[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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