[Senate Report 105-311]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 550
105th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE

 2d Session                                                     105-311
_______________________________________________________________________


 
              LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND ACT OF 1965

                                _______
                                

 September 8 (legislative day, August 31), 1998.--Ordered to be printed

_______________________________________________________________________


  Mr. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 1333]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 1333) to amend the Land and Water 
Conservation Fund Act of 1965 to allow national park units that 
cannot charge an entrance or admission fee to retain other fees 
and charges, having considered the same, reports favorably 
thereon with an amendment and recommends that the bill, as 
amended, do pass.
    The amendment is as follows:
    Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu 
thereof the following:

SECTION 1. USE OF CERTAIN RECREATIONAL FEES.

    Section 4(i)(1) of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 
(16 U.S.C. 460l-6a(i)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(C) Units at which entrance fees or admissions fees cannot be 
collected.--
    ``(i) Witholding of amounts.--Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), 
section 315(c) of section 101(c) of the Omnibus Consolidated 
Rescissions and Appropriations Act of 1996 (16 U.S.C. 460l-6a note; 
Public Law 104-134), or section 107 of the Department of the Interior 
and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998 (16 U.S.C. 460l-6a note; 
Public Law 105-83), the Secretary of the Interior shall withhold from 
the special account under subparagraph (A) 100 percent of the fees and 
charges collected in connection with any unit of the National Park 
System at which entrance fees or admission fees cannot be collected by 
reason of deed restrictions.
    ``(ii) Use of amounts.--Amounts withheld under clause (i) shall be 
retained by the Secretary and shall be available, without further Act 
of appropriation, for expenditure by the Secretary for the unit with 
respect to which the amounts were collected for the purposes of 
enhancing the quality of visitor experience, protection of resources, 
repair and maintenance, interpretation, signage, habitat or facility 
enhancement, resource preservation, annual operation (including fee 
collection), maintenance, and law enforcement.''.

                         Purpose of the Measure

    The purpose of S. 1333, as ordered reported, is to amend 
the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act to allow National Park 
System units that do not charge an entrance fee because of deed 
restrictions to retain 100 percent of user fees collected at 
the park. Currently, only Great Smoky Mountains National Park 
and the Lincoln Home National Historic Site have such a deed 
restriction.

                          Background and Need

    The Land and Water Conservation Fund Act (LWCF), Public Law 
88-578, was enacted on September 3, 1964. The Act established a 
funding source for Federal acquisition of park and recreation 
lands and matching grants to state and local governments for 
recreation planning, acquisition, and development of 
recreational facilities. The LWCF also granted the Department 
of the Interior the authority to charge entrance and recreation 
use fees at designated units of the National Park System. In 
1996, FY 1997 Appropriations Act, the Department of the 
Interior and Related Agencies (Public Law 104-134) contained a 
provision which authorized each Federal land management agency 
to designate up to 100 sites where entrance and user fees could 
be retained and expended without further appropriation. With 
respect to National Park System units participating in the fee 
demonstration program, 80 percent of the fees collected are 
retained by the collecting park, and 20 percent are returned to 
the Park Service to be distributed as determined by the 
Director of the National Park Service.
    S. 1333 would amend the LWCF Act to allow any park which 
cannot charge an entrance fee due to a deed restriction to 
retain and expend 100% of recreation use fees collected for use 
within that unit. There are currently two units in the National 
Park System with deed restrictions prohibiting entrance fees, 
Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Lincoln Home National 
Historic Site.
    When Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established 
Tennessee and North Carolina donated the land for the park 
contingent on a deed restriction that precludes the National 
Park Service from charging admission fees at either the 
Tennessee or the North Carolina entrances to the park.
    Great Smoky Mountains National Park collected $1.2 million 
in camping and other recreation use fees in 1997 and retained 
$960,000. This bill, if enacted, could provide an additional 
$300,000 to $400,000 per year for the operation of Great Smoky 
Mountains National Park.

                          Legislative History

    S. 1333 was introduced by Senator Frist on October 29, 1997 
and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. 
The Subcommittee on National Parks, Historic Preservation, and 
Recreation held a hearing on S. 1333 on July 9, 1998.
    At its business meeting on July 29, 1998, the Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources ordered S. 1333, as amended, 
favorably reported.

                        Committee Recommendation

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open 
business session on July 29, 1998, by a unanimous voice vote of 
a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 1333, if 
amended as described herein.

                          Committee Amendment

    During the consideration of S. 1333, the Committee adopted 
an amendment in the nature of a substitute, which authorizes 
the Secretary to retain 100 percent of fees and charges 
collected in any unit of the Park System where entrance fees or 
admissions fees cannot be collected by reason of deed 
restrictions. The amendment provides that funds collected can 
be used for the following purposes: enhancing the quality of 
the visitor experience, protection of resources, repair and 
maintenance, interpretation, signage, habitat or facility 
enhancement, resource preservation, annual operations 
(including fee collection), maintenance, and law enforcement.

                           Summary of S. 1333

    S. 1333 amends the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 
1965 authorizing parks, which cannot collect entrance fees due 
to deed restrictions, to retain 100 percent of all other fees 
for use within that unit.

                   Cost and Budgetary Considerations

    The following estimate of costs of this measure has been 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                   Washington, DC, August 21, 1998.
Hon. Frank H. Murkowski,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1333, a bill to 
amend the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 to allow 
national park units that cannot charge an entrance or admission 
fee to retain other fees and charges.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis.
            Sincerely,
                                              James L. Blum
                                             (For June E. O'Neill).
    Enclosure.

S. 1333--A bill to amend the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 
        1965 to allow national park units that cannot charge an 
        entrance or admission fee to retain other fees and charges

    CBO estimates that enacting S. 1333 would increase direct 
spending by $500,000 a year or less through fiscal year 2001 
and by about $700,000 a year in 2002 and 2003, for a total of 
about $2 million over the 1999-2003 period. Because the bill 
would affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures would 
apply. S. 1333 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would have no impact on the budgets of state, local or tribal 
governments.
    S. 1333 would authorize the National Park Service (NPS) to 
withhold from the special account established under the Land 
and Water Conservation Fund Act (LWCFA) all recreation receipts 
collected by parks that are prohibited by deed restrictions 
from charging entrance fees. (Such parks may still be able to 
collect recreation use fees or other non-admission fees.) These 
receipts would be spent without further appropriation by the 
park that collected them for purposes such as resource 
protection, repair and maintenance, and collection of fees.
    At present, only two parks are prohibited by deed 
restrictions from collecting entrance fees. One of these, the 
Lincoln Home National Historic Site, collects virtually no 
recreation receipts of any type. CBO estimates that the other, 
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, will collect recreation 
use fees of about $700,000 in fiscal year 1998 and about 
$800,000 annually through 2003. Because this park is a 
demonstration fee area under the temporary recreation fee 
program authorized by the Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions and 
Appropriations Act of 1996, no recreation receipts earned there 
will be deposited to the special account established under the 
LWCFA until after fiscal year 1999. As a result, the authority 
to withhold the park's receipts from that account would not 
affect direct spending until 2000. (The fee demonstration 
program allows the NPS to spend without further appropriation 
all fees collected at demonstration areas anyway, but only 80 
percent of such amounts are retained by the collecting park.) 
Beginning in 2000, when the Great Smoky park will again charge 
fees under the permanent fee authority provided in the LWCFA, 
the provisions of S. 1333 would allow the park to retain and 
spend without appropriation 100 percent of any amounts it 
collects, rather than 15 percent as authorized under that act. 
CBO estimates that the resulting increase in outlays from 
direct spending would be less than $500,000 in 2000, about 
$500,000 in 2001, and between $600,000 and $700,000 for both 
2002 and 2003.
    The CBO staff contact is Deborah Reis. This estimate was 
approved by Paul N. Van de Water, Assistant Director for Budget 
Analysis.

                      Regulatory Impact Evaluation

    In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following 
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in 
carrying out S. 1333. The bill is not a regulatory measure in 
the sense of imposing Government-established standards of 
significant economic responsibilities on private individuals 
and businesses.
    No personal information would be collected in administering 
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal 
privacy.
    Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from 
enactment of S. 1333, as ordered reported.

                        Executive Communications

    The testimony of the Department of the Interior at the 
Subcommittee hearing follows:

 STATEMENT OF WILLIAM SHADDOX, ACTING ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, PROFESSIONAL 
      SERVICES, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

    Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to appear 
before the Subcommittee to present the Department of the 
Interior's views on S. 1333, a bill which would amend the Land 
and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 to allow units of the 
National Park System not permitted to charge entrance or 
admission fees to retain other fees and charges. In amending 
the Land and Water Act the bill would add a new subsection to 
Section 4(i)(1) and would allow units of the National Park 
System that have deed restrictions which prohibit the 
collection of entrance or admission fees to retain 100% of all 
other fees and charges. Such receipts would be available to the 
Secretary without further appropriation for use at the unit 
where collected. Mr. Chairman, the National Park Service 
opposes enactment of this legislation and finds it unnecessary.
    As the Committee is well aware, the National Park Service 
is currently involved in the Recreational Fee Demonstration 
Program. The demonstration program provides the National Park 
Service broad authority for the administration and retention of 
recreation fees, both admission and user fees. The National 
Park Service retains 100% of all recreation fees collected at 
each fee demonstration project, with 80% of the fees remaining 
at the collecting park for use at that unit. Currently the 
program is limited to 100 projects. Pending legislation that 
has passed the Senate and is under discussion in the House 
would expand the fee demonstration program to allow all units 
of the National Park System to participate in the program. The 
fee demonstration program provides the authorities necessary 
for units that have deed restrictions on admission fees to 
retain other fees in a fair and equitable manner to all other 
units participating in the program.
    Currently there are only two units of the National Park 
System that have deed restrictions that prevent charging 
entrance or admission fees, Great Smoky Mountains National Park 
and Lincoln Home National Historic Site. Great Smoky Mountains 
National Park is a fee demonstration park while Lincoln Home us 
not. Singling out these parks for special authority goes 
against the work that has been done both under the Recreational 
Fee Demonstration Program and other initiatives that are aimed 
at removing special treatment of one unit over another. The aim 
of fee legislation has been to remove restrictions and to 
provide as much flexibility as possible in the setting and 
administration of fees while at the same time providing 
authority to retain the majority of recreation fee revenue at 
the units where it is collected.
    One could argue that units with deed restrictions on 
imposing entrance or admission fees lose out because they 
cannot benefit from such fees. There are numerous units of the 
National Park System that do not have deed restrictions; 
however, due to other reasons, the imposition of entrance or 
admission fees is infeasible. Therefore, they are not in a 
position to benefit from such fees.
    Because we are still in the midst of the recreational fee 
demonstration program it is inappropriate to tinker with one 
element of the Land and Water Conservation Fund regarding 
recreation fees. The question of deed restrictions should be 
addressed in our review as mandated by the fee demonstration 
program and any recommendation for changes in legislation 
should be part of the total package of changes recommended for 
permanent fee legislation. Allowing all units of the National 
Park System to participate in the fee demonstration program 
would ensure that all units with deed restrictions could take 
advantage of the broader authorities authorized under the 
demonstration program. S. 1693, that passed the Senate and is 
pending before the House, would broaden the fee demonstration 
program to all parks. We support enactment of that legislation 
and feel that it fairly and equitably addresses the needs of 
parks both with and without deed restrictions on admission and 
entrance fees.
    This concludes my prepared statement. Thank you for the 
opportunity to testify on this matter. If I can answer any 
questions regarding this legislation, I will be happy to do so 
at this time.

                        Changes in Existing Law

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by 
the bill S. 1333, as ordered reported, are shown as follows 
(existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black 
brackets, new matter is printed in italic, existing law in 
which no change is proposed is shown in roman):

(Public Law 88-578, as amended, September 3, 1964)

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


    Section 4(i)(1) Except in the case of fees collected by the 
United States Fish and Wildlife Service or the Tennessee Valley 
Authority, all receipts from fees collected pursuant to this 
section by any Federal agency (or by any public or private 
entity under contract with a Federal agency) shall be covered 
into a special account for that agency established in the 
Treasury of the United States. Fees collected by the Secretary 
of Agriculture pursuant to this subsection shall continue to be 
available for the purposes of distribution to States and 
counties in accordance with applicable law.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

    (4) * * *
          (A) * * *
          (B) * * *
          (C) Units at Which Entrance Fees or Admissions Fees 
        Cannot be Collected.
                  (i) Withholding of Amounts. Notwithstanding 
                subparagraph (A), section 315(c) of section 
                101(c) of the Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions 
                and Appropriations Act of 1996 (16 U.S.C. 460l-
                6a note; Public Law 104-134), or section 107 of 
                the Department of the Interior and Related 
                Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998 (16 U.S.C. 
                460l-6a note; Public Law 105-83), the Secretary 
                of the Interior shall withhold from the special 
                account under subparagraph (A) 100 percent of 
                the fees and charges collected in connection 
                with any unit of the National Park System at 
                which entrance fees or admission fees cannot be 
                collected by reason of deed restrictions.
                  (ii) Use of Amounts. Amounts withheld under 
                clause (i) shall be retained by the Secretary 
                and shall be available, without further Act of 
                appropriations, for expenditure by the 
                Secretary for the unit with respect to which 
                the amounts were collected for the purposes of 
                enhancing the quality of the visitor 
                experience, protection of resources, repair and 
                maintenance, interpretation, signage, habitat 
                or facility enhancement, resource preservation, 
                annual operation (including fee collection), 
                maintenance, and law enforcement.