I
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1026
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 6, 2019
Mr. Simpson (for himself and Mr. Kilmer) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To provide for consistent and reliable authority and funding to meet conservation and deferred maintenance needs affecting lands under the administrative jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture, and for other purposes.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the Land and National Park Deferred Maintenance Act
or the LAND Act
.
Land and Water Conservation Fund
Reauthorization
Section 200302 of title 54, United States Code, is amended—
in subsection (b), in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking During the period ending September 30, 2018, there
and inserting There
; and
in subsection (c)(1), by striking through September 30, 2018
.
Funding
Section 200303 of title 54, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
Funding
Funding for fiscal years 2020 through 2029
From amounts covered into the fund under section 200302 of this chapter—
$450,000,000 in each fiscal year shall be available for expenditure to carry out the purposes of this Act, without further appropriation or fiscal year limitation, to carry out the purposes of the Fund (including accounts and programs made available from the Fund under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (Public Law 115–31)); and
the remainder of amounts covered into the fund shall be available subject to appropriations, which may be made without fiscal year limitation.
Uses
Amounts made available for obligation or expenditure from the fund may be obligated or expended only as provided in this chapter.
.
Allocation and uses of funds
Section 200304 of title 54, United States Code, is amended—
by striking There
and inserting (a) In General.—There
; and
by striking the second sentence and inserting the following:
Allocation of funds
Of the total amount made available to the Fund through appropriations or deposited in the Fund under section 105(a)(2)(B) of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 (43 U.S.C. 1331 note; Public Law 109–432)—
not less than 40 percent shall be used for Federal purposes; and
not less than 40 percent shall be used to provide financial assistance to States.
Priorities
The President shall, as part of the President’s annual budget submission to Congress, submit to Congress detailed account, program, and project allocations for funds made available under paragraph (b)(1). Acts of appropriation may provide alternate allocations for such amounts.
Prohibition on use of eminent domain
No funds made available to a State under this Act may be used for the acquisition of land, water, or an interest in land or water by eminent domain.
.
Recreation access
Section 200306 of title 54, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
Public access
Not less than 3 percent of amounts appropriated or expended under this chapter in each fiscal year shall be made available for the fiscal year for projects that secure recreational public access to existing Federal public land for hunting, fishing, and other recreational purposes.
.
Conforming amendments
Title 54, United States Code—
in section 200302, paragraph (3) of subsection (c) is amended by inserting or otherwise expended
after Congress
;
in section 200304—
the first sentence is amended by inserting or expenditures
after appropriations
; and
the second sentence is amended by inserting or expenditures
after appropriations
;
in section 200305—
the matter preceding paragraph (1) of subsection (b) is amended by inserting or otherwise provided
after appropriated
;
paragraph (1) of subsection (b) is amended by inserting expenditures
after appropriations
; and
paragraph (2) of subsection (b) is amended by inserting expenditure
after appropriation
; and
in section 200306—
paragraph (1) is amended by inserting or expended
after appropriated
;
in paragraph (2), subparagraph (B)(ii) is amended by inserting or expended
after appropriated
;
paragraph (4) is amended by inserting or expenditures
after appropriations
each time it appears; and
subsection (b) is amended by inserting or expenditures
after Appropriations
each time it appears.
Clerical amendment
The table of sections for chapter 2003 of title 54, United States Code, is amended by striking the item relating to section 200303 and inserting the following:
200303. Funding.
.
National Park Service Maintenance and Revitalization Conservation Fund
In general
There is hereby established in the Treasury a special account to be known as the National Park Service and Related Agencies Maintenance and Revitalization Conservation Fund
.
Availability of Funds
For each of fiscal years 2020 through 2029, $450,000,000 shall be available for expenditure to carry out the purposes of this Act, without further appropriation or fiscal year limitation, to carry out the purposes of the Fund. Amounts from the Fund shall not be used for the acquisition of land or interests in land.
Deposits
At the beginning of each applicable fiscal year, there shall be deposited in the Fund $450,000,000 from mineral revenues due and payable to the United States that are not otherwise credited, covered, or deposited under Federal law.
Department of the Interior
Of funds made available under subsection (b) each fiscal year, the Secretary of the Interior shall use the following amounts for priority deferred maintenance needs that support critical infrastructure and visitor services:
Eighty percent of amounts in the Fund shall be allocated for priority deferred maintenance projects, including other infrastructure deficiencies directly related to such deferred maintenance projects, as determined by the Secretary of the Interior and the Director of the National Park Service, with the goal of ensuring overall parity between amounts allocated to transportation and non-transportation projects.
Ten percent of amounts in the Fund shall be allocated for purposes of addressing the national wildlife refuge system maintenance backlog, as determined by the Secretary of the Interior and the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
Five percent of amounts in the Fund shall be allocated for the purposes of addressing the public access and recreation backlog on public lands, as determined by the Secretary of the Interior and the Director of the Bureau of Land Management.
Five percent of amounts in the Fund shall be for the purposes of addressing the Bureau of Indian Education school construction and deferred maintenance backlogs, as determined by the Secretary of the Interior and the Director of the Bureau of Indian Education.
Prohibited use of funds
No amounts in the Fund shall be used—
to supplant discretionary funding made available for the annually recurring facility operations, maintenance, and construction needs of the entities for which amounts from the Fund are allocated under subsection (d); or
for performance awards for Federal employees who are employed in implementing this Act.
Submission to congress
The Secretary of the Interior shall submit to the Committees on Appropriations and Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and to the Committees on Appropriations and Natural Resources in the House of Representatives, with the annual budget submission of the President, a list of projects for which the amounts in the Fund are allocated under this section, including a description of each such project.
Donations
In general
The Secretary of the Interior, the Director of the National Park Service, the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, and the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs may accept public cash or in-kind donations that advance efforts—
to reduce the deferred maintenance backlog of the National Park Service, the national wildlife refuge system maintenance backlog of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the public access and recreation backlog of the Bureau of Land Management, and the school construction backlog of the Bureau of Indian Education, respectively; and
to encourage relevant public-private partnerships.
Credits to fund
Any cash donations accepted under paragraph (1) shall be credited to, and form a part of, the Fund.
Reporting
Each donation received under paragraph (1) that is used for, or directly related to, the reduction of the deferred maintenance backlog of the National Park Service, the national wildlife refuge system maintenance backlog of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the public access and recreation backlog of the Bureau of Land Management, and the school construction backlog of the Bureau of Indian Education, shall be included with the annual budget submission of the President to Congress.
Investment of amounts
In general
The Secretary of the Interior may request the Secretary of the Treasury to invest any portion of the Fund that is not, as determined by the Secretary of the Interior, required to meet the current needs of the Fund.
Requirement
An investment requested under paragraph (1) shall be made by the Secretary of the Treasury in a public debt security—
with a maturity suitable to the needs of the Fund, as determined by the Secretary of the Interior; and
bearing interest at a rate determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, taking into consideration current market yields on outstanding marketable obligations of the United States of comparable maturity.
Credits to Fund
The income on investments of the Fund under this subsection shall be credited to, and form a part of, the Fund.
Offset
It is the sense of Congress that the costs of carrying out this Act should be offset.
