I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1731 

To eliminate the annual operating deficit and maintenance backlog in the 

national parks, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 28, 2007 

Mr. BAIRD (for himself and Mr. SOUDER) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to 

the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To eliminate the annual operating deficit and maintenance 

backlog in the national parks, 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 Park Centennial Act’’. 

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

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings and purpose. 

TITLE I—CENTENNIAL FUND 

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Sec. 101. Centennial fund for preserving America’s national parks. 

Sec. 102. Designation of overpayments and contributions for the benefit of 

units of the National Park System. 

Sec. 103. Program allocation. 

Sec. 104. Patriots for national parks. 

TITLE II—ELIMINATING THE NATIONAL PARK MAINTENANCE 

BACKLOG 

Sec. 201. Backlog elimination. 

TITLE III—PROTECTING NATURAL WONDERS 

Sec. 301. Natural resource challenge. 

TITLE IV—PROTECTING NATIONAL TREASURES 

Sec. 401. Cultural resource challenge. 

TITLE V—MEETING ANNUAL OPERATING NEEDS 

Sec. 501. Progress on annual appropriations. 

TITLE VI—REPORTS 

Sec. 601. Reports assessing the national parks. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The National Park Service was established 

4 to conserve the national parks, their scenery, natural 

5 and historic objects, and wildlife for public enjoy6 ment, in such manner and by such means as will 

7 leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future 

8 generations. 

9 (2) The central purpose of the establishment of 

10 our national parks is being challenged by chronic 

11 funding shortfalls, which have created annual short12 falls in operational funding that exceed 

13 $800,000,000, and have amassed a maintenance 

14 backlog estimated by the Congressional Research 

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1 Service to be between $4,520,000,000 and 

2 $6,800,000,000. 

3 (3) Without providing the Park Service the re4 sources necessary to operate and maintain our na5 tional parks, future generations will— 

6 (A) receive diminished visitor services; 

7 (B) experience a continually weakening 

8 system that is less and less able to fulfill its 

9 mission; and 

10 (C) inherit a National Park System that 

11 has been left to them in worse condition than 

12 it was left to their ancestors. 

13 (4) The annual Congressional appropriations 

14 process has proved insufficient to fully address the 

15 debilitating funding shortfalls of the national parks, 

16 making it necessary to supplement what the appro17 priations process is able to accomplish. 

18 (5) It is necessary to ensure that fiscal re19 sources devoted to the national parks are spent wise20 ly and effectively, making strong congressional over21 sight over annual appropriations extremely impor22 tant. 

23 (6) Congress can enhance the resources avail24 able for national park operations and ensure ade25 quate oversight over Park Service spending by remmaher on PROD1PC60 with BILLS

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1 moving from the appropriations process a series of 

2 funding responsibilities that are outside the core op3 erating budgets for the national parks. 

4 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to elimi5 nate the annual operating deficit and the maintenance 

6 backlog in the national parks by the centennial anniver7 sary of the National Park System by enabling Congress 

8 to focus on overseeing and fully funding the core oper9 ations of the national parks in the annual appropriations 

10 process. 

11 TITLE I—CENTENNIAL FUND 

12 SEC. 101. CENTENNIAL FUND FOR PRESERVING AMERICA’S 

13 NATIONAL PARKS. 

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

15 Treasury a fund which shall be known as the ‘‘National 

16 Park Centennial Fund’’, hereinafter in this Act referred 

17 to as the ‘‘Centennial Fund’’. In each fiscal year beginning 

18 in fiscal year 2008, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 

19 deposit into the Centennial Fund amounts set forth in 

20 subsection (b) sufficient to fund the programs identified 

21 in titles II, III, and IV. 

22 (b) APPROPRIATIONS.—There are hereby appro23 priated to the Centennial Fund in each fiscal year, the 

24 following amounts: 

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1 (1) Amounts equivalent to the amounts des2 ignated in the taxable year ending in the fiscal year 

3 concerned under section 6097 of the Internal Rev4 enue Code of 1986. 

5 (2) Any additional amounts necessary to make 

6 the total amounts deposited to the Centennial Fund 

7 each fiscal year equal to the total amount listed in 

8 section 103. 

9 SEC. 102. DESIGNATION OF OVERPAYMENTS AND CON10 TRIBUTIONS FOR THE BENEFIT OF UNITS OF 

11 THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 61 of the 

13 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at 

14 the end the following new part: 

15 ‘‘PART IX—DESIGNATION OF OVERPAYMENTS 

16 AND CONTRIBUTIONS FOR THE BENEFIT OF 

17 UNITS OF THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM 

‘‘PART IX—DESIGNATION OF OVERPAYMENTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS FOR THE

BENEFIT OF UNITS OF THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM

‘‘Sec. 6097. Designation. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 6097. DESIGNATION. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual, with 

20 respect to each taxpayer’s return for the taxable year of 

21 the tax imposed by chapter 1, such taxpayer may des22 ignate that— 

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1 ‘‘(1) a specified portion (but not less than $1) 

2 of any overpayment of tax for such taxable year, and 

3 ‘‘(2) any cash contribution which the taxpayer 

4 includes with such return, 

5 shall be used for the benefit of units of the National Park 

6 System. 

7 ‘‘(b) MANNER AND TIME OF DESIGNATION.—A des8 ignation under subsection (a) may be made with respect 

9 to any taxable year only at the time of filing the return 

10 of the tax imposed by chapter 1 for such taxable year. 

11 Such designation shall be made in such manner as the 

12 Secretary prescribes by regulations except that such des13 ignation shall be made either on the first page of the re14 turn or on the page bearing the taxpayer’s signature. 

15 ‘‘(c) OVERPAYMENTS TREATED AS REFUNDED.—For 

16 purposes of this title, any portion of any overpayment of 

17 tax designated under subsection (a) shall be treated as 

18 being refunded to the taxpayer as of the last date pre19 scribed for filing the return of tax imposed by chapter 1 

20 (determined without regard to extensions) or, if later, the 

21 date the return is filed.’’. 

22 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of parts for 

23 subchapter A of chapter 61 of such Code is amended by 

24 adding at the end thereof the following new item: 

‘‘Part IX. Designation of overpayments and contributions for the benefit of 

units of the National Park System’’. 

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1 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

3 December 31, 2006. 

4 SEC. 103. PROGRAM ALLOCATION. 

5 (a) ANNUAL DEPOSITS.—There shall be deposited in 

6 the Centennial Fund from amounts designated under sec7 tion 6097 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (and from 

8 the General Fund of the Treasury to the extent the 

9 amounts so designated are less than the total amounts 

10 specified in this section for the fiscal year concerned), 

11 $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and, for each suc12 ceeding fiscal year through fiscal year 2016, an amount 

13 equal to 15 percent above the amount deposited the prior 

14 fiscal year. Such amounts shall, without further appro15 priation, be available to the Secretary of the Interior until 

16 expended. 

17 (b) SUNSET.—Effective October 1, 2016, titles II, 

18 III, and V of this Act shall expire, after which time re19 ceipts generated from section 6097 of the Internal Rev20 enue Code of 1986 shall be used to supplement annual 

21 appropriations for base operations of the individual na22 tional parks. 

23 SEC. 104. PATRIOTS FOR NATIONAL PARKS. 

24 There are hereby authorized to be appropriated to the 

25 Secretary of the Interior such sums as necessary for a 

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1 public awareness campaign about the existence of the Cen2 tennial Fund and the ability of taxpayers to contribute 

3 to it through the tax checkoff created in section 6097 of 

4 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

5 TITLE II—ELIMINATING THE NA6 TIONAL PARK MAINTENANCE 

7 BACKLOG 

8 SEC. 201. BACKLOG ELIMINATION. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Sixty percent of the funds depos10 ited into the Centennial Fund shall be used to eliminate 

11 the backlog of unmet needs in the national parks, as iden12 tified in the Facility Condition Index (hereinafter in this 

13 Act referred to as the ‘‘FCI’’) of the National Park Serv14 ice. 

15 (b) PRIORITIES.—(1) The Secretary of the Interior 

16 shall prepare, as part of the annual budget proposal, a 

17 priority list of projects to be funded under this section. 

18 Moneys shall be made available from the Centennial Fund, 

19 without further appropriation, effective October 15 of each 

20 calendar year, for the projects identified on the priority 

21 list. 

22 (2) In preparing the list of projects to be funded 

23 under this section, the Secretary of the Interior shall give 

24 priority to projects that— 

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1 (A) are identified in the general management 

2 plan of a national park; 

3 (B) are listed in the FCI; 

4 (C) are identified by the Secretary of the Inte5 rior as necessary to prevent immediate damage to 

6 the natural, cultural, or historic resources with a na7 tional park, with priority given to projects with the 

8 most significant benefit to conservation of resources 

9 or visitor education; and 

10 (D) are identified as necessary to promote pub11 lic health and safety. 

12 (c) OVERHEAD.—National parks undertaking 

13 projects under this section may allocate not more than 8 

14 percent of the funds for such projects for oversight of such 

15 projects and other associated overhead responsibilities. 

16 TITLE III—PROTECTING 

17 NATURAL WONDERS 

18 SEC. 301. NATURAL RESOURCE CHALLENGE. 

19 (a) NATURAL RESOURCE PROTECTION.—Twenty 

20 percent of the funds deposited into the Centennial Fund 

21 shall be used to protect natural resources within national 

22 parks. 

23 (b) PROJECT DESCRIPTION.—The Secretary of the 

24 Interior shall prepare, as part of the annual budget pro25 posal, a description of projects to be funded under this 

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1 section. Moneys shall be made available from the Centen2 nial Fund, without further appropriation, effective Octo3 ber 15 of each calendar year for projects that include each 

4 of the following: 

5 (1) Natural resource inventories. 

6 (2) Monitoring efforts including air and water 

7 quality monitoring. 

8 (3) Protection of native and endangered species 

9 and their habitats. 

10 (4) Control of nonnative species. 

11 (5) Resource planning. 

12 (6) Increased collaboration with scientists. 

13 (7) Authorized environmental restoration 

14 projects. 

15 (8) Use of national parks for learning, includ16 ing visitor education and interpretation. 

17 (9) Establishment of partnerships with nonpark 

18 entities for the purpose of leveraging Federal funds 

19 allocated to natural resource protection. 

20 TITLE IV—PROTECTING 

21 NATIONAL TREASURES 

22 SEC. 401. CULTURAL RESOURCE CHALLENGE. 

23 (a) CULTURAL RESOURCES.—Twenty percent of the 

24 funds deposited into the Centennial Fund shall be used 

25 to protect cultural resources within national parks. 

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1 (b) PROJECT DESCRIPTION.—The Secretary of the 

2 Interior shall prepare, as part of the annual budget pro3 posal, a description of projects to be funded under this 

4 section. Moneys shall be made available from the Centen5 nial Fund, without further appropriation, effective Octo6 ber 15 of each calendar year, for activities that include 

7 each of the following: 

8 (1) Cultural or historic resources not listed on 

9 the FCI. 

10 (2) Documenting and preserving archaeological 

11 sites. 

12 (3) Preserving collections and archives. 

13 (4) Ethnographic activities. 

14 (5) Evaluating and protecting cultural land15 scapes. 

16 (6) Use of national parks for learning, includ17 ing visitor education and interpretation. 

18 (7) Establishment of partnerships with non19 park entities for the purpose of leveraging Federal 

20 funds allocated to cultural resource protection. 

21 TITLE V—MEETING ANNUAL 

22 OPERATING NEEDS 

23 SEC. 501. PROGRESS ON ANNUAL APPROPRIATIONS. 

24 (a) GAO REPORT.—The General Accounting Office 

25 biennially shall submit to the Committee on Appropriammaher on PROD1PC60 with BILLS

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1 tions, Committee on Government Reform, and Committee 

2 on Resources of the United States House of Representa3 tives and to the Committee on Appropriations, Committee 

4 on Government Affairs, and Committee on Energy and 

5 Natural Resources of the United States Senate a report 

6 that describes each of the following: 

7 (1) The progress of Congress in eliminating the 

8 annual operating fund deficit in the National Park 

9 System, defined as in excess of $800,000,000 based 

10 on a 2006 estimate of then-complete national park 

11 business plans, and a projection of when such deficit 

12 will be eliminated, based on funding levels and 

13 trends. 

14 (2) A comparison of business plan estimates of 

15 national park needs versus actual funds appro16 priated to such national parks. 

17 (3) Any differences in the National Park Serv18 ice’s business plan methodology for the estimate in 

19 paragraph (2) of this subsection compared to that 

20 used in fiscal year 2003. 

21 (4) Management improvement measures under22 taken by individual park units and by the National 

23 Park Service as a whole, including actual realized 

24 savings and actual impact on visitor services and re25 source protection. 

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1 (5) Adjustments in, and the total number of, 

2 full-time equivalent and actual positions dedicated to 

3 resource protection, visitor services, interpretation, 

4 and other employment categories. 

5 (6) Any adjustments made in service to the 

6 public, including but not limited to adjustments to 

7 visitor center hours and the number or quality of 

8 ranger-led tours. 

9 (7) Any changes in the National Park Service’s 

10 level of effort due to partnership or other leveraged 

11 activities. 

12 (8) Any new requirements and assessments 

13 placed on the national parks for unbudgeted ex14 penses, including, but not limited to, homeland secu15 rity, natural disasters, and employee cost-of-living 

16 adjustments. 

17 (9) An assessment of the accuracy and com18 pleteness of the Facility Condition Index described 

19 in title I of this Act, including adjustments made to 

20 such Index on an annual basis. 

21 (b) BUSINESS PLAN IMPLEMENTATION DEMONSTRA22 TION PROGRAM.—In consultation with the Director of the 

23 National Park Service, at least 60 percent of the amounts 

24 provided under titles II, III, and IV shall be distributed 

25 to national parks that have completed comprehensive busimmaher on PROD1PC60 with BILLS

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1 ness plans under the Business Plan Initiative of the Na2 tional Park Service. 

3 (c) EDUCATION AND THE NATIONAL PARKS.—The 

4 Secretary of Education is hereby authorized to provide 

5 grants to elementary and secondary schools to enter into 

6 cooperative agreements with the National Park Service for 

7 the purpose of distance learning and onsite education pro8 grams for the following purposes: 

9 (1) Connecting students to the history of our 

10 Nation through the national parks. 

11 (2) Using the national parks to facilitate sci12 entific instruction. 

13 (d) INTENT OF CONGRESS TO SUPPLEMENT ANNUAL

14 APPROPRIATIONS FOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.— 

15 Amounts made available by this Act are intended by the 

16 Congress to supplement, and not detract from, annual ap17 propriations for the National Park Service. 

18 TITLE VI—REPORTS 

19 SEC. 601. REPORTS ASSESSING THE NATIONAL PARKS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 

21 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

22 the Interior shall submit to Congress the following reports: 

23 (1) A comprehensive report of the historical, 

24 cultural, and environmental resources currently rep25 resented in the National Park System. The report 

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1 shall include recommendations regarding what gaps, 

2 if any, in resource representation may be filled by 

3 the National Park Service during its second centen4 nial. 

5 (2) A comprehensive report of the National 

6 Park Service’s outreach efforts to raise interest in 

7 National Parks among young people and different 

8 ethnic groups. The report shall include— 

9 (A) an analysis of partnerships between 

10 National Parks and local communities that are 

11 working on educational programs and of the 

12 programs on which they are working; and 

13 (B) recommendations regarding how the 

14 outreach efforts and partnerships could be im15 proved during the National Park Service’s sec16 ond centennial. 

17 (3) A comprehensive report on the condition of 

18 the roads and bridges used by visitors in National 

19 Parks. The report shall inventory the needs for re20 pairs and replacements of those roads and bridges 

21 and recommendations for new roads and bridges. 

22 (4) A comprehensive report on the conditions of 

23 alternative transportation systems in National 

24 Parks. The report shall include recommendations for 

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1 tation systems, and for additional alternative trans2 portation systems, especially those needed to accom3 modate bicyclists and pedestrians. For the purpose 

4 of this paragraph, ‘‘alternative transportation sys5 tems’’— 

6 (A) means transportation by bus, rail, or 

7 any other publicly or privately owned convey8 ance that provides service to the public general 

9 or special service on a regular basis; 

10 (B) includes sightseeing service; 

11 (C) includes a non-motorized transpor12 tation system (including the provision of facili13 ties for pedestrians, bicycles and nonmotorized 

14 craft) both public and private; and 

15 (D) is not limited to systems that provide 

16 access to motorized systems. 

17 (b) FUNDING.—The Secretary of the Interior shall 

18 use the first $300,000 deposited into the Centennial Fund 

19 to carry out this section. 

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