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1 1 (August 28, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdbmm0001 and id is 1 raw text is: FF. August 28, 2020 The Great American Outdoors Act, P.L. 116-152 The Great American Outdoors Act (P.L. 116-152) established a new fund with mandatory spending authority to address deferred maintenance needs of five federal agencies. The law also made available the deposits to an existing fund-the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF)-as mandatory spending and made other changes to the LWCF Act (54 U.S.C. §§200301 et seq.). Section 1 of the law provides the short title as the Great American Outdoors Act. Section 2 pertains to the new deferred maintenance fund, and Section 3 relates to the LWCF. This In Focus addresses selected provisions of the law. Natona Parks and Public Land Leg'acy Restoration Fund The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Forest Service (FS), Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and National Park Service (NPS) maintain thousands of diverse assets, such as roads and buildings. Each agency has a backlog of deferred maintenance (DM), defined as maintenance not performed as needed and put off for a future time. For FY2018, the backlog for NPS was reported at $11.9 billion, FS at $5.2 billion, FWS at $1.3 billion, and BLM at $1.0 billion. Additionally, the Department of the Interior (DOI) reported DM of $1.8 billion for Indian Affairs, including the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). For all the agencies except BIE, a major portion of DM is in transportation assets. In the past, most funding for agency DM has come from discretionary appropriations. The agencies also have mandatory spending authorities, including transportation maintenance funding under the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (P.L. 114-94), entrance and recreation fees under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. §§6801-6814), and others. P.L. 116-152 established the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund (Legacy Restoration Fund) to address DM for the five agencies (NPS, FS, FWS, BLM, and BIE). The fund is to receive annual deposits for FY2021-FY2025 of 50% of all federal energy revenues (from oil, gas, coal, or renewable energy) credited in the preceding fiscal year as miscellaneous receipts to the Treasury, up to a cap of $1.9 billion annually. The law states that it would not affect the disposition of energy revenues due to states, trust funds, or special funds (such as the LWCF or the Historic Preservation Fund, 54 U.S.C. §303102) and that it would not affect revenues that have been otherwise appropriated under federal law-for example, under the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA; 43 U.S.C. §1331 note) or the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. §191). Of the amounts deposited in the fund each year (up to $1.9 billion annually, as described above), NPS is to receive a 70% share, FS 15%, FWS 5%, BLM 5%, and BIE 5% for its schools. The agencies must use the funding for priority deferred maintenance projects. At least 65% of each agency's funds is for non-transportation projects. In general, the President is to submit lists of priority projects to Congress with annual budget justifications. Appropriations acts may specify an alternate allocation. If Congress does not enact an alternate allocation by the enactment date of the full-year appropriations for Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies (or if Congress enacts an alternate allocation of less than the full amount), the President is to allocate amounts. It is not entirely clear if the President must allocate the funds in accordance with the priorities specified in the budget submission. Whether deposits to the Legacy Restoration Fund will reach the $1.9 billion cap in each year is uncertain. Given that the fund receives 50% of federal energy revenues deposited in the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts during the preceding fiscal year, these revenues would have to total $3.8 billion in a given year for the cap to be reached. DOI revenue disbursement data show that Treasury miscellaneous receipts from natural resource extraction ranged annually from $2.2 billion to $8.2 billion for FY2010-FY2019. These revenues came primarily from offshore energy development, and especially from offshore oil and gas leasing. Future revenues would depend on factors including oil and gas prices, production levels, and federal leasing policies, among others. For example, deposits to the fund for FY2021 (reflecting FY2020 revenues) and potentially beyond could be affected by changes in oil prices and energy use patterns attributed to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Land,, and- Water- CosevaioFnd Under the LWCF Act, $900 million is deposited annually into the LWCF. Nearly all of the revenue is derived from oil and gas leasing offshore. Prior to P.L. 116-152, the money had been available only if appropriated in subsequent law and thus was considered discretionary spending. The annual appropriations generally were less than $900 million, resulting in an unappropriated balance of approximately $22 billion through FY2019. The LWCF Act sets out authorized purposes of the fund, relating to federal land acquisition and outdoor recreation grants to states. Appropriations also have been provided for other programs. The LWCF Act requires the President's annual budget to identify requirements from the fund, sets out federal purposes for which the President is to allot appropriations unless otherwise allotted in the appropriation Act making them available, and provides that not less than 40% of total monies are to be used for each of federal purposes and financial assistance to states. -------------------.-,'*-' * ...*.~ p\w -- , gn'a', goo mppm qq\ a , q 'S I 11LIANJILiN,

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