Passage of the Great American Outdoors Act on Wednesday by the House of Representatives sends the legislation to President Trump, whose signature will provide both $6.5 billion to help the National Park Service deal with its maintenance backlog but also fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund with $900 million.
The $6.5 billion is to be disbursed to the Park Service over five years specifically to address items on its nearly $12 billion maintenance backlog to-do list. Just how the funds will be distributed among the 419 units of the National Park System remains to be seen. Still, the significance of the legislation cannot be minimized.
“You cannot overstate the importance of this bill and what it will mean for national parks, public lands, and communities across the country," said Theresa Pierno, president and CEO of the National Parks Conservation Association. "This is the largest investment our country has made in our national parks and public lands in more than 50 years, and it comes not a moment too soon.
“With this passage of the Great American Outdoors Act, our parks’ crumbling roads, decaying buildings and outdated water systems will be fixed, more than 100,000 people will have much-needed jobs, and every American, no matter where they live, will have more access to outdoor spaces. This bill is a conservationist’s dream."
The bill's passage also was heralded by the Chesapeake Conservancy, where CEO Joel Dunn called it "truly a historic moment for conservation in the United States, and the overwhelming positive impacts of this bill are sure to reverberate across the country and right here in the Chesapeake."
“This legislation is also critically important for our efforts to conserve 30 percent of the Chesapeake Bay watershed by 2030, and 30 percent of the nation’s lands and waters by 2030," added Dunn. "I applaud the great work of the U.S. House to swiftly take up and pass this important legislation, which is so important for nature and for the health of our people and our local economies."
At the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable, Executive Director Jessica Wahl said “(T)he outdoor recreation industry is ready to usher in the next golden age of the outdoor experiences after the House passed, in bipartisan fashion, the Great American Outdoors Act. GAOA is a major 21st century achievement and a reminder that when all sides work together, we can accomplish great things for the outdoors and the nation."
At the same time, the act will not erase all of the maintenance problems that stretch across the National Park System.
As Traveler pointed out earlier this week, Yosemite National Park alone had roughly $645 million in backlogged maintenance at the end of FY18, Yellowstone's tally was $585.5 million, and the National Mall and Memorial Parks had nearly $655 million.
Beyond those three parks, Grand Canyon National Park needs roughly $100 million just to repair and or replace its leaky Transcanyon Pipeline. The critical need to have that pipeline repaired was demonstrated Wednesday when the park announced that a water pump failure with the pipeline system at Roaring Springs forced conservation measures to be instituted.
"The estimated timeline for repair and replacement is unknown and water conservation measures will remain in effect for the North Rim until further notice," the park said.
Water conservation measures in effect are:
- Using low water cleaning techniques and reduction of toilet flushing
- Reduction of shower times and turning water off while brushing teeth
- No car or bus washing
- No watering of lawns or plants
As roughly half of the $12 billion backlog is tied to roads and bridges, Congress has been trying to provide additional dollars for the parks through transportation bills. However, with significant differences currently between the House and the Senate when it comes to infrastructure legislation, how soon that influx arrives is unknown.
Even with this infusion of money, the Park Service won't escape its maintenance woes. The backlog has been growing at hundreds of millions of dollars per year in recent years ($313 million during Fiscal 2018). Nearly $700 million was spent during Fiscal 2018 on maintenance projects, and still the outstanding backlog grew.
Indeed, on Wednesday the highway overpass at the Old Faithful complex in Yellowstone was closed due to structural concerns. Built in 1969, the bridge was having maintenance work undertaken (remove and replace deck drains; replace expansion joints; install new approach slabs; replace and repair concrete; remove, reset, and paint the existing bridge rails), when engineers "determined that the structural integrity of the bridge may be compromised," park staff said.
Take all that into context and it tempers the enthusiasm over the impact the Great American Outdoors Act will bring to the National Park System.
"This is a Band-Aid. It's fine, it's good to get some money, an infusion of cash, to solve some of these problems, that's great," Margaret Walls, a senior fellow at Resources For the Future, told the Traveler earlier this week. "But it doesn't really address the long-term problem, which, as you said, the deficit grows every year and they continue to add to this list of projects that need to be done.
"Unless you have a better ongoing funding situation for the parks, you're still going to run into this problem over time."
Comments
Humphrey. The Presdient didn't waive anything. Congress makes the appropriation, the President can't withhold approriated dollars and as I posted earlier, in 2020, the fund was funded at the highest level in the last 15 years. And no, pointing out his lies isn't excessive, inappropriate and rude. Making the lies in the first place is excessive, inappropriate and rude.
Who are you trying to fool Steve? Yourself? No way this "hostoric" act will help-it will pilage the National Parks and lands for the benfit of a few cronies of Trump. Another who suffers from HUA!!!
Well, ecbuck, I just read the bill in the form that I am told is going over for the president's signature and it looks great. However, I try to read these things with an eye, not just to how they can work as apparently intended, but also to how they could be misused and, again, the bill, used as intended, looks great.
With regard to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), the bill states, in section 200303, that "amounts deposited in the Fund... for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year thereafter shall be made available for expenditure for fiscal year 2021 and each fiscal year thereafter, without further appropriation or fiscal year limitation, to carry out the purposes of the Fund." This seems to reinforce assertions that LWCF funding will be fully protected once it actually gets into the fund. Anybody feel free to correct me as required.
Similarly with regard to the new National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund established under section 200402, the bill states that, "for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025, there shall be deposited in the Fund an amount equal to 50 percent of all energy development revenues due and payable to the United States from oil, gas, coal, or alternative or renewable energy development on Federal land and water credited, covered, or deposited as miscellaneous receipts under Federal law in the preceding fiscal year" except that the "amount deposited in the Fund... shall not exceed $1,900,000,000 for any fiscal year" and funds "deposited in the Fund shall be available to the Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture... without further appropriation or fiscal year limitation." There are some prohibited uses and provisions to allow a president to redirect unallocated funds or funds coming loose from insufficient allocations; but, these are pretty minor and standard. So, again, this seems to indicates that funding going into the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund will be protected once it actually gets into the fund. Anybody feel free to correct me as required.
I believe steve reed was acknowledging that money is protected once it actually makes it into one of these respective funds when he said the "only guarantee is that congress cannot raid it for other purposes," which is true. But, what I believe he's been trying to raise a caution about is the ability of a president to waive, in response to a real or imagined national emergency, some or all of those "energy development revenues due and payable to the United States" before they ever get into these funds. In that case, the funds would still get "50 percent" of the amount the federal government collected; but, it might be "50 percent" of a potentially much lower number. I believe the president did that to some extent last year and I believe the possibility that he may do it again is what steve reed and frankly I as well worry about. I know that you're hot to support Senator Gardner's reelection bid and this bill is good; but, there actually is a real concern here, especially with this mercurial president.
You can "believe" anything you want. That fact is the fund in 2020 was funded at the highest level in 15 years and the President didn't waive anything related to the LWCF. The negatism toward this legislation is just further proof that the interest of many isn't in improving the parks or the country but rather in denigrating the President. As has so often been the case in his first 3 years, he has done what his predecessors, Democrat and Republican, failed to do or said couldn't be done.
I can agree with that. Whatever we each might think of what he has done, this president has indeed "done what his predecessors, Democrat and Republican, failed to do or said couldn't be done." Personally, I never in my life thought I would see anything even remotely like what this president has done.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/485780-trump-calls-for-full...
Trump's budgetFY2020 pardoned 95% of bigPetro's contribution to LWCF, for no other reason than greed. For budgetFY2021 he has covid profiteering for his filthy campaign contributors on his mind.
Im not your enemy EC, the potus is.
Your link doesn't work. But I see it is referencing a budget. The President's budget isn't what Congress appropriates and the Presdient took no action to nullify the funding. If he pardoned 95% how did the contribution to LWCF reach the highest level in 15 years? No Steve you are not my enemy. You are an enemy of the truth. As to President Trump, while, I don't agree with everything he does, I agree with far more of his actions than not. The only thing he is an enemy to are those that are trying to bring down this great nation.
The link worked for me...that is why I copied it. The final reconcilliation for FY2020 spending wont occur until after sep30. Your numbers are for FY2019. Just because congress appropriated an amount doesnt mean a potus with a history of acting above the law wont prohibit or pardon bigPetro from making their full contribution in FY2021. Your alternate truth has no standing with ground truth. Trump nation is more like the Titanic than great. This legislation is nothing more than a lifeboat reservation for (R-CO-senate) Cory Gardner's campaign.