I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1130
To require the Secretary of the Interior to implement the final rule to 
phase out snowmobile use in Yellowstone National Park, John D. Rocke-
feller Jr. Memorial Parkway, and Grand Teton National Park, and 
snowplane use in Grand Teton National Park. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 6, 2003
Mr. HOLT (for himself, Mr. SHAYS, Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon, Mr. DEFAZIO, 
Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. MORAN
of Virginia, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. 
SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. FRANK of 
Massachusetts, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. STARK, Mr. SHERMAN, 
Mr. PALLONE, Mr. HONDA, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. OLVER, Mr. BAIRD, Mrs. 
DAVIS
of California, Mr. GEORGE
MILLER
of California, Mrs. 
NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. ANDREWS, 
Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. WU, Mr. FORD, Mrs. JONES of 
Ohio, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. FARR, Mr. MEEHAN, Ms. LEE, 
Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. 
CLAY, Mr. BOUCHER, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. 
BROWN of Ohio, Mr. WEINER, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Ms. 
DELAURO, Mr. INSLEE, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. HOEFFEL, Mr. 
BISHOP of New York, Mr. MATSUI, Ms. MCCARTHY of Missouri, Mr. 
FILNER, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. NADLER, 
Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. OWENS, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON 
of Texas, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. KIRK, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Ms. 
MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. LEACH, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. FROST, Mr. 
UDALL of Colorado, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mrs. JOHNSON of 
Connecticut, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. 
PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. EVANS, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, 
Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. COOPER, Mr. MCGOV-
ERN, Mr. LYNCH, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. JEFFER-
SON, Mr. CARSON of Oklahoma, Mr. CASE, Mr. SIMMONS, Mr. RAHALL, 
Mr. MOORE, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. ENGEL, 
Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. 
UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. DINGELL, Ms. 
LOFGREN, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. GONZALEZ, 
Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. WAXMAN, Ms. WATSON, Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of 
California, Mr. RUSH, Mr. MILLER of North Carolina, Ms. LORETTA 
SANCHEZ of California, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. HASTINGS
of Florida, Ms. KILPATRICK, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. 
CONYERS, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. BACA, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. 
BELL, Mr. DOOLEY of California, Ms. WATERS, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. VAN 
HOLLEN, and Mr. HINOJOSA) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Resources 
A BILL 
To require the Secretary of the Interior to implement the 
final rule to phase out snowmobile use in Yellowstone 
National Park, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Park-
way, and Grand Teton National Park, and snowplane 
use in Grand Teton National Park.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Yellowstone Protection 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The January 22, 2001, rule phasing out 
snowmobile use in Yellowstone National Park, 
Grand Teton National Park, and the John D. 
Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway was made by 
professionals in the National Park Service who 
based their decision on law, 10 years of scientific 
study, and extensive public process.
(2) An environmental impact statement that 
formed the basis for the rule concluded that snow-
mobile use is impairing or adversely impacting air 
quality, natural soundscapes, wildlife, public and em-
ployee health and safety, and visitor enjoyment. Ac-
cording to the Environmental Protection Agency, the 
environmental impact statement had ‘‘among the 
most thorough and substantial science base that we 
have seen supporting a NEPA document’’. 
(3) The National Park Service concluded that 
snowmobile use is violating the mission given to the 
agency by Congress—to manage the parks ‘‘in such 
manner and by such means as will leave them 
unimpaired for the enjoyment of future genera-
tions’’. The National Park Service also found that 
snowmobile use is ‘‘inconsistent with the require-
ments of the Clean Air Act, Executive Orders 11644 
and 11989 [by Presidents Nixon and Carter, relat-
ing to off-road vehicle use on public lands], the 
NPS’s general snowmobile regulations and NPS 
management objectives for the parks’’. 
(4) In order to maintain winter visitor access, 
the Park Service outlined a plan to use the already 
existing mode of winter transportation known as 
snowcoaches, which are mass transit, oversnow vehi-
cles similar to vans. The final rule states that a 
snowcoach transit system ‘‘would reduce adverse im-
pacts on park resources and values, better provide 
for public safety, and provide for public enjoyment 
of the park in winter’’. 
(5) The National Park Service Air Resources 
Division determined that despite being outnumbered 
by automobiles 16 to 1 during the course of a year, 
snowmobiles produce up to 68 percent of Yellow-
stone’s carbon monoxide pollution and up to 90 per-
cent of the park’s annual hydrocarbon emissions. 
(6) Noise from snowmobiles routinely disrupts 
natural sounds and natural quiet at popular Yellow-
stone attractions. A February 2000 ‘‘percent time 
audible’’ study found snowmobile noise present more 
than 90 percent of the time at 8 of 13 sites. 
(7) In Yellowstone’s severe winter climate, 
snowmobile traffic regularly disturbs and harasses 
wildlife. In October 2001, 18 eminent scientists 
warned the Secretary of the Interior that ‘‘ignoring 
this information would not be consistent with the 
original vision intended to keep our national parks 
unimpaired for future generations. National Park 
Service regulations allow snowmobile use only when
that use will not disturb wildlife . . .’’ (36 CFR 
2.18(c)). 
(8) At Yellowstone’s west entrance, park rang-
ers and fee collectors suffer from symptoms of car-
bon monoxide poisoning due to snowmobile exhaust. 
According to National Park Service records, in De-
cember 2000, a dozen park employees filed medical 
complaints citing sore throats, headaches, lethargy, 
eye irritation, and tightness in the lungs. Their su-
pervisor requested more staff at the west entrance, 
not because of a need for additional personnel to 
cover the work there, but so the supervisor could 
begin rotating employees more frequently out of the 
‘‘fume cloud’’ for the sake of their health. In 2002, 
for the first time in national park history, rangers 
were issued respirators to wear while performing 
their duties. 
(9) The public opportunity to engage in the en-
vironmental impact study process was extensive and 
comprehensive. During the 3-year environmental im-
pact study process and rulemaking, there were 4 op-
portunities for public consideration and comment. 
The Park Service held 22 public hearings in regional 
communities such as West Yellowstone, Cody, Jack-
son, and Idaho Falls, and across the Nation. The
agency received over 70,000 individual comments. At 
each stage of the input process, support for phasing 
out snowmobiles grew, culminating in a 4-to-1 ma-
jority in favor of the rule in early 2001. More re-
cently, 82 percent of those commenting wrote in 
favor of the National Park Service decision to phase 
out snowmobile use in the parks. 
SEC. 3. FINAL RULE CODIFIED. 
Beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of the Interior shall implement the final rule 
to phase out snowmobile use in Yellowstone National 
Park, the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway, and 
Grand Teton National Park, and snowplane use in Grand 
Teton National Park, as published in the Federal Register 
on January 22, 2001 (66 Fed. Reg. 7260–7268). The Sec-
retary shall not have the authority to modify or supersede 
any provision of that final rule.
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