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1 1 (August 16, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/goveejc0001 and id is 1 raw text is: reseflonal Sesearch $erwe Ln& rmir~ 4w I 4~I d~~i #bA~ ~rg~ 1)14 Updated August 16, 2021 The Great American Outdoors Act (P.L.116-152) The Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA; 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 LW CF Act (54 U.S.C. § § 200301 et s eq.). This CRS In Focus addresses selected provisions of the law. National Parks and Public Land Legacy 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 neededandputofffor afuture time. ForFY2020, the backlog for NPS was reported at $14.4 billion, FS at $5.9 billion, BLM at $4.1 billion, and FWS at $1.5 billion. Additionally, the Department of the Interior (DOI) reported DM of $1.7 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 had mandatory spending authorities, including transportation maintenance funding under the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (P.L. 114-94), entrance andrecreation fees under theFederalLands Recreation Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. §§6801-6814), and others. The GAOA established the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF) with mandatory appropriations to address DM for the five agencies (NPS, FS, FW S, BLM, and BIE). The fund is to receive annual deposits forFY2021-FY2025 of 50% of all federalenergy revenues (fromoil, gas, coal, or renewable energy) credited in the preceding fiscalyear as miscellaneous receipts to the Treasury, up to a cap of $1.9 billion annually. The law stated that it would not affect the disposition of energy revenues due to states, trust funds, or special funds (such as the LW CF or the Historic Preservation Fund, 54 U.S.C. § 303102). The law also stated that it would not affect revenues thathave 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 MineralLeasing Act (30U.S.C. § 191). Of the amounts deposited in the fund each year, NPS is to receive a70% share, FS 15%, FWS 5%, BLM 5%, and BIE 5% for its schools. The agencies mustuse the funding for priority deferred maintenance projects. Atleast65% of each agency's funds are for non-transportation projects. For FY2021, the GAOA directed the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture, within 90 days of the law's enactment, to submit lists of priority projects ready to implement with FY2021 funding. For funding in subsequent years, the law directed the President to submit lists of priority DM projects to Congress with annual budgetjustifications. The law specified that appropriations acts may provide an alternate allocation under the percentages defined for each agency. If Congress does not enact an alternate allocation by the date of enactment of full-year appropriations for Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies (or if Congress allocates less than the full amount), the President is to allocate amounts. It is unclear if the President must allocate the funds in accordance with the priorities specified in the budget submission. Funding Allocations For FY2021, the maximum amount of $1.9 billion was available for allocation. On November 2, 2020, the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture submitted FY2021 DM project lists as required within 90 days of enactment. The FY2021 appropriations law for Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies (P.L. 116-260, Division G, §434) and the accompanying explanatory statement allocated the funding among the five agencies (according to the percentages specified in the GAOA) and identified specific DM projects that would receive funding; the projects matched those the Secretaries had submitted in November. The explanatory statement also included non- project-specific allocations for each agency for activities such as programsupport, project delivery, andmission support. The amount of funding available for FY2022 will depend on federal energy revenues collected in FY2021. FY2022 appropriations documents-including President Biden's FY2022 budgetrequest,House-passed legislation(H.R. 4502, Division E, §431), and the report accompanying H.R. 4372 as reported by the House Committee on Appropriations (H.Rept. 117-83)-proposed allocations for the maximum amount ($1.9 billion, minus sequestered amounts), according to the specified percentages for each agency. In FY2022, LRF appropriations are subject to a mandatory spending sequester of5.7% under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit ControlAct of 1985, as amended (2 U.S.C. §901a). The project allocations in the House committee report match those submitted in the President's budget, andthe reportalso specifies non- project-specific funds for Interior agencies as requested. Land and Water Conservation Fund Under the LWCF Act, $900 million is deposited annually into the LW CF. Neardy all of therevenue is deiived fromoil and gas leasing offshoire. Prior to P.L. 116-152, the money was https://crs rept

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