Great American Outdoors Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7092 To amend title 54, United States Code, to establish, fund, and provide for the use of amounts in a National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund to address the maintenance backlog of the National Park Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service, and the Bureau of Indian Education, and to provide permanent, dedicated funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 4, 2020 Mr. CUNNINGHAM (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. SIMP- SON, Mr. COX of California, Mr. KATKO, Ms. TORRES SMALL of New Mexico, Mr. ZELDIN, Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. GOLDEN, and Mr. FORTENBERRY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addi- tion to the Committees on Agriculture, and the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend title 54, United States Code, to establish, fund, and provide for the use of amounts in a National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund to address the maintenance backlog of the National Park Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service, and the Bu- reau of Indian Education, and to provide permanent, VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H7092.IH H7092 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7092 IH dedicated funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Great American Out- 4 doors Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. NATIONAL PARKS AND PUBLIC LAND LEGACY RES- 6 TORATION FUND. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle II of title 54, United 8 States Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 2003 9 the following: 10 ‘‘CHAPTER 2004—NATIONAL PARKS AND 11 PUBLIC LAND LEGACY RESTORATION 12 FUND 13 ‘‘Sec. ‘‘200401. Definitions. ‘‘200402. National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund. ‘‘§ 200401. Definitions 14 ‘‘In this chapter: 15 ‘‘(1) ASSET.—The term ‘asset’ means any real 16 property, including any physical structure or group- 17 ing of structures, landscape, trail, or other tangible 18 property, that— 19 ‘‘(A) has a specific service or function; and 20 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7092.IH H7092 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7092 IH ‘‘(B) is tracked and managed as a distinct, 1 identifiable entity by the applicable covered 2 agency. 3 ‘‘(2) COVERED AGENCY.—The term ‘covered 4 agency’ means— 5 ‘‘(A) the Service; 6 ‘‘(B) the United States Fish and Wildlife 7 Service; 8 ‘‘(C) the Forest Service; 9 ‘‘(D) the Bureau of Land Management; 10 and 11 ‘‘(E) the Bureau of Indian Education. 12 ‘‘(3) FUND.—The term ‘Fund’ means the Na- 13 tional Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration 14 Fund established by section 200402(a). 15 ‘‘(4) PROJECT.—The term ‘project’ means any 16 activity to reduce or eliminate deferred maintenance 17 of an asset, which may include resolving directly re- 18 lated infrastructure deficiencies of the asset that 19 would not by itself be classified as deferred mainte- 20 nance. 21 ‘‘§ 200402. National Parks and Public Land Legacy 22 Restoration Fund 23 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 24 Treasury of the United States a fund to be known as the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7092.IH H7092 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7092 IH ‘National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration 1 Fund’. 2 ‘‘(b) DEPOSITS.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 4 graph (2), for each of fiscal years 2021 through 5 2025, there shall be deposited in the Fund an 6 amount equal to 50 percent of all energy develop- 7 ment revenues due and payable to the United States 8 from oil, gas, coal, or alternative or renewable en- 9 ergy development on Federal land and water cred- 10 ited, covered, or deposited as miscellaneous receipts 11 under Federal law in the preceding fiscal year. 12 ‘‘(2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The amount depos- 13 ited in the Fund under paragraph (1) shall not ex- 14 ceed $1,900,000,000 for any fiscal year. 15 ‘‘(3) EFFECT ON OTHER REVENUES.—Nothing 16 in this section affects the disposition of revenues 17 that— 18 ‘‘(A) are due to the United States, special 19 funds, trust funds, or States from mineral and 20 energy development on Federal land and water; 21 or 22 ‘‘(B) have been otherwise appropriated— 23 ‘‘(i) under Federal law, including— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7092.IH H7092 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7092 IH ‘‘(I) the Gulf of Mexico Energy 1 Security Act of 2006 (43 U.S.C. 1331 2 note; Public Law 109–432); and 3 ‘‘(II) the Mineral Leasing Act 4 (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.); or 5 ‘‘(ii) from— 6 ‘‘(I) the Land and Water Con- 7 servation Fund established under 8 chapter 2003; or 9 ‘‘(II) the Historic Preservation 10 Fund established under chapter 3031. 11 ‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts deposited 12 in the Fund shall be available to the Secretary and the 13 Secretary of Agriculture, as provided in subsection (e), 14 without further appropriation or fiscal year limitation. 15 ‘‘(d) INVESTMENT OF AMOUNTS.— 16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may request 17 the Secretary of the Treasury to invest any portion 18 of the Fund that is not, as determined by the Sec- 19 retary, in consultation with the Secretary of Agri- 20 culture, required to meet the current needs of the 21 Fund. 22 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—An investment requested 23 under paragraph (1) shall be made by the Secretary 24 of the Treasury in a public debt security— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7092.IH H7092 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7092 IH ‘‘(A) with a maturity suitable to the needs 1 of the Fund, as determined by the Secretary; 2 and 3 ‘‘(B) bearing interest at a rate determined 4 by the Secretary of the Treasury, taking into 5 consideration current market yields on out- 6 standing marketable obligations of the United 7 States of comparable maturity. 8 ‘‘(3) CREDITS TO FUND.—The income on in- 9 vestments of the Fund under this subsection shall be 10 credited to, and form a part of, the Fund. 11 ‘‘(e) USE OF FUNDS.— 12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts deposited in the 13 Fund for each fiscal year shall be used for priority 14 deferred maintenance projects in the System, in the 15 National Wildlife Refuge System, on public land ad- 16 ministered by the Bureau of Land Management, for 17 the Bureau of Indian Education schools, and in the 18 National Forest System, as follows: 19 ‘‘(A) Seventy percent of the amounts de- 20 posited in the Fund for each fiscal year shall be 21 allocated to the Service. 22 ‘‘(B) Fifteen percent of the amounts de- 23 posited in the Fund for each fiscal year shall be 24 allocated to the Forest Service. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7092.IH H7092 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7092 IH ‘‘(C) Five percent of the amounts depos- 1 ited in the Fund for each fiscal year shall be al- 2 located to the United States Fish and Wildlife 3 Service. 4 ‘‘(D) Five percent of the amounts depos- 5 ited in the Fund for each fiscal year shall be al- 6 located to the Bureau of Land Management. 7 ‘‘(E) Five percent of the amounts depos- 8 ited in the Fund for each fiscal year shall be al- 9 located to the Bureau of Indian Education. 10 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.— 11 ‘‘(A) NON-TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS.— 12 Over the term of the Fund, within each covered 13 agency, not less than 65 percent of amounts 14 from the Fund shall be allocated for non-trans- 15 portation projects. 16 ‘‘(B) TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS.—The 17 amounts remaining in the Fund after the allo- 18 cations required under subparagraph (A) may 19 be allocated for transportation projects of the 20 covered agencies, including paved and unpaved 21 roads, bridges, tunnels, and paved parking 22 areas. 23 ‘‘(C) PLAN.—Any priority deferred mainte- 24 nance project funded under this section shall be 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7092.IH H7092 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7092 IH consistent with an applicable transportation, de- 1 ferred maintenance, or capital improvement 2 plan developed by the applicable covered agen- 3 cy. 4 ‘‘(f) PROHIBITED USE OF FUNDS.—No amounts in 5 the Fund shall be used— 6 ‘‘(1) for land acquisition; 7 ‘‘(2) to supplant discretionary funding made 8 available for annually recurring facility operations, 9 maintenance, and construction needs; or 10 ‘‘(3) for bonuses for employees of the Federal 11 Government that are carrying out this section. 12 ‘‘(g) SUBMISSION OF PRIORITY LIST OF PROJECTS 13 TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 90 days after the date of 14 enactment of this section, the Secretary and the Secretary 15 of Agriculture shall submit to the Committees on Energy 16 and Natural Resources and Appropriations of the Senate 17 and the Committees on Natural Resources and Appropria- 18 tions of the House of Representatives a list of projects 19 to be funded for fiscal year 2021 that— 20 ‘‘(1) are identified by the Secretary and the 21 Secretary of Agriculture as priority deferred mainte- 22 nance projects; and 23 ‘‘(2) as of the date of the submission of the list, 24 are ready to be implemented. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7092.IH H7092 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7092 IH ‘‘(h) SUBMISSION OF ANNUAL LIST OF PROJECTS TO 1 CONGRESS.—Until the date on which all of the amounts 2 in the Fund are expended, the President shall annually 3 submit to Congress, together with the annual budget of 4 the United States, a list of projects to be funded from 5 the Fund that includes a detailed description of each 6 project, including the estimated expenditures from the 7 Fund for the project for the applicable fiscal year. 8 ‘‘(i) ALTERNATE ALLOCATION.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Appropriations Acts may 10 provide for alternate allocation of amounts made 11 available under this section, consistent with the allo- 12 cations to covered agencies under subsection (e)(1). 13 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION BY PRESIDENT.— 14 ‘‘(A) NO ALTERNATE ALLOCATIONS.—If 15 Congress has not enacted legislation estab- 16 lishing alternate allocations by the date on 17 which the Act making full-year appropriations 18 for the Department of the Interior, Environ- 19 ment, and Related Agencies for the applicable 20 fiscal year is enacted into law, amounts made 21 available under subsection (c) shall be allocated 22 by the President. 23 ‘‘(B) INSUFFICIENT ALTERNATE ALLOCA- 24 TION.—If Congress enacts legislation estab- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7092.IH H7092 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 7092 IH lishing alternate allocations for amounts made 1 available under subsection (c) that are less than 2 the full amount appropriated under that sub- 3 section, the difference between the amount ap- 4 propriated and the alternate allocation shall be 5 allocated by the President. 6 ‘‘(j) PUBLIC DONATIONS.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary and the Sec- 8 retary of Agriculture may accept public cash or in- 9 kind donations that advance efforts— 10 ‘‘(A) to reduce the deferred maintenance 11 backlog; and 12 ‘‘(B) to encourage relevant public-private 13 partnerships. 14 ‘‘(2) CREDITS TO FUND.—Any cash donations 15 accepted under paragraph (1) shall be— 16 ‘‘(A) credited to, and form a part of, the 17 Fund; and 18 ‘‘(B) allocated to the covered agency for 19 which the donation was made. 20 ‘‘(3) OTHER ALLOCATIONS.—Any donations al- 21 located to a covered agency under paragraph (2)(B) 22 shall be allocated to the applicable covered agency 23 independently of the allocations under subsection 24 (e)(1). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7092.IH H7092 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 7092 IH ‘‘(k) REQUIRED CONSIDERATION FOR ACCESSI- 1 BILITY.—In expending amounts from the Fund, the Sec- 2 retary and the Secretary of Agriculture shall incorporate 3 measures to improve the accessibility of assets and accom- 4 modate visitors and employees with disabilities in accord- 5 ance with applicable law.’’. 6 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 7 for subtitle II of title 54, United States Code, is amended 8 by inserting after the item relating to chapter 2003 the 9 following: 10 ‘‘2004. National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund .....200401’’. (c) GAO STUDY.—Not later than 5 years after the 11 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 12 of the United States shall— 13 (1) conduct a study on the implementation of 14 this section and the amendments made by this sec- 15 tion, including whether this section and the amend- 16 ments made by this section have effectively reduced 17 the priority deferred maintenance backlog of the cov- 18 ered agencies (as that term is defined in section 19 200401 of title 54, United States Code); and 20 (2) submit to Congress a report that describes 21 the results of the study under paragraph (1). 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7092.IH H7092 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 7092 IH SEC. 3. PERMANENT FULL FUNDING OF THE LAND AND 1 WATER CONSERVATION FUND. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 200303 of title 54, United 3 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 4 ‘‘§ 200303. Availability of funds 5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any amounts deposited in the 6 Fund under section 200302 for fiscal year 2020 and each 7 fiscal year thereafter shall be made available for expendi- 8 ture for fiscal year 2021 and each fiscal year thereafter, 9 without further appropriation or fiscal year limitation, to 10 carry out the purposes of the Fund (including accounts 11 and programs made available from the Fund pursuant to 12 the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (Pub- 13 lic Law 116–94; 133 Stat. 2534)). 14 ‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS.—Amounts made avail- 15 able under [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]