IIB
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3421
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MAY 1, 2002
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources
AN ACT
To provide adequate school facilities within Yosemite
National Park, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
HR 3421 RFS
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Yosemite National
Park Education Improvement Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
(1) The three elementary schools serving the
children of employees of Yosemite National Park are
served by the Bass Lake Joint Union Elementary
School District and the Mariposa Unified School
District.
(2) The schools are in remote mountainous
areas and long distances from other educational and
administrative facilities of the two local educational
agencies.
(3) Because of their remote locations and rel-
atively small number of students, schools serving the
children of employees of the Park provide fewer
services in more basic facilities than the educational
services and facilities provided to students that at-
tend other schools served by the two local edu-
cational agencies.
(4) Because of the long distances involved and
adverse weather and road conditions that occur dur-
ing much of the school year, it is impractical for the
children of employees of the Park who live within or
HR 3421 RFS
near the Park to attend other schools served by the
two local educational agencies.
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to author-
ize the Secretary of the Interior to provide supplemental
funding and other services that are necessary to assist the
State of California or local educational agencies in Cali-
fornia in providing educational services for students at-
tending schools located within the Park.
SEC. 3. PAYMENTS FOR EDUCATIONAL SERVICES.
(a) AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE FUNDS.—For fiscal
years 2003 through 2007, the Secretary may provide
funds to the Bass Lake Joint Union Elementary School
District and the Mariposa Unified School District for edu-
cational services to students who are dependents of per-
sons engaged in the administration, operation, and main-
tenance of the Park or students who live at or near the
Park upon real property of the United States.
(b) LIMITATION
ON USE
OF FUNDS.—Payments
made by the Secretary under this section may not be used
for new construction, construction contracts, or major cap-
ital improvements, and may be used only to pay public
employees for services otherwise authorized by this Act.
(c) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF FUNDS.—Payments
made under this section shall not exceed the lesser of
$750,000 in any fiscal year or the amount necessary to
HR 3421 RFS
provide students described in subsection (a) with edu-
cational services that are normally provided and generally
available to students who attend public schools elsewhere
in the State of California.
(d) ADJUSTMENT OF PAYMENTS.—Subject to sub-
section (c), the Secretary is authorized to adjust payments
made under this section if the State of California or the
appropriate local educational agencies do not continue to
provide funding for educational services at Park schools
at per student levels that are equivalent to or greater than
those provided in the fiscal year prior to the date of enact-
ment of this Act.
(e) SOURCE OF PAYMENTS.—
(1) AUTHORIZED
SOURCES.—Except as pro-
vided in paragraph (2), in order to make payments
under this section, the Secretary may use funds
available to the National Park Service from appro-
priations, donations, or fees.
(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Funds from the following
sources may not be used to make payments under
this section:
(A) Fees authorized and collected under
the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of
1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–4 et seq.).
HR 3421 RFS
(B) The recreational fee demonstration
program under section 315 of the Department
of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropria-
tions Act, 1996 (as contained in section 101(c)
of Public Law 104–134; 16 U.S.C. 460l–6a
note).
(C) The national park passport program
established under section 602 of the National
Parks Omnibus Management Act of 1998 (16
U.S.C. 5992).
(D) Emergency appropriations for Yosem-
ite flood recovery.
(f) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this Act, the
following definitions apply:
(1) 
LOCAL
EDUCATIONAL
AGENCIES.—The
term ‘‘local educational agencies’’ has the meaning
given that term in section 9101(26) of the Elemen-
tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
(2) EDUCATIONAL SERVICES.—The term ‘‘edu-
cational services’’ means services that may include
maintenance and minor upgrades of facilities and
transportation to and from school.
(3) PARK.—The term ‘‘Park’’ means Yosemite
National Park.