[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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