Title 16 — ConservationRelease 119-73

§8549 Cost recovery reform

Title 16 › Chapter CHAPTER 103— - EXPANDING PUBLIC LANDS OUTDOOR RECREATION EXPERIENCES › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER III— - SIMPLIFYING OUTDOOR ACCESS FOR RECREATION › Part Part A— - Modernizing Recreation Permitting › § 8549

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The agency in charge can charge a reasonable extra fee to people who apply for or hold a special recreation permit. The fee can pay for the work of handling the application, issuing the permit, and checking that permit holders follow the rules. If fees are billed by the hour, the agency must set a small-hours exemption and only charge for time above that. When similar applications are handled together, fees should be split fairly and each applicant gets the exemption. The agency may not charge for a program-level environmental review and should use existing studies to cut work and cost.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §8549

Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In addition to a fee collected under section 6802 of this title or any other authorized fee collected by the Secretary concerned, the Secretary concerned may assess and collect a reasonable fee from an applicant for, or holder of, a special recreation permit to recover administrative costs incurred by the Secretary concerned for—

(1)processing a proposal or application for the special recreation permit;

(2)issuing the special recreation permit; and

(3)monitoring the special recreation permit to ensure compliance with the terms and conditions of the special recreation permit.

(b)If the administrative costs described in subsection (a) are assessed on an hourly basis, the Secretary concerned shall—

(1)establish an hourly de minimis threshold that exempts a specified number of hours from the assessment and collection of administrative costs described in subsection (a); and

(2)charge an applicant only for any hours that exceed the de minimis threshold.

(c)If the Secretary concerned collectively processes multiple applications for special recreation permits for the same or similar services in the same unit of Federal recreational lands and waters, the Secretary concerned shall, to the extent practicable—

(1)assess from the applicants the fee described in subsection (a) on a prorated basis; and

(2)apply the exemption described in subsection (b) to each applicant on an individual basis.

(d)The Secretary concerned shall not assess or collect administrative costs under this section for a programmatic environmental review.

(e)To the maximum extent practicable, the agency processing an application for a special recreation permit shall use existing studies and analysis to reduce the quantity of work and costs necessary to process the application.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 8549

Title 16 — Conservation

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73