II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 886 

To eliminate the annual operating deficit and maintenance backlog in the 

national parks, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 21, 2005 

Mr. MCCAIN (for himself, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. SALAZAR, 

and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Finance 

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. 

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

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

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

8 (1) The National Park Service was established 

9 to conserve the national parks, their scenery, natural 

10 and historic objects, and wildlife for public enjoy-
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1 ment, in such manner and by such means as will 

2 leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future 

3 generations. 

4 (2) The central purpose of the establishment of 

5 our national parks is being challenged by chronic 

6 funding shortfalls, which have created annual short7 falls in operational funding that exceed 

8 $600,000,000, and have amassed a maintenance 

9 backlog estimated by the General Accounting Office 

10 at between $4,080,000,000 and $6,800,000,000. 

11 (3) Without providing the Park Service the re12 sources necessary to operate and maintain our na13 tional parks, future generations will— 

14 (A) receive diminished visitor services; 

15 (B) experience a continually weakening 

16 system that is less and less able to fulfill its 

17 mission; and 

18 (C) inherit a National Park System that 

19 has been left to them in worse condition than 

20 it was left to their ancestors. 

21 (4) The annual Congressional appropriations 

22 process has proved insufficient to fully address the 

23 debilitating funding shortfalls of the national parks, 

24 making it necessary to supplement what the appro25 priations process is able to accomplish. 
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1 (5) It is necessary to ensure that fiscal re2 sources devoted to the national parks are spent wise3 ly and effectively, making strong congressional over4 sight over annual appropriations extremely impor5 tant. 

6 (6) Congress can enhance the resources avail7 able for national park operations and ensure ade8 quate oversight over Park Service spending by re9 moving from the appropriations process a series of 

10 funding responsibilities that are outside the core op11 erating budgets for the national parks. 

12 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to elimi13 nate the annual operating deficit and the maintenance 

14 backlog in the national parks by the centennial anniver15 sary of the National Park System by enabling Congress 

16 to focus on overseeing and fully funding the core oper17 ations of the national parks in the annual appropriations 

18 process. 

19 TITLE I—CENTENNIAL FUND 

20 SEC. 101. CENTENNIAL FUND FOR PRESERVING 

21 AMERICA’S’S NATIONAL PARKS. 

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

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

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

25 to as the ‘‘Centennial Fund’’. In each fiscal year beginning 
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1 in fiscal year 2006, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 

2 deposit into the Centennial Fund amounts set forth in 

3 subsection (b) sufficient to fund the programs identified 

4 in titles II, III, and IV. 

5 (b) APPROPRIATIONS.—There are hereby appro6 priated to the Centennial Fund in each fiscal year, the 

7 following amounts: 

8 (1) Amounts equivalent to the amounts des9 ignated in the taxable year ending in the fiscal year 

10 concerned under section 6097 of the Internal Rev11 enue Code of 1986. 

12 (2) Any additional amounts necessary to make 

13 the total amounts deposited to the Centennial Fund 

14 each fiscal year equal to the total amount listed in 

15 section 103. 

16 SEC. 102. DESIGNATION OF OVERPAYMENTS AND CON17 TRIBUTIONS FOR THE BENEFIT OF UNITS OF 

18 THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM. 

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

20 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at 

21 the end the following new part: 
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1 ‘‘PART IX—DESIGNATION OF OVERPAYMENTS 

2 AND CONTRIBUTIONS FOR THE BENEFIT OF 

3 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. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 6097. DESIGNATION. 

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

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

7 the tax imposed by chapter 1, such taxpayer may des8 ignate that— 

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

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

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

12 includes with such return, 

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

14 System. 

15 ‘‘(b) MANNER AND TIME OF DESIGNATION.—A des16 ignation under subsection (a) may be made with respect 

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

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

19 Such designation shall be made in such manner as the 

20 Secretary prescribes by regulations except that such des21 ignation shall be made either on the first page of the re22 turn or on the page bearing the taxpayer’s signature. 
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1 ‘‘(c) OVERPAYMENTS TREATED AS REFUNDED.—For 

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

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

4 being refunded to the taxpayer as of the last date pre5 scribed for filing the return of tax imposed by chapter 1 

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

7 date the return is filed.’’. 

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

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

10 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’’. 

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

12 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

13 December 31, 2005. 

14 SEC. 103. PROGRAM ALLOCATION. 

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

16 the Centennial Fund from amounts designated under sec17 tion 6097 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (and from 

18 the General Fund of the Treasury to the extent the 

19 amounts so designated are less than the total amounts 

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

21 $150,000,000 for fiscal year 2006 and, for each suc22 ceeding fiscal year through fiscal year 2016, an amount 

23 equal to 15 percent above the amount deposited the prior 

24 fiscal year. Such amounts shall, without further appro-
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1 priation, be available to the Secretary of the Interior until 

2 expended. 

3 (b) SUNSET.—Effective October 1, 2016, this Act 

4 shall expire. 

5 SEC. 104. PATRIOTS FOR NATIONAL PARKS. 

6 There are hereby authorized to be appropriated to the 

7 Secretary of the Interior such sums as necessary for a 

8 public awareness campaign about the existence of the Cen9 tennial Fund and the ability of taxpayers to contribute 

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

11 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

12 TITLE II—ELIMINATING THE NA13 TIONAL PARK MAINTENANCE 

14 BACKLOG 

15 SEC. 201. BACKLOG ELIMINATION. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Sixty percent of the funds depos17 ited into the Centennial Fund shall be used to eliminate 

18 the backlog of unmet needs in the national parks, as iden19 tified in the Facility Condition Index (hereinafter in this 

20 Act referred to as the ‘‘FCI’’) of the National Park Serv21 ice. 

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

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

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

25 Moneys shall be made available from the Centennial Fund, 
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1 without further appropriation, effective October 15 of each 

2 calendar year, for the projects identified on the priority 

3 list. 

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

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

6 priority to projects that— 

7 (A) are identified in the general management 

8 plan of a national park; 

9 (B) are listed in the FCI; 

10 (C) are identified by the Secretary of the Inte11 rior as necessary to prevent immediate damage to 

12 the natural, cultural, or historic resources with a na13 tional park, with priority given to projects with the 

14 most significant benefit to conservation of resources 

15 or visitor education; 

16 (D) are identified as necessary to promote pub17 lic health and safety; and 

18 (E) do not receive funding from the Highway 

19 Trust Fund. 

20 (c) OVERHEAD.—National parks undertaking 

21 projects under this section may allocate not more than 8 

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

23 projects and other associated overhead responsibilities. 
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1 TITLE III—PROTECTING 

2 NATURAL WONDERS 

3 SEC. 301. NATURAL RESOURCE CHALLENGE. 

4 (a) NATURAL RESOURCE PROTECTION.—Twenty 

5 percent of the funds deposited into the Centennial Fund 

6 shall be used to protect natural resources within national 

7 parks. 

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

9 Interior shall prepare, as part of the annual budget pro10 posal, a description of projects to be funded under this 

11 section. Moneys shall be made available from the Centen12 nial Fund, without further appropriation, effective Octo13 ber 15 of each calendar year for projects that include each 

14 of the following: 

15 (1) Natural resource inventories. 

16 (2) Monitoring efforts including air and water 

17 quality monitoring. 

18 (3) Protection of native and endangered species 

19 and their habitats. 

20 (4) Control of nonnative species. 

21 (5) Resource planning. 

22 (6) Increased collaboration with scientists. 

23 (7) Authorized environmental restoration 

24 projects. 
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1 (8) Use of national parks for learning, includ2 ing visitor education and interpretation. 

3 (9) Establishment of partnerships with nonpark 

4 entities for the purpose of leveraging Federal funds 

5 allocated to natural resource protection. 

6 TITLE IV—PROTECTING 

7 NATIONAL TREASURES 

8 SEC. 401. CULTURAL RESOURCE CHALLENGE. 

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

10 funds deposited into the Centennial Fund shall be used 

11 to protect cultural resources within national parks. 

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

13 Interior shall prepare, as part of the annual budget pro14 posal, a description of projects to be funded under this 

15 section. Moneys shall be made available from the Centen16 nial Fund, without further appropriation, effective Octo17 ber 15 of each calendar year, for activities that include 

18 each of the following: 

19 (1) Cultural or historic resources not listed on 

20 the FCI. 

21 (2) Documenting and preserving archaeological 

22 sites. 

23 (3) Preserving collections and archives. 

24 (4) Ethnographic activities. 
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1 (5) Evaluating and protecting cultural land2 scapes. 

3 (6) Use of national parks for learning, includ4 ing visitor education and interpretation. 

5 (7) Establishment of partnerships with non6 park entities for the purpose of leveraging Federal 

7 funds allocated to cultural resource protection. 

8 TITLE V—MEETING ANNUAL 

9 OPERATING NEEDS 

10 SEC. 501. PROGRESS ON ANNUAL APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

12 biennially shall submit to the Committee on Appropria13 tions, Committee on Government Reform, and Committee 

14 on Resources of the United States House of Representa15 tives and to the Committee on Appropriations, Committee 

16 on Government Affairs, and Committee on Energy and 

17 Natural Resources of the United States Senate a report 

18 that describes each of the following: 

19 (1) The progress of Congress in eliminating the 

20 annual operating fund deficit in the National Park 

21 System, defined as in excess of $600,000,000 based 

22 on a fiscal year 2002 estimate of then-complete na23 tional park business plans, and a projection of when 

24 such deficit will be eliminated, based on funding lev25 els and trends. 
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1 (2) A comparison of business plan estimates of 

2 national park needs versus actual funds appro3 priated to such national parks. 

4 (3) Any differences in the National Park Serv5 ice’s business plan methodology for the estimate in 

6 paragraph (2) of this subsection compared to that 

7 used in fiscal year 2003. 

8 (4) Management improvement measures under9 taken by individual park units and by the National 

10 Park Service as a whole, including actual realized 

11 savings and actual impact on visitor services and re12 source protection. 

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

14 full-time equivalent and actual positions dedicated to 

15 resource protection, visitor services, interpretation, 

16 and other employment categories. 

17 (6) Any adjustments made in service to the 

18 public, including but not limited to adjustments to 

19 visitor center hours and the number or quality of 

20 ranger-led tours. 

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

22 level of effort due to partnership or other leveraged 

23 activities. 

24 (8) Any new requirements and assessments 

25 placed on the national parks for unbudgeted ex-
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1 penses, including, but not limited to, homeland secu2 rity, natural disasters, and employee cost-of-living 

3 adjustments. 

4 (9) An assessment of the accuracy and com5 pleteness of the Facility Condition Index described 

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

7 such Index on an annual basis. 

8 (b) BUSINESS PLAN IMPLEMENTATION DEMONSTRA9 TION PROGRAM.—In consultation with the Director of the 

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

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

12 to national parks that have completed comprehensive busi13 ness plans under the Business Plan Initiative of the Na14 tional Park Service. 

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

16 Secretary of Education is hereby authorized to provide 

17 grants to elementary and secondary schools to enter into 

18 cooperative agreements with the National Park Service for 

19 the purpose of distance learning and onsite education pro20 grams for the following purposes: 

21 (1) Connecting students to the history of our 

22 Nation through the national parks. 

23 (2) Using the national parks to facilitate sci24 entific instruction. 
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1 (d) INTENT OF CONGRESS TO SUPPLEMENT ANNUAL

2 APPROPRIATIONS FOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.— 

3 Amounts made available by this Act are intended by the 

4 Congress to supplement, and not detract from, annual ap5 propriations for the National Park Service. 

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