NATIONAL PARKS: GOP bill would keep parks open during government shutdowns
Emily Yehle, E&E reporter
E&E PM: Thursday, October 24, 2013
National parks would stay open during government shutdowns under a new Republican bill.
Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) introduced the bill less than one week after Congress ended the shutdown. The "Provide Access and Retain Continuity Act," or "PARC Act," would allow states to pay for park operations during a shutdown and would require the Interior Department to pay them back for the service.
H.R. 3311 comes out of Republican criticism over how Interior handled the 16-day shutdown, especially when it came to parks. Last week, House Republicans held a five-hour hearing in which they berated National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis for closing all the parks, accusing him and the White House of playing politics (Greenwire, Oct. 16).
Two weeks into the shutdown, several states entered into agreements with Interior to operate more than one dozen parks. They collectively spent more than $2 million -- and it still remains unclear whether Congress will pay them back (Greenwire, Oct. 17). Lawmakers must pass legislation to do so.
Stewart's bill would make such reimbursement automatic. It also requires the Interior secretary to enter into agreements with states that file petitions to do so. If a shutdown occurs, such states can then immediately take over the funding of facilities and programs that would otherwise close and "have a direct economic impact on tourism, mining, timber, or general transportation in the State."
In a statement, Stewart said the bill would mean the continued operation of facilities "vital" to local economies.
"The tourism, mining, timber and transportation industries lost millions of dollars each day that the government was shut down," Stewart said in a statement. "That's absolutely crushing to communities that rely on these industries."
