16 U.S.C. § 6805 — Cooperative agreements

Page 2654 TITLE 16—CONSERVATION § 6804a ‘‘(3) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘Secretaries’ means— ‘‘(A) the Secretary [of the Interior], acting through— ‘‘(i) the Director of the National Park Service; ‘‘(ii) the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; ‘‘(iii) the Director of the Bureau of Land Man- agement; and ‘‘(iv) the Commissioner of Reclamation; ‘‘(B) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service; ‘‘(C) the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and At- mospheric Administration; and ‘‘(D) the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works. ‘‘(4) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of the several States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and any other territory or possession of the United States. ‘‘(5) STUDENT OR STUDENTS.—The term ‘student’ or ‘students’ means any fourth grader or home-schooled learner 10 years of age residing in the United States, including any territory or possession of the United States. ‘‘(b) EVERY KID OUTDOORS PROGRAM.— ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretaries shall jointly establish a program, to be known as the ‘Every Kid Outdoors program’, to provide free access to Federal land and waters for students and accompanying indi- viduals in accordance with this subsection. ‘‘(2) ANNUAL PASSES.— ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—At the request of a student, the Secretaries shall issue a pass to the student, which allows access to Federal lands and waters for which access is subject to an entrance, standard amenity, or day use fee, free of charge for the student and— ‘‘(i) in the case of a per-vehicle fee area— ‘‘(I) any passengers accompanying the student in a private, noncommercial vehicle; or ‘‘(II) not more than three adults accom- panying the student on bicycles; or ‘‘(ii) in the case of a per-person fee area, not more than three adults accompanying the stu- dent. ‘‘(B) TERM.—A pass described in subparagraph (A) shall be effective for a 12-month period that begins on a date determined by the Secretaries. ‘‘(C) PRESENCE OF A STUDENT IN GRADE FOUR RE- QUIRED.—A pass described in subparagraph (A) shall be effective only if the student to which the pass was issued is present at the point of entry to the applicable Federal land or water. ‘‘(3) OTHER ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the pro- gram, the Secretaries— ‘‘(A) may collaborate with State Park systems that opt to implement a complementary Every Kid Outdoors State park pass; ‘‘(B) may coordinate with the Secretary of Edu- cation to implement the program; ‘‘(C) shall maintain a publicly available website with information about the program; ‘‘(D) may provide visitor services for the program; and ‘‘(E) may support approved partners of the Fed- eral land and waters by providing the partners with opportunities to participate in the program. ‘‘(4) REPORTS.—The Secretary, in coordination with each Secretary described in subparagraphs (B) through (D) of subsection (a)(3), shall prepare a com- prehensive report to Congress each year describing— ‘‘(A) the implementation of the program; ‘‘(B) the number and geographical distribution of students who participated in the program; and ‘‘(C) the number of passes described in paragraph (2)(A) that were distributed. ‘‘(5) SUNSET.—The authorities provided in this sec- tion, including the reporting requirement, shall ex- pire on September 30, 2031.’’ AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL NATIONAL PARKS AND FEDERAL RECREATIONAL LANDS PASS PROGRAM Pub. L. 113–121, title I, § 1048, June 10, 2014, 128 Stat. 1257, provided that: ‘‘The Secretary [of the Army] may participate in the America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass program in the same manner as the National Park Service, the Bu- reau of Land Management, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Forest Service, and the Bureau of Reclamation, including the provision of free annual passes to active duty military personnel and depend- ents.’’ § 6804a. Availability of Federal, State, and local recreation passes (a) Establishment of program (1) In general To improve the availability of Federal, State, and local outdoor recreation passes, the Secretaries are encouraged to coordinate with States and counties regarding the availability of Federal, State, and local recreation passes to allow a purchaser to buy a Federal recre- ation pass, State recreation pass, and local recreation pass in a single transaction. (2) Included passes Passes covered by the program established under paragraph (1) include— (A) an America the Beautiful—the Na- tional Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass under section 6804 of this title; and (B) any pass covering any fees charged by participating States and counties for en- trance and recreational use of parks and public land in the participating States. (b) Agreements with States and counties (1) In general The Secretaries, after consultation with the States and counties, may enter into agree- ments with States and counties to coordinate the availability of passes as described in sub- section (a). (2) Revenue from pass sales Agreements between the Secretaries, States, and counties entered into pursuant to this sec- tion shall ensure that— (A) funds from the sale of State or local passes are transferred to the appropriate State agency or county government; (B) funds from the sale of Federal passes are transferred to the appropriate Federal agency; and (C) fund transfers are completed by the end of a fiscal year for all pass sales occur- ring during the fiscal year. (Pub. L. 108–447, div. J, title VIII, § 805A, as added Pub. L. 118–234, title III, § 321(a), Jan. 4, 2025, 138 Stat. 2909.) § 6805. Cooperative agreements (a) Fee management agreement Notwithstanding chapter 63 of title 31, the Secretary may enter into a fee management agreement, including a contract, which may provide for a reasonable commission, reimburse- ment, or discount, with the following entities for the following purposes: Page 2655 TITLE 16—CONSERVATION § 6807 (1) With any governmental or nongovern- mental entity, including those in a gateway community, for the purpose of obtaining fee collection and processing services, including visitor reservation services. (2) With any governmental or nongovern- mental entity, including those in a gateway community, for the purpose of obtaining emer- gency medical services. (3) With any governmental entity, including those in a gateway community, to obtain law enforcement services. (b) Revenue sharing A State or legal subdivision of a State that en- ters into an agreement with the Secretary under subsection (a) may share in a percentage of the revenues collected at the site in accordance with that fee management agreement. (c) County proposals The Secretary shall consider any proposal sub- mitted by a county to provide services described in subsection (a). If the Secretary decides not to enter into a fee management agreement with the county under subsection (a), the Secretary shall notify the county in writing of the deci- sion, identifying the reasons for the decision. The fee management agreement may include co- operative site planning and management provi- sions. (Pub. L. 108–447, div. J, title VIII, § 806, Dec. 8, 2004, 118 Stat. 3387.) § 6806. Special account and distribution of fees and revenues (a) Special account The Secretary of the Treasury shall establish a special account in the Treasury for each Fed- eral land management agency. (b) Deposits Subject to subsections (c), (d), and (e), reve- nues collected by each Federal land manage- ment agency under this chapter shall— (1) be deposited in its special account; and (2) remain available for expenditure, without further appropriation, until expended. (c) Distribution of recreation fees and single-site agency pass revenues (1) Local distribution of funds (A) Retention of revenues Not less than 80 percent of the recreation fees and site-specific agency pass revenues collected at a specific unit or area of a Fed- eral land management agency shall remain available for expenditure, without further appropriation, until expended at that unit or area. (B) Reduction The Secretary may reduce the percentage allocation otherwise applicable under sub- paragraph (A) to a unit or area of a Federal land management agency, but not below 60 percent, for a fiscal year if the Secretary de- termines that the revenues collected at the unit or area exceed the reasonable needs of the unit or area for which expenditures may be made for that fiscal year. (2) Agency-wide distribution of funds The balance of the recreation fees and site- specific agency pass revenues collected at a specific unit or area of a Federal land manage- ment and not distributed in accordance with paragraph (1) shall remain available to that Federal land management agency for expendi- ture on an agency-wide basis, without further appropriation, until expended. (3) Other amounts Other amounts collected at other locations, including recreation fees collected by other entities or for a reservation service, shall re- main available, without further appropriation, until expended in accordance with guidelines established by the Secretary. (d) Distribution of National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass revenues Revenues collected from the sale of the Na- tional Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass shall be deposited in the special accounts established for the Federal land management agencies in accordance with the guidelines issued under section 6804(a)(7) of this title. (e) Distribution of regional multientity pass rev- enues Revenues collected from the sale of a regional multientity pass authorized under section 6804(d) of this title shall be deposited in each participating Federal land management agen- cy’s special account in accordance with the terms of the region multientity pass agreement for the regional multientity pass. (Pub. L. 108–447, div. J, title VIII, § 807, Dec. 8, 2004, 118 Stat. 3388.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT This chapter, referred to in subsec. (b), was in the original ‘‘this Act’’, and was translated as reading ‘‘this title’’, meaning title VIII of div. J of Pub. L. 108–447, Dec. 8, 2004, 118 Stat. 3377, known as the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, to reflect the probable intent of Congress. For complete classification of title VIII to the Code, see Short Title note set out under sec- tion 6801 of this title and Tables. Section 6804 of this title, referred to in subsecs. (d) and (e), was in the original a reference to section 5, and was translated as meaning section 805 of title VIII of div. J of Pub. L. 108–447, to reflect the probable intent of Congress. § 6807. Expenditures (a) Use of fees at specific site or area Amounts available for expenditure at a spe- cific site or area— (1) shall be accounted for separately from the amounts collected; (2) may be distributed agency-wide; and (3) shall be used only for— (A) repair, maintenance, and facility en- hancement related directly to visitor enjoy- ment, visitor access, and health and safety; (B) interpretation, visitor information, visitor service, visitor needs assessments, and signs; (C) habitat restoration directly related to wildlife-dependent recreation that is limited