capital im23 provement to the contractor, increased

24 (or decreased) in the same percentage

25 as the percentage increase (or de-
43

S 1693 RS

1 crease) in the Consumer Price Index,

2 from the date of making the invest3 ment in the capital improvement by

4 the concessionaire to the date of pay5 ment of the leasehold surrender value,

6 less depreciation evidenced by the con7 dition and prospective serviceability in

8 comparison with a new unit of like

9 kind; or

10 (II) in the case of any structure,

11 fixture, or equipment for which the

12 concessionaire paid the leasehold sur13 render value (or possessory interest

14 under paragraph (1)(C)) to a previous

15 concessionaire or for which any lease16 hold surrender value (or possessory

17 interest) is carried over from an exist18 ing contract under paragraph (1)(F),

19 the amount paid or carried over.

20 (c) RATES AND PRICES.—

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

22 concession contract shall permit the concessionaire

23 to determine the appropriate level of pricing for

24 goods and services sold by the concessionaire.
44

S 1693 RS

1 (2) EXCESS OVER MARKET PRICES.—A conces2 sion contract shall provide that it shall be a default

3 under the concession contract if the concessionaire’s

4 rates and prices, in the aggregate, materially exceed

5 market prices for comparable goods and services,

6 taking into consideration relevant operating con7 straints experienced by the concessionaire under the

8 concession contract, such as limited operating season

9 or hours, nonrevenue producing contract provisions,

10 other legal requirements, and the effect of remote lo11 cation on operating and employment costs.

12 (d) MAINTENANCE ACCOUNTS.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—A concession contract may

14 require that separate maintenance accounts may be

15 established for the maintenance of—

16 (A) structures, fixtures, and other im17 provements in which the concessionaire is enti18 tled to a leasehold surrender value; and

19 (B) other structures or other improve20 ments assigned to the concessionaire.

21 (2) EXISTING IMPROVEMENTS.—A concession

22 contract shall not require deposits in a maintenance

23 account that are in excess of the amount reasonably

24 anticipated as being necessary during the term of

25 the concession contract to maintain the structures
45

S 1693 RS

1 and improvements to be benefited in their condition

2 as of the date of execution of the concession con3 tract.

4 (3) NEW IMPROVEMENTS.—A concession con5 tract may provide for deposits in a maintenance ac6 count after completion of any new structures, fix7 tures, or improvements assigned to the conces8 sionaire, in an amount not in excess of the amount

9 reasonably anticipated as being necessary during the

10 remaining term of the concession contract to main11 tain the structures, fixtures, and improvements.

12 (4) WITHDRAWALS.—

13 (A) MAINTENANCE.—Except as provided

14 in subparagraph (B), a concessionaire may

15 withdraw amounts from a maintenance account

16 solely for maintenance of structures, fixtures,

17 and improvements.

18 (B) ADDITIONAL CAPITAL EXPENDI19 TURES.—With the consent of the Concession

20 Manager, a concessionaire may withdraw

21 amounts from a maintenance account for the

22 purpose of making additional capital expendi23 tures to support concession operations.

24 (e) TERM.—
46

S 1693 RS

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The term of a concession

2 contract shall be determined by the Concession Man3 ager based on the economic requirements of the con4 cession contract.

5 (2) CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS.—The term of a

6 concession contract that will require the conces7 sionaire to invest in a capital improvement so as to

8 entitle the concessionaire to payment of the lease9 hold surrender value of the capital improvement

10 shall be not less than 15 years.

11 (f) TRANSFERABILITY.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—A concession contract shall

13 be transferable only with the approval of the Sec14 retary.

15 (2) APPROVAL.—

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ap17 prove a transfer of a concession contract unless

18 the Secretary determines that the transferee

19 does not have sufficient professional, financial,

20 and other resources or business experience to be

21 capable of performing the concession contract

22 for the remainder of the term of the concession

23 contract.

24 (B) FAILURE TO ACT.—If the Secretary

25 fails to approve or disapprove a transfer under
47

S 1693 RS

1 paragraph (1) within 60 days after the date on

2 which the Secretary or Concession Manager re3 ceives all necessary information requested by

4 the Secretary or Concession Manager with re5 spect to the transfer, the transfer shall be

6 deemed to have been approved.

7 (3) NO ADDITIONAL TERMS OR CONDITIONS.—

8 The Secretary shall not condition approval of a

9 transfer of a concession contract on acceptance by

10 the transferee of additional terms or conditions as

11 part of the concession contract.

12 (4) EFFECT OF TRANSFER.—Upon the transfer

13 of any concession contract, the transferee shall suc14 ceed to all of the rights, duties, and obligations of

15 the transferring concessionaire under the concession

16 contract and this Act.

17 (g) RENEWAL OF CONTRACTS.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para19 graph (2), a concessionaire shall be given no pref20 erence in the opportunity to provide new or addi21 tional services or to be awarded a renewal of a con22 cession contract the term of which is expiring or has

23 expired.

24 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—

25 (A) GUIDES AND OUTFITTERS.—
48

S 1693 RS

1 (i) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) does

2 not apply to a concessionaire that has con3 ducted a guide or outfitting operation

4 under a permit issued or contract awarded

5 by the Secretary.

6 (ii) RIGHT OF FIRST RENEGOTI7 ATION.—A concessionaire that has con8 ducted a guide or outfitting operation

9 under a permit issued or contract awarded

10 by the Secretary shall have a right of first

11 renegotiation on expiration of the permit

12 or contract.

13 (B) MINOR EXPANSION OF CONCESSION

14 CONTRACT.—Nothing in this title prohibits the

15 Secretary and a concessionaire from amending

16 a concession contract to—

17 (i) change the quality or quantity of

18 goods or services provided under the con19 cession contract; or

20 (ii) provide new or additional services

21 that are a natural extension of the conces22 sion contract and complement services al23 ready provided under the concession con24 tract;
49

S 1693 RS

1 so long as the amendment does not materially

2 change the nature or scope of the concession

3 contract as a whole.

4 (C) SMALL CONTRACTS.—The Secretary

5 may negotiate any individual concession con6 tract with anticipated annual revenues of less

7 than $2,000,000 (adjusted annually for changes

8 in the Consumer Price Index) without the

9 issuance of a prospectus or the solicitation of

10 competitive bids.

11 (D) EMERGENCY AND TEMPORARY CON12 TRACTS.—A concession contract may be award13 ed or extended for a period not to exceed 3

14 years without competitive bids—

15 (i) if necessary to avoid curtailment of

16 visitor services at a national park; or

17 (ii) for the purpose of providing goods

18 or services that are expected to be of tem19 porary duration.

20 (h) BIDDING PROCEDURES.—

21 (1) SOLICITATION OF BIDS.—

22 (A) PROSPECTUS.—After the Concession

23 Manager determines that a concession contract

24 will be awarded through the solicitation of com25 petitive bids and a prospectus has been pre-
50

S 1693 RS

1 pared and approved in accordance with this

2 Act, the Concession Manager shall issue the

3 prospectus to potential concessionaires.

4 (B) CONTENTS.—The prospectus shall, in

5 addition to the provisions required under sub6 section (a)(1), contain—

7 (i) provisions that clearly set forth the

8 relative importance of each criterion to be

9 considered with respect to each bid (based

10 on a system of points to be awarded for

11 each criterion);

12 (ii) an explanation of the bid review

13 and selection process; and

14 (iii) such other information concern15 ing the national park and the award as the

16 Concession Manager considers relevant.

17 (C) PRIORITIES.—In the determination of

18 the winning bid, consideration of fee income to

19 the United States shall be of secondary impor20 tance to the financial capability of the conces21 sionaire and the quality, scope of service, and

22 upgrade of facilities and services that are ex23 pected to result from award of the concession

24 contract.
51

S 1693 RS

1 (D) SUBSTANTIAL FACTORS.—Prior expe2 rience in the management of operations deliver3 ing the same or similar goods and services in

4 the national park or in other similar operations

5 shall be a criterion given substantial weight

6 (not less than 10 percent of the points award7 ed) by the Concession Manager and the Sec8 retary in the final selection of the winning bid.

9 (2) QUALIFICATION OF BIDDERS; REJECTION

10 OF BIDS.—

11 (A) EXPERIENCE AND CAPABILITIES.—A

12 prospectus for the award of a concession con13 tract with anticipated annual revenues in excess

14 of $5,000,000 may require that each prospec15 tive bidder submit to the Concession Manager,

16 before submission of bids, a description of its

17 business and organization that is sufficient to

18 permit the Concession Manager to determine

19 whether the prospective bidder has sufficient fi20 nancial capability and experience in the man21 agement of operations that are similar to those

22 that will be required under the concession con23 tract that there is a reasonable likelihood, as

24 determined by the Concession Manager, that
52

S 1693 RS

1 the prospective bidder will be able to fulfill its

2 obligations under the concession contract.

3 (B) SUBMISSION.—All prospective bidders,

4 except any that the Concession Manager deter5 mines does not have the financial capability and

6 experience described in subparagraph (A) (if

7 applicable), shall be permitted to submit a bid

8 for the award of the concession contract.

9 (C) REJECTION.—After bids are received,

10 the Concession Manager may reject any bid

11 that the Concession Manager determines is not

12 substantially responsive to the criteria set forth

13 in the prospectus.

14 (3) SELECTION OF CONCESSIONAIRE; NEGOTIA15 TION AND EXECUTION OF CONCESSION CONTRACT.—

16 (A) EVALUATION.—All bids not rejected by

17 the Concession Manager in accordance with this

18 title shall be evaluated based on the bid review

19 and selection process set forth in the prospec20 tus.

21 (B) SELECTION.—The bidder submitting

22 the bid receiving the highest number of points

23 awarded for the criteria set forth in the pro24 spectus shall be selected for negotiation of the

25 concession contract.
53

S 1693 RS

1 (C) NEGOTIATION.—The negotiation—

2 (i) shall be conducted by the Conces3 sion Manager in good faith with the se4 lected bidder; and

5 (ii) shall be confined to any terms of

6 the concession contract that the bidder

7 identified in the bid submitted as being un8 acceptable.

9 (D) TERMINATION.—Until agreement is

10 reached on the terms of a concession contract,

11 the Concession Manager may terminate the ne12 gotiation and begin similar negotiation with the

13 other bidders in the order in which bids re14 ceived the next highest number of points, until

15 a concession contract is fully executed and de16 livered.

17 (E) REVIEW.—A concession contract shall

18 be subject to review and approval by the Sec19 retary before execution by the United States.

20 (F) RENEWAL OF BID PROCESS.—If nego21 tiations do not result in a concession contract,

22 the Concession Manager shall reject all bids

23 and solicit new bids for the award of the con24 cession contract.
54

S 1693 RS

1 SEC. 406. REVENUE FLOW; FEES TO THE GOVERNMENT.

2 (a) SPECIAL ACCOUNT.—

3 (1) DEPOSIT OF FEES.—The amount of all con4 tract concession fees collected during a fiscal year

5 shall be deposited in a special account in the Treas6 ury of the United States and shall be available, with7 out further Act of appropriation, for use in accord8 ance with this section.

9 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—For purposes of this section,

10 fees shall not include any amounts set aside in a

11 maintenance account.

12 (b) USE OF AMOUNTS IN THE SPECIAL ACCOUNT.—

13 (1) PAYMENT OF CONSIDERATION TO THE CON14 CESSION MANAGER.—Amounts in the special account

15 under subsection (a) at the end of a fiscal year shall

16 be used first to pay consideration under the contract

17 with the Concession Manager for the fiscal year.

18 (2) REWARD ALLOCATION.—The balance re19 maining in the special account after application of

20 paragraph (1) shall be transferred to a subaccount

21 and shall be allocated to each national park, based

22 on the proportion that the amount of concession

23 contract fees collected from the national park during

24 the fiscal year bears to the total amount of conces25 sion contract fees collected from all national parks

26 during the fiscal year, to fund high-priority resource
55

S 1693 RS

1 management and visitor services programs and oper2 ations.

3 SEC. 407. SUSPENSION OR TERMINATION OF CONCESSION

4 CONTRACT.

5 (a) SUSPENSION.—The Concession Manager may im6 mediately suspend a concession contract if the Concession

7 Manager finds that an immediate suspension is necessary

8 to protect the public health or welfare.

9 (b) TERMINATION.—The Secretary may terminate a

10 concession contract if the concessionaire fails to correct

11 a condition identified by the Concession Manager within

12 the limitations established by contract—

13 (1) within 30 days after the date on which a

14 notice of failure to comply with the terms and condi15 tions of the contract is provided to the conces16 sionaire; or

17 (2) within such longer period of time as the

18 concessionaire may reasonably require to correct the

19 condition.

20 SEC. 408. REPORTING.

21 (a) MAINTENANCE AND ACCESS.—

22 (1) RECORDS AND REPORT.—A concessionaire

23 shall keep such records and submit to the Conces24 sion Manager such reports as are required in the

25 concession contract to enable the Concession Man-
56

S 1693 RS

1 ager to monitor performance by the concessionaire

2 of the concession contract.

3 (2) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Any record or report

4 under paragraph (1) that contains financial informa5 tion concerning the operations of the concessionaire

6 (except for aggregate gross sales data and revenues

7 covered into the special account under section 406)

8 or any other proprietary business information of the

9 concessionaire shall be considered to be confidential

10 and not subject to disclosure to the public under sec11 tion 552 of title 5, United States Code, or any other

12 Federal law.

13 (3) ACCESSIBILITY.—For the purpose of audit

14 and examination, the Concession Manager shall have

15 access at reasonable times and locations to records

16 under paragraph (1) and to other books, documents,

17 and papers of the concessionaire pertaining to the

18 concession contract.

19 (b) ACCESS BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—Until the

20 expiration of 5 calendar years after the close of the fiscal

21 year of a concessionaire, the Comptroller General of the

22 United States shall have access to and the right to exam23 ine any pertinent books, documents, papers, and records

24 of the concessionaire relative to a concession contract.
57

S 1693 RS

1 SEC. 409. PROMOTION OF THE SALES OF INDIAN AND

2 ALASKA NATIVE HANDICRAFTS.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Promoting the sale of United

4 States authentic Indian and Alaska Native handicrafts re5 lating to the cultural, historical, and geographic character6 istics of national park areas is encouraged, and the Sec7 retary shall ensure that there is a continuing effort to en8 hance the handicraft trade where it exists and establish

9 the trade where it does not currently exist.

10 (b) EXEMPTION FROM FEES.—In furtherance of this

11 title, the revenue derived from the sale of United States

12 Indian and Alaska Native handicrafts shall be exempt

13 from any franchise fee payment under section 405(a).

14 SEC. 410. USE OF NONMONETARY CONSIDERATION IN

15 LEASES OF GOVERNMENT PROPERTY.

16 Section 321 of the Act of June 30, 1932 (47 Stat.

17 412, chapter 314; 40 U.S.C. 303b) shall not apply to

18 privileges, leases, permits, and contracts granted by the

19 Secretary for the use of land and improvements on land,

20 in areas administered by the National Park Service, for

21 the purpose of providing accommodations, facilities, and

22 services for visitors pursuant to the Act of August 25,

23 1916 (commonly known as the ‘‘National Park Service Or24 ganize Act’’) (39 Stat. 535, chapter 408; 16 U.S.C. 1 et

25 seq.), or the Act of August 21, 1935 (49 Stat. 666, chap26 ter 593; 16 U.S.C. 461 et seq.).
58

S 1693 RS

1 SEC. 411. APPLICABILITY OF NEPA TO RENEWALS AND EX2 TENSIONS OF SIMILAR CONTRACTS.

3 The extension, renewal, amendment, or other award

4 of a concession contract to provide goods or services simi5 lar in nature and amount to the goods or services provided

6 under the same or a previous concession contract shall be

7 considered to be a categorical exclusion for purposes of

8 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.

9 4321 et seq.).

10 SEC. 412. MISCELLANEOUS.

11 (a) ANILCA.—Nothing in this title amends, super12 sedes, or otherwise affects any provision of the Alaska Na13 tional Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3101

14 et seq.) relating to revenue-producing visitor services.

15 (b) REPEALS.—Subject to provisions of this title that

16 incorporate portions of Public Law 89–249 by reference

17 with respect to concession contracts existing on the date

18 of enactment of this Act, and subject to subsection (c),

19 Public Law 89–249 (16 U.S.C. 20 et seq.) is repealed.

20 (c) SAVINGS.—

21 (1) VALIDITY.—The repeal of any provision, the

22 superseding of any provision, and the amendment of

23 any provision, of any statute referred to in this sec24 tion shall not affect the validity of any contract or

25 other authorization entered into under that statute.
59

S 1693 RS

1 (2) APPLICABILITY.—This title shall apply to

2 any contract or authorization described in paragraph

3 (1), except to the extent that any provision of this

4 title is inconsistent with the express terms of the

5 contract or authorization or except as otherwise pre6 served with respect to such contract or authorization

7 under the terms of this title.

8 TITLE V—NATIONAL PARK

9 PASSPORT PROGRAM

10 SEC. 501. PURPOSES.

11 The purposes of this title are—

12 (1) to develop a national park passport that in13 cludes a collectible stamp to be used for admission

14 to the national parks; and

15 (2) to generate revenue for support of the Na16 tional Park System.

17 SEC. 502. DEFINITIONS.

18 In this title:

19 (1) INTERNATIONAL PARK PASSPORT.—The

20 term ‘‘international park passport’’ means an inter21 national park passport issued under section 505.

22 (2) PARK PASSPORT.—The term ‘‘park pass23 port’’ means a park passport issued under section

24 503.
60

S 1693 RS

1 SEC. 503. NATIONAL PARK PASSPORT PROGRAM.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a

3 national park passport program.

4 (b) FEATURES.—The national park passport pro5 gram shall provide for issuance of collectible stamps pro6 viding the holder of the park passport admission to all

7 of the national parks.

8 (c) TRANSFERABILITY.—A national park passport

9 shall not be transferable.

10 SEC. 504. ADMINISTRATION.

11 (a) EFFECTIVE PERIOD.—A park passport shall be

12 an annual passport effective from January 1 through De13 cember 31 of a year.

14 (b) STAMP DESIGN COMPETITION.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall hold an

16 annual competition for the design of the stamp to be

17 affixed to the passport.

18 (2) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—Each competition

19 shall be open to the public and shall be a means to

20 educate the American people about the National

21 Park System.

22 (c) SALE OF STAMPS AND PASSPORTS.—

23 (1) BY PUBLIC ENTITIES.—Park passports and

24 stamps shall be sold through the National Park

25 Service and the United States Postal Service under
61

S 1693 RS

1 a regulation promulgated jointly by the Secretary

2 and the United States Postal Service.

3 (2) BY PRIVATE ENTITIES.—

4 (A) VENDOR SALES.—Park passports (in5 cluding stamps) may be sold by private vendors

6 on consignment in accordance with guidelines

7 established by the Secretary.

8 (B) VENDOR COMMISSIONS.—A private

9 vendor may be allowed to collect a commission

10 on each park passport sold, as determined by

11 the Secretary.

12 (C) LIMITATIONS.—The Secretary may

13 limit the number of private vendors of park

14 passports.

15 (d) USE OF PROCEEDS.—

16 (1) ADMINISTRATION AND PROMOTION.—The

17 Secretary may use not more than 10 percent of the

18 revenues derived from the sale of park passports to

19 administer and promote the park passport program.

20 (2) TREASURY ACCOUNT.—Amounts collected

21 from the sale of park passports—

22 (A) shall be deposited in a special account

23 in the Treasury of the United States; and
62

S 1693 RS

1 (B) shall remain available until expended,

2 without further Act of appropriation, for

3 projects throughout the National Park System.

4 (e) AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary may enter into co5 operative agreements with interested persons to provide

6 for the development and implementation of the park pass7 port program and the Secretary shall take such actions

8 as are appropriate to actively market park passports.

9 SEC. 505. INTERNATIONAL PARK PASSPORT PROGRAM.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish an

11 international park passport program, which shall be gov12 erned by the other provisions of this title except as pro13 vided in this section.

14 (b) AVAILABILITY.—An international park passport

15 and stamp shall be made available exclusively to foreign

16 visitors to the United States.

17 (c) SALE.—International park passports and stamps

18 shall be available for sale exclusively outside the United

19 States through commercial tourism channels and con20 sulates or other offices of the United States.

21 (d) PRICE.—International park passport and stamps

22 shall be sold at a price that is $10.00 less than the price

23 of a park passport and stamp, but not less than $40.00.

24 (e) FORM.—An international park passport and

25 stamp shall be produced in a form that provides useful
63

S 1693 RS

1 information to the international visitor and serves as a

2 souvenir of the visit.

3 (d) EFFECTIVE PERIOD.—An international park

4 passport shall be valid for a period of 45 days.

5 (e) USE OF PROCEEDS.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Of the amounts collected

7 from the sale of international park passports—

8 (A) 50 percent shall be deposited in the

9 special account under section 504(d) and shall

10 be available as provided in section 504(d); and

11 (B) 50 percent shall be deposited in a spe12 cial account in the Treasury of the United

13 States, and shall remain available until ex14 pended, without further Act of appropriation,

15 as provided in paragraph (2).

16 (2) AVAILABILITY TO THE SECRETARY OF COM17 MERCE.—Amounts in the special account under

18 paragraph (1)(B) shall be available to the Secretary

19 of Commerce to carry out section 6 of the United

20 States National Tourism Organization Act (22

21 U.S.C. 2141d) in connection with programs and

22 projects that relate to national parks and State

23 parks, national forests, and other Federal land.

24 (f) TERMINATION OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary

25 shall terminate the international park passport program
64

S 1693 RS

1 at the end of calendar year 2003 unless at least 200,000

2 international park permits are sold during that calendar

3 year.

4 SEC. 506. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

5 There is authorized to be appropriated $750,000 to

6 develop guidelines and procedures for the park passport

7 program and to implement the program in its first year.

8 SEC. 507. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS AND PROGRAMS.

9 (a) PARK PASSPORT NOT REQUIRED.—A park pass10 port shall not be required for—

11 (1) a single visit to a national park that charges

12 an admission fee under section 4(a)(2) of the Land

13 and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16

14 U.S.C. 460l–6a(a)(2)); or

15 (2) an individual who has obtained a Golden

16 Age or Golden Access Passport under paragraph (4)

17 or (5) of section 4(a) of the Land and Water Con18 servation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–6a(a)).

19 (b) GOLDEN EAGLE PASSPORTS.—A Golden Eagle

20 Passport issued under section 4(a)(1)(A) of the Land and

21 Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–

22 6a(a)(1)(A)) shall be honored for admission to each na23 tional park.

24 (c) PARK PASSPORT.—A park passport shall provide

25 access to each national park under the same conditions,
65

S 1693 RS

1 rules, and regulations as apply to access with a Golden

2 Eagle Passport.

3 (d) LIMITATIONS.—A park passport established by

4 this Act may not be used to obtain access to other Federal

5 recreation fee areas outside the National Park System.

6 (e) EXEMPTIONS AND FEES.—A park passport does

7 not exempt the holder from or provide the holder any dis8 count on any recreation use fee imposed under section

9 4(b) of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of

10 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–6a(b)).

11 (f) FEE.—The fee for a park passport and stamp

12 shall be $50.

13 TITLE VI—NATIONAL PARKS RE14 SOURCE INVENTORY AND

15 MANAGEMENT

16 SEC. 601. PURPOSES.

17 The purposes of this title are—

18 (1) to more effectively achieve the mission of

19 the National Park Service;

20 (2) to enhance management and protection of

21 national park resources by providing clear authority

22 and direction for the conduct of scientific study in

23 the national parks and to use the information gath24 ered for management purposes;
66

S 1693 RS

1 (3) to ensure appropriate documentation of re2 source conditions in the national parks;

3 (4) to encourage others to use the national

4 parks for study to the benefit of park management

5 as well as broader scientific value, in cases in which

6 such study is consistent with the Act of August 25,

7 1916 (commonly known as the ‘‘National Park Serv8 ice Organic Act’’) (39 Stat. 535, chapter 408; 16

9 U.S.C. 1 et seq.); and

10 (5) to encourage the publication and dissemina11 tion of information derived from studies in the na12 tional parks.

13 SEC. 602. DEFINITIONS.

14 In this title:

15 (1) CHIEF SCIENTIST.—The term ‘‘Chief Sci16 entist’’ means the Chief Scientist of the National

17 Park Service appointed under section 603(b).

18 (2) CULTURAL RESOURCE.—The term ‘‘cultural

19 resource’’ means—

20 (A) a historic property (as defined in sec21 tion 301 of the National Historic Preservation

22 Act (16 U.S.C. 470w));

23 (B) an archaeological resource (as defined

24 in section 3 of the Archaeological Resources

25 Protection Act of 1979 (16 U.S.C. 470bb)); and
67

S 1693 RS

1 (C) a museum object (as defined by the

2 Secretary).

3 (3) UNIT RESOURCE STUDY.—The term ‘‘unit

4 resource study’’ means a study conducted under sec5 tion 603.

6 SEC. 603. UNIT RESOURCE STUDY PROGRAM.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—

8 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—In furtherance of the

9 fundamental purposes of the National Park System,

10 the Secretary shall undertake a program of scientific

11 study by National Park Service employees and co12 operators in each national park.

13 (2) MATTERS TO BE STUDIED.—The unit re14 source study program under paragraph (1) shall

15 consist of studies of—

16 (A) natural resources employing the var17 ious natural sciences;

18 (B) cultural resources employing the var19 ious sciences and disciplines related to cultural

20 resources;

21 (C) physical resources employing the var22 ious sciences and disciplines related to physical

23 resources; and
68

S 1693 RS

1 (D) the contemporary uses of national

2 parks employing the various social sciences and

3 other disciplines related to those uses.

4 (3) PROFESSIONAL AND SCIENTIFIC METH5 ODS.—The unit resource study program shall make

6 use of peer-accepted professional and scientific

7 methods to acquire, analyze, and report information

8 through inventory monitoring, observation, documen9 tary investigation, surveying, interviewing, experi10 mentation resource management, and adaptive man11 agement.

12 (4) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—The

13 unit resource study program shall make explicit pro14 vision for the dissemination of information through

15 publications and the electronic media to managers of

16 each national park, to other persons and entities

17 having an interest in such matters, and to the pub18 lic.

19 (b) CHIEF SCIENTIST.—

20 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Secretary shall ap21 point a Chief Scientist within the National Park

22 Service, who shall report directly to the Deputy Di23 rector, National Park Service Operations.

24 (2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Chief Scientist—
69

S 1693 RS

1 (A) shall have responsibility for coordina2 tion of all unit resource studies; and

3 (B) shall have line authority over all per4 sons within the National Park Service conduct5 ing unit resource studies.

6 (c) OTHER EMPLOYEES.—The Secretary may assign

7 employees of the Chief Scientist to national park areas

8 or colleges and universities as needed to conduct or coordi9 nate a unit resource study for each national park.

10 (d) PEER REVIEW PROCESS.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide

12 for an appropriate scientific peer review process to

13 ensure the validity and reliability of each unit re14 source study.

15 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The peer review process

16 shall provide for—

17 (A) review by independent referees selected

18 from among individuals recommended by the

19 National Academy of Sciences; and

20 (B) consideration of other relevant data or

21 information submitted to the Secretary.

22 (e) ALLOCATION OF AVAILABLE FUNDING.—The

23 Chief Scientist shall allocate funds for unit resource stud24 ies in accordance with priorities established by national

25 park superintendents.
70

S 1693 RS

1 SEC. 604. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS AND CONTRACTS.

2 (a) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS WITH COLLEGES

3 AND UNIVERSITIES.—

4 (1) CENTERS FOR STUDIES.—The Secretary

5 shall enter into long-term cooperative agreements

6 with colleges and universities that shall be the pri7 mary centers through which unit resource studies

8 shall be conducted.

9 (2) GEOGRAPHIC DISPERSEMENT.—The cooper10 ative agreements shall be geographically dispersed

11 across the various regions of the country.

12 (b) OTHER COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS OR CON13 TRACTS.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may enter

15 into cooperative agreements or contracts with the

16 United States Geological Survey, other Federal

17 agencies, public or private institutions, professional

18 organizations, individuals, corporations, States, and

19 political subdivisions of States to carry out the unit

20 resource study program.

21 (2) REVIEW OF UNIT RESOURCE STUDIES.—

22 (A) NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.—

23 The Secretary shall enter into an agreement

24 with the National Academy of Sciences under

25 which the National Academy of Sciences shall

26 review and comment on unit resource studies
71

S 1693 RS

1 and management policies adopted in response to

2 unit resource studies.

3 (B) REQUESTS FOR REVIEW.—Review by

4 the National Academy of Sciences may be con5 ducted in response to a request by the National

6 Park Service or in response to a request by a

7 person outside the National Park Service that

8 submits to the National Academy of Sciences a

9 study that, in the opinion of the National Acad10 emy of Sciences, warrants review.

11 (c) ADEQUATE COMPETITION.—In entering into any

12 cooperative agreement or contract for a unit resource

13 study, the Secretary shall provide adequate competition to

14 ensure that the unit resource study is undertaken by the

15 best qualified person and at the best value for the Federal

16 Government.

17 SEC. 605. INVENTORY AND MONITORING PROGRAM.

18 (a) PROGRAM.—

19 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall un20 dertake a program of inventory and monitoring of

21 national park resources to establish baseline infor22 mation and provide information on the long-term

23 trends in the conditions of national park resources.

24 (2) DEVELOPMENT.—The monitoring program

25 shall be developed in cooperation with other Federal
72

S 1693 RS

1 monitoring and information collection efforts to en2 sure a cost-effective approach.

3 (b) TRAINING.—The Secretary shall take such ac4 tions as are necessary to ensure that the National Park

5 Service work-force has adequate professional and technical

6 knowledge and training to carry out the missions of the

7 National Park Service, including making use of scientific

8 data and research results.

9 SEC. 606. AVAILABILITY OF NATIONAL PARKS FOR SCI10 ENTIFIC STUDY.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Chief Scientist may solicit,

12 receive, and consider requests from public or private insti13 tutions, individuals, corporations, States, political subdivi14 sions of States, and other Federal agencies for the use

15 of any national park for purposes of scientific study.

16 (b) APPROVAL.—A request for the use of a national

17 park under subsection (a) may be approved if the Chief

18 Scientist determines that the proposed study—

19 (1) is consistent with applicable law and Na20 tional Park Service management policies; and

21 (2) will be conducted in such a manner as to

22 pose no significant threat to or broad impairment of

23 national park resources or public enjoyment derived

24 from those resources.
73

S 1693 RS

1 (c) ACCESS.—The Secretary may waive any recre2 ation admission or recreation user fee in order to facilitate

3 the conduct of a scientific study under this section.

4 SEC. 607. INTEGRATION OF STUDY RESULTS INTO MANAGE5 MENT DECISIONS.

6 (a) ADMINISTRATIVE RECORD.—In each case in

7 which a park resource may be adversely affected by an

8 action undertaken by the National Park Service, the ad9 ministrative record shall reflect the manner in which unit

10 resource studies and studies under section 606 have been

11 considered.

12 (b) ANNUAL PERFORMANCE EVALUATION.—The

13 trend in the condition of national park resources, particu14 larly national park resources, shall be a significant factor

15 in the annual performance evaluation of all national park

16 superintendents.

17 SEC. 608. CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION CONCERN18 ING THE NATURE AND LOCATION OF SEN19 SITIVE RESOURCES.

20 Information concerning the nature and location of a

21 natural park resource that is endangered, threatened,

22 rare, or commercially valuable, or is an object of cultural

23 patrimony within a national park, may be withheld in re24 sponse to a request under section 552 of title 5, United

25 States Code, unless the Secretary determines that—
74

S 1693 RS

1 (1) disclosure of the information would further

2 the purposes of the national park in which the re3 source is located and would not create a substantial

4 risk of harm, theft, or destruction of the resource,

5 including individual members or specimens of any

6 resource population; and

7 (2) disclosure is consistent with other applicable

8 laws protecting the resource.

9 SEC. 609. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

10 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out

11 this title $15,000,000 for each fiscal year.

12 TITLE VII—DESIGNATION OF

13 TAX REFUNDS AND CON14 TRIBUTIONS FOR THE BENE15 FIT OF THE NATIONAL PARKS

16 SEC. 701. TAX REFUNDS AND CONTRIBUTIONS.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 61 of the

18 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to returns and

19 records) is amended by adding at the end the following:

20 ‘‘PART IX—DESIGNATION OF OVERPAYMENTS

21 AND CONTRIBUTIONS FOR THE BENEFIT OF

22 UNITS OF THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM

‘‘Sec. 6097. Designation.
75

S 1693 RS

1 ‘‘SEC. 6097. DESIGNATION.

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual, a

3 taxpayer may designate that—

4 ‘‘(1) a specified portion (not less than $1) of

5 any overpayment of tax imposed by chapter 1 for

6 any taxable year; and

7 ‘‘(2) any cash contribution which the taxpayer

8 includes with the return of such tax,

9 shall be paid over to the National Parks Trust Fund.

10 ‘‘(b) MANNER AND TIME OF DESIGNATION.—A des11 ignation under subsection (a) shall be made at the time

12 of filing the return of the tax imposed by chapter 1 for

13 the taxable year. Such designation shall be made in such

14 manner as the Secretary prescribes by regulations, except

15 that such designation shall be made either on the first

16 page of the return or on the page bearing the taxpayer’s

17 signature.

18 ‘‘(c) OVERPAYMENTS TREATED AS REFUNDED.—For

19 purposes of this title, any portion of an overpayment of

20 tax designated under subsection (a) shall be treated as

21 being refunded to the taxpayer as of the last date pre22 scribed for filing the return of tax imposed by chapter 1

23 (determined without regard to extensions) or, if later, the

24 date the return is filed.’’.
76

S 1693 RS

1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of parts for

2 subchapter A of such Code is amended by adding at the

3 end the following:

‘‘Part IX. Designation of overpayments and contributions for the

benefit of units of the National Park System.’’.

4 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

5 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after

6 December 31, 1998.

7 SEC. 702. NATIONAL PARKS TRUST FUND.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 98 of the

9 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to trust fund

10 code) is amended by adding at the end the following:

11 ‘‘SEC. 9512. NATIONAL PARKS TRUST FUND.

12 ‘‘(a) CREATION OF TRUST FUND.—There is estab13 lished in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund

14 to be known as the ‘National Parks Trust Fund’, consist15 ing of such amounts as may be appropriated or credited

16 to the National Parks Trust Fund as provided in this sec17 tion or section 9602(b).

18 ‘‘(b) TRANSFER TO NATIONAL PARKS TRUST FUND

19 OF AMOUNTS DESIGNATED.—There is hereby appro20 priated to the National Parks Trust Fund amounts equiv21 alent to the amounts received in the Treasury which are

22 designated to be paid to the Trust Fund under section

23 6097.

24 ‘‘(c) EXPENDITURES FROM TRUST FUND.—
77

S 1693 RS

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

2 amounts in the National Parks Trust Fund shall be

3 available, as provided by appropriation Acts, for

4 making expenditures to carry out section 703 of the

5 Vision 2020 National Parks Restoration Act (as in

6 effect on the date of the enactment of this section).

7 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Amounts in

8 the National Parks Trust Fund shall be available to

9 pay administrative expenses directly allocable to—

10 ‘‘(A) modifying the individual income tax

11 return forms to carry out the provisions of sec12 tion 6097; and

13 ‘‘(B) activities required to carry out the

14 provisions of this chapter with respect to the

15 Fund, including processing and transferring

16 amounts received under section 6097 to the

17 Fund.’’.

18 (b) STUDY.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after

20 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of

21 the Treasury or his delegate shall submit to the

22 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the

23 Senate and the Committee on Resources of the

24 House of Representatives, a study of the effects of
78

S 1693 RS

1 the National Parks Trust Fund established under

2 section 9512 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

3 (2) CONTENTS.—The study shall include infor4 mation on—

5 (A) the amount of money covered into the

6 Fund,

7 (B) the projects that were undertaken with

8 funds from the Fund, and

9 (C) any other information that the Sec10 retary considers useful in evaluating the pro11 gram’s effectiveness.

12 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec13 tions for subchapter A of chapter 61 of the Internal Reve14 nue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the

15 following:

‘‘Sec 9512. National Parks Trust Fund.’’.

16 SEC. 703. EXPENDITURES FROM THE NATIONAL PARKS

17 TRUST FUND.

18 The Secretary—

19 (1) may use amounts in the National Parks

20 Trust Fund only for design, construction, rehabilita21 tion, and repair of high priority facilities that di22 rectly enhance the experience of park visitors, in23 cluding natural, cultural, and historical resource pro24 tection projects within the national parks; and
79

S 1693 RS

1 (2) shall not use amounts in the National Parks

2 Trust Fund for land acquisition.

3 TITLE VIII—NATIONAL PARK

4 FOUNDATION

5 SEC. 801. PROMOTION OF LOCAL FUNDRAISING SUPPORT.

6 The Act entitled ‘‘An Act to establish the National

7 Park Foundation’’, approved December 18, 1967 (16

8 U.S.C. 19 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the

9 following:

10 ‘‘SEC. 12. PROMOTION OF LOCAL FUNDRAISING SUPPORT.

11 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Foundation shall design

12 and implement a comprehensive program to assist and

13 promote philanthropic programs of support at the individ14 ual national park level.

15 ‘‘(b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The program under sub16 section (a) shall be implemented to—

17 ‘‘(1) assist in the creation of local nonprofit

18 support organizations; and

19 ‘‘(2) provide support, national consistency, and

20 management-improving suggestions for local non21 profit support organizations.

22 ‘‘(c) EXTENT OF PROGRAM.—The program under

23 subsection (a) shall include the greatest number of na24 tional parks as is practicable.
80

S 1693 RS

1 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS.—The program under sub2 section (a) shall include, at a minimum—

3 ‘‘(1) a standard adaptable organizational design

4 format to establish and sustain responsible manage5 ment of a local nonprofit support organization for

6 support of a national park;

7 ‘‘(2) standard and legally tenable bylaws and

8 recommended money-handling procedures that can

9 easily be adapted as applied to individual national

10 parks; and

11 ‘‘(3) a standard training curriculum to orient

12 and expand the operating expertise of personnel em13 ployed by local nonprofit support organizations.

14 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—The Foundation shall report the

15 progress of the program under subsection (a) in the an16 nual report of the Foundation.

17 ‘‘(f) AFFILIATIONS.—

18 ‘‘(1) CHARTER OR CORPORATE BYLAWS.—Noth19 ing in this section requires—

20 ‘‘(A) a nonprofit support organization or

21 friends group in existence on the date of enact22 ment of this Act to modify current practices or

23 to affiliate with the Foundation; or

24 ‘‘(B) a local nonprofit support organiza25 tion, established as a result of this section, to
81

S 1693 RS

1 be bound through its charter or corporate by2 laws to be permanently affiliated with the

3 Foundation.

4 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—An affiliation with the

5 Foundation shall be established only at the discre6 tion of the governing board of a nonprofit organiza7 tion.’’.

8 TITLE IX—COMMERCIAL

9 FILMING IN NATIONAL PARKS

10 SEC. 901. DEFINITIONS.

11 In this title:

12 (1) COMMERCIAL VISUAL IMAGE.—

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘commercial

14 visual image’’ means a visual image that a per15 son produces with the intention that the image

16 (or reproductions of the image) will be dissemi17 nated to the public in connection with a for18 profit enterprise.

19 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘commercial

20 visual image’’ does not include—

21 (i) a visual image produced for dis22 semination to the public as news; or

23 (ii) a visual image produced by an in24 dividual in a limited number and intended
82

S 1693 RS

1 to be sold by the individual as a work of

2 art.

3 (2) PRODUCER.—The term ‘‘producer’’ means a

4 person that produces or proposes to produce a re5 corded image in a national park for a commercial

6 use or for public viewing.

7 (3) RECORDED IMAGE.—

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘recorded

9 image’’ means a motion picture, still photo10 graph, or other form of visual image produced

11 by any technology.

12 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘recorded

13 image’’ includes—

14 (i) a feature length film, short, or doc15 umentary; and

16 (ii) promotional or advertising mate17 rial.

18 (3) VEHICLE.—The term ‘‘vehicle’’ means a

19 larger production in which a commercial recorded

20 image is intended to be included.

21 SEC. 902. COMMERCIAL FILMING IN NATIONAL PARKS.

22 (a) OFFICE.—

23 (1) DESIGNATION.—The Secretary shall estab24 lish an office or designate an existing office in the
83

S 1693 RS

1 National Park Service to perform the functions of

2 the Secretary under this title.

3 (2) LOCATION OF MEMBERS.—The members of

4 the office may be located at the regional offices of

5 the National Park Service in order to facilitate nego6 tiation and processing of permits authorizing the

7 production of commercial recorded images in the na8 tional parks.

9 (b) PERMIT REQUIREMENT.—

10 (1) FEE.—A person shall not produce any part

11 of a commercial recorded image in a national park

12 without first obtaining a permit from the Secretary

13 and paying a permit fee calculated under paragraph

14 (2).

15 (2) FEE CALCULATION.—The fee under para16 graph (1) for production of a recorded image shall

be an amount equal to 1 17 ⁄2 of 1 percent of the pro18 duction budget for preparation of the vehicle in

19 which the recorded image is intended to be included.

20 (3) APPLICATION.—An application to produce a

21 commercial recorded image shall include, in addition

22 to other information required by law (including a

23 regulation)—

24 (A) a description of the commercial re25 corded image and vehicle; and
84

S 1693 RS

1 (B) the production budget for preparation

2 of the vehicle that was employed by the pro3 ducer as the basis for the decision to prepare or

4 finance the vehicle.

5 (4) FEE PAYMENT.—The fee required by para6 graph (1) shall be paid before any part of the pro7 duction of the recorded image is undertaken.

8 (5) FINAL ACCOUNTING.—

9 (A) SUBMISSION OF FINAL PRODUCTION

10 BUDGET.—Not later than the date on which a

11 vehicle is first used commercially or shown to

12 the public, the producer shall submit to the

13 Commission the final production budget for

14 preparation of the vehicle, stating the actual

15 costs of preparation.

16 (B) DIFFERENCE IN PRODUCTION BUDG17 ETS.—If the final production budget submitted

18 under subparagraph (A) is greater than the

19 production budget submitted with the applica20 tion under paragraph (3), the producer shall

21 pay to the Commission, not later than 30 days

22 after the date specified in subparagraph (A), an

23 amount equal to 1 percent of the difference be24 tween the 2 budgets.
85

S 1693 RS

1 (C) FEES COLLECTED.—Fees collected

2 under this section shall be in addition to direct

3 costs incurred by the National Park Service for

4 administrative costs and normal security and

5 personnel costs directly related to the onsite ac6 tivities of the producer, which costs shall be

7 paid by the producer.

8 (c) USE OF PROCEEDS.—Notwithstanding any other

9 provision of law, each fee collected in a national park

10 under this section (not including direct costs described in

11 subsection (b)(5)(C))—

12 (1) shall be deposited in a special account in

13 the Treasury of the United States; and

14 (2) shall be available to the Secretary, without

15 further Act of appropriation, for the preservation,

16 restoration, operation, maintenance, and improve17 ment of high-priority projects and programs, in the

18 national park in which the fee is collected, that di19 rectly enhance the experience of park visitors, in20 cluding natural, cultural, and historical resource pro21 tection projects but not including land acquisition.

22 (3) REPORT.—

23 (A) SUBMISSION OF REPORT.—Not later

24 than 4 years after the date of enactment of this

25 Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Commit-
86

S 1693 RS

1 tee on Energy and Natural Resources and the

2 Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and

3 the Committee on Resources and the Committee

4 on Appropriations of the House of Representa5 tives a report on the collection of fees under

6 this section.

7 (B) CONTENTS.—The report under sub8 paragraph (A) shall include—

9 (i) details on how the National Park

10 Service is carrying out this section;

11 (ii) a complete accounting of proceeds

12 received and a description of high-priority

13 projects funded under this title; and

14 (iii) an accounting of proceeds reim15 bursed to individual national parks for

16 costs incurred for administrative, security,

17 and logistical expenses.

18 TITLE X—CAPITAL IMPROVE19 MENT PROJECT BOND DEM20 ONSTRATION PROGRAM

21 SEC. 1001. FINDINGS.

22 Congress finds that—

23 (1) the use of long-term bonds through borrow24 ing from the Treasury to help address the capital
87

S 1693 RS

1 improvement needs of the National Park System

2 should be explored;

3 (2) the availability of such bonds may provide

4 the National Park Service with a new financial tool

5 for addressing the backlog of capital improvement

6 projects that face the National Park Service; and

7 (3) through the bond demonstration program

8 under this title, the Secretary will be able to explore

9 the potential utility of bonds borrowed from the

10 Treasury and to report back to Congress on the use11 fulness of this approach for financing capital im12 provements in the national parks.

13 SEC. 1002. CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS.

14 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment

15 of this Act, the Secretary shall identify not more than 4

16 capital improvement projects in the National Park Sys17 tem, totaling not more than $40,000,000, which shall be

18 financed through obligations issued to the Secretary of the

19 Treasury as part of the bond demonstration program

20 under section 1003.

21 SEC. 1003. ISSUANCE OF OBLIGATIONS.

22 (a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may issue obliga23 tions to the Secretary of the Treasury for use in the bond

24 demonstration program established under this title.
88

S 1693 RS

1 (b) AMOUNT.—The total amount of obligations issued

2 under subsection (a) outstanding at any one time shall not

3 exceed $40,000,000.

4 (c) PURCHASE BY THE SECRETARY OF THE TREAS5 URY.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall purchase obli6 gations issued under subsection (a) if the Secretary of the

7 Treasury finds that there is reasonable assurance of re8 payment of the obligations.

9 (d) PUBLIC DEBT TRANSACTION.— For the purpose

10 of purchasing any such obligations, the Secretary of the

11 Treasury may use as a public debt transaction the pro12 ceeds from the sale of any securities issued under chapter

13 31 of title 31, United States Code, and the purposes for

14 which securities issued under chapter are extended to in15 clude any purchase by the Secretary of the Treasury of

16 obligations under this section.

17 (e) OBLIGATION CHARACTERISTICS.— Obligations

18 issued under subsection (a)—

19 (1) shall be in such forms and denominations,

20 bear such maturities, and be subject to such terms

21 and conditions as may be prescribed by the Sec22 retary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Sec23 retary; and

24 (2) shall bear interest at a rate determined by

25 the Secretary of the Treasury, taking into consider-
89

S 1693 RS

1 ation current market yields on outstanding market2 able obligations of the United States of comparable

3 maturities.

4 (f) SALE.—The Secretary of the Treasury may at any

5 time sell any of the obligations acquired by the Secretary

6 under this section.

7 (g) TREATMENT.—All redemptions, purchases, and

8 sales by the Secretary of the Treasury of such obligations

9 shall be treated as public debt transactions of the United

10 States.

11 SEC. 1004. FINANCING.

12 The Secretary may use receipts collected under sec13 tion 315 of section 101(c) of Public Law 104–134 (16

14 U.S.C. 460l–6a note) to finance obligations issued under

15 section 1003.

16 SEC. 1005. REPORT.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the

18 date of issuance of obligations under this title, the Sec19 retary and the Secretary of the Treasury shall report to

20 Congress on the bond demonstration program.

21 (b) CONTENTS.—The report under subsection (a)

22 shall include a discussion of—

23 (1) the mechanics of the bonding process;

24 (2) the transaction costs associated with the

25 issuance of the obligations;
90

S 1693 RS

1 (3) the implications of dedicating a revenue

2 stream to repay such obligations; and

3 (4) the recommendations of the Secretary and

4 the Secretary of the Treasury regarding the poten5 tial expansion of the bond demonstration program.

6 TITLE XI—MISCELLANEOUS

7 SEC. 1101. UNITED STATES PARK POLICE.

8 (a) APPOINTMENT OF TASK FORCE.—Not later than

9 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec10 retary shall appoint a multidisciplinary task force to fully

11 evaluate the shortfalls, needs, and requirements of the

12 United States Park Police, including facility repair, reha13 bilitation, and communications needs.

14 (b) SUBMISSION OF REPORT.—Not later than 1 year

15 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall

16 submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Re17 sources and the Committee on Appropriations of the Sen18 ate and the Committee on Resources and the Committee

19 on Appropriations of the House of Representatives a re20 port that includes—

21 (1) the findings and recommendations of the

22 task force;

23 (2) complete justifications for any recommenda24 tions made; and
91

S 1693 RS

1 (3) a complete description of any adverse im2 pacts that would occur if any need identified in the

3 report is not met.

4 SEC. 1102. LEASES AND COOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT

5 AGREEMENTS.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of Public Law 91–383

7 (16 U.S.C. 1a–2) is amended by adding at the end the

8 following:

9 ‘‘(k) LEASES.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may enter

11 into a lease with any person or governmental entity

12 for the use of buildings and associated property ad13 ministered by the Secretary as part of the National

14 Park System.

15 ‘‘(2) USE.—Buildings and associated property

16 leased under paragraph (1)—

17 ‘‘(A) shall be used for an activity that is

18 consistent with the purposes established by law

19 for the unit in which the building is located;

20 ‘‘(B) shall not result in degradation of the

21 purposes and values of the unit; and

22 ‘‘(C) shall be compatible with National

23 Park Service programs.

24 ‘‘(3) RENTAL AMOUNTS.—
92

S 1693 RS

1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a

2 lease under paragraph (1)—

3 ‘‘(i) payment of fair market value

4 rental shall be required; and

5 ‘‘(ii) section 321 of the Act of June

6 30, 1932 (47 Stat. 412, chapter 314; 40

7 U.S.C. 303b) shall not apply.

8 ‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENT.—The Secretary may

9 adjust the rental amount as appropriate to take

10 into account any amounts to be expended by

11 the lessee for preservation, maintenance, res12 toration, improvement, or repair and related ex13 penses.

14 ‘‘(C) REGULATION.—The Secretary shall

15 promulgate a regulation implementing this sub16 section that includes provisions to encourage

17 and facilitate competition in the leasing process

18 and provide for timely and adequate public

19 comment.

20 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL ACCOUNT.—

21 ‘‘(A) DEPOSITS.—Rental payments under

22 a lease under paragraph (1) shall be deposited

23 in a special account in the Treasury of the

24 United States.
93

S 1693 RS

1 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts in the spe2 cial account shall be available until expended,

3 without further Act of appropriation, for infra4 structure needs at units of the National Park

5 System, including—

6 ‘‘(i) facility refurbishment;

7 ‘‘(ii) repair and replacement;

8 ‘‘(iii) infrastructure projects associ9 ated with park resource protection; and

10 ‘‘(iv) direct maintenance of the leased

11 buildings and associated properties.

12 ‘‘(C) ACCOUNTABILITY AND RESULTS.—

13 The Secretary shall develop procedures for the

14 use of the special account that ensure account15 ability and demonstrated results consistent with

16 this Act.

17 ‘‘(l) COOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT AGREEMENTS.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may enter

19 into an agreement with a State or local government

20 agency for the cooperative management of national

21 park land and nearby State or local park land.

22 ‘‘(2) PROVISION OF GOODS AND SERVICES.—

23 Under a cooperative management agreement, the

24 Secretary may acquire from and provide to a State

25 or local government agency goods and services to be
94

S 1693 RS

1 used by the Secretary and the State or local govern2 mental agency in the cooperative management of

3 land.

4 ‘‘(3) ASSIGNMENT.—An assignment arranged

5 by the Secretary under section 3372 of title 5,

6 United States Code, of a Federal, State, or local em7 ployee for work in any Federal, State, or local land

8 or an extension of such an assignment may be for

9 any period of time determined by the Secretary and

10 the State or local agency to be mutually beneficial.’’.

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 3 of Pub12 lic Law 91–383 (16 U.S.C. 1a–2) is amended—

13 (1) by striking ‘‘SEC. 3.’’ and all that follows

14 through ‘‘(a) provide’’ and inserting the following:

15 ‘‘SEC. 3. AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY OF THE

16 INTERIOR.

17 ‘‘(a) TRANSPORTATION.—The Secretary of the Inte18 rior (referred to in this section as the ‘Secretary’) may

19 provide’’;

20 (2) in subsection (a)—

21 (A) by striking ‘‘where (1) such areas’’ and

22 inserting ‘‘if—

23 ‘‘(1) the areas’’; and
95

S 1693 RS

1 (B) by striking ‘‘transportation, and (2)

2 such transportation’’ and inserting ‘‘transpor3 tation; and

4 ‘‘(2) the transportation’’;

5 (3)(A) by striking the semicolon at the end of

6 each of subsections (a) through (f) and subsection

7 (h) and inserting a period; and

8 (B) by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the end of subsection

9 (i) and inserting a period;

10 (4) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘(b) provide’’

11 and inserting the following:

12 ‘‘(b) RECREATION.—The Secretary may provide’’;

13 (5) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘(c) appoint’’

14 and inserting the following:

15 ‘‘(c) ADVISORY COMMITTEES; COMPENSATION AND

16 TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The Secretary may appoint’’;

17 (6) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘(d) pur18 chase’’ and inserting the following:

19 ‘‘(d) PARK EQUIPMENT PURCHASES.—The Secretary

20 may purchase’’;

21 (7) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘(e) enter’’

22 and inserting the following:

23 ‘‘(e) SERVICE, RESOURCE, AND WATER CON24 TRACTS.—The Secretary may enter’’;
96

S 1693 RS

1 (8) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘(f) acquire,

2 and have installed, air-conditioning units’’ and in3 serting the following:

4 ‘‘(f) VEHICULAR AIR CONDITIONERS.—The Sec5 retary may acquire and install air conditioners’’;

6 (9) in subsection (g)—

7 (A) by striking ‘‘(g) sell’’ and inserting the

8 following:

9 ‘‘(g) LIVING EXHIBITS AND INTERPRETIVE DEM10 ONSTRATIONS.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may sell’’;

12 (B) by striking ‘‘demonstrations;’’ and in13 serting ‘‘demonstrations.’’

14 (C) by striking ‘‘Sixty percent’’ and insert15 ing the following:

16 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL ACCOUNT.—

17 ‘‘(A) DEPOSIT OF PORTION OF FEES.—

18 Sixty percent’’;

19 (D) by striking ‘‘special account’’ and in20 serting ‘‘special account.’’;

21 (E) by striking ‘‘and that such funds’’ and

22 inserting the following:

23 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts in the spe24 cial account’’;
97

S 1693 RS

1 (F) by striking ‘‘(1) to the extent’’ and in2 serting the following:

3 ‘‘(i) to the extent’’;

4 (G) by striking ‘‘(2) to conduct’’ and in5 serting the following:

6 ‘‘(ii) to conduct’’;

7 (H) by striking ‘‘The investigations pro8 vided for in this subsection’’ and inserting the

9 following:

10 ‘‘(3) INVESTIGATION DESIGN.—An investigation

11 under paragraph (2)(B)(ii)’’;

12 (I) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and insert13 ing the following:

14 ‘‘(4) NO ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS.—The Sec15 retary’’;

16 (J) by striking ‘‘When competitively’’ and

17 inserting the following:

18 ‘‘(5) COMPETITIVE AWARD OF PERMITS.—When

19 competitively’’;

20 (K) by striking ‘‘Fees paid’’ and inserting

21 the following:

22 ‘‘(6) FEES.—

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Fees paid’’;

24 (L) by striking ‘‘For the purposes of this

25 subsection’’ and inserting the following:
98

S 1693 RS

1 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION OF CERTAIN PERMIT2 TEE.—In subparagraph (A)’’; and

3 (M) by striking ‘‘Nothing in this sub4 section’’ and inserting the following:

5 ‘‘(7) NO ADDITIONAL PERMIT REQUIRE6 MENTS.—Nothing in this subsection’’;

7 (10) in subsection (h)—

8 (A) by striking ‘‘(h) promulgate’’ and in9 serting the following:

10 ‘‘(h) BOATING AND OTHER WATER ACTIVITIES.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may promul12 gate’’; and

13 (B) by striking ‘‘States: Provided, That

14 any’’ and inserting ‘‘States.

15 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY OF THE COAST GUARD.—

16 Any’’;

17 (11) in subsection (i), by striking ‘‘(i) provide’’

18 and inserting the following:

19 ‘‘(i) EMPLOYEE MEALS AND LODGING.—The Sec20 retary may provide’’; and

21 (12) in subsection (j), by striking ‘‘(j) Enter’’

22 and inserting the following:

23 ‘‘(j) COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND TRAINING PRO24 GRAMS.—The Secretary may enter’’.
99

S 1693 RS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Vision 2020 National

3 Parks System Restoration Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

5 As used in this Act, the term—

6 (1) ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the Inte7 rior, and

8 (2) ‘‘park’’ or ‘‘national park’’ means a unit of

9 the National Park System.

10 TITLE I—NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CAREER

11 DEVELOPMENT, TRAINING AND MANAGEMENT

12 SEC. 101. PROTECTION, INTERPRETATION AND RESEARCH

13 IN THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM.

14 Recognizing the ever increasing societal pressures

15 being placed upon America’s unique natural and cultural

16 resources contained in the National Park System, the Sec17 retary shall continually improve the ability of the National

18 Park Service to provide state-of-the art management, pro19 tection, and interpretation of and research on the resources

20 of the National Park System.

21 SEC. 102. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE EMPLOYEE TRAINING.

22 The Secretary shall develop a comprehensive training

23 program for employees in all professional careers in the

24 work force of the National Park Service for the purpose of

25 assuring that the work force has available the best, up-to26 date knowledge, skills and abilities with which to manage,
100

S 1693 RS

1 interpret and protect the resources of the National Park

2 System.

3 SEC. 103. MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING.

4 The Secretary shall develop a clear plan for manage5 ment training and development, whereby career, profes6 sional National Park Service employees from any appro7 priate academic field may obtain sufficient training, expe8 rience, and advancement opportunity to enable those quali9 fied to move into park management positions, including ex10 plicitly the position of park superintendent.

11 SEC. 104. PARK BUDGETS AND ACCOUNTABILITY.

12 (a) STRATEGIC PLANS.—Each unit of the National

13 Park System shall prepare and make available to the public

14 a 5-year strategic plan and an annual performance plan.

15 Such plans shall reflect the National Park Service policies,

16 goals and outcomes represented in the Service-wide Strate17 gic Plan, prepared pursuant to the provisions of the Gov18 ernment Performance and Results Act (Public Law 103–

19 62).

20 (b) PARK BUDGET.—As a part of each park’s annual

21 performance plan prepared pursuant to subsection (a) of

22 this section, following receipt of each park’s appropriation

23 from the Operations of the National Park System account

24 (but no later than January 1 of each year), each park su25 perintendent shall develop and make available to the public
101

S 1693 RS

1 the budget for the current fiscal year for that park. The

2 budget shall include, at a minimum, funding allocations

3 for resource preservation (including resource management),

4 visitor services (including maintenance, interpretation, law

5 enforcement, and search and rescue) and administration.

6 The budget shall also include allocations into each of the

7 above categories of all funds retained from fees collected for

8 that year, including but not limited to special use permits,

9 concession franchise fees, and recreation use and entrance

10 fees.

11 TITLE II—NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM RESOURCE

12 INVENTORY AND MANAGEMENT

13 SEC. 201. PURPOSES.

14 The purposes of this title are—

15 (1) to more effectively achieve the mission of the

16 National Park Service;

17 (2) to enhance management and protection of

18 national park resources by providing clear authority

19 and direction for the conduct of scientific study in the

20 National Park System and to use the information

21 gathered for management purposes;

22 (3) to ensure appropriate documentation of re23 source conditions in the National Park System;

24 (4) to encourage others to use the National Park

25 System for study to the benefit of park management
102

S 1693 RS

1 as well as broader scientific value, where such study

2 is consistent with the Act of August 25, 1916 (39

3 Stat. 535; 16 U.S.C. 1, 2–4); and

4 (5) to encourage the publication and dissemina5 tion of information derived from studies in the Na6 tional Park System.

7 SEC. 202. RESEARCH MANDATE.

8 The Secretary is authorized and directed to assure that

9 management of units of the National Park System is en10 hanced by the availability and utilization of a broad pro11 gram of the highest quality science and information.

12 SEC. 203. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.

13 (a) COOPERATIVE STUDY UNITS.—The Secretary is

14 authorized and directed to enter into cooperative agree15 ments with colleges and universities, including but not lim16 ited to land grant schools, in partnership with other Federal

17 and State agencies, to establish cooperative study units to

18 conduct multi-disciplinary research and develop integrated

19 information products on the resources of the National Park

20 System, or the larger region of which parks are a part.

21 (b) REPORT.—Within one year of the date of enact22 ment of this title, the Secretary shall report to the Commit23 tee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United States

24 Senate and the Committee on Resources of the House of

25 Representatives on progress in the establishment of a com-
103

S 1693 RS

1 prehensive network of such college and university based co2 operative study units as will provide full geographic and

3 topical coverage for research on the resources contained in

4 units of the National Park System and their larger regions.

5 SEC. 204. INVENTORY AND MONITORING PROGRAM.

6 The Secretary shall undertake a program of inventory

7 and monitoring of National Park System resources to estab8 lish baseline information and to provide information on the

9 long-term trends in the condition of National Park System

10 resources. The monitoring program shall be developed in co11 operation with other Federal monitoring and information

12 collection efforts to ensure a cost-effective approach.

13 SEC. 205. AVAILABILITY FOR SCIENTIFIC STUDY.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may solicit, receive,

15 and consider requests from Federal or non-Federal public

16 or private agencies, organizations, individuals, or other en17 tities for the use of any unit of the National Park System

18 for purposes of scientific study.

19 (b) CRITERIA.—A request for use of a unit of the Na20 tional Park System under subsection (a) may only be ap21 proved if the Secretary determines that the proposed

22 study—

23 (1) is consistent with applicable laws and Na24 tional Park Service management policies; and
104

S 1693 RS

1 (2) will be conducted in a manner as to pose no

2 significant threat to or broad impairment of park re3 sources or public enjoyment derived from those re4 sources.

5 (c) FEE WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive any park

6 admission or recreational use fee in order to facilitate the

7 conduct of scientific study under this section.

8 SEC. 206. INTEGRATION OF STUDY RESULTS INTO MANAGE9 MENT DECISIONS.

10 The Secretary shall take such measures as are nec11 essary to assure the full and proper utilization of the results

12 of scientific study for park management decisions. In each

13 case in which a park resource may be adversely affected

14 by an action undertaken by the National Park Service, the

15 administrative record shall reflect the manner in which

16 unit resource studies have been considered.

17 SEC. 207. CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION.

18 Information concerning the nature and location of a

19 park resource which is endangered, threatened, rare, or

20 commercially valuable, or for an object of cultural pat21 rimony within a unit of the National Park System, may

22 be withheld from the public in response to a request under

23 section 552 of title 5, United States Code, unless the Sec24 retary determines that—
105

S 1693 RS

1 (1) disclosure of the information would further

2 the purposes of the park unit in which the resource

3 is located and would not create a substantial risk of

4 harm, theft, or destruction of the resource, including

5 individual specimens of any resource population; and

6 (2) disclosure is consistent with other applicable

7 laws protecting the resource.

8 TITLE III—PROCEDURES FOR ESTABLISHMENT

9 OF NEW UNITS OF THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM

10 SEC. 301. STUDIES OF AREAS FOR POTENTIAL INCLUSION

11 IN THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM.

12 Section 8 of Public Law 91–383 (16 U.S.C. 1a–5) is

13 amended—

14 (1) in subsection (a)—

15 (A) by inserting ‘‘GENERAL AUTHOR16 ITY.—’’ after ‘‘(a)’’;

17 (B) by striking the second through sixth

18 sentences; and

19 (C) by striking ‘‘For the purposes of carry20 ing out’’ and inserting the following:

21 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the

22 purposes of carrying out’’; and

23 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the follow24 ing:
106

S 1693 RS

1 ‘‘(b) STUDIES OF AREAS FOR POTENTIAL INCLUSION

2 IN THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM.—

3 ‘‘(1)(A) At the beginning of each calendar year,

4 the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on En5 ergy and Natural Resources of the United States Sen6 ate and the Committee on Resources of the United

7 States House of Representatives a list of areas rec8 ommended for study for potential inclusion as new

9 units in the National Park System.

10 ‘‘(B) If the Secretary determines during a spe11 cific calendar year that no areas are recommended for

12 study for potential inclusion in the National Park

13 System, the Secretary is not required to submit the

14 list referenced in subparagraph (A).

15 ‘‘(2) In developing the list submitted under this

16 subsection, the Secretary shall consider—

17 ‘‘(A) areas that have the greatest potential

18 for meeting the established criteria of national

19 significance, suitability, and feasibility;

20 ‘‘(B) themes, sites, and resources not ade21 quately represented in the National Park Sys22 tem; and

23 ‘‘(C) public proposals and Congressional re24 quests.
107

S 1693 RS

1 ‘‘(3) Nothing in this subsection shall limit the

2 authority of the Secretary to conduct preliminary

3 planning activities, including—

4 ‘‘(A) the conduct of a preliminary resource

5 assessment;

6 ‘‘(B) collection of data on a potential study

7 area;

8 ‘‘(C) provision of technical and planning

9 assistance;

10 ‘‘(D) preparation or processing of a nomi11 nation for an administrative designation;

12 ‘‘(E) updating of a previous study; or

13 ‘‘(F) completion of a reconnaissance survey

14 of an area.

15 ‘‘(4) NATIONAL WILD AND SCENIC RIVERS SYS16 TEM; NATIONAL TRAILS SYSTEM.—Nothing in this sec17 tion applies to, affects, or alters the study of—

18 ‘‘(A) any river segment for potential addi19 tion to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers

20 System; or

21 ‘‘(B) any trail for potential addition to the

22 National Trails System.

23 ‘‘(5) In conducting a study under this subsection,

24 the Secretary shall—
108

S 1693 RS

1 ‘‘(A) provide adequate public notice and an

2 opportunity for public involvement, including at

3 least one public meeting in the vicinity of the

4 area under study; and

5 ‘‘(B) make reasonable efforts to notify po6 tentially affected landowners and State and local

7 governments.

8 ‘‘(6) In conducting a study of an area under this

9 subsection, the Secretary—

10 ‘‘(A) shall consider whether the area—

11 ‘‘(i) possesses nationally significant

12 natural, historic or cultural resources, or

13 outstanding recreational opportunities;

14 ‘‘(ii) represents one of the most impor15 tant examples (singly or as part of a group)

16 of a particular resource type in the United

17 States; and

18 ‘‘(iii) is a suitable and feasible addi19 tion to the National Park System;

20 ‘‘(B) shall consider—

21 ‘‘(i) the rarity and integrity of the re22 sources of the area;

23 ‘‘(ii) the threats to resources;
109

S 1693 RS

1 ‘‘(iii) whether similar resources are al2 ready protected in the National Park Sys3 tem or in other public or private ownership;

4 ‘‘(iv) benefits to the public;

5 ‘‘(v) the interpretive and educational

6 potential of the area;

7 ‘‘(vi) costs associated with acquisition,

8 development, and operation of the area and

9 the source or revenue to pay for the cost;

10 ‘‘(vii) the socioeconomic impacts of in11 clusion of the area in the National Park

12 System;

13 ‘‘(viii) the level of local and general

14 public support for the inclusion;

15 ‘‘(ix) whether the area is of appro16 priate configuration to ensure long-term re17 source protection and appropriate visitor

18 use; and

19 ‘‘(x) the potential impact on the inclu20 sion of the area on existing units of the Na21 tional Park System;

22 ‘‘(C) shall consider whether direct manage23 ment by the Secretary or alternative protection

24 by other public agencies or the private sector is

25 most appropriate for the area;
110

S 1693 RS

1 ‘‘(D) shall identify what alternative, if any,

2 or what combination of alternatives would, as

3 determined by the Secretary, be most effective

4 and efficient in protecting significant resources

5 and providing for public enjoyment; and

6 ‘‘(E) may include any other information

7 that the Secretary considers pertinent.

8 ‘‘(7) The letter transmitting a completed study to

9 Congress shall contain a recommendation regarding

10 the preferred management option of the Secretary for

11 the area.

12 ‘‘(8) The Secretary shall complete a study of an

13 area for potential inclusion in the National Park

14 System within three years after the date funds are

15 made available for the study.

16 ‘‘(c) LIST OF PREVIOUSLY STUDIED AREAS WITH HIS17 TORICAL OR NATURAL RESOURCES.—

18 ‘‘(1) At the beginning of each calendar year, the

19 Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy

20 and Natural Resources of the United States Senate

21 and to the Committee on Resources of the United

22 States House of Representatives—

23 ‘‘(A) a list of areas that have been pre24 viously studied under this section that contain

25 primarily historical or cultural resources, but
111

S 1693 RS

1 have not been added to the National Park Sys2 tem; and

3 ‘‘(B) a list of areas that have been pre4 viously studied under this section that contain

5 primarily natural resources, but have not been

6 added to the National Park System.

7 ‘‘(2) In developing a list under paragraph (1),

8 the Secretary shall consider the factors described in

9 subsection (b)(2).

10 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall include on a list under

11 paragraph (1) only areas for which supporting data

12 are current and accurate.’’.

13 TITLE IV—NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

14 CONCESSION MANAGEMENT

15 SEC. 401. SHORT TITLE.

16 This title may be cited as the ‘‘National Park Service

17 Concession Management Improvement Act of 1998’’.

18 SEC. 402. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND STATEMENT OF

19 POLICY.

20 In furtherance of the Act of August 25, 1916 (39 Stat.

21 535), as amended (16 U.S.C. 1, 2–4), which directs the Sec22 retary of the Interior to administer areas of the National

23 Park System in accordance with the fundamental purpose

24 of conserving their scenery, wildlife, natural and historic

25 objects, and providing for their enjoyment in a manner that
112

S 1693 RS

1 will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future gen2 erations, the Congress hereby finds that the preservation of

3 park values requires that such public accommodations, fa4 cilities and services as have to be provided within those

5 areas should be provided only under carefully controlled

6 safeguards against unregulated and indiscriminate use, so

7 that heavy visitation will not unduly impair these values

8 and so that development of such facilities can best be limited

9 to locations where the least damage to park values will be

10 caused. It is the policy of the Congress that such develop11 ment shall be limited to those that are necessary and appro12 priate for public use and enjoyment of the unit of the Na13 tional Park System in which they are located and that are

14 consistent to the highest practicable degree with the preser15 vation and conservation of the units.

16 SEC. 403. AWARD OF CONCESSION CONTRACTS.

17 In furtherance of the findings and policy stated in sec18 tion 402, and, except as provided by this title or otherwise

19 authorized by law, the Secretary shall utilize concession

20 contracts to authorize private entities to provide accom21 modations, facilities and services to visitors to areas of the

22 National Park system. Such concession contracts shall be

23 awarded as follows:

24 (a) COMPETITIVE SELECTION PROCESS.—Except as

25 otherwise provided in this section, all proposed concession
113

S 1693 RS

1 contracts shall be awarded by the Secretary to the person,

2 corporation, or other entity submitting the best proposal as

3 determined by the Secretary through a competitive selection

4 process. Such competitive process shall include simplified

5 procedures for small, individually-owned, concession con6 tracts.

7 (b) SOLICITATION OF PROPOSALS.—Except as other8 wise provided in this section, prior to awarding a new con9 cession contract (including renewals or extensions of exist10 ing concession contracts) the Secretary shall publicly solicit

11 proposals for the concession contract and, in connection

12 with such solicitation, the Secretary shall prepare a pro13 spectus and shall publish notice of its availability at least

14 once in local or national newspapers or trade publications,

15 and/or the Commerce Business Daily, as appropriate, and

16 shall make the prospectus available upon request to all in17 terested parties.

18 (c) PROSPECTUS.—The prospectus shall include, but

19 need not be limited to, the following information:

20 (1) the minimum requirements for such contract

21 as set forth in subsection (d);

22 (2) the terms and conditions of any existing con23 cession contract relating to the services and facilities

24 to be provided, including all fees and other forms of
114

S 1693 RS

1 compensation provided to the United States by the

2 concessioner;

3 (3) other authorized facilities or services which

4 may be provided in a proposal;

5 (4) facilities and services to be provided by the

6 Secretary to the concessioner, if any, including, but

7 not limited to, public access, utilities, and buildings;

8 (5) an estimate of the amount of compensation,

9 if any, due an existing concessioner from a new con10 cessioner under the terms of a prior concession con11 tract;

12 (6) a statement as to the weight to be given to

13 each selection factor identified in the prospectus and

14 the relative importance of such factors in the selection

15 process;

16 (7) such other information related to the pro17 posed concession operation as is provided to the Sec18 retary pursuant to a concession contract or is other19 wise available to the Secretary, as the Secretary deter20 mines is necessary to allow for the submission of com21 petitive proposals; and

22 (8) where applicable, a description of a pref23 erential right to the award of the proposed concession

24 contract held by an existing concessioner as set forth

25 in subsection (g).
115

S 1693 RS

1 (d) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.—

2 (1) No proposal shall be considered which fails to

3 meet the minimum requirements as determined by the

4 Secretary. Such minimum requirements shall include,

5 but need not be limited to—

6 (A) the minimum acceptable franchise fee or

7 other forms of consideration to the government;

8 (B) any facilities, services, or capital in9 vestment required to be provided by the conces10 sioner; and

11 (C) measures necessary to ensure the protec12 tion and preservation of park resources.

13 (2) The Secretary shall reject any proposal, re14 gardless of the franchise fee offered, if the Secretary

15 determines that the person, corporation or entity is

16 not qualified, is not likely to provide satisfactory

17 service, or that the proposal is not responsive to the

18 objectives of protecting and preserving park resources

19 and of providing necessary and appropriate facilities

20 and services to the public at reasonable rates.

21 (3) If all proposals submitted to the Secretary ei22 ther fail to meet the minimum requirements or are re23 jected by the Secretary, the Secretary shall establish

24 new minimum contract requirements and re-initiate
116

S 1693 RS

1 the competitive selection process pursuant to this sec2 tion.

3 (4) The Secretary may not execute a concession

4 contract which materially amends or does not incor5 porate the proposed terms and conditions of the con6 cession contract as set forth in the applicable prospec7 tus. If proposed material amendments or changes are

8 considered appropriate by the Secretary, the Sec9 retary shall resolicit offers for the concession contract

10 incorporating such material amendments or changes.

11 (e) SELECTION OF THE BEST PROPOSAL.—

12 (1) In selecting the best proposal, the Secretary

13 shall consider the following principal factors:

14 (A) The responsiveness of the proposal to the

15 objectives of protecting and preserving park re16 sources and values and of providing necessary

17 and appropriate facilities and services to the

18 public at reasonable rates.

19 (B) The experience and related background

20 of the person, corporation, or entity submitting

21 the proposal, including but not limited to, the

22 past performance and expertise of such person,

23 corporation or entity in providing the same or

24 similar facilities or services.
117

S 1693 RS

1 (C) The financial capability of the person,

2 corporation or entity submitting the proposal.

3 (D) The proposed franchise fee: Provided,

4 That consideration of revenue to the United

5 States shall be subordinate to the objectives of

6 protecting and preserving park resources and of

7 providing necessary and appropriate facilities to

8 the public at reasonable rates.

9 (2) The Secretary may also consider such second10 ary factors as the Secretary deems appropriate.

11 (3) In developing regulations to implement this

12 title, the Secretary shall consider the extent to which

13 plans for employment of Indians (including Native

14 Alaskans) and involvement of business owned by Indi15 ans, Indian tribes, or Native Alaskans in the oper16 ation of a concession contracts should be identified as

17 a factor in the selection of a best proposal under this

18 section.

19 (f) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary

20 shall submit any proposed concession contract with antici21 pated annual gross receipts in excess of $5,000,000 or a du22 ration of ten years or more to the Committee on Energy

23 and Natural Resources of the United States Senate and the

24 Committee on Resources of the United States House of Rep25 resentatives. The Secretary shall not award any such pro-
118

S 1693 RS

1 posed contract until at least 60 days subsequent to the noti2 fication of both committees.

3 (g) PREFERENTIAL RIGHT OF RENEWAL.—

4 (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the

5 Secretary shall not grant a concessioner a preferential

6 right to renew a concession contract, or any other

7 form of preference to a concession contract.

8 (2) The Secretary shall grant a preferential right

9 of renewal to an existing concessioner with respect to

10 proposed renewals of the categories of concession con11 tracts described by subsection (h), subject to the re12 quirements of that subsection.

13 (3) As used in this title, the term ‘‘preferential

14 right of renewal’’ means that the Secretary, subject to

15 a determination by the Secretary that the facilities or

16 services authorized by a prior contract continue to be

17 necessary and appropriate within the meaning of sec18 tion 402 of this title, shall allow a concessioner quali19 fying for a preferential right of renewal the oppor20 tunity to match the terms and conditions of any com21 peting proposal which the Secretary determines to be

22 the best proposal for a proposed new concession con23 tract which authorizes the continuation of the facili24 ties and services provided by the concessioner under

25 its prior contract.
119

S 1693 RS

1 (4) A concessioner which successfully exercises a

2 preferential right of renewal in accordance with the

3 requirements of this title shall be entitled to award of

4 the proposed new concession contract to which such

5 preference applies.

6 (h) OUTFITTER AND GUIDE SERVICES AND SMALL

7 CONTRACTS.—The provisions of subsection (g) shall apply

8 only to concession contracts authorizing outfitter and guide

9 services and concession contracts with anticipated annual

10 gross receipts under $500,000 as further described below

11 and which otherwise qualify as follows:

12 (1) OUTFITTING AND GUIDE CONTRACTS.—For

13 the purposes of this title, an ‘‘outfitting and guide

14 concession contract’’ means a concession contract

15 which solely authorizes the provision of specialized

16 backcountry outdoor recreation guide services which

17 require the employment of specially trained and expe18 rienced guides to accompany park visitors in the

19 backcountry so as to provide a safe and enjoyable ex20 perience for visitors who otherwise may not have the

21 skills and equipment to engage in such activity. Out22 fitting and guide concessioners, where otherwise quali23 fied, include, but are not limited to, concessioners

24 which provide guided river running, hunting, fishing,

25 horseback, camping, and mountaineering experiences.
120

S 1693 RS

1 An outfitting and guide concessioner is entitled to a

2 preferential right of renewal under this title only if—

3 (A) the contract the outfitting and guide

4 concessioner holds does not grant the concessioner

5 any interest, including, but not limited to, any

6 leasehold surrender interest or possessory inter7 est, in capital improvements on lands owned by

8 the United States within a unit of the National

9 Park System: Provided, That this limitation

10 shall not apply to capital improvements con11 structed by a concessioner pursuant to the terms

12 of a concession contract prior to the effective date

13 of this title; and

14 (B) the Secretary determines that the con15 cessioner has operated satisfactorily during the

16 term of the contract (including any extension

17 thereof); and

18 (C) the concessioner has submitted a respon19 sive proposal for a proposed new contract which

20 satisfies the minimum requirements established

21 by the Secretary pursuant to subsection (d).

22 (2) CONTRACTS WITH ANTICIPATED ANNUAL

23 GROSS RECEIPTS UNDER $500,000.—A concessioner

24 which holds a concession contract where the Secretary

25 has estimated that its renewal will result in gross an-
121

S 1693 RS

1 nual receipts of less than $500,000 shall be entitled to

2 a preferential right of renewal under this title if—

3 (A) the Secretary has determined that the

4 concessioner has operated satisfactorily during

5 the term of the contract (including any extension

6 thereof); and

7 (B) the concessioner has submitted a respon8 sive proposal for a proposed new concession con9 tract which satisfies the minimum requirements

10 established by the Secretary pursuant to sub11 section (d).

12 (i) NEW OR ADDITIONAL SERVICES.—The Secretary

13 shall not grant a preferential right to a concessioner to pro14 vide new or additional services in a park.

15 (j) SECRETARIAL AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this title

16 shall be construed as limiting the authority of the Secretary

17 to determine whether to issue a concession contract or to

18 establish its terms and conditions in furtherance of the poli19 cies expressed in this title.

20 (k) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding the provisions of

21 this section, the Secretary may award, without public solic22 itation—

23 (1) a temporary concession contract or extend an

24 existing concession contract for a term not to exceed

25 three years in order to avoid interruption of services
122

S 1693 RS

1 to the public at a park, except that prior to making

2 such an award, the Secretary shall take all reasonable

3 and appropriate steps to consider alternatives to

4 avoid such interruption; and

5 (2) a concession contract in extraordinary cir6 cumstances where compelling and equitable consider7 ations require the award of a concession contract to

8 a particular party in the public interest. Such award

9 of a concession contract shall not be made by the Sec10 retary until at least thirty days after publication in

11 the ‘‘Federal Register’’ of notice of the Secretary’s in12 tention to do so and the reasons for such action, and

13 notice to the Committee on Energy and Natural Re14 sources of the United States Senate and the Commit15 tee on Resources of the United States House of Rep16 resentatives.

17 SEC. 404. TERM OF CONCESSION CONTRACTS.

18 A concession contract entered into pursuant to this

19 title shall be awarded for a term not to exceed ten years:

20 Provided, That the Secretary may award a contract for a

21 term of up to twenty years if the Secretary determines that

22 the contract terms and conditions, including the required

23 construction of capital improvements, warrant a longer

24 term.
123

S 1693 RS

1 SEC. 405. PROTECTION OF CONCESSIONER INVESTMENT.

2 (a) LEASEHOLD SURRENDER INTEREST UNDER NEW

3 CONCESSION CONTRACTS.—

4 (1) On or after the date of enactment of this

5 title, a concessioner which constructs a capital im6 provement upon land owned by the United States

7 within a unit of the National Park System pursuant

8 to a concession contract, shall have a leasehold sur9 render interest in such capital improvement subject to

10 the following terms and conditions:

11 (A) A concessioner shall have a property

12 right in each capital improvement constructed

13 by a concessioner under a concession contract,

14 consisting solely of a right to compensation for

15 the capital improvement to the extent of the

16 value of the concessioner’s leasehold surrender in17 terest in the capital improvement.

18 (B) A leasehold surrender interest—

19 (i) may be pledged as security for fi20 nancing of a capital improvement or the ac21 quisition of a concession contract when ap22 proved by the Secretary pursuant to this

23 title;

24 (ii) shall be transferred by the conces25 sioner in connection with any transfer of
124

S 1693 RS

1 the concession contract and may be relin2 quished or waived by the concessioner; and

3 (iii) shall not be extinguished by the

4 expiration or other termination of a conces5 sion contract and may not be taken for pub6 lic use except on payment of just compensa7 tion.

8 (C) The value of a leasehold surrender inter9 est in a capital improvement shall be an amount

10 equal to the initial value (construction cost of the

11 capital improvement), increased (or decreased)

12 in the same percentage increase (or decrease) as

13 the percentage increase (or decrease) in the Con14 sumer Price Index, from the date of making the

15 investment in the capital improvement by the

16 concessioner to the date of payment of the value

17 of the leasehold surrender interest, less deprecia18 tion of the capital improvement as evidenced by

19 the condition and prospective serviceability in

20 comparison with a new unit of like kind.

21 (D) Where a concessioner, pursuant to the

22 terms of a concession contract, makes a capital

23 improvement to an existing capital improvement

24 in which the concessioner has a leasehold surren25 der interest, the cost of such additional capital
125

S 1693 RS

1 improvement shall be added to the then current

2 value of the concessioner’s leasehold surrender in3 terest.

4 (E) For purposes of this section, the term—

5 (i) ‘‘Consumer Price Index’’ means the

6 ‘‘Consumer Price Index—All Urban Con7 sumers’’ published by the Bureau of Labor

8 Statistics of the Department of Labor, un9 less such index is not published, in which

10 case another regularly published cost-of-liv11 ing index approximating the Consumer

12 Price Index shall be utilized by the Sec13 retary; and

14 (ii) ‘‘capital improvement’’ means a

15 structure, fixture, or non-removable equip16 ment provided by a concessioner pursuant

17 to the terms of a concession contract and lo18 cated on lands of the United States within

19 a unit of the National Park System.

20 (b) SPECIAL RULE FOR EXISTING POSSESSORY INTER21 EST.—

22 (1) A concessioner which has obtained a

23 possessory interest as defined in Public Law 89–249

24 under the terms of a concession contract entered into

25 prior to the date of enactment of this title shall, upon
126

S 1693 RS

1 the expiration or termination of such contract, be en2 titled to receive compensation for such possessory in3 terest improvements in the amount and manner as

4 described by such concession contract.

5 (2) In the event such prior concessioner is

6 awarded a new concession contract after the effective

7 date of this title replacing an existing concession con8 tract, the existing concessioner shall, instead of di9 rectly receiving such possessory interest compensation,

10 have a leasehold surrender interest in its existing

11 possessory interest improvements under the terms of

12 the new contract and shall carry over as the initial

13 value of such leasehold surrender interest (instead of

14 construction cost) an amount equal to the value of the

15 existing possessory interest as of the termination date

16 of the previous contract. In the event of a dispute be17 tween the concessioner and the Secretary as to the

18 value of such possessory interest, the matter shall be

19 resolved through binding arbitration.

20 (3) In the event that a new concessioner is

21 awarded a concession contract and is required to pay

22 a prior concessioner for possessory interest in prior

23 improvements, the new concessioner shall have a

24 leasehold surrender interest in such prior improve25 ments and the initial value in such leasehold surren-
127

S 1693 RS

1 der interest (instead of construction cost), shall be an

2 amount equal to the value of the existing possessory

3 interest as of the termination date of the previous

4 contract.

5 (c) TRANSITION TO SUCCESSOR CONCESSIONER.—

6 Upon expiration or termination of a concession contract en7 tered into after the effective date of this title, a concessioner

8 shall be entitled under the terms of the concession contract

9 to receive from the United States or a successor concessioner

10 the value of any leasehold surrender interest in a capital

11 improvement as of the date of such expiration or termi12 nation. A successor concessioner shall have a leasehold sur13 render interest in such capital improvement under the

14 terms of a new contract and the initial value of the lease15 hold surrender interest in such capital improvement (in16 stead of construction cost) shall be the amount of money

17 the new concessioner is required to pay the prior conces18 sioner for its leasehold surrender interest under the terms

19 of the prior concession contract.

20 (d) TITLE TO IMPROVEMENTS.—Title to any capital

21 improvement constructed by a concessioner on lands owned

22 by the United States in a unit of the National Park System

23 shall be in the United States.
128

S 1693 RS

1 SEC. 406. REASONABLENESS OF RATES.

2 The reasonableness of a concessioner’s rates and

3 charges to the public, unless otherwise provided in the con4 tract, shall be judged primarily by comparison with those

5 rates and charges for facilities and services of comparable

6 character under similar conditions, with due consideration

7 for length of season, peakloads, average percentage of occu8 pancy, accessibility, availability and costs of labor and ma9 terials, type of patronage, and other factors deemed signifi10 cant by the Secretary. A concessioner’s rates and charges

11 to the public shall be subject to approval by the Secretary

12 pursuant to the terms of the concesssion contract. The ap13 proval process utilized by the Secretary shall be as prompt

14 and unburdensome to the concessioner as possible and shall

15 rely on market forces to establish reasonableness of rates and

16 charges to the maximum extent practicable.

17 SEC. 407. FRANCHISE FEES.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—A concession contract shall provide

19 for payment to the government of a franchise fee or such

20 other monetary consideration as determined by the Sec21 retary, upon consideration of the probable value to the con22 cessioner of the privileges granted by the particular contract

23 involved. Such probable value is a reasonable opportunity

24 for net profit in relation to capital invested and the obliga25 tions of the contract. Consideration of revenue to the United

26 States shall be subordinate to the objectives of protecting
129

S 1693 RS

1 and preserving park areas and of providing adequate and

2 appropriate services for visitors at reasonable rates.

3 (b) AMOUNT OF FRANCHISE FEE.—The amount of the

4 franchise fee or other monetary consideration paid to the

5 United States for the term of the concession contract shall

6 be specified in the concession contract and may only be

7 modified to reflect substantial, unanticipated changes from

8 the conditions anticipated as of the effective date of the con9 tract. The Secretary shall include in concession contracts

10 with a term of more than five years a provision which al11 lows reconsideration of the franchise fee at the request of

12 the Secretary or the concessioner in the event of such sub13 stantial, unanticipated changes. Such provision shall pro14 vide for binding arbitration in the event that the Secretary

15 and the concessioner are unable to agree upon an adjust16 ment to the franchise fee in these circumstances.

17 (c) SPECIAL ACCOUNT.—All franchise fees (and other

18 monetary consideration) paid to the United States pursu19 ant to a concession contract shall be covered into a special

20 account established in the Treasury of the United States.

21 The funds contained in such special account shall be avail22 able for expenditure by the Secretary, without appropria23 tion, until expended for use in accordance with subsection

24 (d).
130

S 1693 RS

1 (d) USE OF FRANCHISE FEES.—Funds contained in

2 the special account shall be transferred to a subaccount and

3 shall be allocated to each applicable unit of the National

4 Park System, based on the proportion that the amount of

5 concession contract fees collected from the unit during the

6 fiscal year bears to the total amount of concession contract

7 fees collected from all units of the National Park System

8 during the fiscal year, to fund high-priority resource man9 agement and visitor services programs and operations.

10 SEC. 408. TRANSFER OF CONCESSION CONTRACTS.

11 (a) APPROVAL OF THE SECRETARY.—No concession

12 contract or leasehold surrender interest may be transferred,

13 assigned, sold, or otherwise conveyed or pledged by a conces14 sioner without prior written notification to, and approval

15 of the Secretary.

16 (b) CONDITIONS.—The Secretary shall not unreason17 ably withhold approval of such a conveyance or pledge, and

18 shall approve such conveyance or pledge if the Secretary

19 in his discretion determines that—

20 (1) the individual, corporation or entity seeking

21 to acquire a concession contract is qualified to be able

22 to satisfy the terms and conditions of the concession

23 contract;

24 (2) such conveyance or pledge is consistent with

25 the objectives of protecting and preserving park re-
131

S 1693 RS

1 sources and of providing necessary and appropriate

2 facilities and services to visitors at reasonable rates

3 and charges; and

4 (3) the terms of such conveyance or pledge are

5 not likely, directly or indirectly, to: reduce the conces6 sioner’s opportunity for a reasonable profit over the

7 remaining term of the contract; adversely affect the

8 quality of facilities and services provided by the con9 cessioner; or result in a need for increased rates and

10 charges to the public to maintain the quality of such

11 facilities and services.

12 SEC. 409. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CONCESSIONS MAN13 AGEMENT ADVISORY BOARD.

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established a

15 National Park Service Concessions Management Advisory

16 Board (hereinafter in this title referred to as the ‘‘Advisory

17 Board’’) whose purpose shall be to advise the Secretary and

18 National Park Service on matters relating to management

19 of concessions in areas of the National Park System. Among

20 other matters, the Advisory Board shall advise on policies

21 and procedures intended to assure that services and facili22 ties provided by concessioners meet acceptable standards at

23 reasonable rates with a minimum of impact on park re24 sources and values, and provide the concessioners with a

25 reasonable opportunity to make a profit. The Advisory
132

S 1693 RS

1 Board shall also advise on ways to make National Park

2 Service concession programs and procedures more cost effec3 tive, efficient, and less burdensome, including, but not lim4 ited to, providing recommendations regarding National

5 Park Service contracting with the private sector to conduct

6 appropriate elements of concessions management and pro7 viding recommendations to make more efficient and less

8 burdensome the approval of concessioner rates and charges

9 to the public. In addition, the Advisory Board shall make

10 recommendations to the Secretary regarding the nature and

11 scope of products which qualify as Indian, Alaska Native,

12 and Native Hawaiian handicrafts within this meaning of

13 this title. The Advisory Board, commencing with the first

14 anniversary of its initial meeting, shall provide an annual

15 report on its activities to the Committee on Energy and

16 Natural Resources of the United States Senate and the

17 Committee on Resources of the United States House of Rep18 resentatives.

19 (b) ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERSHIP.—Members of the

20 Advisory Board shall be appointed on a staggered basis by

21 the Secretary for a term not to exceed four years and shall

22 serve at the pleasure of the Secretary. The Advisory Board

23 shall be comprised of not more than seven individuals ap24 pointed from among citizens of the United States not in

25 the employment of the Federal government and not in the
133

S 1693 RS

1 employment of or having an interest in a National Park

2 Service concession. Of the seven members of the Advisory

3 Board—

4 (1) one shall be privately employed in the hospi5 tality industry,

6 (2) one shall be privately employed in the tour7 ism industry,

8 (3) one shall be privately employed in the ac9 counting industry,

10 (4) one shall be privately employed in the outfit11 ting and guide industry,

12 (5) one shall be a State government employee

13 with expertise in park concession management,

14 (6) one shall be active in promotion of tradi15 tional arts and crafts, and

16 (7) one shall be active in a non-profit conserva17 tion organization involved in the programs of the Na18 tional Park Service.

19 (c) TERMINATION.—The Advisory Board shall con20 tinue to exist until December 31, 2008. In all other respects,

21 it shall be subject to the provisions of the Federal Advisory

22 Committee Act.

23 (d) SERVICE ON ADVISORY BOARD.—Service of an in24 dividual as a member of the Advisory Board shall not be

25 considered as service or employment bringing such individ-
134

S 1693 RS

1 ual within the provisions of any Federal law relating to

2 conflicts of interest or otherwise imposing restrictions, re3 quirements, or penalties in relation to the employment of

4 persons, the performance of services, or the payment or re5 ceipt of compensation in connection with claims, proceed6 ings, or matters involving the United States. Service as a

7 member of the Advisory Board shall not be considered serv8 ice in an appointive or elective position in the Government

9 for purposes of section 8344 of Title 5 of the United States

10 Code, or other comparable provisions of Federal law.

11 SEC. 410. CONTRACTING FOR SERVICES.

12 To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary

13 shall contract with private entities to conduct the following

14 elements of the management of the National Park Service

15 concession program suitable for non-federal fulfillment:

16 health and safety inspections, quality control of concession

17 operations and facilities, analysis of rates and charges to

18 the public, and financial analysis: Provided, That nothing

19 in this section shall diminish the governmental responsibil20 ities and authority of the Secretary to administer conces21 sion contracts and activities pursuant to this title and the

22 Act of August 25, 1916 (39 Stat. 535), as amended, (16

23 U.S.C. 1, 2–4). The Secretary shall also consider, taking

24 into account the recommendations of the National Park

25 Service Concessions Management Advisory Board, contract-
135

S 1693 RS

1 ing out other elements of the concession management pro2 gram, as appropriate.

3 SEC. 411. USE OF NON-MONETARY CONSIDERATION IN CON4 CESSION CONTRACTS.

5 The provisions of section 321 of the Act of June 30,

6 1932 (47 Stat. 412; 40 U.S.C. 303b), relating to the leasing

7 of buildings and properties of the United States, shall not

8 apply to contracts awarded by the Secretary pursuant to

9 this title.

10 SEC. 412. RECORDKEEPING REQUIREMENTS.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each concessioner shall keep such

12 records as the Secretary may prescribe to enable the Sec13 retary to determine that all terms of the concession contract

14 have been and are being faithfully performed, and the Sec15 retary and his duly authorized representatives shall, for the

16 purpose of audit and examination, have access to said

17 records and to other books, documents, and papers of the

18 concessioner pertinent to the contract and all terms and

19 conditions thereof.

20 (b) ACCESS TO RECORDS.—The Comptroller General

21 of the United States or any of his duly authorized represent22 atives shall, until the expiration of five calendar years after

23 the close of the business year of each concessioner or sub24 concessioner have access to and the right to examine any

25 pertinent books, papers, documents and records of the con-
136

S 1693 RS

1 cessioner or subconcessioner related to the contract or con2 tracts involved.

3 SEC. 413. REPEAL OF CONCESSION POLICY ACT OF 1965.

4 (a) REPEAL.—The Act of October 9, 1965, Public Law

5 89–249 (79 Stat. 969, 16 U.S.C. 20–20g), is hereby re6 pealed. The repeal of such Act shall not affect the validity

7 of any concession contract or permit entered into under

8 such Act, but the provisions of this title shall apply to any

9 such contract or permit except to the extent such provisions

10 are inconsistent with the express terms and conditions of

11 any such contract or permit. References in this title to con12 cession contracts awarded under authority of Public Law

13 89–249 also apply to concession permits awarded under

14 such authority.

15 (b) EXCEPTION FOR PENDING CONTRACT SOLICITA16 TIONS.—Notwithstanding such repeal, the Secretary may

17 award concession contracts under the terms of Public Law

18 89–249 for concession contract solicitations for which, as

19 of August 1, 1998, a formal prospectus was issued by the

20 Secretary pursuant to the requirements of 36 C.F.R. Part

21 51.

22 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The fourth sentence of

23 section 3 of the Act of August 25, 1916 (39 Stat. 535; 16

24 U.S.C. 3) is amended by striking all through ‘‘no natural’’
137

S 1693 RS

1 and inserting in lieu thereof, ‘‘No natural,’’ and, the last

2 proviso of such sentence is stricken in its entirety.

3 (d) ANILCA.—Nothing in this title amends, super4 sedes, or otherwise affects any provision of the Alaska Na5 tional Interest Lands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 3101 et

6 seq.) relating to revenue-producing visitor services.

7 SEC. 414. PROMOTION OF THE SALE OF INDIAN, ALASKA NA8 TIVE, AND NATIVE HAWAIIAN HANDICRAFTS.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Promoting the sale of United States

10 authentic Indian, Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian

11 handicrafts relating to the cultural, historical, and geo12 graphic characteristics of units of the National Park Sys13 tem is encouraged, and the Secretary shall ensure that there

14 is a continuing effort to enhance the handicraft trade where

15 it exists and establish the trade where it currently does not

16 exist.

17 (b) EXEMPTION FROM FRANCHISE FEE.—In further18 ance of these purposes, the revenue derived from the sale

19 of United States Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawai20 ian handicrafts shall be exempt from any franchise fee pay21 ments under this title.

22 SEC. 415. REGULATIONS.

23 As soon as practicable after the effective date of this

24 title, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations appro25 priate for its implementation. Among other matters, such
138

S 1693 RS

1 regulations shall include appropriate provisions to ensure

2 that concession services and facilities to be provided in an

3 area of the National Park System are not segmented or oth4 erwise split into separate concession contracts for the pur5 poses of seeking to reduce anticipated annual gross receipts

6 of a concession contract below $500,000. The Secretary shall

7 also promulgate regulations which further define the term

8 ‘‘United States Indian, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawai9 ian handicrafts’’ for the purposes of this title.

10 SEC. 416. COMMERCIAL USE AUTHORIZATIONS.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—To the extent specified in this sec12 tion, the Secretary, upon request, may authorize a private

13 person, corporation, or other entity to provide services to

14 visitors to units of the National Park System through a

15 commercial use authorization. Such authorizations shall

16 not be considered as concession contracts pursuant to this

17 title nor shall other sections of this title be applicable to

18 such authorizations except where expressly so stated.

19 (b) CRITERIA FOR ISSUANCE OF AUTHORIZATIONS.—

20 (1) The authority of this section may be used

21 only to authorize provisions of services that the Sec22 retary will have minimal impact on park resources

23 and values and which are consistent with the purpose

24 for which the park unit was established and with all
139

S 1693 RS

1 applicable management plans and park policies and

2 regulations.

3 (2) The Secretary shall—

4 (A) require payment of a reasonable fee for

5 issuance of an authorization under this section,

6 such fees to remain available without further ap7 propriation to be used, at a minimum, to recover

8 associated management and administrative costs;

9 (B) require that the provision of services

10 under such an authorization be accomplished in

11 a manner consistent with the highest practicable

12 degree with the preservation and conservation of

13 park resources and values;

14 (C) take appropriate steps to limit the li15 ability of the United States arising from the pro16 vision of services under such an authorization;

17 and

18 (D) have no authority under this section to

19 issue more authorizations than are consistent

20 with the preservation and proper management of

21 park resources and values, and shall establish

22 such other conditions for issuance of such an au23 thorization as the Secretary determines appro24 priate for the protection of visitors, provision of

25 adequate and appropriate visitor services, and
140

S 1693 RS

1 protection and proper management of the re2 sources and values of the park.

3 (c) LIMITATIONS.—Any authorization issued under

4 this section shall be limited to—

5 (1) commercial operations with annual gross re6 ceipts of not more than $25,000 resulting from serv7 ices originating and provided solely within a park

8 pursuant to such authorization; and

9 (2) the incidental use of park resources by com10 mercial operations which provide services originating

11 and terminating outside of the park’s boundaries:

12 Provided, That such authorization shall not provide

13 for the construction of any structure, fixture, or im14 provement on federally-owned lands within the

15 boundaries of the park.

16 (d) DURATION.—The term of any authorization issued

17 under this section shall not exceed two years. No pref18 erential right of renewal or similar provisions for renewal

19 shall be granted by the Secretary.

20 (e) OTHER CONTRACTS.—A person, corporation, or

21 other entity seeking or obtaining an authorization pursuant

22 to this section shall not be precluded from also submitting

23 proposals for concession contracts.
141

S 1693 RS

1 TITLE V—FEE AUTHORITIES

2 SEC. 501. EXTENSION OF THE RECREATIONAL FEE DEM3 ONSTRATION PROGRAM.

4 (a) AUTHORITY.—The authority provided to the Na5 tional Park Service under the Recreational Fee Demonstra6 tion Program authorized by section 315 of Public Law 104–

7 134 (16 U.S.C. 4601–6a note)—

8 (1) is extended through September 30, 2005; and

9 (2) shall be available for all units of the Na10 tional Park System, and for system-wide fee pro11 grams.

12 (b) REPORT.—(1) Not later than September 30, 2000,

13 the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and

14 Natural Resources of the United States Senate and the

15 Committee on Resources of the United States House of Rep16 resentatives a report detailing the status of the recreational

17 fee demonstration program conducted in units of the Na18 tional Park System under section 315 of Public Law 104–

19 134 (16 U.S.C. 4601–6a note).

20 (2) The report under paragraph (1) shall contain—

21 (A) an evaluation of the fee demonstration pro22 gram conducted at each unit of the National Park

23 System;

24 (B) with respect to each unit of the National

25 Park System where a fee is charged under the author-
142

S 1693 RS

1 ity of the Recreational Fee Demonstration Program

2 (16 U.S.C. 4601–6a note), a description of the cri3 teria that were used to determine whether a rec4 reational fee should or should not be charged at such

5 park; and

6 (C) a description of the manner in which the

7 amount of the fee at each national park was estab8 lished.

9 (c) NOTICE.—At least twelve months notice shall be

10 given to the public prior to the increase or establishment

11 of any fee in units of the National Park System.

12 SEC. 502. COMMERCIAL FILMING ACTIVITIES.

13 (a) COMMERCIAL FILMING.—The Secretary shall re14 quire a permit and shall establish a reasonable fee for com15 mercial filming activities in units of the National Park

16 System. Such fee shall provide a fair return to the United

17 States and shall be based upon the following criteria, in

18 addition to such other factors as the Secretary deems nec19 essary: the number of days the filming takes place within

20 a park unit, the size of the film crew, the amount and type

21 of equipment present, and any potential impact on park

22 resources. The Secretary is also directed to recover any costs

23 incurred as a result of filming activities, including but not

24 limited to administration and personnel costs. All costs re25 covered are in addition to the assessed fee.
143

S 1693 RS

1 (b) STILL PHOTOGRAPHY.—(1) Except as provided in

2 paragraph (2), the Secretary shall not require a permit or

3 assess a fee for commercial or non-commercial still photog4 raphy of sites or resources in units of the National Park

5 System in any part of a park where members of the public

6 are generally allowed. In other locations, the Secretary may

7 require a permit, fee, or both, if the Secretary determines

8 that there is a likelihood of resource impact, disruption of

9 the public’s use and enjoyment of the park, or if the activity

10 poses health or safety risks.

11 (2) The Secretary shall require the issuance of a per12 mit and the payment of a reasonable fee for still photog13 raphy that utilizes models or props which are not a part

14 of a park’s natural or cultural features or administrative

15 facilities.

16 (c) PROCEEDS.—(1) Fees collected within units of the

17 National Park System under this section shall be deposited

18 in a special account in the Treasury of the United States

19 and shall be available to the Secretary, without further ap20 propriation for high-priority visitor service or resource

21 management projects and programs for the unit of the Na22 tional Park System in which the fee is collected.

23 (2) All costs recovered under this section shall be re24 tained by the Secretary and shall remain available for ex-
144

S 1693 RS

1 penditure in the park where collected, without further ap2 propriation.

3 SEC. 503. DISTRIBUTION OF GOLDEN EAGLE PASSPORT

4 SALES.

5 Not later than six months after the date of enactment

6 of this title, the Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture

7 shall enter into an agreement providing for an apportion8 ment among each agency of all proceeds derived from the

9 sale of Golden Eagle Passports by private vendors. Such

10 proceeds shall be apportioned to each agency on the basis

11 of the ratio of each agency’s total revenue from admission

12 fees collected during the previous fiscal year to the sum of

13 all revenue from admission fees collected during the pre14 vious fiscal year for all agencies participating in the Golden

15 Eagle Passport Program.

16 TITLE VI—NATIONAL PARK PASSPORT PROGRAM

17 SEC. 601. PURPOSES.

18 The purposes of this title are—

19 (1) to develop a national park passport that in20 cludes a collectible stamp to be used for admission to

21 units of the National Park System; and

22 (2) to generate revenue for support of the Na23 tional Park System.
145

S 1693 RS

1 SEC. 602. NATIONAL PARK PASSPORT PROGRAM.

2 (a) PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall establish a na3 tional park passport program. A national park passport

4 shall include a collectible stamp providing the holder admis5 sion to all units of the National Park System.

6 (b) EFFECTIVE PERIOD.—A national park passport

7 stamp shall be effective for a period of 12 months from the

8 date of purchase.

9 (c) TRANSFERABILITY.—A national park passport and

10 stamp shall not be transferable.

11 SEC. 603. ADMINISTRATION.

12 (a) STAMP DESIGN COMPETITION.—(1) The Secretary

13 shall hold an annual competition for the design of the col14 lectible stamp to be affixed to the national park passport.

15 (2) Each competition shall be open to the public and

16 shall be a means to educate the American people about the

17 National Park System.

18 (b) SALE OF PASSPORTS AND STAMPS.—(1) National

19 park passports and stamps shall be sold through the Na20 tional Park Service and may be sold by private vendors

21 on consignment in accordance with guidelines established

22 by the Secretary.

23 (2) A private vendor may be allowed to collect a com24 mission on each national park passport (including stamp)

25 sold, as determined by the Secretary.
146

S 1693 RS

1 (3) The Secretary may limit the number of private

2 vendors of national park passports (including stamps).

3 (c) USE OF PROCEEDS.—

4 (1) The Secretary may use not more than ten

5 percent of the revenues derived from the sale of na6 tional park passports (including stamps) to admin7 ister and promote the national park passport pro8 gram and the National Park System.

9 (2) Amounts collected from the sale of national

10 park passports shall be deposited in a special account

11 in the Treasury of the United States and shall remain

12 available until expended, without further appropria13 tion, for high priority visitor service or resource man14 agement projects throughout the National Park Sys15 tem.

16 (d) AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary may enter into co17 operative agreements with the National Park Foundation

18 and other interested parties to provide for the development

19 and implementation of the national park passport program

20 and the Secretary shall take such actions as are appropriate

21 to actively market national park passports and stamps.

22 (e) FEE.—The fee for a national park passport and

23 stamp shall be $50.
147

S 1693 RS

1 SEC. 604. INTERNATIONAL PARK PASSPORT PROGRAM.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish an

3 international park passport program in accordance with

4 the other provisions of this title except as provided in this

5 section.

6 (b) AVAILABILITY.—An international park passport

7 and stamp shall be made available exclusively to foreign

8 visitors to the United States.

9 (c) SALE.—International park passports and stamps

10 shall be available for sale exclusively outside the United

11 States through commercial tourism channels and consulates

12 or other offices of the United States.

13 (d) FEE.—International park passports and stamps

14 shall be sold for a fee that is $10.00 less than the fee for

15 a national park passport and stamp, but not less than

16 $40.00.

17 (e) FORM.—An international park passport and

18 stamp shall be produced in a form that provides useful in19 formation to the international visitor and serves as a sou20 venir of the visit.

21 (f) EFFECTIVE PERIOD.—An international park pass22 port and stamp shall be valid for a period of 45 days from

23 the date of purchase.

24 (g) USE OF PROCEEDS.—Amounts collected from the

25 sale of international park passports and stamps shall be
148

S 1693 RS

1 deposited in the special account under section 603(c) and

2 shall be available as provided in section 603(c).

3 (h) TERMINATION OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall

4 terminate the international park passport program at the

5 end of calendar year 2003 unless at least 200,000 inter6 national park passports and stamps are sold during that

7 calendar year.

8 SEC. 605. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS AND PROGRAMS.

9 (a) PARK PASSPORT NOT REQUIRED.—A national

10 park passport or international park passport shall not be

11 required for—

12 (1) a single visit to a national park that charges

13 a single visit admission fee under section 4(a)(2) of

14 the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965

15 (16 U.S.C. 4601–6a(a)(2)) or the Recreational Fee

16 Demonstration Program (16 U.S.C. 4601–6a note); or

17 (2) an individual who has obtained a Golden

18 Age or Golden Access Passport under paragraph (4)

19 or (5) of section 4(a) of the Land and Water Con20 servation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 4601–6a(a)).

21 (b) GOLDEN EAGLE PASSPORTS.—A Golden Eagle

22 Passport issued under section 4(a)(1)(A) of the Land and

23 Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 4601–

24 6a(a)(1)(A)) or the Recreational Fee Demonstration Pro-
149

S 1693 RS

1 gram (16 U.S.C. 460l–6a note) shall be honored for admis2 sion to each unit of the National Park System.

3 (c) ACCESS.—A national park passport and an inter4 national park passport shall provide access to each unit of

5 the National Park System under the same conditions, rules,

6 and regulations as apply to access with a Golden Eagle

7 Passport as of the date of enactment of this title.

8 (d) LIMITATIONS.—A national park passport or inter9 national park passport may not be used to obtain access

10 to other Federal recreation fee areas outside of the National

11 Park System.

12 (e) EXEMPTIONS AND FEES.—A national park pass13 port or international park passport does not exempt the

14 holder from or provide the holder any discount on any

15 recreation use fee imposed under section 4(b) of the Land

16 and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–

17 6a(b)) or the Recreational Fee Demonstration Program (16

18 U.S.C. 460l–6a note).

19 TITLE VII—NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION

20 SUPPORT

21 SEC. 701. PROMOTION OF LOCAL FUNDRAISING SUPPORT.

22 The Act entitled ‘‘An Act to establish the National

23 Park Foundation’’, approved December 18, 1967 (16 U.S.C.

24 19 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end thereof the fol25 lowing:
150

S 1693 RS

1 ‘‘SEC. 12. PROMOTION OF LOCAL FUNDRAISING SUPPORT.

2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Foundation shall design

3 and implement a comprehensive program to assist and pro4 mote philanthropic programs of support at the individual

5 national park unit level.

6 ‘‘(b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The program under sub7 section (a) shall be implemented to—

8 ‘‘(1) assist in the creation of local nonprofit sup9 port organizations; and

10 ‘‘(2) provide support, national consistency, and

11 management-improving suggestions for local non12 profit support organizations.

13 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM.—The program under subsection (a)

14 shall include the greatest number of national park units as

15 is practicable.

16 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS.—The program under subsection

17 (a) shall include, at a minimum—

18 ‘‘(1) a standard adaptable organizational design

19 format to establish and sustain responsible manage20 ment of a local nonprofit support organization for

21 support of a national park unit;

22 ‘‘(2) standard and legally tenable bylaws and

23 recommended money-handling procedures that can

24 easily be adapted as applied to individual national

25 park units; and
151

S 1693 RS

1 ‘‘(3) a standard training curriculum to orient

2 and expand the operating expertise of personnel em3 ployed by local nonprofit support organizations.

4 ‘‘(e) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Foundation shall report

5 the progress of the program under subsection (a) in the an6 nual report of the Foundation.

7 ‘‘(f) AFFILIATIONS.—

8 ‘‘(1) CHARTER OR CORPORATE BYLAWS.—Noth9 ing in this section requires—

10 ‘‘(A) a nonprofit support organization or

11 friends group in existence on the date of enact12 ment of this title to modify current practices or

13 to affiliate with the Foundation; or

14 ‘‘(B) a local nonprofit support organization,

15 established as a result of this section, to be bound

16 through its charter or corporate bylaws to be per17 manently affiliated with the Foundation.

18 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—An affiliation with the

19 Foundation shall be established only at the discretion

20 of the governing board of a nonprofit organization.’’.

21 TITLE VIII—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

22 SEC. 801. UNITED STATES PARK POLICE.

23 (a) APPOINTMENT OF TASK FORCE.—Not later than

24 60 days after the date of enactment of this title, the Sec25 retary shall appoint a multidisciplinary task force to fully
152

S 1693 RS

1 evaluate the shortfalls, needs, and requirements of law en2 forcement programs in the National Park Service, includ3 ing a separate analysis for the United States Park Police,

4 which shall include a review of facility repair, rehabilita5 tion, equipment, and communication needs.

6 (b) SUBMISSION OF REPORT.—Not later than one year

7 after the date of enactment of this title, the Secretary shall

8 submit to the Committees on Energy and Natural Resources

9 and Appropriations of the United States Senate and the

10 Committees on Resources and Appropriations of the United

11 States House of Representatives a report that includes—

12 (1) the findings and recommendations of the task

13 force;

14 (2) complete justifications for any recommenda15 tions made; and

16 (3) a complete description of any adverse im17 pacts that would occur if any need identified in the

18 report is not met.

19 SEC. 802. LEASES AND COOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT AGREE20 MENTS.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of Public Law 91–383

22 (16 U.S.C. 1a–2) is amended by adding at the end the fol23 lowing:

24 ‘‘(k) LEASES.—
153

S 1693 RS

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may enter

2 into a lease with any person or governmental entity

3 for the use of buildings and associated property ad4 ministered by the Secretary as part of the National

5 Park System.

6 ‘‘(2) USE.—Buildings and associated property

7 leased under paragraph (1)—

8 ‘‘(A) shall be used for an activity that is

9 consistent with the purposes established by law

10 for the unit in which the building is located;

11 ‘‘(B) shall not result in degradation of the

12 purposes and values of the unit; and

13 ‘‘(C) shall be compatible with National

14 Park Service programs.

15 ‘‘(3) RENTAL AMOUNTS.—

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a lease

17 under paragraph (1)—

18 ‘‘(i) payment of fair market value

19 rental shall be required; and

20 ‘‘(ii) section 321 of the Act of June 30,

21 1932 (47 Stat. 412, chapter 314; 40 U.S.C.

22 303b) shall not apply.

23 ‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENT.—The Secretary may

24 adjust the rental amount as appropriate to take

25 into account any amounts to be expended by the
154

S 1693 RS

1 lessee for preservation, maintenance, restoration,

2 improvement, or repair and related expenses.

3 ‘‘(C) REGULATION.—The Secretary shall

4 promulgate regulations implementing this sub5 section that includes provisions to encourage and

6 facilitate competition in the leasing process and

7 provide for timely and adequate public comment.

8 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL ACCOUNT.—

9 ‘‘(A) DEPOSITS.—Rental payments under a

10 lease under paragraph (1) shall be deposited in

11 a special account in the Treasury of the United

12 States.

13 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts in the spe14 cial account shall be available until expended,

15 without further appropriation, for infrastructure

16 needs at units of the National Park System, in17 cluding—

18 ‘‘(i) facility refurbishment;

19 ‘‘(ii) repair and replacement;

20 ‘‘(iii) infrastructure projects associated

21 with park resource protection; and

22 ‘‘(iv) direct maintenance of the leased

23 buildings and associated properties.

24 ‘‘(C) ACCOUNTABILITY AND RESULTS.—The

25 Secretary shall develop procedures for the use of
155

S 1693 RS

1 the special account that ensure accountability

2 and demonstrated results consistent with this

3 Act.

4 ‘‘(l) COOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT AGREEMENTS.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Where a unit of the National

6 Park System is located adjacent to or near a State

7 or local park area, and cooperative management be8 tween the National Park Service and a State or local

9 government agency of a portion of either park will

10 allow for more effective and efficient management of

11 the parks, the Secretary is authorized to enter into an

12 agreement with a State or local government agency to

13 provide for the cooperative management of the Federal

14 and State or local park areas: Provided, That the Sec15 retary may not transfer administration responsibil16 ities for any unit of the National Park System.

17 ‘‘(2) PROVISION OF GOODS AND SERVICES.—

18 Under a cooperative management agreement, the Sec19 retary may acquire from and provide to a State or

20 local government agency goods and services to be used

21 by the Secretary and the State or local governmental

22 agency in the cooperative management of land.

23 ‘‘(3) ASSIGNMENT.—An assignment arranged by

24 the Secretary under section 3372 of title 5, United

25 States Code, of a Federal, State, or local employee for
156

S 1693 RS

1 work in any Federal, State, or local land or an exten2 sion of such an assignment may be for any period of

3 time determined by the Secretary and the State or

4 local agency to be mutually beneficial.’’.

5 (b) HISTORIC LEASE PROCESS SIMPLIFICATION.—The

6 Secretary is directed to simplify, to the maximum extent

7 possible, the leasing process for historic properties with the

8 goal of leasing available structures in a timely manner.

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to provide for improved management and increased accountability for certain National Park Service programs, and for other purposes.’’