LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND ACT AMENDMENTS.

SEC. 5201. LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND ACT AMENDMENTS. (a) Admission Fees.— Section 4(a) of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 4601–6a(a)) is amended as follows: (1) Paragraph (1) is amended by striking out “$10” and inserting in lieu thereof “$25” in the first sentence. (2) Paragraph (1) is further amended by striking out “(1)” and inserting in lieu thereof “(1)(A)” and adding the following new subparagraph at the end thereof: “(B) For admission into a specific designated unit of the National Park System, or into several specific units located in a particular geographic area, the Secretary is authorized to make available an annual admission permit for a reasonable fee. The fee shall not exceed $15 regardless of how many units of the park system are covered. The permit shall convey the privileges of, and shall be subject to the same terms and conditions as, the Golden Eagle Passport, except that it shall be valid only for admission into the specific unit or units of the National Park System indicated at the time of purchase.”. (3) Paragraph (2) is amended by adding the following sentences at the end thereof: “The fee for a single-visit permit at any designated area applicable to those persons entering by private, noncommercial vehicle shall be no more than $5 per vehicle. The single-visit permit shall admit the permittee and all persons accompanying him in a single vehicle. The fee for a single-visit permit at any designated area applicable to those persons entering by any means other than a private noncommercial vehicle shall be no more than $3 per person. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the maximum fee amounts set forth in this paragraph shall apply to all designated areas.”. (4) Paragraph (3) is amended by adding the following new sentence at the end thereof: “Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, no admission fee may be charged at any unit of the National Park System which provides significant outdoor recreation opportunities in an urban environment and to which access is publicly available at multiple locations.”. (5) Add the following new paragraphs: “(6) (A) No later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this paragraph, the Secretary of the Interior shall submit to the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs of the United States House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United States Senate a report on the entrance fees proposed to be charged at units of the National Park System. The report shall include a list of units of the101 STAT. 1330–264 National Park System and the entrance fee proposed to be charged at each unit. The Secretary of the Interior shall include in the report an explanation of the guidelines used in applying the criteria in subsection (d). “(B) Following submittal of the report to the respective committees, any proposed changes to matters covered in the report, including the addition or deletion of park units or the increase or decrease of fee levels at park units shall not take effect until 60 days after notice of the proposed change has been submitted to the committees. “(7) No admission fee may be charged at any unit of the National Park System for admission of any person 16 years of age or less. “(8) No admission fee may be charged at any unit of the National Park System for admission of organized school groups or outings conducted for educational purposes by schools or other bona fide educational institutions. “(9) No admission fee may be charged at the following units of the National Park System; U.S.S. Arizona Memorial, Independence National Historical Park, any unit of the National Park System within the District of Columbia, Arlington House-Robert E. Lee National Memorial, San Juan National Historic Site, and Canaveral National Seashore. “(10) For each unit of the National Park System where an admission fee is collected, the Director shall annually designate at least one day during periods of high visitation as a ‘Fee-Free Day’ when no admission fee shall be charged. “(11) In the case of the following parks, the fee for a single-visit permit applicable to those persons entering by private, noncommercial vehicle (the permittee and all persons accompanying him in a single vehicle) shall be no more than $10 per vehicle and the fee for a single-visit permit applicable to persons entering by any means other than a private noncommercial vehicle shall be no more than $5 per person: Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park and after the end of fiscal year 1990, Grand Canyon National Park. In the case of Yellowstone and Grand Teton, a single-visit fee collected at one unit shall also admit the vehicle or person who paid such fee for a single-visit to the other unit. “(12) Notwithstanding section 203 of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, the Secretary may charge an admission fee under this section at Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska.”. (b) Visitor Reservation Services.— Section 4(f) of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 4601–6a(f)) is amended to read as follows: “(f) The head of any Federal agency, under such terms and conditions as he deems appropriate, may contract with any public or private entity to provide visitor reservation services. Any such contract may provide that the contractor shall be permitted to deduct a commission to be fixed by the agency head from the amount charged the public for providing such services and to remit the net proceeds therefrom to the contracting agency.”. (c) Special Provisions.— Section 4 of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 4601–6a) is amended by adding the following new subsections at the end thereof: 101 STAT. 1330–265 “(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. “(2) Amounts covered into the special account for each agency during each fiscal year shall, after the end of such fiscal year, be available for appropriation solely for the purposes and in the manner provided in this subsection. No funds shall be transferred from fee receipts made available under this Act to each unit of the national park system: Provided, however, That in making appropriations, funds derived from such fees may be used for any purpose authorized therein. Funds credited to the special account shall remain available until expended. “(3) For agencies other than the National Park Service, such funds shall be made available for resource protection, research, interpretation, and maintenance activities related to resource protection in areas managed by that agency at which outdoor recreation is available. To the extent feasible, such funds should be used for purposes (as provided for in this paragraph) which are directly related to the activities which generated the funds, including but not limited to water-based recreational activities and camping. “(4) Amounts covered into the special account for the National Park Service shall be allocated among park system units in accordance with subsection (j) for obligation or expenditure by the Director of the National Park Service for the following purposes: “(A) In the case of receipts from the collection of admission fees: for resource protection, research, and interpretation at units of the National Park System. “(B) In the case of receipts from the collection of user fees: for resource protection, research, interpretation, and maintenance activities related to resource protection at units of the National Park System. “(j) (1) 10 percent of the funds made available to the Director of the National Park Service under subsection (i) in each fiscal year shall be allocated among units of the National Park System on the basis of need in a manner to be determined by the Director. “(2) 40 percent of the funds made available to the Director of the National Park Service under subsection (i) in each fiscal year shall be allocated among units of the National Park System in accordance with paragraph (3) of this subsection and 50 percent shall be allocated in accordance with paragraph (4) of this subsection. “(3) The amount allocated to each unit under this paragraph for each fiscal year shall be a fraction of the total allocation to all units under this paragraph. The fraction for each unit shall be determined by dividing the operating expenses at that unit during the prior fiscal year by the total operating expenses at all units during the prior fiscal year. “(4) The amount allocated to each unit under this paragraph for each fiscal year shall be a fraction of the total allocation to all units under this paragraph. The fraction for each unit shall be determined by dividing the user fees and admission fees collected under101 STAT. 1330–266 this section at that unit during the prior fiscal year by the total of user fees and admission fees collected under this section at all units during the prior fiscal year. “(5) Amounts allocated under this subsection to any unit for any fiscal year and not expended in that fiscal year shall remain available for expenditure at that unit until expended. “(k) When authorized by the head of the collecting agency, volunteers at designated areas may sell permits and collect fees authorized or established pursuant to this section. The head of such agency shall ensure that such volunteers have adequate training regarding— “(1) the sale of permits and the collection of fees, “(2) the purposes and resources of the areas in which they are assigned, and “(3) the provision of assistance and information to visitors to the designated area. The Secretary shall require a surety bond for any such volunteer performing services under this subsection. Funds available to the collecting agency may be used to cover the cost of any such surety bond. The head of the collecting agency may enter into arrangements with qualified public or private entities pursuant to which such entities may sell (without cost to the United States) annual admission permits (including Golden Eagle Passports) at any appropriate location. Such arrangements shall require each such entity to reimburse the United States for the full amount to be received from the sale of such permits at or before the agency delivers the permits to such entity for sale. “(l) (1) Where the National Park Service provides transportation to view all or a portion of any unit of the National Park System, the Director may impose a charge for such service in lieu of an admission fee under this section. The charge imposed under this paragraph shall not exceed the maximum admission fee under subsection (a). “(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, half of the charges imposed under paragraph (1) shall be retained by the unit of the National Park System at which the service was provided. The remainder shall be covered into the special account referred to in subsection (i) in the same manner as receipts from fees collected pursuant to this section. Fifty percent of the amount retained shall be expended only for maintenance of transportation systems at the unit where the charge was imposed. The remaining 50 percent of the retained amount shall be expended only for activities related to resource protection at such units. “(m) Where the primary public access to a unit of the National Park System is provided by a concessioner, the Secretary may charge an admission fee at such units only to the extent that the total of the fee charged by the concessioner for access to the unit and the admission fee does not exceed the maximum amount of the admission fee which could otherwise be imposed under subsection (a).”. (d) Repeals.— (1) Title I of Public Law 96–514 is amended by striking out the following provisions which appear under the heading “Land and Water Conservation Fund”: “Notwithstanding the provisions of Public Law 90–401, revenues from recreation fee collections by Federal agencies shall hereafter be paid into the Land and Water Conservation Fund, to be available for appropriation for any or all purposes authorized by the Land and Water Conservation101 STAT. 1330–267 Fund Act of 1965, as amended, without regard to the source of such Revenues.”. (2) Section 402 of the Act of October 12, 1979 (93 Stat. 664), is hereby repealed. (3) The seventh paragraph of title I of the Energy and Water Development Appropriation Act, 1982, entitled “Special Recreation Use Fees” is hereby repealed. (e) Study.— (1) The Secretary of the Interior shall assess the extent to which traffic congestion and overcrowding occurs at certain park system units during times of seasonally high usage and shall conduct a study of the following— (A) the feasibility of reducing vehicular traffic within national park system units through fee reductions for visitors traveling by bus and through other means which could shift visitation from automobiles to buses; and (B) the feasibility of encouraging more even seasonal distribution of visitation. (2) The study shall include a pilot project to be carried out in Yosemite National Park. For purposes of such pilot project, the Secretary may reduce the fees for admission of various classes or categories of visitors to Yosemite National Park and may reduce the admission fees imposed at the park during seasons with low visitation. A report containing the results of the study shall be transmitted to the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs of the United States House of Representatives and to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United States Senate within 3 years after the enactment of this Act. (f) Extension of Land and Water Conservation Fund.— (1) Section 2 of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 4601 and following) is amended as follows: (A) In the matter preceding subsection (a) strike “1989” and substitute “2015”. (B) In subsection (c)(1) strike “1989” and substitute “2015”. (2) The last sentence of section 3 of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 4601 and following) is amended to read as follows: “Moneys made available for obligation or expenditure from the fund or from the special account established under section 4(i)(l) may be obligated or expended only as provided in this Act.”. (g) Relationship to Fiscal Year 1988 Appropriations.— For purposes of legislation providing appropriations for the fiscal year 1988 to the Department of the Interior, the provisions of this section shall be treated as “permanent statutory language” establishing entrance fees for the National Park Service.