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Union Calendar No. 270

107TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1370

[Report No. 107–455]

To amend the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966

to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide for maintenance

and repair of buildings and properties located on lands in the National

Wildlife Refuge System by lessees of such facilities, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 3, 2001

Mr. SOUDER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Resources

MAY 14, 2002

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

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

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 3, 2001]

A BILL

To amend the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide for maintenance and repair of buildings

and properties located on lands in the National Wildlife

Refuge System by lessees of such facilities, and for other

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

3 SECTION 1. LEASES, PERMITS, AND CONTRACTS FOR

4 BUILDINGS, FACILITIES, AND PROPERTIES IN

5 THE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE SYSTEM.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The National Wildlife Refuge Sys7 tem Administration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd et seq.)

8 is amended by—

9 (1) striking section 6 (relating to amendments to

10 other laws, which have executed);

11 (2) redesignating section 5 (16 U.S.C. 668ee) as

12 section 6; and

13 (3) inserting after section 4 the following:

14 ‘‘SEC. 5. CONCESSION CONTRACTS.

15 ‘‘(a) CONTRACT REQUIREMENT.—(1) The Secretary

16 shall not award any concession that authorizes a person

17 to use any land or water in the System for any activity

18 described in subsection (b), except under a contract that

19 complies with the requirements established under subsection

20 (c).

21 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may not award a contract required

22 under this subsection except under a competitive bidding

23 process.

24 ‘‘(b) COVERED CONCESSION ACTIVITIES.—(1) The ac25 tivity referred to in subsection (a) is any activity conducted
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1 to provide accommodations, facilities, or services to mem2 bers of the public who are visiting lands or waters in the

3 System, for the purpose of providing such visitors rec4 reational, educational, or interpretive enjoyment of lands

5 or waters in the System.

6 ‘‘(2) Such activity does not include—

7 ‘‘(A) any activity carried out under a procure8 ment contract, grant agreement, or cooperative agree9 ment required under chapter 63 of title 31, United

10 States Code;

11 ‘‘(B) the performance of volunteer services; and

12 ‘‘(C) any activity by a governmental entity.

13 ‘‘(c) STANDARDIZED CONTRACT.—(1) The Secretary,

14 acting through the Director, shall issue regulations that es15 tablish a standardized contract for purposes of subsection

16 (a).

17 ‘‘(2) Regulations under this subsection shall authorize

18 a contract to use a provision other than those specified by

19 the regulations only if—

20 ‘‘(A) the provision addresses extenuating cir21 cumstances that are specific to a refuge or the con22 tract; and

23 ‘‘(B) the provision is approved by the Director

24 in writing.
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1 ‘‘(3) Regulations under this subsection shall require in

2 each contract provisions that require that any activity con3 ducted in the System under the contract—

4 ‘‘(A) must be a compatible use; and

5 ‘‘(B) must be designed to—

6 ‘‘(i) conserve the natural and cultural re7 sources of the System;

8 ‘‘(ii) facilitate the enjoyment of the lands

9 and waters of the System by visitors to the Sys10 tem; and

11 ‘‘(iii) enhance the such visitors’ knowledge

12 of the natural resources of the System.

13 ‘‘(d) MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR.—(1) Notwith14 standing any other provision of law, the Secretary shall in15 clude, in each contract that authorizes a person to use any

16 land or water in the System for any activity described in

17 subsection (b), provisions that—

18 ‘‘(A) authorize the person to maintain or repair

19 any improvement on or in such land or water that

20 the person is authorized to use for such activity; and

21 ‘‘(B) treat costs incurred by the person for such

22 maintenance or repair as consideration otherwise re23 quired to be paid to the United States for such use.

24 ‘‘(2) This subsection does not authorize any mainte25 nance or repair that is not directly related to an activity
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1 described in subsection (b) that is authorized by the con2 tract.

3 ‘‘(3) The United States shall retain title to all property

4 that is maintained or repaired under this subsection.

5 ‘‘(e) NO COMPENSABLE INTEREST.—Nothing in this

6 Act shall be considered to convey to any person any right

7 to compensation for—

8 ‘‘(1) the value of any maintenance activities, re9 pairs, construction, or improvements on or in land or

10 water in the System; or

11 ‘‘(2) buildings, facilities, fixtures, and non-mov12 able equipment that the person is authorized to use

13 under this Act.

14 ‘‘(f) EXPENDITURE OF FEES AND OTHER PAY15 MENTS.—(1) Amounts received by the United States as fees

16 or other payments required under any agreement, lease,

17 permit, or contract for use of real property located in an

18 area in the System shall be available to the Secretary for

19 expenditure in accordance with this subsection, without fur20 ther appropriation.

21 ‘‘(2) Amounts available for expenditure under this sub22 section may only be used—

23 ‘‘(A) at the refuge or refuge complex with respect

24 to which the amounts were received as fees or other

25 payments;
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1 ‘‘(B) to increase the quality of the visitor experi2 ence; and

3 ‘‘(C) for purposes of—

4 ‘‘(i) backlogged repair and maintenance

5 projects (including projects relating to health

6 and safety);

7 ‘‘(ii) interpretation, signage, habitat, or fa8 cility enhancement;

9 ‘‘(iii) resource preservation; or

10 ‘‘(iv) administration of agreements, leases,

11 permits, and contracts from which such amounts

12 are derived.

13 ‘‘(3) Paragraph (1) shall not affect the application of

14 the Act of June 15, 1935 (chapter 261; 16 U.S.C. 715s),

15 commonly referred to as the Refuge Revenue Sharing Act,

16 to amounts referred to in paragraph (1) that are not ex17 pended by the Secretary under paragraph (1).’’.

18 (b) APPLICATION.—Section 5(a) of the National Wild19 life Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, as amended

20 by this section, shall apply only with respect to a concession

21 that is—

22 (1) first awarded after the date of the publica23 tion of regulations under section 5(c) of the National

24 Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966,

25 as amended by this section; or
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1 (2) renewed after the end of the 3-year period be2 ginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.

3 (c) DEADLINE FOR REGULATIONS ESTABLISHING

4 STANDARDIZED CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec5 retary of the Interior shall issue regulations under section

6 5(c) of the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration

7 Act of 1966, as amended by this section, by not later than

8 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act.

9 (d) COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATION PLAN REQUIRE10 MENT.—Section 4(e) of the National Wildlife Refuge System

11 Administration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd) is amended

12 by adding at the end the following:

13 ‘‘(5) The Secretary shall include, in the comprehensive

14 conservation plan for each refuge under this subsection, a

15 description of the activities that may be conducted in the

16 refuge, and the lands, waters, and facilities of the refuge

17 that may be used, under concession contracts awarded

18 under section 5(a).’’.

19 (e) PRIOR AMENDMENTS NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in

20 this section shall be construed to affect any amendment

21 made by section 6 of the National Wildlife Refuge System

22 Administration Act of 1966, as in effect before the enact23 ment of this Act, or any provision of law amended by such

24 section.
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1 (f) ANNUAL REPORT ON NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

2 CONCESSIONS.—

3 (1) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—The National

4 Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966

5 (16 U.S.C. 668dd et seq.) is further amended by add6 ing at the end the following:

7 ‘‘SEC. 7. ANNUAL REPORT ON CONCESSION ACTIVITIES IN

8 THE SYSTEM.

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall submit by De10 cember 31 each year, to the Committee on Resources of the

11 House of Representatives and the Committee on Environ12 ment and Public Works of the Senate, a report on conces13 sions activities conducted in the System.

14 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—Each report under this section shall

15 describe the following with respect to the period covered by

16 the report:

17 ‘‘(1) The number of refuge units in which conces18 sions activities were conducted.

19 ‘‘(2) The names and descriptions of services of20 fered in the System by each concessionaire.

21 ‘‘(3) A listing of the different types of legal ar22 rangements under which concessionaires operated in

23 the System, including contracts, memoranda of un24 derstanding, permits, letters of agreement, and other

25 arrangements.
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1 ‘‘(4) Amounts of fees or other payments received

2 by the United States with respect to such activities

3 from each concessionaire, and the portion of such

4 funds expended for purposes under this Act.

5 ‘‘(5) An accounting of the amount of monies de6 posited into the fund established by section 401 of the

7 Act of June 15, 1935 (chapter 261; 16 U.S.C. 715s),

8 popularly known as the refuge revenue sharing fund,

9 and of the balance remaining in the fund at the end

10 of the reporting period.

11 ‘‘(6) A listing of all concession contracts and

12 other arrangements that were terminated or not re13 newed within the reporting period.

14 ‘‘(7) A summary of all improvements in visitor

15 services in the System that were completed by conces16 sionaires and volunteers during the reporting period.

17 ‘‘(8) A summary of all backlogged repair and

18 maintenance, facility enhancement, and resource pres19 ervation projects completed by concessionaires and

20 volunteers during the reporting period.’’.

21 (2) DEADLINE FOR FIRST REPORT.—The Sec22 retary of the Interior shall submit the first report

23 under the amendment made by paragraph (1) by not

24 later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of

25 this Act.
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Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to amend the

National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of

1966 to establish requirements for the award of concessions in the National Wildlife Refuge System, to provide

for maintenance and repair of properties located in the

System by concessionaires authorized to use such properties, and for other purposes.’’.

Union Calendar No. 270

107TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1370

[Report No. 107–455]

A BILL

To amend the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide for maintenance

and repair of buildings and properties located onlands in the National Wildlife Refuge System bylessees of such facilities, and for other purposes.

MAY 14, 2002

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee

of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed