I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5044
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
JUNE 27, 2002
Mr. HOLT (for himself, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. HALL of Ohio, Mrs. DAVIS of Cali-
fornia, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. FRANK, Mr. GEORGE MIL-
LER of California, Mr. CLEMENT, Mr. CAPUANO, Ms. RIVERS, Mr. WAX-
MAN, Mr. FILNER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. UDALL of Col-
orado, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. HINCHEY, Mrs. MALONEY of New York,
Ms. MCKINNEY, Ms. LEE, Mrs. MINK of Hawaii, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. BOU-
CHER, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. HOEFFEL, Mr.
MORAN of Virginia, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. KENNEDY of
Rhode Island, Mr. CLAY, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. STARK, Mr. ANDREWS, Ms.
BROWN of Florida, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. MCCARTHY of
Missouri, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. HONDA, Mr. TOWNS, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mrs.
NAPOLITANO, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. LANTOS, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut,
Mr. ENGEL, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr.
SERRANO, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. MCNULTY, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. FORD, Ms.
SLAUGHTER, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut,
Ms. ESHOO, Mr. MALONEY
of Connecticut, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr.
PASCRELL, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. WU, Mr. WEINER, Mr.
PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. EVANS, Mr. MOORE, Mr. INSLEE, Mr.
DOOLEY of California, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. KIRK, Mr. SIMMONS, Mrs.
MORELLA, Mr. FARR of California, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. NADLER, Mr.
COYNE, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. OLVER, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. HASTINGS
of Florida, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE
JOHNSON of Texas, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. LEVIN, Ms. NORTON, Mr.
TIERNEY, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CARSON of Oklahoma, Ms.
PELOSI, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. LEWIS of Geor-
gia, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. MEEKS of
New York, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. ROEMER, Mr. FROST, Mr.
MATSUI, Ms. WATERS, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. RANGEL, Ms.
VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. BACA, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. DINGELL, Ms.
BERKLEY, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr. BORSKI, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. GUTIERREZ,
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. GONZALEZ, Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon, Ms. WAT-
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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