Title 16, ConservationRelease 119-102

§1103 Powers of Commission

Title 16 › CHAPTER 22 — INTERNATIONAL PARKS › § 1103

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Gives the Commission a legal identity and the powers it needs to carry out the U.S.-Canada agreement signed January 22, 1964. It can get property (real or personal) by gift, purchase, lease, or other means and can hold or sell it, except it may not sell the Roosevelt home or the land it sits on. The Commission can make contracts, adopt its own rules, hire employees (including an executive secretary) and set their pay, and let those staff carry out duties. It can bring or defend lawsuits in U.S. district courts, with the Attorney General overseeing the litigation. The Commission may charge admission fees and grant concessions if it wants to, but fees must keep the park open to visitors. Any money from fees or concessions must be split equally between the two governments and sent within sixty days after the Commission’s fiscal year ends; the U.S. share goes to the proper federal agency to be deposited into the U.S. Treasury under the laws for National Park Service entrance fees. The Commission can also create a seal and obtain services (legal, technical, maintenance, etc.) from U.S. or Canadian agencies without reimbursing them.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §1103

Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The Commission shall have juridical personality and all powers and capacity necessary or appropriate for the purpose of performing its functions pursuant to the agreement between the Governments of the United States and Canada signed January 22, 1964, which shall include but not be limited to the power and capacity—

(a)to acquire property, both real and personal, or interests therein, by gift, including conditional gifts whether conditioned on the expenditure of funds to be met therefrom or not, by purchase, by lease or otherwise, and to hold or dispose of the same under such terms and conditions as it sees fit, excepting the power to dispose of the Roosevelt home and the tract of land on which it is located;

(b)to enter into contracts;

(c)to sue or be sued, complain and defend, implead and be impleaded, in any United States district court. In such suits, the Attorney General shall supervise and control the litigation;

(d)to appoint its own employees, including an executive secretary who shall act as secretary at meetings of the Commission and to fix the terms and conditions of their employment and compensation;

(e)to delegate to the executive secretary or other officials and to authorize the redelegation of such authority respecting the employment and direction of its employees and the other responsibilities of the Commission as it deems desirable and appropriate;

(f)to adopt such rules of procedure as it deems desirable to enable it to perform the functions set forth in this agreement;

(g)to charge admission fees for entrance to the park should the Commission consider such fees desirable; however, such fees shall be set at a level which will make the facilities readily available to visitors; any revenues derived from admission fees or concession operations of the Commission shall be transmitted in equal shares to the two Governments within sixty days of the end of the Commission’s fiscal year, the United States share to be turned over to the appropriate Federal agency for deposit into the United States Treasury in accordance with the laws governing entrance fees received by the National Park Service;

(h)to grant concessions; if deemed desirable;

(i)to adopt and use a seal;

(j)to obtain without reimbursement for use either in the United States or in Canada, legal, engineering, architectural, accounting, financial, maintenance, and other services, whether by assignment, detail, or otherwise, from competent agencies in the United States or in Canada, by arrangements with such agencies.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 1103

Title 16, Conservation

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102