[Senate Report 113-298]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                       Calendar No. 638
113th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session                                                     113-298

======================================================================



 
                        NATIONAL PARK ACCESS ACT

                                _______
                                

               December 10, 2014.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

   Ms. Landrieu, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 2104]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 2104) to require the Director of the 
National Park Service to refund to States all State funds that 
were used to reopen and temporarily operate a unit of the 
National Park System during the October 2013 shutdown, having 
considered the same, reports favorably thereon without 
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                                PURPOSE

    The purpose of S. 2104 is to refund money to states that 
provided funds to the National Park Service to reopen units of 
the National Park System during the October 2013 shutdown.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    The Anti-Deficiency Act, 31 U.S.C. 1341, prohibits Federal 
agencies and their officers and employees administering public 
lands (31 U.S.C.) from making or authorizing any expenditure or 
obligation before Congress appropriates sufficient funds for 
the expenditure or obligation. As a result, federal agencies 
have had to suspend most non-essential functions when Congress 
has failed to appropriate the funds needed to pay for those 
functions. During past lapses of appropriations in 1995-1996 
and 2013, partial government shutdowns have required the 
National Park Service to close national parks to the public. 
The closure of the parks hurt nearby communities that rely on 
visitor spending.
    In both the 1995-1996 and 2013 shutdowns, the National Park 
Service entered into individual agreements with certain states, 
at the states' request, to temporarily reopen several National 
Park sites with funds donated by the states. The agreements did 
not allow for reimbursement as that would create an obligation 
to pay money prior to Congressional appropriation.
    In 1996, Congress appropriated funds before the National 
Park Service spent the states' money. The parks were reopened 
using federal funds and the National Park Service was able to 
return the unspent donated funds to the states. In 2013, 
however, the National Park Service spent the states' money to 
reopen parks before Congress appropriated federal funds. The 
National Park Service has been unable to reimburse the states 
because it has no legal authority to reimburse the states for 
their donations.
    Specifically, the National Park Service entered into 
agreements with the States of Arizona, Colorado, New York, 
South Dakota, Tennessee, and Utah to temporarily reopen 
National Parks within those states using funds donated by the 
states. The agreements provided approximately $2 million for 
the operation of National Parks in the six states. National 
Park sites reopened by these agreements included Grand Canyon 
National Park (AZ); Mount Rushmore National Monument (SD); 
Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capital Reef, Zion National 
Parks, Cedar Breaks, Natural Bridges National Monuments, and 
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (UT); Great Smoky 
Mountains National Park (TN); Rocky Mountains National Park 
(CO); and Statue of Liberty National Monument (NY).
    Legislation is needed to authorize the Director of the 
National Park Service to refund approximately $2 million to the 
six states that entered into agreement with the National Park 
Service to reopen National Park sites in those states.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    S. 2104 was introduced by Senator Flake on March 11, 2014. 
S Senators Alexander, Bennet, Corker, Hatch, Lee, McCain, and 
Udall of Colorado are original cosponsors. The Subcommittee on 
National Parks held a hearing on S. 2104 on July 23, 2014. The 
Committee ordered the bill favorably reported on November 13, 
2014.
    A similar bill, H.R. 4353, was introduced by Representative 
Gardner with eight cosponsors on April 1, 2014.

                        COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 
open business session on November 13, 2014, by a voice vote of 
a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 2104.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    Section 1 provides the short title, the National Park 
Access Act.
    Section 2 contains findings that during the October 2013 
lapse of appropriations, the National Park Service entered into 
agreements with various States to temporarily reopen units of 
the National Park System. The States advanced approximately 
$2,000,000 to the National Park Service to reopen these parks. 
The parks, once temporarily reopened, collected entrance fees. 
When Congress funded the government ending the shutdown, the 
National Park Service retained the funds from the States in 
addition to the appropriated funds. The bill finds that the 
States should be reimbursed by the National Park Service.
    Section 3 directs the Director of the National Park Service 
to refund the funds that the States advanced to reopen units of 
the National Park System. Additionally, this section directs 
that the funds to repay the States should come from funds 
appropriated after the date of enactment of this act.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

    The following cost estimate of this measure has been 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office.

S. 2104--National Park Access Act

    S. 2104 would require the National Park Service (NPS) to 
reimburse states for funds they donated to the federal 
government to operate certain national park units during the 
period of lapsed appropriations that occurred from October 1, 
2013, to October 16, 2013.
    Governors of six states (Arizona, Colorado, New York, South 
Dakota, Tennessee, and Utah) signed agreements with the 
Department of the Interior (DOI) to donate about $3.6 million 
to operate 13 national park units in October of 2013. When 
appropriations for the NPS were enacted on October 17, 2013, 
about $1.6 million of the unspent donations were returned to 
the states. Based on information provided by the NPS and 
assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO estimates 
that implementing S. 2104 would cost about $2 million--an 
amount equivalent to the states' donations that were spent to 
operate national park units during that period.
    Enacting S. 2104 would not affect direct spending or 
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
    S. 2104 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
    On December 18, 2013, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for 
H.R. 3286, Protecting States, Opening National Parks Act, as 
ordered reported by the House Committee on Natural Resources on 
December 4, 2013. H.R. 3286 would require the Department of 
Treasury to reimburse states for the operation of national 
parks during the government shutdown. Unlike S. 2104, however, 
the reimbursement requirement in H.R. 3286 would not be subject 
to the availability of future appropriations.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Marin Burnett. 
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy 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. 2104.
    The Act is not a regulatory measure in the sense of 
imposing Government-established standards or 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 the 
enactment of S. 2104, as ordered reported.

                   CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

    S. 2104, as reported, does not contain any congressionally 
directed spending items, limited tax benefits, or limited 
tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the Standing Rules 
of the Senate.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    The testimony provided by the National Park Service at the 
July 23, 2014, Subcommittee on National Parks hearing on S. 
2104 follows:

 Statement of Christina Goldfuss, Deputy Dirtector, Congressional and 
 External Relations, National Park Service, Department of the Interior

    Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to appear 
before you today to provide the Department of the Interior's 
views on S. 2104, a bill to require the Director of the 
National Park Service to refund to States all State funds that 
were used to reopen and temporarily operate a unit of the 
National Park System during the October 2013 shutdown.
    S. 2104 requires the Director of the National Park Service 
to reimburse each State that provided funds to open and 
temporarily operate a unit (or units) of the National Park 
System in October 2013, when there was a lapse in 
appropriations for most Federal government activities. The bill 
specifies that the reimbursement shall be carried out using 
funds appropriated for the National Park Service after 
enactment of this legislation. We estimate that the cost of 
reimbursing the States would be approximately $2 million.
    From October 1 through October 16, 2013, the National Park 
Service, along with other bureaus and offices of the Department 
of the Interior, implemented a shutdown of our activities due 
to a lapse in appropriations. Under the closure determination 
and notice issued by the Director of the National Park Service, 
and consistent with applicable law, the National Park Service 
closed and secured all 401 national parks across the country, 
suspended all activities, and furloughed more than 20,000 
National Park Service employees.
    In response to the economic impacts that the park closures 
were having on many communities and local businesses, as the 
shutdown entered a second week, Secretary Jewell announced that 
the Department would consider agreements with Governors who 
indicated an interest and ability to fully fund National Park 
Service personnel to reopen specified national parks in their 
States. Six States--Arizona, Colorado, New York, South Dakota, 
Tennessee, and Utah--signed donation agreements with the 
Department to open a total of 13 park units that are all 
significant contributors to tourism in the States where they 
are located. State donations under these agreements totaled 
approximately $3.6 million. Once these agreements were signed 
and the funds were transferred, the National Park Service 
reopened the national parks in accordance with the specific 
agreements.
    Under the terms of the agreements, the States donated to 
the National Park Service lump sum payments in advance to cover 
the cost of operating the parks for a specific number of days. 
Further, these agreements stipulated that funds donated and 
used to re-open the parks could not be returned to the States. 
The employees who returned to work in these parks during the 
shutdown were paid for these days out of the funds donated by 
the States. When Congress passed a continuing resolution 
providing appropriations for the first three and a half months 
of FY 2014 on October 16, 2013, the National Park Service was 
able to resume operations on October 17, 2013, and stop 
charging employee time against the funds that had been donated 
by the States.
    Once the shutdown ended, the National Park Service 
immediately began the process of reimbursing the six States for 
the portion of donated funding that was not expended to operate 
the parks, which totaled approximately $1.6 million. However, 
the National Park Service does not have the authority to 
reimburse States for the portion of funding that was expended 
(approximately $2 million); an act of Congress is needed for 
that. S. 2104 would provide that authority. We would like to 
point out that, as written. the source of funds for repayment 
will be derived from future appropriations, not from funds 
received by the parks in FY14.
    Mr. Chairman. this concludes my testimony, and I would be 
happy to answer any questions you or other members of the 
subcommittee may have.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no 
changes in existing law are made by S. 2104, as ordered 
reported.