[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1957 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
H.R.1957
One Hundred Sixteenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Friday,
the third day of January, two thousand and twenty
An Act
To amend title 54, United States Code, to establish, fund, and provide
for the use of amounts in a National Parks and Public Land Legacy
Restoration Fund to address the maintenance backlog of the National Park
Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land
Management, the Forest Service, and the Bureau of Indian Education, and
to provide permanent, dedicated funding for the Land and Water
Conservation Fund, 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 ``Great American Outdoors Act''.
SEC. 2. NATIONAL PARKS AND PUBLIC LAND LEGACY RESTORATION FUND.
(a) In General.--Subtitle II of title 54, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after chapter 2003 the following:
``CHAPTER 2004--NATIONAL PARKS AND PUBLIC LAND LEGACY RESTORATION FUND
``Sec.
``200401. Definitions.
``200402. National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund.
``Sec. 200401. Definitions
``In this chapter:
``(1) Asset.--The term `asset' means any real property,
including any physical structure or grouping of structures,
landscape, trail, or other tangible property, that--
``(A) has a specific service or function; and
``(B) is tracked and managed as a distinct, identifiable
entity by the applicable covered agency.
``(2) Covered agency.--The term `covered agency' means--
``(A) the Service;
``(B) the United States Fish and Wildlife Service;
``(C) the Forest Service;
``(D) the Bureau of Land Management; and
``(E) the Bureau of Indian Education.
``(3) Fund.--The term `Fund' means the National Parks and
Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund established by section
200402(a).
``(4) Project.--The term `project' means any activity to reduce
or eliminate deferred maintenance of an asset, which may include
resolving directly related infrastructure deficiencies of the asset
that would not by itself be classified as deferred maintenance.
``Sec. 200402. National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund
``(a) Establishment.--There is established in the Treasury of the
United States a fund to be known as the `National Parks and Public Land
Legacy Restoration Fund'.
``(b) Deposits.--
``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), for
each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025, there shall be deposited in
the Fund an amount equal to 50 percent of all energy development
revenues due and payable to the United States from oil, gas, coal,
or alternative or renewable energy development on Federal land and
water credited, covered, or deposited as miscellaneous receipts
under Federal law in the preceding fiscal year.
``(2) Maximum amount.--The amount deposited in the Fund under
paragraph (1) shall not exceed $1,900,000,000 for any fiscal year.
``(3) Effect on other revenues.--Nothing in this section
affects the disposition of revenues that--
``(A) are due to the United States, special funds, trust
funds, or States from mineral and energy development on Federal
land and water; or
``(B) have been otherwise appropriated--
``(i) under Federal law, including--
``(I) the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of
2006 (43 U.S.C. 1331 note; Public Law 109-432); and
``(II) the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et
seq.); or
``(ii) from--
``(I) the Land and Water Conservation Fund
established under chapter 2003; or
``(II) the Historic Preservation Fund established
under chapter 3031.
``(c) Availability of Funds.--Amounts deposited in the Fund shall
be available to the Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture, as
provided in subsection (e), without further appropriation or fiscal
year limitation.
``(d) Investment of Amounts.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary may request the Secretary of
the Treasury to invest any portion of the Fund that is not, as
determined by the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of
Agriculture, required to meet the current needs of the Fund.
``(2) Requirement.--An investment requested under paragraph (1)
shall be made by the Secretary of the Treasury in a public debt
security--
``(A) with a maturity suitable to the needs of the Fund, as
determined by the Secretary; and
``(B) bearing interest at a rate determined by the
Secretary of the Treasury, taking into consideration current
market yields on outstanding marketable obligations of the
United States of comparable maturity.
``(3) Credits to fund.--The income on investments of the Fund
under this subsection shall be credited to, and form a part of, the
Fund.
``(e) Use of Funds.--
``(1) In general.--Amounts deposited in the Fund for each
fiscal year shall be used for priority deferred maintenance
projects in the System, in the National Wildlife Refuge System, on
public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management, for the
Bureau of Indian Education schools, and in the National Forest
System, as follows:
``(A) 70 percent of the amounts deposited in the Fund for
each fiscal year shall be allocated to the Service.
``(B) 15 percent of the amounts deposited in the Fund for
each fiscal year shall be allocated to the Forest Service.
``(C) 5 percent of the amounts deposited in the Fund for
each fiscal year shall be allocated to the United States Fish
and Wildlife Service.
``(D) 5 percent of the amounts deposited in the Fund for
each fiscal year shall be allocated to the Bureau of Land
Management.
``(E) 5 percent of the amounts deposited in the Fund for
each fiscal year shall be allocated to the Bureau of Indian
Education.
``(2) Limitations.--
``(A) Non-transportation projects.--Over the term of the
Fund, within each covered agency, not less than 65 percent of
amounts from the Fund shall be allocated for non-transportation
projects.
``(B) Transportation projects.--The amounts remaining in
the Fund after the allocations required under subparagraph (A)
may be allocated for transportation projects of the covered
agencies, including paved and unpaved roads, bridges, tunnels,
and paved parking areas.
``(C) Plan.--Any priority deferred maintenance project
funded under this section shall be consistent with an
applicable transportation, deferred maintenance, or capital
improvement plan developed by the applicable covered agency.
``(f) Prohibited Use of Funds.--No amounts in the Fund shall be
used--
``(1) for land acquisition;
``(2) to supplant discretionary funding made available for
annually recurring facility operations, maintenance, and
construction needs; or
``(3) for bonuses for employees of the Federal Government that
are carrying out this section.
``(g) Submission of Priority List of Projects to Congress.--Not
later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this section, the
Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to the
Committees on Energy and Natural Resources and Appropriations of the
Senate and the Committees on Natural Resources and Appropriations of
the House of Representatives a list of projects to be funded for fiscal
year 2021 that--
``(1) are identified by the Secretary and the Secretary of
Agriculture as priority deferred maintenance projects; and
``(2) as of the date of the submission of the list, are ready
to be implemented.
``(h) Submission of Annual List of Projects to Congress.--Until the
date on which all of the amounts in the Fund are expended, the
President shall annually submit to Congress, together with the annual
budget of the United States, a list of projects to be funded from the
Fund that includes a detailed description of each project, including
the estimated expenditures from the Fund for the project for the
applicable fiscal year.
``(i) Alternate Allocation.--
``(1) In general.--Appropriations Acts may provide for
alternate allocation of amounts made available under this section,
consistent with the allocations to covered agencies under
subsection (e)(1).
``(2) Allocation by president.--
``(A) No alternate allocations.--If Congress has not
enacted legislation establishing alternate allocations by the
date on which the Act making full-year appropriations for the
Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
for the applicable fiscal year is enacted into law, amounts
made available under subsection (c) shall be allocated by the
President.
``(B) Insufficient alternate allocation.--If Congress
enacts legislation establishing alternate allocations for
amounts made available under subsection (c) that are less than
the full amount appropriated under that subsection, the
difference between the amount appropriated and the alternate
allocation shall be allocated by the President.
``(j) Public Donations.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary and the Secretary of
Agriculture may accept public cash or in-kind donations that
advance efforts--
``(A) to reduce the deferred maintenance backlog; and
``(B) to encourage relevant public-private partnerships.
``(2) Credits to fund.--Any cash donations accepted under
paragraph (1) shall be--
``(A) credited to, and form a part of, the Fund; and
``(B) allocated to the covered agency for which the
donation was made.
``(3) Other allocations.--Any donations allocated to a covered
agency under paragraph (2)(B) shall be allocated to the applicable
covered agency independently of the allocations under subsection
(e)(1).
``(k) Required Consideration for Accessibility.--In expending
amounts from the Fund, the Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture
shall incorporate measures to improve the accessibility of assets and
accommodate visitors and employees with disabilities in accordance with
applicable law.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of chapters for subtitle II of
title 54, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item
relating to chapter 2003 the following:
``2004. National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund200401''.
(c) GAO Study.--Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall--
(1) conduct a study on the implementation of this section and
the amendments made by this section, including whether this section
and the amendments made by this section have effectively reduced
the priority deferred maintenance backlog of the covered agencies
(as that term is defined in section 200401 of title 54, United
States Code); and
(2) submit to Congress a report that describes the results of
the study under paragraph (1).
SEC. 3. PERMANENT FULL FUNDING OF THE LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND.
(a) In General.--Section 200303 of title 54, United States Code, is
amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 200303. Availability of funds
``(a) In General.--Any amounts deposited in the Fund under section
200302 for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year thereafter shall be
made available for expenditure for fiscal year 2021 and each fiscal
year thereafter, without further appropriation or fiscal year
limitation, to carry out the purposes of the Fund (including accounts
and programs made available from the Fund pursuant to the Further
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (Public Law 116-94; 133 Stat.
2534)).
``(b) Additional Amounts.--Amounts made available under subsection
(a) shall be in addition to amounts made available to the Fund under
section 105 of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 (43
U.S.C. 1331 note; Public Law 109-432) or otherwise appropriated from
the Fund.
``(c) Allocation Authority.--
``(1) Submission of cost estimates.--The President shall submit
to Congress detailed account, program, and project allocations of
the full amount made available under subsection (a)--
``(A) for fiscal year 2021, not later than 90 days after
the date of enactment of the Great American Outdoors Act; and
``(B) for each fiscal year thereafter, as part of the
annual budget submission of the President.
``(2) Alternate allocation.--
``(A) In general.--Appropriations Acts may provide for
alternate allocation of amounts made available under subsection
(a), including allocations by account, program, and project.
``(B) Allocation by president.--
``(i) No alternate allocations.--If Congress has not
enacted legislation establishing alternate allocations by
the date on which the Act making full-year appropriations
for the Department of the Interior, Environment, and
Related Agencies for the applicable fiscal year is enacted
into law, amounts made available under subsection (a) shall
be allocated by the President.
``(ii) Insufficient alternate allocation.--If Congress
enacts legislation establishing alternate allocations for
amounts made available under subsection (a) that are less
than the full amount appropriated under that subsection,
the difference between the amount appropriated and the
alternate allocation shall be allocated by the President.
``(3) Recreational public access.--Amounts expended from the
Fund under this section shall be consistent with the requirements
for recreational public access for hunting, fishing, recreational
shooting, or other outdoor recreational purposes under section
200306(c).
``(4) Annual report.--The President shall submit to Congress an
annual report that describes the final allocation by account,
program, and project of amounts made available under subsection
(a), including a description of the status of obligations and
expenditures.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Section 200302(c) of title 54, United States Code, is
amended by striking paragraph (3).
(2) Section 200306(a)(2)(B) of title 54, United States Code, is
amended by striking clause (iii).
(c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 2003 of
title 54, United States Code, is amended by striking the item relating
to section 200303 and inserting the following:
``200303. Availability of funds.''.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.