[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 49 (Monday, April 12, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H1812-H1813]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    PROVIDING FOR COLLECTION OF FEES FOR MAKING OF MOTION PICTURES, 
 TELEVISION PRODUCTIONS, AND SOUND TRACKS IN NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM AND 
                 NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE SYSTEM UNITS

  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 154) to provide for the collection of fees for the making of 
motion pictures, television productions, and sound tracks in National 
Park System and National Wildlife Refuge System units, and for other 
purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                                H.R. 154

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

     SECTION 1. FEE AUTHORITY AND REPEAL OF PROHIBITION.

       (a) Authority.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary of the Interior (in this 
     section referred to as the ``Secretary'') may permit, under 
     terms and conditions considered necessary by the Secretary, 
     the use of lands and facilities administered by the Secretary 
     for the making of any motion picture, television production, 
     soundtrack, or similar project, if the Secretary determines 
     that such use is appropriate and will neither impair the 
     values and resources of the lands and facilities nor result 
     in a significant disruption of normal visitor uses.
       (2) Fees.--(A) Any permit under this section shall require 
     the payment of fees to the Secretary in an amount determined 
     to be appropriate by the Secretary sufficient to provide a 
     fair return to the government in accordance with subparagraph 
     (B), except as provided in subparagraph (C). The amount of 
     the fee shall be not less than the direct and indirect costs 
     to the Government for processing the application for the 
     permit and the use of lands and facilities under the permit, 
     including any necessary costs of cleanup and restoration, 
     except as provided in subparagraph (C).
       (B) The authority of the Secretary to establish fees under 
     this paragraph shall include, but not be limited to, 
     authority to issue regulations that establish a schedule of 
     rates for fees under this paragraph based on such factors 
     as--
       (i) the number of people on site under a permit;
       (ii) the duration of activities under a permit;
       (iii) the conduct of activities under a permit in areas 
     designated by statute or regulations as special use areas, 
     including wilderness and research natural areas; and
       (iv) surface disturbances authorized under a permit.
       (C) The Secretary may, under the terms of the regulations 
     promulgated under paragraph (4), charge a fee below the 
     amount referred to in subparagraph (A) if the activity for 
     which the fee is charged provides clear educational or 
     interpretive benefits for the Department of the Interior.
       (3) Bonding and insurance.--The Secretary may require a 
     bond, insurance, or such other means as may be necessary to 
     protect the interests of the United States in activities 
     arising under such a permit.
       (4) Regulations.--(A) The Secretary shall issue regulations 
     implementing this subsection by not later than 180 days after 
     the date of the enactment of this Act.
       (B) Within 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, 
     the Secretary shall review and, as appropriate, revise 
     regulations issued under this paragraph. After that time, the 
     Secretary shall periodically review the regulations and make 
     necessary changes.
       (b) Collection of Fees.--Fees shall be collected under 
     subsection (a) whenever the proposed filming, videotaping, 
     sound recording, or still photography involves product or 
     service advertisements, or the use of models, actors, sets, 
     or props, or when such filming, videotaping, sound recording, 
     or still photography could result in damage to resources or 
     significant disruption of normal visitor uses. Filming, 
     videotaping, sound recording or still photography, including 
     bona fide newsreel or news television film gathering, which 
     does not involve the activities or impacts identified herein, 
     shall be permitted without fee.
       (c) Existing Regulations.--The prohibition on fees set 
     forth in paragraph (1) of section 5.1(b) of title 43, Code of 
     Federal Regulations, shall cease to apply upon the effective 
     date of regulations under subsection (a). Nothing in this 
     section shall be construed to affect the regulations set 
     forth in part 5 of such title, other than paragraph (1) 
     thereof.
       (d) Proceeds.--Amounts collected as fees under this section 
     shall be available for expenditure without further 
     appropriation and shall be distributed and used, without 
     fiscal year limitation, in accordance with the formula and 
     purposes established for the Recreational Fee Demonstration 
     Program under section 315 of Public Law 104-134.
       (e) Penalty.--A person convicted of violating any 
     regulation issued under subsection (a) shall be fined in 
     accordance with title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned 
     for not more than 6 months, or both, and shall be ordered to 
     pay all costs of the proceedings.
       (f) Effective Date.--This section and the regulations 
     issued under this section shall become effective 180 days 
     after the date of the enactment of this Act, except that this 
     subsection and the authority of the Secretary to issue 
     regulations under this section shall be effective on the date 
     of the enactment of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Nevada (Mr. Gibbons) and the gentleman from Puerto Rico (Mr. Romero-
Barcelo) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons).
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 154 was introduced by the gentleman 
from Colorado (Mr. Hefley). The gentleman from Colorado is to be 
commended for the hard work on this bill and his commitment to see this 
piece of legislation come to fruition.
  H.R. 154 is a bipartisan bill which repeals the existing regulatory 
prohibition on collecting fees for commercial film productions on lands 
administered by the Department of the Interior, including units of the 
National Park System and National Wildlife Refuge Areas. H.R. 154 
authorizes the Secretary to establish a fee schedule using a number of 
relevant factors, such as the number of people on-site and the duration 
of the filming activities. The bill would not affect newsreel or 
television news activities. Proceeds from these location fees would 
remain in the unit where the filming occurs as per the Recreational Fee 
Demonstration Program established under current public law.
  This is a good bill which is long overdue. I urge my colleagues to 
support H.R. 154.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  (Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO asked and was given permission to revise and 
extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 154 provides for the collection 
of fees for the making of motion pictures, television productions and 
sound

[[Page H1813]]

tracks in the National Park System and the National Wildlife Refuge 
System.
  This legislation is a good government and commonsense approach to an 
important matter. We should be charging appropriate commercial fees for 
the use of national parks and refuges, especially when such fees have a 
long established use on public lands and national forests. The 
regulation prohibiting movie and television fees for parks and refuges 
appears to have long outlived any usefulness it may have ever had.
  Significant work was done on this legislation in the last Congress. 
Numerous meetings and discussions were held among Member and committee 
staffs, representatives of the Department of the Interior, the film 
industry and other interested parties. The results of these talks were 
very fruitful and led to the passage of bipartisan legislation last 
fall that unfortunately was not enacted into law prior to adjournment.
  The hearing that was held before the Committee on Resources on H.R. 
154 showed that wide support exists for this proposal. This bill is an 
example of both sides of the aisle, the administration, and interested 
parties working together to achieve a common good.
  Mr. Speaker, everyone agrees that there should be fair and reasonable 
fees for the use of public resources for filming, including the film 
industry itself. We are greatly encouraged by the progress that has 
been made thus far in this bill and we look forward to seeing the 
legislation enacted into law.

                              {time}  1430

  We ask our colleagues to vote for this bill, Mr. Speaker.
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, many of the Nation's most famous and 
profitable motion pictures were filmed on public land. John Ford filmed 
his classic westerns around Moab, UT, and the opening scenes of 
``Raiders of the Lost Ark'' were filmed on Park Service land in Hawaii.
  Before 1948, the Interior Department charged filmmakers market prices 
for the use of these lands. But in that year, for reasons lost to time, 
Congress prohibited the Park Service and the Fish & Wildlife Service 
from collecting fees for commercial film making.
  This has resulted in lost revenue. The 16 units of the National Park 
System most involved with the film industry welcomed 2,800 productions 
over the past 3 years. At the present time, no requirement for fee 
collection besides normal special use permits.
  The Bureau of Land Management, which operates a film program under 
its existing permit system has processed approximately 1,000 requests 
per year. Estimated revenues of $300,000 per year; or about $1,000 to 
$1,100 per day. In contrast, production companies have paid as much as 
$8,500 a day to film on private land.
  Our bill would repeal this prohibition. Interior would be directed to 
develop a policy for collecting fees. Eighty percent of those fees 
would remain in the unit involved for maintenance needs, the remainder 
for systemwide use.
  There are also two Senate bills dealing with this: A. S. 338, Senator 
Campbell's bill; B. S. 568, by Senator Craig Thomas, which would extend 
the fee policy to the Forest Service, as well. In our discussions with 
the Forest Service that agency said it was satisfied with its existing 
policy and did not wish to be included at this time.
  This bill is the result of extensive discussions between my office 
and Members on both sides of the aisle, the Interior Department and 
representatives of the film industry. It is as near to a consensus 
proposal as we are likely to see.
  H.R. 154 provides the middle ground between the needs of the Interior 
Department and those of the film industry while providing our natural 
resources. The film would like the certainty of a fee schedule based on 
the number of people or the acreage involved in a production. While 
Interior would like the flexibility to address these requests, I think 
this bill does that.
  We think our bill offers the chance for a real win-win situation. The 
Park Service needs the money and the film industry is willing to pay it 
within reason. Fees will also help balance the use of our parks for 
filming with protection of the resource. And the more people see our 
parks through the movies, the more they'll want to visit them. Everyone 
can benefit if we do this right.
  With that I'll close. I urge your support for the measure.
  Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this piece 
of legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Stearns). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Gibbons) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 154, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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