[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3686 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3686
To amend the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996 to
provide for the establishment of a Ski Area Fee Retention Account, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 4, 2021
Ms. Kuster (for herself, Mr. Curtis, Mr. Neguse, and Mr. LaMalfa)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, 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 amend the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996 to
provide for the establishment of a Ski Area Fee Retention Account, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Ski Hill Resources for Economic
Development Act'' or the ``SHRED Act''.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF SKI AREA FEE RETENTION ACCOUNT.
(a) In General.--Section 701 of division I of the Omnibus Parks and
Public Lands Management Act of 1996 (16 U.S.C. 497c) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(k) Ski Area Fee Retention Account.--
``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Account.--The term `Account' means the Ski
Area Fee Retention Account established under paragraph
(2).
``(B) Covered unit.--The term `covered unit' means
a unit of the National Forest System that collects a
rental charge.
``(C) Program.--The term `Program' means the Forest
Service Ski Area Program.
``(D) Region.--The term `region' means a region of
the Forest Service.
``(E) Rental charge.--The term `rental charge'
means a permit rental charge that is charged under
subsection (a).
``(F) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the
Secretary of Agriculture.
``(2) Establishment.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall
establish in the Treasury a special account, to be known as the
`Ski Area Fee Retention Account', into which there shall be
deposited--
``(A) in the case of a covered unit at which
$15,000,000 or more is collected by the covered unit
from rental charges in a fiscal year, an amount equal
to 60 percent of the rental charges collected at the
covered unit in the fiscal year; or
``(B) in the case of any other covered unit, an
amount equal to 75 percent of the rental charges
collected at the covered unit in a fiscal year.
``(3) Availability.--Subject to paragraph (5), any amounts
deposited in the Account under paragraph (2) shall be available
to the Secretary for use in accordance with paragraph (4),
without further appropriation, and shall remain available until
expended.
``(4) Use and distribution of amounts in the account.--
``(A) Distribution of percentage amounts.--Except
as provided in subparagraphs (B), (C), (D), (F), and
(G), 75 percent of the amounts deposited in the Account
from a covered unit at which the rental charges were
collected in the preceding fiscal year shall be
available for expenditure in accordance with
subparagraph (E) at that covered unit.
``(B) Reduction of percentage amount.--Subject to
subparagraph (C), the Secretary may reduce the
percentage of amounts available to a covered unit under
subparagraph (A) if the Secretary determines that the
amounts will exceed the reasonable needs of the covered
unit for the purposes described in subparagraph (E) in
the fiscal year.
``(C) Limitation.--The Secretary may not reduce,
pursuant to subparagraph (B), the percentage of amounts
available under subparagraph (A)--
``(i) in the case of a covered unit
described in paragraph (2)(A), to less than 25
percent of the amount of rental charges
deposited in the Account from the covered unit
in a fiscal year; or
``(ii) in the case of any other covered
unit, to less than 40 percent of the amount of
rental charges deposited in the Account from
the covered unit in a fiscal year.
``(D) Distribution of reduction amounts.--The
Secretary may make any amounts in the Account remaining
as a result of any reduction in the percentage of
amounts under subparagraph (B) available to other
covered units or the regions in which the covered units
are located for the purposes described in subparagraph
(E), taking into consideration the following factors:
``(i) Any backlog in ski area permit and
Program administration in the covered units,
including--
``(I) the number of proposals for
ski area improvement projects; and
``(II) the processing of proposals
for ski area improvement projects.
``(ii) Any need for services, training,
staffing, or the streamlining of programs in
the other covered units or the region in which
the covered units are located that would
improve the administration of the Program.
``(iii) Any need for wildfire preparedness,
planning, and coordination in and around ski
areas.
``(E) Authorized expenditures.--Amounts distributed
from the Account to a covered unit under this
subsection may be used for--
``(i) ski area special use permit and
Program administration in the covered unit,
including--
``(I) the processing of proposals
for ski area improvement projects; and
``(II) staffing and contracting for
that processing and related services in
the covered unit or in the applicable
region;
``(ii) staff training for processing of ski
area applications and administering ski area
permits in the covered unit or the region in
which the covered unit is located;
``(iii) interpretation activities, visitor
information, visitor services, and signage in
the covered unit to enhance the ski area
visitor experience on National Forest System
land; and
``(iv) wildfire preparedness, planning, and
coordination in and around ski areas in the
covered unit or in the applicable region.
``(F) Expenditure for other purposes.--If any
amounts remain in the Account after all necessary
Program expenditures have been made under subparagraph
(D), the Secretary may use the amounts for other
purposes in accordance with subparagraph (G).
``(G) Other recreation permit administration,
visitor services, and other purposes.--In addition to
any amounts remaining in the Account described in
subparagraph (F), 25 percent of the amounts deposited
in the Account from a covered unit in which the rental
charges were collected shall remain available for
expenditure at that covered unit or the region in which
the covered unit is located for--
``(i) administering non-ski area Forest
Service recreation special use permits;
``(ii) avalanche information and education
activities carried out by the Secretary or
nonprofit partners;
``(iii) recreation management, maintenance,
and services; and
``(iv) administration of leases under--
``(I) the Forest Service Facility
Realignment and Enhancement Act of 2005
(16 U.S.C. 580d note; Public Law 109-
54); and
``(II) section 8623 of the
Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (16
U.S.C. 580d note; Public Law 115-334).
``(H) Limitation.--Amounts in the Account may not
be used for--
``(i) the conduct of wildfire suppression
outside ski area permit boundaries; or
``(ii) the acquisition of land for
inclusion in the National Forest System.
``(5) Savings provisions.--
``(A) In general.--Nothing in this subsection
affects the applicability of section 7 of the Act of
April 24, 1950 (commonly known as the `Granger-Thye
Act') (16 U.S.C. 580d), to ski areas on National Forest
System land.
``(B) Supplemental funding.--Rental charges
retained and expended under this subsection shall
supplement (and not supplant) appropriated funding for
the operation and maintenance of each covered unit.
``(C) Cost recovery.--Nothing in this subsection
affects any cost recovery under any other provision of
law for processing applications for or monitoring
compliance with ski area permits or other recreation
special use permits.''.
(b) Effective Date.--This section (including the amendments made by
this section) shall take effect on the date that is 60 days after the
date of enactment of this Act.
(c) Implementation.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall not be
required to issue regulations or policy guidance to implement this
section (including the amendments made by this section).
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