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1 1 (October 5, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govegor0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congre &ionoI Fesedrch Sen/ic hforming Ahej ilive debatem osine114 Updated October 5, 2021 National Park Service: Government Shutdown Issues Like other federal agencies, the National Park Service (NPS) has halted most operations during occasional government shutdowns resulting from lapses in appropriations. Over the past 25 years, such shutdowns occurred in late 1995/early 1996, October 2013, early 2018, and, most recently, from December 22, 2018, to January 25, 2019. Although government shutdowns have affected many agencies and programs, public and congressional attention has focused particularly on certain impacts, one of which is the effect of a shutdown on the National Park System. Agency actions during a shutdown are governed by the Antideficiency Act (31 U.S.C. §§1341-1342, §§1511-1519) and related guidance, including Circular No. A-11 from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). One OMB requirement is for agency heads to develop and maintain shutdown plans, known as contingency plans, detailing how each agency is to prepare for and operate during a funding gap. During recent shutdowns, NPS has executed successive versions of its contingency plan that have remained consistent in some ways and varied in others. For example, during the two most recent shutdowns with durations of more than one week-those in October 2013 and December 2018-January 2019-NPS executed contingency plans that were similar in some respects. Under the plans in both shutdowns, approximately 21,000 NPS employees were identified for furloughs, and approximately 3,000 employees were required to continue to work to carry out essential activities. However, the plans diverged in other areas, particularly with respect to the extent and types of visitor access planned for parks in a shutdown, given that the bulk of NPS staff would be furloughed. As of the end of September 2021, NPS has not publicly released any update to its January 2019 contingency plan. During both shutdowns, the NPS policies on visitor access to parks were subjects of debate in Congress and among other stakeholders. Issues included, on the one hand, concerns about economic losses to states, localities, and job sectors dependent on park tourism when parks were inaccessible; and, on the other hand, concerns about damages to park resources and threats to visitor health and safety when parks were accessible but not fully staffed. Other topics of debate in NPS shutdowns have related to the availability of funding outside of annual discretionary appropriations, which could enable limited park operations during a lapse in annual appropriations. Accessility of NPS Units in Shutdown NPS's contingency plan for the 2018-2019 shutdown, dated January 2019, provided that parks may still be accessible to visitors during the shutdown, but that staffing levels will be based on the assumption that no visitor services will be provided. The plan stated that park roads, lookouts, trails, and open-air memorials will generally remain accessible to visitors, although no visitor services will be provided. By contrast, park facilities or areas that typically would be locked or secured during non-business hours were to be closed for the duration of the shutdown. Park concessioners (privately owned businesses such as restaurants and hotels in parks) could continue operations at the discretion of park superintendents. No official reports are available on the extent of park unit closures under this plan in the December 2018-January 2019 shutdown. Because some parks consist solely of buildings and/or other lockable areas, some units were entirely closed. One estimate suggested that roughly one- third of National Park System units may have fallen into this category initially (although certain units later operated with mandatory appropriations; see below). The majority of parks-including well-known units such as Yellowstone National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Yosemite National Park, the Statue of Liberty National Memorial, and the National Mall in Washington, DC-remained at least partially accessible to visitors throughout the shutdown, with varying levels of services and law enforcement. During the shutdown, issues were reported in some of the park units that remained accessible. These included trash buildups, restroom waste problems, and accidental and intentional damage to natural resources, among others. The January 2019 NPS contingency plan provided that if visitor access becomes a safety, health or resource protection issue (weather, road conditions, resource damage, garbage build-up to the extent that it endangers human health or wildlife, etc.), the area must be closed (emphasis in original). Some parks, and areas within parks, were closed for these reasons as the shutdown continued. The general accessibility of most national park units during the most recent shutdown differed from the overall NPS approach in the shutdown of October 2013, when all parks were closed to public visitation and use. To implement the closures, NPS required all visitors to leave the parks. All concessions and commercial visitor services were closed (although certain concessioners negotiated with NPS to reopen during the shutdown). Where possible, park roads were closed and access was denied. According to a 2014 NPS report, the 16-day shutdown in 2013 resulted in an overall loss of 7.88 million visits to the parks and a loss of $414 million in NPS visitor spending in gateway communities across the country. Similar figures are not available for the December 2018-January 2019 shutdown. Funding for Lirmited Operations Like some other agencies, NPS has had access to funding sources outside of annual appropriations that have allowed for limited operations during shutdowns. For example, NPS contingency plans (e.g., in 2013 and 2019) have provided for continuation of projects obligated from funds that are

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