107TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1370

AN ACT

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.
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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

7 System Administration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd et

8 seq.) is amended by—

9 (1) striking section 6 (relating to amendments

10 to other laws, which have executed);

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

12 as 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 sub20 section (c).

21 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may not award a contract re22 quired under this subsection except under a competitive

23 bidding process.

24 ‘‘(b) COVERED CONCESSION ACTIVITIES.—(1) The

25 activity referred to in subsection (a) is any activity con-
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1 ducted to provide accommodations, facilities, or services

2 to members of the public who are visiting lands or waters

3 in the System, for the purpose of providing such visitors

4 recreational, educational, or interpretive enjoyment of

5 lands 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

9 agreement required under chapter 63 of title 31,

10 United 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

15 establish a standardized contract for purposes of sub16 section (a).

17 ‘‘(2) Regulations under this subsection shall author18 ize a contract to use a provision other than those specified

19 by 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

2 in each contract provisions that require that any activity

3 conducted 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

15 include, in each contract that authorizes a person to use

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

17 in 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 prop4 erty 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

10 or 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

16 fees or other payments required under any agreement,

17 lease, permit, or contract for use of real property located

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

19 for expenditure in accordance with this subsection, without

20 further appropriation.

21 ‘‘(2) Amounts available for expenditure under this

22 subsection may only be used—

23 ‘‘(A) at the refuge or refuge complex with re24 spect to which the amounts were received as fees or

25 other payments;
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1 ‘‘(B) to increase the quality of the visitor expe2 rience; 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 protection and preservation;

10 or

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

12 permits, and contracts from which such

13 amounts are derived.

14 ‘‘(3) Paragraph (1) shall not affect the application

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

16 715s), commonly referred to as the Refuge Revenue Shar17 ing Act, to amounts referred to in paragraph (1) that are

18 not expended by the Secretary under paragraph (1).’’.

19 (b) APPLICATION.—Section 5(a) of the National

20 Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, as

21 amended by this section, shall apply only with respect to

22 a concession that is—

23 (1) first awarded after the date of the publica24 tion of regulations under section 5(c) of the National
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1 Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966,

2 as amended by this section; or

3 (2) renewed after the end of the 3-year period

4 beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.

5 (c) DEADLINE FOR REGULATIONS ESTABLISHING

6 STANDARDIZED CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec7 retary of the Interior shall issue regulations under section

8 5(c) of the National Wildlife Refuge System Administra9 tion Act of 1966, as amended by this section, by not later

10 than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this

11 Act.

12 (d) COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATION PLAN RE13 QUIREMENT.—Section 4(e) of the National Wildlife Ref14 uge System Administration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C.

15 668dd) is amended by adding at the end the following:

16 ‘‘(5) The Secretary shall include, in the comprehen17 sive conservation plan for each refuge under this sub18 section, a description of the activities that may be con19 ducted in the refuge, and the lands, waters, and facilities

20 of the refuge that may be used, under concession contracts

21 awarded under section 5(a).’’.

22 (e) PRIOR AMENDMENTS NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing

23 in this section shall be construed to affect any amendment

24 made by section 6 of the National Wildlife Refuge System

25 Administration Act of 1966, as in effect before the enact-
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1 ment of this Act, or any provision of law amended by such

2 section.

3 SEC. 2. ANNUAL REPORT ON NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

4 CONCESSIONS.

5 (a) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—The National Wild6 life Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C.

7 668dd et seq.) is further amended by adding at the end

8 the following:

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

10 THE SYSTEM.

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall submit by

12 December 31 each year, to the Committee on Resources

13 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on

14 Environment and Public Works of the Senate, a report

15 on concessions activities conducted in the System.

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

17 shall describe the following with respect to the period cov18 ered by the report:

19 ‘‘(1) The number of refuge units in which con20 cessions activities were conducted.

21 ‘‘(2) The names and descriptions of services of22 fered in the System by each concessionaire.

23 ‘‘(3) A listing of the different types of legal ar24 rangements under which concessionaires operated in

25 the System, including contracts, memoranda of un-
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1 derstanding, permits, letters of agreement, and other

2 arrangements.

3 ‘‘(4) Amounts of fees or other payments re4 ceived by the United States with respect to such ac5 tivities from each concessionaire, and the portion of

6 such funds expended for purposes under this Act.

7 ‘‘(5) An accounting of the amount of monies

8 deposited into the fund established by section 401 of

9 the Act of June 15, 1935 (chapter 261; 16 U.S.C.

10 715s), popularly known as the refuge revenue shar11 ing fund, and of the balance remaining in the fund

12 at the end of the reporting period.

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

14 other arrangements that were terminated or not re15 newed within the reporting period.

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

17 services in the System that were completed by con18 cessionaires and volunteers during the reporting pe19 riod.

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

21 maintenance, facility enhancement, and resource

22 preservation projects completed by concessionaires

23 and volunteers during the reporting period.’’.

24 (b) DEADLINE FOR FIRST REPORT.—The Secretary

25 of the Interior shall submit the first report under the
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1 amendment made by subsecton (a) by not later than 1

2 year after the date of the enactment of this Act.

Passed the House of Representatives May 14, 2002.

Attest:

Clerk.
107TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1370

AN ACT

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 inthe System by concessionaires authorized to usesuch properties, and for other purposes.