I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1490

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

from park entrance fees or assess up to $2 per person visiting the

Grand Canyon or another national park to secure bonds for capital

improvements to the park, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 20, 1999

Mr. KOLBE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Resources

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to set aside up

to $2 per person from park entrance fees or assess

up to $2 per person visiting the Grand Canyon or another national park to secure bonds for capital improvements to the park, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

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

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

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

7 this Act is as follows:
2

•HR 1490 IH

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Definitions.

Sec. 3. Fundraising organization.

Sec. 4. Memorandum of agreement.

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

Sec. 6. Use of bond proceeds.

Sec. 7. Administration.

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

2 In this Act:

3 (1) FUNDRAISING ORGANIZATION.—The term

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

7 (2) MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT.—The term

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

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

11 in section 4.

12 (3) NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION.—The term

13 ‘‘National Park Foundation’’ means the foundation

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

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

18 park’’ means—

19 (A) the Grand Canyon National Park; and

20 (B) any other national park designated by

21 the Secretary that has an approved general
3

•HR 1490 IH

1 management plan with capital needs in excess

2 of $5,000,000.

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

4 the Secretary of the Interior.

5 SEC. 3. FUNDRAISING ORGANIZATION.

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

7 memorandum of agreement under section 4 with an entity

8 to act as an authorized fundraising organization for the

9 benefit of a national park.

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

13 section 5.

14 (c) PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS.—The fundraising

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

17 with all applicable Federal and State law.

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

19 subject to an audit by the Secretary.

20 (e) NO LIABILITY FOR BONDS.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The United States shall not

22 be liable for the security of any bonds issued by the

23 fundraising organization.

24 (2) EXCEPTION.—If the surcharge or set-aside

25 described in section 5(a) for a national park is not
4

•HR 1490 IH

1 imposed for any reason, or if the surcharge or set2 aside is reduced or eliminated, the full faith and

3 credit of the United States is pledged to the pay4 ment of—

5 (A) the bonds issued by a fundraising or6 ganization under subsection (b) for that na7 tional park; and

8 (B) the interest accruing on the bonds.

9 SEC. 4. MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT.

10 The fundraising organization shall enter into a

11 memorandum of agreement that specifies—

12 (1) the amount of the bond issue;

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

14 years;

15 (3) the per capita amount required to amortize

16 the bond issue, provide for the reasonable costs of

17 administration, and maintain a sufficient reserve

18 consistent with industry standards;

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

20 that will be funded with the bond proceeds and the

21 specific responsibilities of the Secretary and the

22 fundraising organization with respect to each

23 project; and

24 (5) procedures for modifications of the agree25 ment with the consent of both parties based on
5

•HR 1490 IH

1 changes in circumstances, including modifications

2 relating to project priorities.

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

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi5 sion of law, the Secretary may authorize the super6 intendent of a national park for which a memorandum of

7 agreement is in effect—

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

9 amount not to exceed $2 for each individual other10 wise subject to an entrance fee for admission to the

11 national park; or

12 (2) to set aside not more than $2 for each indi13 vidual charged the entrance fee.

14 (b) SURCHARGE IN ADDITION TO ENTRANCE

15 FEES.—A surcharge under subsection (a) shall be in addi16 tion to any entrance fee collected under—

17 (1) section 4 of the Land and Water Conserva18 tion Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–6a);

19 (2) the recreational fee demonstration program

20 authorized by section 315 of the Department of the

21 Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act,

22 1996 (as contained in Public Law 104–134; 110

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

24 note); or
6

•HR 1490 IH

1 (3) the national park passport program estab2 lished under title VI of the National Parks Omnibus

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

4 112 Stat. 3518; 16 U.S.C. 5991 et seq.).

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

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

7 individual charged an entrance fee.

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

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

10 (1) amortize the bond issue;

11 (2) provide for the reasonable costs of adminis12 tration; and

13 (3) maintain a sufficient reserve consistent with

14 industry standards, as determined by the bond un15 derwriter.

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

17 of the amount necessary to fund the uses in subsection

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

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

20 System.

21 SEC. 6. USE OF BOND PROCEEDS.

22 (a) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—

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

24 bond proceeds under this Act may be used for a

25 project for the design, construction, operation, main-
7

•HR 1490 IH

1 tenance, repair, or replacement of a facility in the

2 national park for which the bond was issued.

3 (2) PROJECT LIMITATIONS.—A project referred

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

5 (A) the laws governing the National Park

6 System;

7 (B) any law governing the national park in

8 which the project is to be completed; and

9 (C) the general management plan for the

10 national park.

11 (3) PROHIBITION ON USE FOR ADMINISTRA12 TION.—Other than interest as provided in subsection

13 (b), no part of the bond proceeds may be used to de14 fray administrative expenses.

15 (b) INTEREST ON BOND PROCEEDS.—

16 (1) AUTHORIZED USES.—Any interest earned

17 on bond proceeds may be used by the fundraising or18 ganization to—

19 (A) meet reserve requirements; and

20 (B) defray reasonable administrative ex21 penses incurred in connection with the manage22 ment and sale of the bonds.

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

24 proceeds not used for purposes of paragraph (1)

25 shall be remitted to the National Park Foundation
8

•HR 1490 IH

1 for the benefit of all units of the National Park Sys2 tem.

3 SEC. 7. ADMINISTRATION.

4 The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of

5 Treasury, shall promulgate regulations to carry out this

6 Act.

Æ