[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2959 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2959

To establish a fund for the National Park Centennial Challenge, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 10, 2007

   Mr. Bishop of Utah (for himself and Mr. Young of Alaska) (both by 
   request) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish a fund for the National Park Centennial Challenge, and for 
                            other purposes.

    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 Centennial Challenge 
Fund Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress here by finds that--
            (1) Our national parks are icons of America;
            (2) The one hundredth anniversary of the National Park 
        System will be in 2016;
            (3) It is appropriate for all Americans to help in the 
        efforts to enhance our parks as the country gets ready for this 
        centennial celebration;
            (4) The President has proposed a National Park Centennial 
        Initiative that, over ten years, will provide up to $3 billion 
        to prepare parks for another century of conservation, 
        preservation, and enjoyment; and
            (5) A part of that Initiative is the establishment of a 
        Centennial Challenge to encourage individuals, foundations, and 
        the private sector to donate money each year by providing up to 
        $100 million in dedicated Federal funding to match donations 
        for signature projects and programs.
    (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to establish a fund in 
the Treasury that will be used to finance signature projects and 
programs to enhance the National Park System as it approaches its 
centennial in 2016 and to prepare the parks for another century of 
conservation, preservation, and enjoyment.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act, the term---
            (1) ``Challenge Fund'' means the National Park Centennial 
        Challenge Fund.
            (2) ``Director'' means the Director of the National Park 
        Service.
            (3) ``Secretary'' means Secretary of the Interior.
            (4) ``Signature project or program'' means, for the 
        purposes of this Act, any project or program identified by the 
        Director as one that will help prepare the national parks for 
        another century of conservation, preservation and enjoyment.
            (5) ``Qualified donation'' means a cash non-Federal 
        donation to the National Park Service that the Director 
        certifies is for a listed signature project or program.

SEC. 4. NATIONAL PARK CENTENNIAL CHALLENGE FUND.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established in the Treasury a fund to 
be known as the National Park Centennial Challenge Fund. The Challenge 
Fund shall consist of:
            (1) Qualified donations transferred from the Donations to 
        the National Park Service account, in accordance with section 
        6(a) of this Act: and
            (2) Amounts appropriated from the general fund of the 
        Treasury, in accordance with section 6(b) of this Act.
    (b) Availability.--All amounts deposited in the Challenge Fund 
shall be available, subject to restrictions in section 6(c) of this 
Act, to the Secretary for signature projects and programs under this 
Act without further appropriation and without fiscal year limitation. 
No monies shall be available for indirect administrative costs. The 
expenditure of amounts in the Challenge Fund shall follow Federal 
procurement and financial laws and standards.

SEC. 5. SIGNATURE PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS.

    (a) List.--The Secretary, acting through the Director, shall 
develop a list of signature projects and programs eligible for funding 
from the Challenge Fund. The list shall be submitted to the President 
and to the Committees on Appropriations and Energy and Natural 
Resources in the United States Senate, and to the Committees on 
Appropriations and Natural Resources in the House of Representatives.
    (b) Signature Projects and Programs.--For purposes of this Act, a 
signature project or program shall be a project or program identified 
by the Director as one that will help prepare the national parks for 
another century of conservation, preservation and enjoyment.
    (c) Updates.--The Secretary, acting through the Director, may, from 
time to time as the Secretary or Director finds necessary, add any 
project or program to the list developed pursuant to subsection (a) 
that the Director believes is a signature project or program. If the 
Director adds any project or program to the list, the Secretary shall 
notify the Committees referred to in subsection (a) at the time the 
project or program is added.

SEC. 6. DONATIONS AND MATCHING FEDERAL FUNDS.

    (a) Qualified Donations.--Beginning on October 1, 2007, and ending 
on September 30, 2017, the Secretary may transfer to the Challenge Fund 
qualified donations of cash, including cash to liquidate a letter of 
credit, received by the National Park Service.
    (b) Matching Amount.--There is hereby appropriated in each fiscal 
year beginning on October 1, 2007 and ending on September 30, 2017, an 
amount equal to the qualified donations received and the pledge of 
donations through letters of credit in the same fiscal year, not to 
exceed $100 million in any one year. In no case may the matching amount 
exceed the amount of donations received or pledged in any year. For the 
purpose of this subsection, the Secretary may consider a donation for 
any fiscal year to be received when a pledge of a donation for that 
fiscal year is guaranteed and a valid irrevocable letter of credit is 
issued for such purposes.
    (c) The Secretary may not obligate any amounts based on a letter of 
credit, or amounts to match a letter of credit pursuant to subsection 
(b), until amounts from that letter of credit are deposited in the 
Challenge Fund.
    (d) Solicitation.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed as 
expanding any authority that exists on the date of its enactment with 
respect to the ability of the National Park Service and its employees 
to receive or solicit for donations.

SEC. 7. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    The Secretary shall provide with the submission of the President's 
budget a list of the signature projects and programs and the status of 
their funding.

SEC. 8. REGULATIONS.

    The Secretary may promulgate such regulations as may be necessary 
to carry out this Act.
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