Improving the Not-So-Great American Outdoors Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8288 To correct shortfalls in the Great American Outdoors Act by providing fair- ness and parity to Eastern States, strengthening commitments to urban recreation, establishing logic in funding priorities, and ensuring appro- priate consequences for shifts in funding sources, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 Mr. BISHOP of Utah introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To correct shortfalls in the Great American Outdoors Act by providing fairness and parity to Eastern States, strengthening commitments to urban recreation, estab- lishing logic in funding priorities, and ensuring appro- priate consequences for shifts in funding sources, 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 ‘‘Improving the Not- 4 So-Great American Outdoors Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8288.IH H8288 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8288 IH SEC. 2. ENSURING FAIRNESS AND PARITY FOR EASTERN 1 STATES. 2 Section 200306(a) of title 54, United States Code, 3 is amended by adding the at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(5) Except for amounts specifically authorized 5 by an Act of Congress, not less than 50 percent of 6 the land acreage or interests in land acreage ac- 7 quired pursuant to this section shall be east of the 8 100th meridian.’’. 9 SEC. 3. STRENGTHENING COMMITMENTS TO URBAN 10 RECREATION. 11 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 12 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.— 13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 14 ty’’ means— 15 (i) a State; 16 (ii) a political subdivision of a State, 17 including— 18 (I) a city; and 19 (II) a county; 20 (iii) a special purpose district, includ- 21 ing park districts; and 22 (iv) an Indian Tribe. 23 (B) POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS AND INDIAN 24 TRIBES.—A political subdivision of a State or 25 an Indian Tribe shall be considered an eligible 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8288.IH H8288 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8288 IH entity only if the political subdivision or Indian 1 Tribe represents or otherwise serves a quali- 2 fying urban area. 3 (2) OUTDOOR RECREATION LEGACY PARTNER- 4 SHIP GRANT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Outdoor Recre- 5 ation Legacy Partnership Grant Program’’ means 6 the program established under subsection (b). 7 (3) QUALIFYING URBAN AREA.—The term 8 ‘‘qualifying urban area’’ means an area identified by 9 the Census Bureau as an ‘‘urban area’’ in the most 10 recent census. 11 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 12 the Secretary of the Interior. 13 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 14 an outdoor recreation legacy partnership grant program 15 under which the Secretary may award grants to eligible 16 entities for projects— 17 (1) to acquire land and water for parks and 18 other outdoor recreation purposes; 19 (2) to develop new or renovate existing outdoor 20 recreation facilities; and 21 (3) to develop projects that provide opportuni- 22 ties for outdoor education and public lands vol- 23 unteerism. 24 (c) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8288.IH H8288 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8288 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of receiving a 1 grant under subsection (b), an eligible entity shall 2 provide matching funds in the form of cash or an in- 3 kind contribution in an amount equal to not less 4 than 100 percent of the amounts made available 5 under the grant. 6 (2) SOURCES.—The matching amounts referred 7 to in paragraph (1) may include amounts made 8 available from State, local, nongovernmental, or pri- 9 vate sources. 10 (3) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive all or 11 part of the matching requirement under paragraph 12 (1) if the Secretary determines that— 13 (A) no reasonable means are available 14 through which an applicant can meet the 15 matching requirement; and 16 (B) the probable benefit of such project 17 outweighs the public interest in such matching 18 requirement. 19 (d) ELIGIBLE USES.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—A grant recipient may use a 21 grant awarded under this section— 22 (A) to acquire land or water that provides 23 outdoor recreation opportunities to the public; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8288.IH H8288 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8288 IH (B) to develop or renovate outdoor rec- 1 reational facilities that provide outdoor recre- 2 ation opportunities to the public, with priority 3 given to projects that— 4 (i) create or significantly enhance ac- 5 cess to park and recreational opportunities 6 in an urban or suburban area that lacks 7 access to such activities; 8 (ii) engage and empower underserved 9 communities and youth; 10 (iii) provide opportunities for youth 11 employment or job training; 12 (iv) establish or expand public-private 13 partnerships, with a focus on leveraging re- 14 sources; and 15 (v) take advantage of coordination 16 among various levels of government. 17 (2) LIMITATIONS ON USE.—A grant recipient 18 may not use grant funds for— 19 (A) grant administration costs; 20 (B) incidental costs related to land acquisi- 21 tion, including appraisal and titling; 22 (C) operation and maintenance activities; 23 (D) facilities that support semiprofessional 24 or professional athletics; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8288.IH H8288 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8288 IH (E) indoor facilities such as recreation cen- 1 ters or facilities that support primarily non-out- 2 door purposes; or 3 (F) acquisition of land or interests in land 4 that restrict access to specific persons. 5 (e) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE REQUIREMENTS.—In 6 carrying out the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership 7 Grant Program, the Secretary shall— 8 (1) conduct an initial screening and technical 9 review of applications received; and 10 (2) evaluate and score all qualifying applica- 11 tions. 12 (f) REPORTING.—Each grant recipient that receives 13 a grant under this section shall annually submit to the 14 Secretary performance and financial reports that— 15 (1) summarize project activities conducted dur- 16 ing the report period; and 17 (2) provide the status of the project, including 18 of description of how the project has improved ac- 19 cess to parkland, open space, or recreational facili- 20 ties from the community perspective. 21 (g) FUNDING.—Section 200306(a) of title 54, United 22 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 23 lowing: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8288.IH H8288 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8288 IH ‘‘(7) Five percent of the amounts shall be allo- 1 cated to provide grants under the Outdoor Recre- 2 ation Legacy Partnership Grant Program estab- 3 lished under section 3 of the Improving the Not-So- 4 Great American Outdoors Act.’’. 5 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHING LOGIC IN FUNDING PRIORITIES. 6 Section 200402(b) of title 54, United States Code, 7 is amended by— 8 (1) redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph 9 (4); and 10 (2) adding the following after paragraph (2)— 11 ‘‘(3) INSUFFICIENT FUNDS.—In any of fiscal 12 years 2021 through 2025 in which the total amount 13 deposited into the Fund is less than $1,900,000,000, 14 sufficient funds (if available) under section 200306 15 5 of title 54, United States Code, shall also be avail- 16 able for the uses of the Fund in accordance with this 17 chapter in such amounts as are necessary to ensure 18 that a total of $1,900,000,000 is available for those 19 uses for that fiscal year. If sufficient funds are not 20 available under section 200306 of title 54, United 21 States Code, to ensure the $1,900,000,000 total, 22 then the maximum amount allocated to that section 23 shall be made available for the uses of the Fund.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8288.IH H8288 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8288 IH SEC. 5. TRANSPARENCY IN PROJECT FUNDING ALLOCA- 1 TION. 2 Section 200303(c)(2)(B) of title 54, United States 3 Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘only in accordance with 4 the detailed submission to Congress under paragraph (1)’’ 5 after ‘‘allocated by the President’’ both places it appears. 6 SEC. 6. APPROPRIATE CONSEQUENCES REGARDING FUND- 7 ING SOURCES. 8 In the first fiscal year in which receipts under section 9 200302(c)(2) of title 54, United States Code, are unavail- 10 able for deposit in the Land and Water Conservation 11 Fund established under that section, the Land and Water 12 Conservation Fund shall be repealed, any existing unobli- 13 gated balances shall revert to the general Treasury, and 14 any future revenues and collections that would have been 15 deposited in that Fund shall instead be deposited in the 16 general Treasury. 17 SEC. 7. ENSURING AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR MAINTE- 18 NANCE BACKLOG. 19 Section 200302(c) of title 54, United States Code, 20 is amended by striking ‘‘not less than’’. 21 SEC. 8. CONFORMING AMENDMENT. 22 Section 200306(a)(2)(B) of title 54, United States 23 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 24 ‘‘(iii) LIMITATION.—Except for areas 25 specifically authorized by Act of Congress, 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8288.IH H8288 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8288 IH not more than 15 percent of the acreage 1 added to the National Forest System pur- 2 suant to this section shall be west of the 3 100th meridian.’’. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8288.IH H8288 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS