II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2627

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to provide funding for rehabilitation

of the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park, to authorize

funds for maintenance of utilities related to the Park, and for other

purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 24, 2000

Mr. BURNS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to provide funding

for rehabilitation of the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier

National Park, to authorize funds for maintenance of

utilities related 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. FINDINGS.

4 Congress finds that—

5 (1) the historical significance of the 52-mile

6 Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park,

7 Montana, is recognized by its—
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1 (A) listing on the National Register of His2 toric Places in 1983;

3 (B) designation as a National Historic En4 gineering Landmark by the American Society of

5 Civil Engineers in 1985; and

6 (C) designation as a National Historic

7 Landmark in 1997;

8 (2) in 1997, recommendations of the Federal

9 Highway Administration concerning, and an engi10 neering study of, the Road verified significant struc11 tural damage to the Road has occurred since the

12 Road opened in 1932;

13 (3) infrastructure at most of the developed

14 areas in the Park is inadequate for cold-season (fall,

15 winter, and spring) operation, and maintenance

16 backlog needs exist for normal summer operation;

17 (4) the Many Glacier Hotel and Lake McDon18 ald Lodge are on the National Register of Historic

19 Places and are National Historic Landmarks;

20 (5) other accommodations operated by the con21 cessionaire that have possessory interest and are

22 listed on the National Register of Historic Places

23 are the Rising Sun Motor Inn and Swiftcurrent

24 Motel;
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1 (6) the historic hotels in the Park, operated

2 under concession agreements with the National Park

3 Service, are essential for public use and enjoyment

4 of the Park;

5 (7) visitors to the Park deserve safe hotels in

6 the Park that meet basic needs and expectations;

7 (8) the historic hotels in the Park have deterio8 rated significantly and need substantial repair;

9 (9) repairs of the hotels in the Park have been

10 deferred for so long that, absent any changes to the

11 Federal law governing concessionaires and the avail12 ability of historic tax credits for up to 39.5 years,

13 the remodeling costs for the hotels exceed the capac14 ity of the hotel concessionaire to finance the repairs

15 with hotel revenues;

16 (10) the remodeling costs of Park hotels are so

17 high that the concessionaire will need to finance the

18 cost of those repairs by borrowing the remodeling

19 expenses and repaying them over time out of net

20 hotel income, which by current law is limited to 20-

21 year concession agreements;

22 (11) the season of operation for hotels is about

23 4 months because the developed areas of the Park

24 lack—
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1 (A) water, sewer, and fire protection sys2 tems that can operate in freezing conditions;

3 (B) building insulation; and

4 (C) heating systems;

5 (12) because of many factors, including the

6 high projected costs of remodeling, the relatively

7 short tourist season in the Park, and the require8 ment that concession agreements may not exceed 20

9 years, concessionaires are unable to carry out the

10 scope of remodeling that is needed for the hotels in

11 the Park;

12 (13) the National Park Service Concessions

13 Management Improvement Act of 1998 (16 U.S.C.

14 5951 et seq.) is based on sound principles and is

15 achieving its basic purposes, but there appear to be

16 selected instances in which the National Park Serv17 ice needs additional authority to conduct demonstra18 tion projects; and

19 (14) a demonstration project is needed to carry

20 out repairs of the historic hotels in the Park.

21 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

22 In this Act:

23 (1) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Committee’’

24 means the Going-to-the-Sun Road Citizens’ Advisory

25 Committee.
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1 (2) PARK.—The term ‘‘Park’’ means Glacier

2 National Park, Montana.

3 (3) ROAD.—The term ‘‘Road’’ means Going-to4 the-Sun Road, located in the Park.

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

6 the Secretary of the Interior.

7 SEC. 3. GOING-TO-THE-SUN ROAD FEASIBILITY STUDY AND

8 REHABILITATION PLAN.

9 (a) FEASIBILITY STUDY.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than June 30,

11 2001, the Secretary, in consultation with the Com12 mittee, shall complete a feasibility study for rehabili13 tation of the Road.

14 (2) INCLUSIONS.—The feasibility study shall

15 include—

16 (A) alternative plans for rehabilitation of

17 the Road, including—

18 (i) a ranking of the feasibility of each

19 plan;

20 (ii) an estimate of the length of time

21 necessary to complete each plan;

22 (iii) a description of which mitigation

23 efforts would be used to preserve resources

24 and minimize adverse economic effects of

25 each plan;
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1 (iv) an analysis of the costs and bene2 fits of each plan;

3 (v) an estimate of the cost of each

4 plan;

5 (B) an analysis of long-term maintenance

6 needs, standards, and schedules for the Road,

7 alternatives to accomplish the work, mainte8 nance staff needs, and associated cost esti9 mates; and

10 (C) a complete environmental analysis that

11 meets any applicable requirement of—

12 (i) the National Environmental Policy

13 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.);

14 (ii) the National Historic Preservation

15 Act (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.); and

16 (iii) any other applicable law.

17 (3) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 30 days after

18 completion of the feasibility study, the Secretary

19 shall submit to the Committee on Resources in the

20 House of Representatives and the Committee on En21 ergy and Natural Resources in the Senate a copy of

22 the study.

23 (b) REHABILITATION PLAN.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after

2 completing the study and environmental analysis

3 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall—

4 (A) consider the recommendations of the

5 Committee;

6 (B) make any decision documented in the

7 environmental analysis process; and

8 (C) select and implement a rehabilitation

9 plan for the Road.

10 (2) AUTHORIZED ACTIONS.—In implementing a

11 rehabilitation plan under this subsection, the Sec12 retary may—

13 (A) use funds to—

14 (i) rehabilitate the Road; and

15 (ii) carry out transportation system

16 improvements or impact mitigation activi17 ties outside the Park, if recommended in

18 the feasibility study and by the Committee;

19 and

20 (B) seek funding for any long-term main21 tenance needs identified in the feasibility study.

22 (3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

23 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec24 retary to implement the rehabilitation plan (includ-
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1 ing the cost of any necessary environmental or cul2 tural documentation and monitoring), $200,000,000.

3 (c) CONTINUATION OF MAINTENANCE.—Nothing in

4 this section affects the duty of the Secretary to continue

5 the program in effect on the day before the date of the

6 enactment of this Act to preserve, maintain, and address

7 safety concerns relating to the Road.

8 SEC. 4. MAINTENANCE AND UPGRADE OF UTILITY

9 SYSTEMS.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after funds

11 are made available under this section, the Secretary shall

12 begin the upgrade and continue the maintenance of utility

13 systems that serve the Park and facilities relating to the

14 Park.

15 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

16 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry

17 out this section, $20,000,000.

18 SEC. 5. HOTEL REHABILITATION.

19 (a) COMPETITIVE LEASES OF PROPERTY.—Notwith20 standing section 3(k) of Public Law 91–383 (commonly

21 known as the ‘‘National Park System General Authorities

22 Act’’) (16 U.S.C. 1a–2) or any other provision of law, sub23 ject to subsection (b), the Secretary may enter into a com24 petitive lease of Federal property in the Park under which

25 a lessee may provide visitor services to visitors to the area.
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1 (b) MANDATORY CONDITIONS OF LEASES.—

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall enter

3 into a lease under subsection (a) only after deter4 mining that the provision of visitor services—

5 (A) is necessary and appropriate for the

6 accommodation of visitors to the Park, taking

7 into consideration the value of providing addi8 tional visitor services (including conference fa9 cilities) for groups of visitors in the early spring

10 and late fall months, especially as those addi11 tional services may provide extra revenue need12 ed to finance improvements for the historic ho13 tels in Glacier National Park; and

14 (B) is consistent with section 402 of the

15 National Park Service Concessions Management

16 Improvement Act of 1998 (16 U.S.C. 5952).

17 (2) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The Secretary

18 shall include in a lease under this subsection appro19 priate terms and conditions to ensure, to the max20 imum extent practicable, that—

21 (A) any visitor service provided is—

22 (i) adequate; and

23 (ii) available at a reasonable rate—

24 (I) to be approved by the Sec25 retary in accordance with section 406
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1 of the National Park Service Conces2 sions Management Improvement Act

3 of 1998 (16 U.S.C. 5951 et seq.); and

4 (II) that may be at such a level

5 as to allow any investment in capital

6 improvements for visitor services to be

7 recovered within a reasonable amount

8 of time by the concessionaire that fi9 nanced the improvements;

10 (B) the leased property will be properly

11 maintained by the lessee, and, with respect to

12 historic property that may be leased, preserved,

13 and maintained in a manner consistent with the

14 historic character of the property, as deter15 mined by the Secretary; and

16 (C) assure the lessee of adequate protec17 tion against any loss of investment in an im18 provement to real property that the lessee may

19 make to the leased property (including an obli20 gation of the United States to compensate the

21 lessee for any loss of investment in an improve22 ment to real property in any circumstances that

23 the Secretary determines to be prudent).

24 (c) LEASEHOLD SURRENDER VALUE.—In any con25 tract for improvements, the Secretary shall recognize the
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1 leasehold surrender value of any existing lease that the

2 Secretary may require to be surrendered in any action that

3 is associated with approving an improvement to visitor

4 services under this section.

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