[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4467 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4467

 To amend the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act to provide a secure 
  source of funds for Federal land acquisition and to revitalize the 
      State, local and urban needs outlined in the Land and Water 
    Conservation Fund Act of 1965 and the Urban Park and Recreation 
Recovery Act of 1978 by providing matching grants for State, local, and 
                urban conservation and recreation needs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 6, 1998

Mr. Gephardt (for himself, Mr. Miller of California, Mr. Delahunt, Mr. 
  McGovern, and Mr. Maloney of Connecticut) introduced the following 
         bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act to provide a secure 
  source of funds for Federal land acquisition and to revitalize the 
      State, local and urban needs outlined in the Land and Water 
    Conservation Fund Act of 1965 and the Urban Park and Recreation 
Recovery Act of 1978 by providing matching grants for State, local, and 
                urban conservation and recreation needs.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Open Space Protection Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Congress has established a policy of dedicating revenue 
        from the production and use of nonrenewable resources to 
        reinvest in public land resources for American families and 
        their children through programs such as the Land and Water 
        Conservation Fund.
            (2) Since its creation by Congress in 1965, the Land and 
        Water Conservation Fund has been responsible for nearly 
        7,000,000 acres of parkland, refuges and open spaces, and the 
        development of more than 37,000 State and local parks and 
        recreation projects. From parks to playgrounds, wilderness to 
        wetlands, open trails to open spaces, the Land and Water 
        Conservation Fund has been an American success story.
            (3) The need for open spaces and recreation has soared. 
        Combined estimates from the United States Fish and Wildlife 
        Service, National Park Service, United States Forest Service, 
        and Bureau of Land Management total a $7,000,000,000 backlog to 
        meet current land acquisition needs. This backlog includes 
        lands critical to conserving wetlands, watersheds and 
        wilderness, protecting wildlife refuges and habitat, preserving 
        important historic and cultural sites and providing trails and 
        open spaces for outdoor recreation.
            (4) Conserving our Nation's most valuable natural and 
        cultural treasures is critical to conserving America's heritage 
        of open space and the great outdoors.
            (5) Suburban and urban sprawl and the loss of open space 
        have become a primary concern for local communities with State 
        and local revenues inadequate to address these critical needs.
            (6) The demand for outdoor recreation, and the 
        corresponding need for more parks, open space and recreation 
        infrastructure, has skyrocketed. The National Survey on 
        Recreation and the Environment (NSRE), conducted by the United 
        States Forest Service, shows explosive growth in most outdoor 
        pursuits, including mountain biking, backpacking, kayaking, and 
        birdwatching.
            (7) The enormous popularity of youth soccer over the past 
        decade has created an unprecedented demand for new playing 
        fields which to date has been unmet.
            (8) The welcome increase in athletic participation among 
        women and girls is continuing to increase demand for access to 
        local parks and recreation facilities throughout America.
            (9) Conserving natural resources, protecting open space, 
        and enhancing recreation opportunity will be effective only if 
        undertaken through Federal, State, and local partnership.
            (10) The American legacy of conservation and open space is 
        key to ensuring that our Nation's communities are healthy, 
        safe, and secure, and that they are places where American 
        families and their children can enjoy the quality of life that 
        they deserve.
            (11) The findings of the 1995 National Biological Service 
        study ``Endangered Ecosystems of the United States: A 
        Preliminary Assessment of Loss and Degradation'' demonstrate 
        the need to escalate conservation measures that protect our 
        Nation's wildlands and habitats.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to provide a secure source 
of funds available for Federal land acquisition and to revitalize the 
State, local, and urban needs outlined in the Land and Water 
Conservation Fund Act of 1965 and the Urban Park and Recreation 
Recovery Act of 1978 by providing matching grants for State, local, and 
urban conservation and recreation needs.

SEC. 3. SECURE FUNDING.

    Section 3 of the Land and Water Conservation Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 
4601-5(c)(1)) is amended as follows:
            (1) By striking ``Moneys'' the first place it appears and 
        inserting ``Except as provided by subsection (b), moneys''.
            (2) By inserting ``(a)'' after ``3''.
            (3) By adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(b)(1) Special Rule.--For any fiscal year beginning after 
September 30, 1998, and ending before October 1, 2015, from amounts 
covered into the Fund in the preceding fiscal year, there is 
appropriated for purposes of this Act $900,000,000. Notwithstanding 
section 5, for each such fiscal year, such funds shall be available for 
the following purposes:
            ``(A) $450,000,000 shall be available for Federal purposes 
        (in this Act referred to as the `Federal share').
            ``(B) $250,000,000 shall be available for financial 
        assistance to the States under section 5 and for any other 
        State purposes authorized under this Act. Such sum shall be 
        apportioned among the States pursuant to section 6 (in this Act 
        referred to as the `State share'). No less than 50 percent of 
        the State share for each State for each such fiscal year shall 
        be directed by the State to local governments to provide 
        natural areas, open space, parklands, or recreational areas.
            ``(C) $150,000,000 shall be available to the Secretary of 
        the Interior for grants to local governments through the Urban 
        Parks and Recreation Recovery Program (16 U.S.C. 2501-2514).
            ``(D) $50,000,000 shall be available to the Secretary of 
        the Interior through and including fiscal year 2004, for grants 
        for land acquisition in connection with the American 
        Battlefield Protection Program. For fiscal years 2004 through 
        and including 2014, $50,000,000 shall be available to the 
        Secretary of the Interior for the restoration and acquisition 
        of historical and cultural sites found within the National Park 
        Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management 
        and the National Forest Service.
    ``(2) The President shall, in his annual budget submission for the 
fiscal year concerned, specify the specific purposes for which the 
funds referred to in subparagraphs (A), (C), and (D) of paragraph (1) 
are to be used by the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of 
Agriculture. Such funds shall be used by the Secretary concerned for 
the purposes specified by the President in such annual budget 
submission unless the Congress, in the general appropriation Acts for 
the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture for 
such fiscal year, specifies that any part of such Federal share is to 
be used by the Secretary concerned for other puposes.
    ``(3) For purposes of the budget submission, the President shall 
require the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture 
to prepare Federal priority lists for expenditure of the Federal share. 
Such lists shall be prepared in consultation with the head of the 
affected bureau or agency, taking into account the best professional 
judgment regarding the land acquisition priorities and policies of each 
bureau or agency. In preparing such priority lists, the Secretaries 
shall consider--
            ``(A) the potential adverse impacts which might result if 
        the acquisition is not undertaken;
            ``(B) the availability of land appraisal and other 
        information necessary to complete the acquisition in a timely 
        manner; and
            ``(C) such other factors as the Secretaries deem 
        appropriate.''.

SEC. 4. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO STATES.

    Section 6 of the Land and Water Conservation Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 
4601-5(c)(1)) is amended as follows:
            (1) By amending subsection (b)(5) to strike the comma after 
        ``the District of Columbia'' and insert ``shall be treated as 
        one State. Indian/Alaska Native Village Corporations shall be 
        treated as one State and shall allocate their funds in a manner 
        to be determined by the Secretary of the Interior.''.
            (2) By amending subsection (e)(1) by striking ``, but not 
        including incidental costs relating to acquisition''.
            (3) By amending subsection (e)(2) by inserting before the 
        period at the end ``or to enhance public safety.''.
            (4) By striking the second sentence of subsection (f)(5) 
        and inserting: ``The Secretary shall approve such conversion 
        only if the State demonstrates no prudent or feasible 
        alternative exists with the exception of those properties that 
        are no longer viable as an outdoor conservation and recreation 
        facility due to changes in demographics or that must be 
        abandoned because of environmental contamination which 
        endangers public health and safety. Any conversion must satisfy 
        any conditions the Secretary deems necessary to assure the 
substitution of other conservation and recreation properties of at 
least equal market value and reasonably equivalent usefulness and 
location and which are in accord with the existing State Plan for 
Conservation and Recreation; except that wetland areas and interests 
therein as identified in the wetlands provisions of the action agenda 
and proposed to be acquired as suitable replacement property within 
that same State that is otherwise acceptable to the Secretary shall be 
considered to be of reasonably equivalent usefulness with the property 
proposed for conversion.''.

SEC. 5. URBAN PARK AND RECREATION RECOVERY ACT OF 1978 AMENDMENTS.

    The Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Act (16 U.S.C. 2501 and 
following) is amended as follows:
            (1) In section 1004 by striking ``and'' at the end of 
        subsection (j), by striking the period at the end of subsection 
        (k) and inserting ``; and'' and by adding the following after 
        subsection (k):
    ``(l) `development grants' means matching capital grants to local 
units of government to cover costs of development and construction on 
existing or new neighborhood recreation sites, including indoor and 
outdoor recreation facilities, support facilities, and landscaping, but 
excluding routine maintenance and upkeep activities; and
    ``(m) `acquisition grants' means matching capital grants to local 
units of government to cover the direct and incidental costs of 
purchasing new parkland to be permanently dedicated and made accessible 
for public conservation and recreation.''.
            (2) Section 1004(j) (16 U.S.C. 2503(j)) is amended by 
        inserting ``the District of Columbia,'' after ``by the 
        Governor,''.
            (3) Section 1005(a) (16 U.S.C. 2504(a) is amended to read 
        as follows:
    ``(a) Eligibility.--Eligibility of general purpose local 
governments to compete for assistance under this title shall be based 
upon need as determined by the Secretary. Generally, the list of 
eligible governments shall include the following:
            ``(1) All political subdivisions included in Metropolitan, 
        Primary, or Consolidated Statistical Areas as currently defined 
        by the census.
            ``(2) Any other city or town within a Metropolitan Area 
        with a total population of 50,000 or more in the census of 
        1970, 1980, or 1990, or each census thereafter.
            ``(3) Any other political subdivision, county, parish, or 
        township with a total of 250,000 or more in the census of 1970, 
        1980, or 1990, or each census thereafter.''.
            (4) Section 1006(a) (16 U.S.C. 2505) is amended as follows:
                    (A) In subsection (a) by striking ``and innovative 
                grants directly'' and inserting ``innovation, 
                development, or acquisition purposes''.
                    (B) In paragraph (1) of subsection (a) by striking 
                ``and innovation'' and inserting ``innovation, 
                development, or acquisition'' and by striking all after 
                ``subdivisions or regional park authorities'' and 
                inserting ``except that such grantees shall provide 
                assurance to the Secretary that they will maintain 
                public conservation and recreation opportunities at 
                assisted areas and facilities owned or managed by them 
                in accordance with section 1010 of this Act.''
                    (C) In paragraph (2) of subsection (a) by striking 
                ``or innovative projects'' and inserting ``innovation, 
                development, or acquisition projects'' and by striking 
                ``, except'' and all that follows and inserting ``on a 
                reimbursable basis.''.
            (5) Section 1010 (16 U.S.C. 2509) is amended to read as 
        follows:

``SEC. 1010. CONVERSION.

    ``No property acquired or improved or developed under this title 
shall, without the approval of the Secretary, be converted to other 
than public recreation uses. The Secretary shall approve such 
conversion only if the grantee demonstrates no prudent or feasible 
alternative exists (with the exception of those properties that are no 
longer a viable recreation facility due to changes in demographics or 
they must be abandoned because of environmental contamination which 
endangers public health and safety). Any conversion must satisfy any 
conditions the Secretary deems necessary to assure the substitution of 
other conservation and recreation properties of at least equal market 
value and reasonably equivalent usefulness and location and which are 
in accord with the current conservation and recreation recovery action 
program.''.
            (6) Section 1014 (16 U.S.C. 2513) is repealed.
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