[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1465 Introduced in House (IH)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1465
To restrict the use of snowmobiles in units of the National Park
System.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 4, 2001
Mr. Holt (for himself, Mr. George Miller of California, Mr. Udall of
New Mexico, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Blumenauer, Mrs. Mink of
Hawaii, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. Hoeffel, Ms. McKinney,
Ms. DeGette, Mr. Moore, Mr. Farr of California, Mr. Kucinich, Mr.
Capuano, Mr. Markey, and Mr. Udall of Colorado) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To restrict the use of snowmobiles in units of the National Park
System.
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 ``National Park Snowmobile
Restrictions Act of 2001''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) President Nixon in 1972 issued Executive Order 11644
establishing standards on snowmobile use on public lands,
including the requirements that snowmobile use in a national
park be permitted only when the National Park Service
determines that such use will not adversely affect the park's
natural, aesthetic, or scenic values, and that the National
Park Service monitor the impacts of any such use in a national
park to assure compliance with those standards.
(2) President Carter in 1977 issued Executive Order 11989
establishing additional standards on snowmobile use on public
lands, including the requirements that the National Park
Service, whenever it determines that any such use is causing
considerable adverse effects on the natural resources of a
national park, immediately halt the use or otherwise take steps
to prevent those effects.
(3) In compliance with these Executive Orders, the National
Park Service in 1983 issued regulations (section 2.18 of title
36, Code of Federal Regulations) providing in part the
following: ``Snowmobiles are prohibited except where designated
and only when their use is consistent with the park's natural,
cultural, scenic and aesthetic values, safety considerations,
park management objectives, and will not disturb wildlife or
damage park resources.''.
(4) Pursuant to these general regulations, the National
Park Service has issued special regulations designating routes
on which snowmobiles may travel in 41 units of the National
Park System.
(5) A survey the National Park Service conducted in 1999-
2000 on snowmobile use in units of the National Park System
revealed that--
(A) with respect to most of the units in which
snowmobile use occurs, the Service had never made a
determination that such use would be consistent with
the requirements of Executive Orders 11644 and 11989
and its own general snowmobile regulations;
(B) snowmobile use was occurring in two units for
which no routes had been designated for such use by
special regulations, and, in other units, snowmobile
use was occurring on routes which had not been
designated for that use by special regulations;
(C) in most units in which snowmobile use occurs,
the Service had not conducted and was not conducting
the monitoring required by Executive Order 11644 of the
impacts of that snowmobile use; and
(D) snowmobile use in many units was causing
impacts inconsistent with the standards of Executive
Orders 11644 and 11989 and the general snowmobile
regulations.
(6) In April 2000, to come into compliance with the
requirements of Executive Orders 11644 and 11989 and the
general snowmobile regulations, the National Park Service
announced that it--
(A) had determined that, in most instances,
recreational use of snowmobiles is not an appropriate
use in units of the National Park System; and
(B) was initiating a process to adopt new
requirements to limit snowmobile use in units of the
National Park System (other than units in the State of
Alaska and Voyageurs National Park) to short routes
providing access to adjacent public lands open to
recreational snowmobile use and to routes providing
necessary access to private property within or adjacent
to such units.
(7) In November 2000, based on a final environmental impact
statement on a winter use plan for Yellowstone National Park,
Grand Teton National Park, and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr.,
Memorial Parkway and on other studies and information, the
National Park Service adopted a record of decision determining
that the snowmobile use occurring in those parks is causing
impacts that are inconsistent with--
(A) Executive Orders 11644 and 11989 and the
general snowmobile regulations;
(B) the requirements of the Clean Air Act (42
U.S.C. 7401 et seq.); and
(C) the requirement of the first section of the Act
of August 25, 1916 (16 U.S.C. 1; commonly known as the
National Park Service Organic Act) that the Service
manage units of the National Park System ``in such
manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired
for the enjoyment of future generations''.
(8) In January 2001, to implement the record of decision
referred to in paragraph (7), the National Park Service adopted
final regulations amending part 7 of title 36, Code of Federal
Regulations, to phase out by the winter of 2003-2004 all
snowmobile use in Yellowstone National Park and the John D.
Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway and most snowmobile use in
Grand Teton National Park, as published in the Federal Register
on January 22, 2001 (66 Fed. Reg. 7260).
(9) The new regulations referred to in paragraph (8) or
other regulations under consideration by the National Park
Service to restrict snowmobile use in units of the National
Park System do not apply to other Federal lands, where the
overwhelming majority of the snowmobile use occurring on
Federal lands takes place and will be able to continue to take
place.
SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS ON SNOWMOBILE USE IN THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) National park.--The term ``national park'' means a unit
of the National Park System.
(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior, acting through the National Park Service.
(b) General Prohibition.--The use of snowmobiles in a national park
is prohibited except on a designated route described in subsection (c)
and only when the Secretary determines that the use of snowmobiles is
consistent with the park's natural, cultural, scenic, and aesthetic
values, safety considerations, and park management objectives, and will
not disturb wildlife or damage park resources.
(c) Designated Routes.--A designated route referred to in
subsection (b) is any snowmobile route designated by regulation issued
by the Secretary after January 1, 2001 (including those routes
designated with respect to Grand Teton National Park by paragraphs (10)
and (12) of section 7.22(g) of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations,
as published in the Federal Register on January 22, 2001 (66 Fed. Reg.
7260), subject to any subsequent amendment of such designations), but
only if the designated route--
(1) is authorized for use by motor vehicles or motorboats
during other seasons; and
(2) provides reasonable and direct public access by
snowmobile--
(A) to public lands that are adjacent to or in the
immediate vicinity of the national park and are open to
public snowmobile use; or
(B) to private property within, adjacent to, or in
the immediate vicinity of the national park by the
owners of the private property and their
representatives and invitees, when that snowmobile
access is the only practical means of winter access to
the private property.
(d) Monitoring.--Whenever snowmobile use is permitted in a national
park, the Secretary shall ensure that the impacts of that use are
monitored to assure that it is consistent with the standards specified
in subsection (b). If the Secretary determines that the use is not
consistent with those standards, the Secretary shall immediately
curtail or halt the use or take other steps as necessary to ensure
consistency with those standards.
(e) Exceptions.--
(1) Exception for certain parks.--Subsections (b), (c), and
(d) do not apply to any national park in Alaska and to
Voyageurs National Park.
(2) Exception to certain uses.--Subsections (b), (c), and
(d) do not apply to--
(A) the use of snowmobiles by the National Park
Service and its contractors and agents, if the
Secretary determines that such use is essential for the
management of a national park; and
(B) the use of snowmobiles in emergency situations,
as determined by the superintendent of the national
park.
(f) Effective Dates.--This Act takes effect beginning with the
winter of 2003-2004 with respect to Yellowstone National Park, Grand
Teton National Park, and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial
Parkway, and beginning with the winter of 2002-2003 with respect to
other national parks.
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