I
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4533
To promote entrepreneurial management of the National Park Service, and
for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 26, 1994
Mr. VENTO (by request) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Natural Resources
A BILL
To promote entrepreneurial management of the National
Park Service, and for other purposes.
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 ‘‘National Park Service
Entrepreneurial Management Reform Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
In furtherance of the Act of August 25, 1916 (39
Stat. 535), as amended (16 U.S.C. 1, 2–4), which directs
the Secretary of the Interior to administer areas of the
National Park System in accordance with the fundamental
purpose of conserving the scenery, wildlife, natural and
historic objects, and providing for their enjoyment in a
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manner that will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment
of future generations, the Congress finds that—
(1) management of the National Park System
requires entrepreneurial strategies that will enable
the National Park Service to meet the increasing de-
mands placed on the System by the American public;
and
(2) in order to preserve the natural and cultural
resources of the System for future generations and
provide for appropriate enjoyment of those re-
sources, the National Park Service must increase
revenues by reforming the nature, level and collec-
tion of fees, and increasing voluntary donations and
partnerships.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act, the term—
(1) ‘‘park’’ means a unit of the National Park
System; and
(2) ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the In-
terior.
SEC. 4. FEES.
(a) ADMISSION FEES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish
reasonable admission fees to be charged at units of
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for infrastructure needs at parks, including but not limited
to facility refurbishment, repair and replacement, resource
protection, interpretive/educational media (exhibits), and
other infrastructure projects beneficial to park resources,
to remain available until expended.
(4) In fiscal year 1995 only, fees authorized to be
collected pursuant to subsections 4 (a) and (b) of this Act
may be collected only to the extent provided in advance
in appropriations acts and shall be credited to the appro-
priate special fund accounts described in this Act. In addi-
tion, said fees shall be available for the purposes of this
Act only to the extent provided in advance in appropria-
tions acts and are authorized to be appropriated to remain
available until expended. In fiscal year 1996 and there-
after, fees collected as authorized to be collected pursuant
to subsections 4 (a) and (b) of this Act may be collected
as authorized by this Act and shall be available as pro-
vided in this Act without further provision in appropria-
tions acts.
(e) USE OF FEES.—The Secretary shall develop pro-
cedures for the use of these receipts that ensure account-
ability and demonstrated results consistent with the pur-
poses of this Act. The Secretary shall report annually to
Congress on the expenditure of funds from fees collected,
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beginning after the first full fiscal year following enact-
ment of this Act.
(f) DISCOUNTS.—In establishing the fees authorized
in this section, the Secretary shall establish appropriate
discounts for educational groups, persons sixty-two years
of age older, or persons who are blind or permanently dis-
abled. The Secretary may also establish criteria when the
fees may be waived for these groups or individuals.
(g) CRITERIA.—All fees established pursuant to this
section shall be fair and equitable, taking into consider-
ation the direct and indirect cost to the Government, the
benefits to the recipient, the public policy or interest
served, the comparable fees charged by non-Federal public
and private agencies, the economic and administrative fea-
sibility of fee collection and other pertinent factors. The
Secretary shall from time to time review the fees for con-
sistency with the provisions of this subsection and provide
timely public notice of any proposed changes in the fees.
SEC. 5. DONATIONS.
(a) REQUESTS
FOR DONATIONS.—In addition to
other authorities the Secretary may have to accept the do-
nation of lands, buildings, other property, services, and
moneys for the purposes of the National Park System, the
Secretary is authorized to solicit donations of money,
property, and services from individuals, corporations,
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foundations and other potential donors who the Secretary
believes would wish to make such donations as an expres-
sion of support for the national parks. Such donations
may be accepted and used for any authorized purpose or
program of the National Park Service, and donations of
money shall remain available for expenditure without fis-
cal year limitation. Any employees of the Department to
whom this authority is delegated shall be set forth in regu-
lations issued by the Secretary pursuant to paragraph (d).
(b) EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION.—Employees of the
National Park Service may solicit donations only if the
request is incidental to or in support of, and does not
interfere with their primary duty of protecting and admin-
istering the parks or administering authorized programs,
and only for the purpose of providing a level of resource
protection, visitor facilities, or services for health and safe-
ty projects, recurring maintenance activities, or for other
routine activities normally funded through annual agency
appropriations. Such requests must be in accordance with
guidelines issued pursuant to paragraph (d).
(c) PROHIBITIONS.—(1) A donation may not be ac-
cepted in exchange for a commitment to the donor on the
part of the National Park Service or which attaches condi-
tions inconsistent with applicable laws and regulations or
that is conditioned upon or will require the expenditure
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of appropriated funds that are not available to the Depart-
ment, or which compromises a criminal or civil position
of the United States or any of its departments or agencies
or the administrative authority of any agency of the
United States.
(2) In utilizing the authorities contained in this sec-
tion employees of the National Park Service shall not di-
rectly conduct or execute major fund raising campaigns,
but may cooperate with others whom the Secretary may
designate to conduct such campaigns on behalf of the Na-
tional Park Service.
(d) REGULATIONS AND GUIDANCE.—The Secretary
shall issue regulations setting forth those positions to
which he has delegated his authority under paragraph (a)
and the categories of employees of the National Park Serv-
ice that are authorized to request donations pursuant to
paragraph (b). Such regulations shall also set forth any
limitations on the types of donations that will be requested
or accepted as well as the sources of those donations.
(2) The Secretary shall publish guidelines which set
forth the criteria to be used in determining whether the
solicitation or acceptance of contributions of lands, build-
ings, other property, services, moneys and other gifts or
donations authorized by this section would reflect unfavor-
ably upon the ability of the Department of the Interior
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or any employee to carry out its responsibilities or official
duties in a fair and objective manner, or would com-
promise the integrity or the appearance of the integrity
of its programs or any official involved in those programs.
The Secretary shall also issue written guidance on the ex-
tent of the cooperation that may be provided by National
Park Service employees in any major fund raising cam-
paign which the Secretary has designated others to con-
duct pursuant to paragraph (c)(2).
SEC. 6. CHALLENGE COST–SHARE AGREEMENTS.
(a) AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary is authorized to
negotiate and enter into challenge cost-share agreements
with cooperators. For purposes of this section, the term—
(1) ‘‘challenge cost-share agreement’’ means
any agreement entered into between the Secretary
and any cooperator for the purpose of sharing costs
or services in carrying out authorized functions and
responsibilities of the Secretary with respect to the
National Park System; and
(2) ‘‘cooperator’’ means any State or local gov-
ernment, public or private agency, organization, in-
stitution, corporation, individual, or other entity.
(b) USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.—In carrying out chal-
lenge cost-share agreements, the Secretary is authorized,
subject to appropriation, to provide the Federal funding