The top Republican and Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday celebrated a deal to pay for billions of dollars of repairs and maintenance in national parks.
Reps. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, and Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., along with other lawmakers of both parties, introduced legislation to pay for repairs with money the government collects from the development of oil, natural gas, wind, and solar energy on public lands.
“Our parks system is being loved to death,” Bishop said at a press conference, repeating a phrase Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke often uses. “If you envision a situation where bridges are crumbling, and roads are full of potholes, and the pipes are leaking, and the electrical grid is very spotty, it’s not a disaster movie. It’s not even my neighborhood in Washington. It is our parks system.”
“We will solve these problems because this is an issue that must be solved,” Bishop added. “We can’t wait any longer to do it.”
The introduction of the bill is significant because Bishop and Grijalva, who usually spar on public lands issues, agreed to a compromise that is somewhat similar to a Trump administration proposal to fund the Interior Department’s $16 billion maintenance backlog.
“I really can’t remember when the chairman and I have had a joint press conference,” Grijalva noted, as he and Bishop chided each other for their cordial personal relationship, but different policy views. “The good news is bipartisan priorities exist and can happen in this environment.”
“I get along with him on a personal level. It’s just he is always wrong,” Bishop lightheartedly added of Grijalva. “But this is a significant issue that is both bipartisan and it’s going to be bicameral as well.”
The progress comes after Zinke this year proposed a new Public Lands Infrastructure Fund of up to $18 billion over 10 years for maintenance and improvements in national parks, wildlife refuges, and Bureau of Indian Education schools. The money would come from royalty payments and lease sales on federal onshore and offshore lands for energy exploration.
The proposal earned bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress, as members were eager to see a funding mechanism to fix pipeline leaks, broken bathrooms, and potholed roads at America’s national parks.
Of the $16 billion backlog, the National Park Service has the largest repair need — $11.6 billion in 2017 for the nation’s 417 national park sites.
But important Democrats such as Grijalva opposed the Zinke proposal, preventing it from getting a vote.
The new proposal by Bishop and Grijalva would create a similar pot of money, dubbed the National Park Service and Public Lands Legacy Restoration Fund. But the money would be significantly less, providing $1.3 billion a year for five years, for a total of $6.5 billion.
To win Grijalva’s approval, the new bill only uses unallocated energy revenue that is already due to the federal government from leasing on public lands, not new revenues from anticipated leases. In contrast, the Zinke proposal would have provided energy funding to the National Park Service for repairs only after the government met a certain target for energy revenue.
“I support this bill because I look at our public lands that need more funding without strings attached,” Grijalva said. “The administration’s initial proposal would have increased energy production as a trade-off. This legislation does not condition money on increased energy production. It’s a trade-off we are not making.”
Bishop said he expects a bipartisan group of senators to introduce a similar bill soon. He predicted the bills could be voted on as stand-alone legislation, rather than being attached to a must-pass measure such as government funding, signaling how good he feels about the chances for the proposal to pass.
“This is one of those issues of significant value, it’s a major problem, and has enough momentum that it easily can go as a stand alone bill in both the House and the Senate,” Bishop said.
