[Senate Report 114-371]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


114th Congress  }                                            {   Report
                                    SENATE
 2d Session     }                                            {  114-371
_______________________________________________________________________


                                                       Calendar No. 664


        OUTDOOR RECREATION JOBS AND ECONOMIC IMPACT ACT OF 2015

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

           COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION

                                   on

                                S. 2219

             [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


                November 15, 2016.--Ordered to be printed
               
                              ------------

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

69-010                      WASHINGTON : 2016


               
       SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
                    one hundred fourteenth congress
                             second session

                   JOHN THUNE, South Dakota, Chairman
 ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi         BILL NELSON, Florida
 ROY BLUNT, Missouri                  MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
 MARCO RUBIO, Florida                 CLAIRE McCASKILL, Missouri
 KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire          AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
 TED CRUZ, Texas                      RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
 DEB FISCHER, Nebraska                BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
 JERRY MORAN, Kansas                  ED MARKEY, Massachusetts
 DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska                 CORY BOOKER, New Jersey
 RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin               TOM UDALL, New Mexico
 DEAN HELLER, Nevada                  JOE MANCHIN, West Virginia
 CORY GARDNER, Colorado               GARY PETERS, Michigan
 STEVE DAINES, Montana
                       Nick Rossi, Staff Director
                 Adrian Arnakis, Deputy Staff Director
                    Jason Van Beek, General Counsel
                 Kim Lipsky, Democratic Staff Director
           Christopher Day, Democratic Deputy Staff Director
                 Clint Odom, Democratic General Counsel



                                                      Calendar No. 664
114th Congress  }                                           {   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session     }                                           {  114-371

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



 
        OUTDOOR RECREATION JOBS AND ECONOMIC IMPACT ACT OF 2015

                                _______
                                

               November 15, 2016.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Thune, from the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 2219]

    The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, to 
which was referred the bill (S. 2219) to require the Secretary 
of Commerce to conduct an assessment and analysis of the 
outdoor recreation economy of the United States, and for other 
purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 
with an amendment (in the nature of a substitute) and 
recommends that the bill (as amended) do pass.

                          Purpose of the Bill

    The purpose of this bill is to direct the Bureau of 
Economic Analysis (BEA) within the Department of Commerce to 
conduct an assessment of the outdoor recreation industry's full 
contribution to the U.S. economy.

                          Background and Needs

    The outdoor recreation economy includes direct spending by 
Americans in pursuit of outdoor activities as well as the 
indirect effects of this spending on jobs and wages. Direct 
spending on outdoor recreation includes outdoor recreation 
product sales (e.g., apparel, footwear, equipment, vehicles, 
accessories, and services) and dollars spent on trips and 
travel (including food, drink, transportation, entertainment, 
activities, lodging, souvenirs, etc.). The outdoor recreation 
industry's full contribution to the U.S. economy includes not 
only direct spending in pursuit of outdoor activities but also 
the impact, and associated multiplier effect, of related 
spending, jobs, and wages on the broader economy.
    BEA is an agency within the Department of Commerce that 
produces economic accounts statistics that enable government 
and business decision-makers, researchers, and the U.S. public 
to follow and understand the performance of the U.S. economy. 
It measures economic impact at the national, regional, and 
industry level. BEA's national accounts provide a quantitative 
assessment of U.S. domestic production, investment, and 
consumption of exports and imports, and of national and 
domestic income and saving. The most closely watched statistic 
published by BEA is its gross domestic product (GDP) estimate, 
which is published quarterly.
    BEA's industry economic accounts provide a detailed view of 
the interrelationship between U.S. producers and users and the 
contributions to production across industries. These accounts 
are used extensively by policymakers and businesses to 
understand industry interactions, productivity trends, and the 
changing structure of the U.S. economy. BEA publishes economic 
data for annual industry accounts, providing a time series of 
detailed, consistent information, including the annual 
contribution of private industries and government to the 
national GDP.
    In addition to published estimates for 61 private 
industries, BEA provides data from several satellite accounts--
statistical frameworks that are designed to expand the 
analytical capacity of the industry economic accounts and to 
supplement them by focusing on a particular aspect of economic 
activity. Currently, BEA maintains five satellite accounts: 
Arts and Cultural Production; Healthcare; Innovation; Travel 
and Tourism; and Transportation.
    BEA is currently working with the Department of the 
Interior (DOI) to stand up a sixth satellite account to provide 
data on outdoor recreation. In April of 2016, the Secretary of 
the Interior, Sally Jewell, announced that the Federal 
Government will undertake a BEA feasibility study to analyze 
the impact outdoor recreation has on the U.S. economy. 
Secretary Jewell stated:
        By producing credible data on the tangible economic 
        benefits of public lands, we can help the public and 
        Members of Congress better understand the benefits of 
        investing in them. . . . Industry estimates show that 
        consumer spending for outdoor recreation is greater 
        than household utilities and pharmaceuticals combined--
        and yet the federal government has never fully 
        recognized or quantified these benefits. This project 
        is the start of a multi-year effort to count these 
        contributions in a comprehensive and impartial way.\1\
    BEA is currently working with the Federal Recreation 
Council, comprised of the Forest Service, the Army Corps of 
Engineers, the National Park Service, the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and 
the Bureau of Land Management, to initiate the Outdoor 
Recreation Satellite Account.\2\
    In this effort, the DOI will sign a memorandum of 
understanding with BEA to establish the satellite account, 
focusing on an initial, one-year feasibility study necessary to 
establish experimental, national-level and regional estimates, 
beginning with California, which will be completed in 2017.\3\
    To ensure the availability of economic data on outdoor 
recreation, this legislation would explicitly authorize these 
efforts. The legislation is designed to ensure methodological 
uniformity between this economic analysis and existing Federal 
efforts to analyze the impact of other private industries, 
while at the same time requiring consultation with various 
stakeholders, including small businesses in the outdoor 
recreation economy of the United States. The bill is not 
intended to delay or otherwise disrupt ongoing efforts to 
create this outdoor recreation satellite account.
    To ensure Congress becomes informed of the outdoor 
recreation industry's full contributions to the U.S. economy 
and to allow for meaningful congressional oversight of the 
execution of this legislation, the bill would require the 
Secretary of Commerce to submit a report to appropriate 
committees of Congress on the findings of this assessment.
    S. 2219 would allow the Secretary of Commerce to consider a 
variety of considerations in conducting an assessment and 
analysis of the outdoor recreation economy of the United States 
and its effects on the overall economy of the United States. 
While the Committee defers to the judgment and existing 
methodology of BEA in conducting this analysis, it notes that 
the outdoor recreation economy encompasses a wide variety of 
outdoor recreation activities, including motorized recreation.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Sally Jewell, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, ``The Next 100 
Years of Conservation in America'' (Speech, The National Geographic 
Society, Apr. 19, 2016), Medium, at https://medium.com/@Interior/the-
next-100-years-of-american-conservation-397c42b8f1f2#.4duek7nkr.
    \2\Department of the Interior, Outdoor Recreation Economic Study, 
no date, at https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/uploads/
Fact%20Sheet%20-%20Outdoor%20Recreation%20Economic%20Study%20final.pdf.
    \3\Ibid.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                          Legislative History

    Senator Shaheen introduced this bill on October 29, 2015, 
with Senator Gardner as an original cosponsor. The bill is also 
cosponsored by Senators Ayotte, Bennet, Daines, Enzi, Heinrich, 
Klobuchar, Moran, Murray, Peters, Risch, Sessions, Tester, 
Wicker, and Wyden.
    On June 29, 2016, the Committee met in open Executive 
Session, and by voice vote ordered S. 2219 to be reported 
favorably with an amendment (in the nature of a substitute) 
offered by Senator Gardner.

                            Estimated Costs

    In accordance with paragraph 11(a) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate and section 403 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee provides the 
following cost estimate, prepared by the Congressional Budget 
Office:

S. 2219--Outdoor Recreation Jobs and Economic Impact Act of 2016

    S. 2219 would direct the Department of Commerce (DOC) to 
enter into a joint memorandum with the Secretary of Agriculture 
and the Secretary of the Interior to conduct an assessment and 
analysis of the outdoor recreation economy and issue a report. 
On the basis of information from the affected departments, CBO 
estimates that implementing S. 2219 would require an additional 
four or five people to conduct the study and issue the report 
and would cost $2 million over the 2017-2021 period; such 
spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated 
funds.
    Enacting S. 2219 would not affect direct spending or 
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO 
estimates that enacting S. 2219 would not increase net direct 
spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 
10-year periods beginning in 2027.
    S. 2219 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Stephen Rabent. 
The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                           Regulatory Impact

    Because S. 2219 does not create any new programs, the 
legislation will have no additional regulatory impact, and will 
result in no additional reporting requirements for the private 
sector. The legislation will have no further effect on the 
number or types of individuals and businesses regulated, the 
economic impact of such regulation, the personal privacy of 
affected individuals, or the paperwork required from such 
individuals and businesses.

                   Congressionally Directed Spending

    In compliance with paragraph 4(b) of rule XLIV of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee provides that no 
provisions contained in the bill, as reported, meet the 
definition of congressionally directed spending items under the 
rule.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis


Section 1. Short title.

    This section would establish the bill's short title as the 
``Outdoor Recreation Jobs and Economic Impact Act of 2016.''

Section 2. Assessment and analysis of outdoor recreation economy of the 
        United States.

    This section would require the Secretary of Commerce to 
jointly enter into a memorandum of understanding with the 
Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to 
conduct, acting through the Director of BEA, an assessment and 
analysis of the outdoor recreation economy of the United States 
and the effects attributable to such economy on the overall 
economy of the United States.
    In conducting this assessment, this section would allow the 
Secretary of Commerce to consider employment, sales, and 
contributions to travel and tourism, and such other 
contributing components of the outdoor recreation economy of 
the United States as the Secretary of Commerce considers 
appropriate.
    This section would require, as part of the assessment, that 
the Secretary consult with the heads of such agencies and 
offices of the Federal Government as the Secretary of Commerce 
considers appropriate, including the Secretary of Agriculture, 
the Secretary of the Interior, the Director of the Bureau of 
the Census, and the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics.
    It would further require the Secretary of Commerce to 
consult with representatives of businesses, including small 
business concerns, that engage in commerce in the outdoor 
recreation economy of the United States.
    This section would require the Secretary of Commerce to 
submit a report on the assessment's findings to the Committee 
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the Committee on 
Environment and Public Works, the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources, and the Committee on Small Business and 
Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce and the Committee on Small Business of the House of 
Representatives, and would establish a reporting deadline of 24 
months after the bill's enactment.

                        Changes in Existing Law

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee states that the 
bill as reported would make no change to existing law.

                             [all]