Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 1320 - National Park System Entrance Fees and Reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund

(House)
(Rep. Vento (D) MN and Rep. Udall (D) AZ)

The administration would support enactment of H.R. 1320 if it were amended as set forth below. The administration appreciates and strongly supports the efforts of the House Interior Committee to provide authority for additional entrance fees at units of the National Park System. The administration recommends, however, that H.R. 1320 be amended further to conform more closely to the administration's proposal, H.R. 1542.

For example, H.R. 1320 exempts over 25 additional parks in "urbanized" areas from entrance fees compared to H.R. 1542. This would reduce fee receipts by over $7 million annually. Moreover, the specific dollar limits on various types of fees contained in H.R. 1320 are substantially below those included in H.R. 1542 and would also considerably reduce fee receipts. H.R. 1320 would also distribute the fee receipts among parks in a far more restrictive fashion than would H.R. 1542, which would hamper the ability of the National Park Service to allocate budgetary resources as priorities dictate.

In addition, the administration believes the issue of reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund should be resolved in the context of the ongoing review of the Fund. Accordingly, the administration recommends that section 3 be deleted from H.R. 1320.