[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 8029]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     INTRODUCTION OF THE SAVE OUR NATIONAL PARKS TRANSPORTATION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, June 1, 2015

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce the ``Save Our National 
Parks Transportation Act.'' The bill authorizes $460 million for the 
National Park Service (NPS) from the Federal Lands Transportation 
Program for each of fiscal years 2016 to 2021, and establishes the 
Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Transportation Projects 
program authorized at $150 million each of fiscal years 2016 to 2021.
  Unlike other infrastructure, NPS roads and bridges rely exclusively 
on federal funds. These roads and bridges are located in districts 
across the country, and the needs are spread across most of the 50 
States. These roads and bridges are not funded out of state 
apportionments, and Members may not realize that there are few 
alternative sources of funds for maintenance and improvements of these 
assets.
  Infrastructure in our national parks continues to crumble at an 
alarming rate, threatening not only our largest and most famous parks, 
but also the significant revenue that states and localities earn from 
the presence of national parks and from federal roads and bridges that 
are essential for daily commerce.
  Significant investments are needed for roads, bridges, and related 
transportation infrastructure on NPS land. Under the Moving Ahead for 
Progress in the 21st Century Act (Map-21), the Federal Lands 
Transportation Program is funded at $300 million per fiscal year, with 
NPS receiving $240 million. Yet, NPS has an $11.5 billion maintenance 
backlog and needs $460 million per year just to maintain the existing 
condition of its core transportation infrastructure.
  NPS also has several ``mega-projects'' that are in critical need, but 
the current annual transportation allocation for NPS does not allow for 
any progress on these projects. Last week, NPS announced weight 
restrictions and lane closures on the iconic Arlington Memorial Bridge, 
spanning the Potomac River between Virginia and the District of 
Columbia. Memorial Bridge carries more than 68,000 vehicles per day, 
and it's a critical transportation artery to Arlington National 
Cemetery, Mount Vernon and for the National Capital Region. With a cost 
of $250 million to replace the bridge, the necessary improvements to 
this one bridge exceed the entire annual Federal Lands Transportation 
Program allocation for NPS. There are other large projects across the 
country that require equally significant investments, including the 
Tamiami Trail in Florida; the Foothills Parkway project in Great Smoky 
Mountains National Park in Tennessee; the Yellowstone National Park 
Road Reconstruction in Wyoming; and the Water Gap National Recreation 
Area Road Reconstruction project in Delaware, New Jersey, and 
Pennsylvania.
  To address the need to fund these large projects, the bill 
establishes a Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal 
Transportation Projects program. The authorized funding for the program 
will be $150 million per year for five years and would cover projects 
with a minimum cost of $25 million. Under the program, the Federal Land 
Management Agencies and Indian Tribes are eligible to compete for 
funding to construct, reconstruct, and rehabilitate nationally 
significant federal lands and tribal transportation projects. This 
provision is also included in H.R. 2410, the ``Generating Renewal, 
Opportunity, and Work with Accelerated Mobility, Efficiency, and 
Rebuilding of Infrastructure and Communities throughout America Act'' 
(GROW AMERICA Act), which I have introduced along with my Democratic 
colleagues on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
  The federal government has a responsibility to maintain the highway 
and transit assets it owns. Neglect has now reached crisis proportions. 
This bill is an important step in empowering NPS to fulfill its 
responsibility.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill.

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