I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3709
To reform the process for the study of areas for potential inclusion in
the National Park System, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 22, 1993
Mr. VENTO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Natural Resources
A BILL
To reform the process for the study of areas for potential
inclusion in the National Park System, 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 System
New Area Study Reform Act’’.
SEC. 2. STUDY OF NEW PARK SYSTEM AREAS.
Section 8 of the Act of August 18, 1970, entitled ‘‘An
Act to improve the Administration of the National Park
System by the Secretary of the Interior, and to clarify the
authorities applicable to the system, and for other pur-
poses’’ (16 U.S.C. 1a–1 and following) is amended as
follows:
(1) Insert ‘‘GENERAL AUTHORITY.—’’ after
‘‘(a)’’.
(2) Strike the second through the seventh sen-
tences of subsection (a).
(3) In the last sentence of subsection (a) insert:
‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—’’ be-
fore the last sentence.
(4) Redesignate subsection (b) as subsection (e)
and insert ‘‘NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM PLAN.—’’ be-
fore the first sentence.
(5) Insert the following after subsection (a):
‘‘(b) STUDIES
OF AREAS
FOR POTENTIAL ADDI-
TION.—(1) At the beginning of each calendar year, the
Director of the National Park Service shall submit to the
Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep-
resentatives and to the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources of the United States Senate a list of areas rec-
ommended by the Director for study for potential inclusion
in the National Park System.
‘‘(2) In developing the list to be submitted under this
subsection, the Director shall give consideration to those
areas that have the greatest potential to meet the estab-
lished criteria of national significance, suitability, and fea-
sibility. The Director may also consider the public use
potential of the areas, their interpretive and educational
potential, the costs associated with adding any area, the
rarity of the resources associated with an area, and the
integrity of, and the threats to, those resources. The Di-
rector shall also give special consideration to themes, sites,
and resources not already adequately represented in the
National Park System. No study of the potential of an
area for inclusion in the National Park System may be
carried out except as provided by specific authorization of
an Act of Congress.
‘‘(c) REPORT.—Within 3 years following the date of
enactment of specific legislation providing for the study
of an area for potential inclusion into the National Park
System, the Director shall transmit to the Committee on
Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and
to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of
the United States Senate a study of the potential of that
area for inclusion in the National Park System. Each
study under this section shall be prepared with appro-
priate opportunity for public involvement and shall con-
sider whether the area under study—
‘‘(1) possesses nationally significant natural,
cultural, or recreational resources, and
‘‘(2) is a suitable and feasible addition to the
system.
Each such study shall also consider whether direct Na-
tional Park Service management or alternative protection
by other agencies or the private sector is appropriate for
the area. Each such study shall contain, without alteration
by any other officer or employee of the United States, the
recommendations of the Director regarding the preferred
management option for the area. Recommendations and
additional views may also be submitted, separately from
the recommendations of the Director, by the Secretary of
the Interior, the Director of the Office of Management and
Budget, or the National Park System Advisory Board, or
any combination thereof’’.
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