PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

The President must set aside Fund money for specific federal uses unless a law says otherwise. Money can buy land, water, or interests in them for several federal needs: parks and recreation units; certain parts of national forests (including inholdings inside wilderness and other forest areas as they were on January 1, 1965, or later approved purchase units), and up to 3,000 acres next to any one forest if it fits recreation management; and areas for endangered or threatened species, wildlife refuges, and wetlands authorized by law. The Fund can also pay into the Treasury to offset part of capital costs of Federal water projects that support public recreation and fish and wildlife. Appropriations for the land buys above are available even if they would exceed earlier statutory limits enacted before January 4, 1977, or (for national recreation areas) before January 15, 1979, but spending in any one fiscal year may not exceed a statutory ceiling by more than 10 percent or $1,000,000, whichever is greater. Fund money cannot buy land unless another law allows the purchase, though it may pay for preacquisition work if approval is imminent and big savings are likely. Each year at least the greater of 3 percent of the amounts available under section 200303 or $15,000,000 must go to projects that secure public access to Federal land for hunting, fishing, shooting, or other outdoor recreation. The Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture, with other agency heads, make a yearly priority list for those projects. When deciding to buy land, they must consider significance, urgency, management efficiency and savings, geographic spread, threats to the land, and recreational value.

Title 54, §200306

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

(a)Allowable Purposes and Subpurposes.—

(1)In general.—

Amounts appropriated from the Fund for Federal purposes shall, unless otherwise allotted in the appropriation Act making them available, be allotted by the President for the purposes and subpurposes stated in this subsection.

(2)Acquisition of land, water, or an interest in land or water.—

(A)System units and recreation areas administered for recreation purposes.—

Amounts shall be allotted for the acquisition of land, water, or an interest in land or water within the exterior boundary of— (i)

(ii)an area authorized to be administered by the Secretary for outdoor recreation purposes.

(B)National forest system.—

(i)In general.—

Amounts shall be allotted for the acquisition of land, water, or an interest in land or water within inholdings within— (I)

(II)other areas of national forests as the boundaries of those forests existed on January 1, 1965, or purchase units approved by the National Forest Reservation Commission subsequent to January 1, 1965, all of which other areas are primarily of value for outdoor recreation purposes.

(ii)Adjacent land.—

Land outside but adjacent to an existing national forest boundary, not to exceed 3,000 acres in the case of any one forest, that would comprise an integral part of a forest recreational management area may also be acquired with amounts appropriated from the Fund.

(C)Endangered species and threatened species; fish and wildlife refuge areas; national wildlife refuge system.—

Amounts shall be allotted for the acquisition of land, water, or an interest in land or water for— (i)

(ii)areas authorized by section 2 of the Refuge Recreation Act (16 U.S.C. 460k–1);

(iii)national wildlife refuge areas under section 7(a)(4) of the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 742f(a)(4)) and wetlands acquired under section 304 of the Emergency Wetlands Resources Act of 1986 (16 U.S.C. 3922); and

(iv)any area authorized for the National Wildlife Refuge System by specific Acts.

(3)Payment as offset of capital costs.—

Amounts shall be allotted for payment into miscellaneous receipts of the Treasury as a partial offset for capital costs, if any, of Federal water development projects authorized to be constructed by or pursuant to an Act of Congress that are allocated to public recreation and the enhancement of fish and wildlife values and financed through appropriations to water resource agencies.

(4)Availability of appropriations.—

Appropriations allotted for the acquisition of land, water, or an interest in land or water as set forth under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2) shall be available for those acquisitions notwithstanding any statutory ceiling on the appropriations contained in any other provision of law enacted prior to January 4, 1977, or, in the case of national recreation areas, prior to January 15, 1979, except that for any such area expenditures shall not exceed a statutory ceiling during any one fiscal year by 10 percent of the ceiling or $1,000,000, whichever is greater.

(b)Acquisition Restrictions.—

Appropriations from the Fund pursuant to this section shall not be used for acquisition unless the acquisition is otherwise authorized by law. Appropriations from the Fund may be used for preacquisition work where authorization is imminent and where substantial monetary savings could be realized.

(c)Recreational Public Access.—

(1)In general.—

Of the amounts made available for expenditure in any fiscal year under section 200303, there shall be made available for recreational public access projects identified on the priority list developed under paragraph (2) not less than the greater of— (A)

(B)$15,000,000.

(2)Priority list.—

The Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the head of each affected Federal agency, shall annually develop a priority list for projects that, through acquisition of land (or an interest in land), secure recreational public access to Federal land under the jurisdiction of the applicable Secretary for hunting, fishing, recreational shooting, or other outdoor recreational purposes.

(d)Acquisition Considerations.—

In determining whether to acquire land (or an interest in land) under this section, the Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture shall take into account—

(1)the significance of the acquisition;

(2)the urgency of the acquisition;

(3)management efficiencies;

(4)management cost savings;

(5)geographic distribution;

(6)threats to the integrity of the land; and

(7)the recreational value of the land.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 20030616 U.S.C. 460l–9(a), (b).Pub. L. 88–578, title I, § 7, formerly § 6, Sept. 3, 1964, 78 Stat. 903; Pub. L. 90–401, § 1(c), July 15, 1968, 82 Stat. 355; renumbered § 7, Pub. L. 92–347, § 2, July 11, 1972, 86 Stat. 459; amended Pub. L. 93–205, § 13(c), Dec. 28, 1973, 87 Stat. 902; Pub. L. 94–422, title I, § 101(4), Sept. 28, 1976, 90 Stat. 1317; Pub. L. 95–42, § 1(3)–(5), June 10, 1977, 91 Stat. 210, 211; Pub. L. 96–203, § 2, Mar. 10, 1980, 94 Stat. 81; Pub. L. 99–645, title III, § 302, Nov. 10, 1986, 100 Stat. 3587; Pub. L. 103–437, § 6(p)(3), Nov. 2, 1994, 108 Stat. 4586; Pub. L. 104–333, div. I, title VIII, § 814(b), (d)(2)(C), Nov. 12, 1996, 110 Stat. 4194, 4196; Pub. L. 106–176, title I, §§ 120(b), 129, Mar. 10, 2000, 114 Stat. 28, 30. In subsection (a)(4), the words “January 4, 1977” are substituted for “the convening of the Ninety-fifth Congress”, and the words “January 15, 1979” are substituted for “ the convening of the Ninety-sixth Congress”, for clarity.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2020—Subsec. (a)(2)(B)(iii). Pub. L. 116–152 struck out cl. (iii). Text read as follows: “Except for areas specifically authorized by Act of Congress, not more than 15 percent of the acreage added to the National Forest System pursuant to this section shall be west of the 100th meridian.” 2019—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 116–9, § 3001(d), added subsec. (c). Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 116–9, § 3001(e), added subsec. (d).

§200306 Allocation of Fund Amounts for Federal Purposes