Title 54National Park Service and Related ProgramsRelease 119-73

§100901 Authority of Secretary to carry out certain activities

Title 54 › Subtitle Subtitle I— - National Park System › Chapter CHAPTER 1009— - ADMINISTRATION › § 100901

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Gives the Secretary power to do extra actions needed to manage the System, under terms the Secretary thinks are appropriate. The Secretary can sell or lease services, resources, or water to people, States, or local governments if doing so won’t harm or seriously interfere with a unit’s main natural or historic resource. Those buyers must provide visitor services right near the unit and must show there is no reasonable way to get those services elsewhere. The Secretary can add air conditioning to Government passenger vehicles when long drives or hot, humid regions make it necessary. The Secretary can build and keep fire protection, water, phone, electric, and other utility lines next to units when needed. The Secretary can buy rights-of-way for roads inside unit boundaries and nearby land when needed to protect features, prevent hazards from private road connections, or when leftover tracts should be kept for the public good. The Secretary can lend, rent, operate, repair, or contract out equipment and utility lines for System projects or other Federal work, and charge for those services. Money received for supplies, rentals, or services must be returned to the same government fund that paid the cost.

Full Legal Text

Title 54, §100901

National Park Service and Related Programs — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)To facilitate the administration of the System, the Secretary, under such terms and conditions as the Secretary may consider advisable, may carry out the activities described in this section.
(b)The Secretary may enter into contracts that provide for the sale or lease to persons, States, or political subdivisions of States, of services, resources, or water available within a System unit, as long as the activity does not jeopardize or unduly interfere with the primary natural or historic resource of the System unit, if the person, State, or political subdivision—
(1)provides public accommodations or services within the immediate vicinity of the System unit to individuals visiting the System unit; and
(2)demonstrates to the Secretary that there are no reasonable alternatives by which to acquire or perform the necessary services, resources, or water.
(c)The Secretary may acquire, and have installed, air conditioning units for any Government-owned passenger motor vehicles used by the Service, where assigned duties necessitate long periods in automobiles or in regions of the United States where high temperatures and humidity are common and prolonged.
(d)The Secretary may erect and maintain fire protection facilities, water lines, telephone lines, electric lines, and other utility facilities adjacent to any System unit, where necessary, to provide service in the System unit.
(e)The Secretary may furnish, on a reimbursement of appropriation basis, supplies, and rent equipment, to persons and agencies that, in cooperation with and subject to the approval of the Secretary, render services or perform functions that facilitate or supplement the activities of the Department of the Interior in the administration of the System. The reimbursements may be credited to the appropriation current at the time reimbursements are received.
(f)The Secretary may contract, under terms and conditions that the Secretary considers to be in the interest of the Federal Government, for the sale, operation, maintenance, repair, or relocation of Government-owned electric and telephone lines and other utility facilities used for the administration and protection of the System, regardless of whether the lines and facilities are located within or outside the System.
(g)The Secretary may acquire—
(1)rights of way necessary to construct, improve, and maintain roads within the authorized boundaries of any System unit; and
(2)land and interests in land adjacent to the rights of way, when—
(A)considered necessary by the Secretary—
(i)to provide adequate protection of natural features; or
(ii)to avoid traffic and other hazards resulting from private road access connections; or
(B)the acquisition of adjacent residual tracts, which otherwise would remain after acquiring the rights of way, would be in the public interest.
(h)(1)The Secretary may operate, repair, maintain, and replace motor and other equipment on a reimbursable basis when the equipment is used on Federal projects of the System, chargeable to other appropriations, or on work of other Federal agencies, when requested by the agencies.
(2)Reimbursement shall be—
(A)made from appropriations applicable to the work on which the equipment is used at rental rates established by the Secretary, based on actual or estimated cost of operation, repair, maintenance, depreciation, and equipment management control; and
(B)credited to appropriations currently available at the time adjustment is effected.
(3)The Secretary may rent equipment for fire control purposes to State, county, private, or other non-Federal agencies that cooperate with the Secretary in the administration of the System and other areas in fire control. The rental shall be under the terms of written cooperative agreements. The amount collected for the rentals shall be credited to appropriations currently available at the time payment is received.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 100901(a)16 U.S.C. 1a–2 (matter before (a)).Pub. L. 91–383, § 3 (matter before (a)), Aug. 18, 1970, 84 Stat. 826. 16 U.S.C. 1b (matter before (1)).Aug. 8, 1953, ch. 384, § 1 (matter before (1)), (2), (5) through (8), 67 Stat. 495, 496; Pub. L. 91–383, § 2(a), Aug. 18, 1970, 84 Stat. 826. 100901(b)16 U.S.C. 1a–2(e).Pub. L. 91–383, § 3(e), Aug. 18, 1970, 84 Stat. 827; Pub. L. 94–458, § 1(1), Oct. 7, 1976, 90 Stat. 1939; Pub. L. 106–176, title I, § 118(2), (3), Mar. 10, 2000, 114 Stat. 28. 100901(c)16 U.S.C. 1a–2(f).Pub. L. 91–383, § 3(f), Aug. 18, 1970, 84 Stat. 827; Pub. L. 106–176, title I, § 118(2), (3), Mar. 10, 2000, 114 Stat. 28. 100901(d)16 U.S.C. 1b(2). 100901(e) through (h)16 U.S.C. 1b(5) through (8). In subsection (a), the words “and he may use applicable appropriations for the aforesaid system for the following purposes” in 16 U.S.C. 1b (matter before (1)) are omitted as unnecessary.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

54 U.S.C. § 100901

Title 54National Park Service and Related Programs

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73