I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 682

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to assess up to $2 per person

visiting the Grand Canyon or other national park to secure bonds for

capital improvements to the park, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 11, 1997

Mr. KOLBE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Resources

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to assess up to

$2 per person visiting the Grand Canyon or other national park to secure bonds for capital improvements

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. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Parks Capital

5 Improvements Act of 1997’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:
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1 (1) FUNDRAISING ORGANIZATION.—The term

2 ‘‘fundraising organization’’ means an entity author3 ized to act as a fundraising organization under sec4 tion 3(a).

5 (2) NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION.—The term

6 ‘‘National Park Foundation’’ means the foundation

7 established under the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to estab8 lish the National Park Foundation’’, approved De9 cember 18, 1967 (16 U.S.C. 19e et seq.).

10 (3) PARK.—The term ‘‘park’’ means—

11 (A) the Grand Canyon National Park; and

12 (B) any other national park designated by

13 the Secretary that has an approved general

14 management plan with capital needs in excess

15 of $5,000,000.

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

17 the Secretary of the Interior.

18 SEC. 3. FUNDRAISING ORGANIZATION.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may enter into a

20 memorandum of agreement under section 4 with an entity

21 to act as an authorized fundraising organization for the

22 benefit of the park.

23 (b) BONDS.—The fundraising organization shall

24 issue taxable bonds in return for the park surcharge col25 lected under section 5.
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1 (c) PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS.—The fundraising

2 organization shall abide by all relevant professional stand3 ards regarding the issuance of securities and shall comply

4 with all Federal and State law.

5 (d) AUDIT.—The fundraising organization shall be

6 subject to an audit by the Secretary.

7 (e) NO LIABILITY FOR BONDS.—The United States

8 shall not be liable for the security of any bonds issued

9 by the fundraising organization, except that if the sur10 charge specified in section 5(a) is not imposed for any rea11 son or if such surcharge is reduced or eliminated, the full

12 faith and credit of the United States is pledged to the pay13 ment of such bonds and the interest accruing on such

14 bonds.

15 SEC. 4. MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT.

16 The fundraising organization shall enter into a

17 memorandum of agreement that specifies—

18 (1) the amount of the bond issue;

19 (2) the maturity of the bonds, not to exceed 20

20 years;

21 (3) the per capita amount required to amortize

22 the bond issue, provide for the reasonable costs of

23 administration, and maintain a sufficient reserve

24 consistent with industry standards;
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1 (4) any project that will be funded with the

2 bond proceeds and the specific responsibilities of the

3 Secretary and the fundraising organization with re4 spect to the project; and

5 (5) procedures for modifications of the agree6 ment with the consent of both parties, including

7 modifications relating to project priorities, based on

8 changes in circumstances.

9 SEC. 5. PARK SURCHARGE.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi11 sion of law, the Secretary of the Interior may authorize

12 the Superintendent of the park to charge and collect, in

13 addition to any entrance fee collected pursuant to section

14 4 of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965

15 (16 U.S.C. 460l–6a) or section 315 of the Department of

16 the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act,

17 1996 (16 U.S.C. 460l–6a note), a surcharge in an amount

18 not to exceed $2 for each individual charged the entrance

19 fee.

20 (b) USE.—The surcharge shall be used by the fund21 raising organization to amortize the bond issue, provide

22 for the reasonable costs of administration, and maintain

23 a sufficient reserve consistent with industry standards.

24 (c) EXCESS FUNDS.—Any funds collected in excess

25 of the amount necessary to amortize the bond issue, pay
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1 reasonable administrative expenses, and maintain a suffi2 cient reserve, as determined by the bond underwriter, shall

3 be remitted to the National Park Foundation to be used

4 for the benefit of all units of the National Park System.

5 SEC. 6. USE OF BOND PROCEEDS.

6 (a) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),

8 bond proceeds under this Act may be used for a

9 project for the design, construction, operation, main10 tenance, repair, or replacement of a facility in the

11 park. No part of such proceeds (other than interest

12 as provided in subsection (b)) may be used to defray

13 administrative expenses.

14 (2) LIMITATION.—A project referred to in para15 graph (2) shall be consistent with—

16 (A) the laws governing the National Park

17 System;

18 (B) any law governing the park; and

19 (C) the general management plan for the

20 park.

21 (b) INTEREST ON BOND PROCEEDS.—(1) Any inter22 est earned on bond proceeds may be used by the fundrais23 ing organization to—

24 (A) meet reserve requirements; and
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1 (B) defray administrative expenses incurred in

2 connection with the management and sale of the

3 bonds.

4 (2) All interest on bond proceeds not used for pur5 poses of paragraph (1) shall be remitted to the National

6 Park Foundation for the benefit of all units of the Na7 tional Park System.

8 SEC. 7. ADMINISTRATION.

9 The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of

10 the Treasury, shall issue regulations to carry out this Act.

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