II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1253 

To establish a fund for the National Park Centennial Challenge, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 30, 2007 

Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself and Mr. AKAKA) (by request) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To establish a fund for the National Park Centennial 

Challenge, 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Park Centen5 nial Challenge Fund Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

8 (1) our national parks are icons of America; 

9 (2) the one hundredth anniversary of the Na10 tional Park System will be in 2016; 


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1 (3) it is appropriate for all Americans to help 

2 in the efforts to enhance our parks as the country 

3 gets ready for this centennial celebration; 

4 (4) the President has proposed a National Park 

5 Centennial Initiative that, over ten years, will pro6 vide up to $3,000,000,000 to prepare parks for an7 other century of conservation, preservation, and en8 joyment; and 

9 (5) a part of that Initiative is the establishment 

10 of a Centennial Challenge to encourage individuals, 

11 foundations, and the private sector to donate money 

12 each year by providing up to $100,000,000 in dedi13 cated Federal funding to match donations for signa14 ture projects and programs. 

15 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to estab16 lish a fund in the Treasury that will be used to finance 

17 signature projects and programs to enhance the National 

18 Park System as it approaches its centennial in 2016 and 

19 to prepare the parks for another century of conservation, 

20 preservation, and enjoyment. 

21 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) CHALLENGE FUND.—The term ‘‘Challenge 

24 Fund’’ means the National Park Centennial Chal25 lenge Fund. 


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1 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

2 the Director of the National Park Service. 

3 (3) QUALIFIED DONATION.—The term ‘‘quali4 fied donation’’ means a cash non-Federal donation 

5 to the National Park Service that the Director cer6 tifies is for a listed signature project or program. 

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

8 Secretary of the Interior. 

9 (5) SIGNATURE PROJECT OR PROGRAM.—The 

10 term ‘‘signature project or program’’ means any 

11 project or program identified by the Director as one 

12 that will help prepare the national parks for another 

13 century of conservation, preservation, and enjoy14 ment. 

15 SEC. 4. NATIONAL PARK CENTENNIAL CHALLENGE FUND. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

17 Treasury a fund to be known as the National Park Cen18 tennial Challenge Fund. The Challenge Fund shall consist 

19 of: 

20 (1) Qualified donations transferred from the 

21 Donations to the National Park Service account, in 

22 accordance with section 6(a). 

23 (2) Amounts appropriated from the general 

24 fund of the Treasury, in accordance with section 

25 6(b). 


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1 (b) AVAILABILITY.—All amounts deposited in the 

2 Challenge Fund shall be available, subject to restrictions 

3 in section 6(c), to the Secretary for signature projects and 

4 programs under this Act without further appropriation 

5 and without fiscal year limitation. No monies shall be 

6 available for indirect administrative costs. The expendi7 ture of amounts in the Challenge Fund shall follow Fed8 eral procurement and financial laws and standards. 

9 SEC. 5. SIGNATURE PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS. 

10 (a) LIST.—The Secretary, acting through the Direc11 tor, shall develop a list of signature projects and programs 

12 eligible for funding from the Challenge Fund. The list 

13 shall be submitted to the President and to the Committees 

14 on Appropriations and Energy and Natural Resources in 

15 the United States Senate, and to the Committees on Ap16 propriations and Natural Resources in the House of Rep17 resentatives. 

18 (b) SIGNATURE PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS.—For 

19 purposes of this Act, a signature project or program shall 

20 be a project or program identified by the Director as one 

21 that will help prepare the national parks for another cen22 tury of conservation, preservation, and enjoyment. 

23 (c) UPDATES.—The Secretary, acting through the 

24 Director, may, from time to time as the Secretary or Di25 rector finds necessary, add any project or program to the 


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1 list developed pursuant to subsection (a) that the Director 

2 believes is a signature project or program. If the Director 

3 adds any project or program to the list, the Secretary shall 

4 notify the Committees referred to in subsection (a) at the 

5 time the project or program is added. 

6 SEC. 6. DONATIONS AND MATCHING FEDERAL FUNDS. 

7 (a) QUALIFIED DONATIONS.—Beginning on October 

8 1, 2007, and ending on September 30, 2017, the Secretary 

9 may transfer to the Challenge Fund qualified donations 

10 of cash, including cash to liquidate a letter of credit, re11 ceived by the National Park Service. 

12 (b) MATCHING AMOUNT.—There is hereby appro13 priated in each fiscal year beginning on October 1, 2007, 

14 and ending on September 30, 2017, an amount equal to 

15 the qualified donations received and the pledge of dona16 tions through letters of credit in the same fiscal year, not 

17 to exceed $100,000,000 in any one year. In no case may 

18 the matching amount exceed the amount of donations re19 ceived or pledged in any year. For the purpose of this sub20 section, the Secretary may consider a donation for any fis21 cal year to be received when a pledge of a donation for 

22 that fiscal year is guaranteed and a valid irrevocable letter 

23 of credit is issued for such purposes. 

24 (c) OBLIGATIONS.—The Secretary may not obligate 

25 any amounts based on a letter of credit, or amounts to 


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1 match a letter of credit pursuant to subsection (b), until 

2 amounts from that letter of credit are deposited in the 

3 Challenge Fund. 

4 (d) SOLICITATION.—Nothing in this Act shall be con5 strued as expanding any authority that exists on the date 

6 of its enactment with respect to the ability of the National 

7 Park Service and its employees to receive or solicit for do8 nations. 

9 SEC. 7. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

10 The Secretary shall provide with the submission of 

11 the President’s budget a list of the signature projects and 

12 programs and the status of their funding. 

13 SEC. 8. REGULATIONS. 

14 The Secretary may promulgate such regulations as 

15 may be necessary to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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