Introduction of the Save Our National Parks Transportation Act
Floor Speech
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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce the ``Save Our National Parks Transportation Act.'' The bill authorizes $460 million for the National Park Service (NPS) from the Federal Lands Transportation Program for each of fiscal years 2016 to 2021, and establishes the Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Transportation Projects program authorized at $150 million each of fiscal years 2016 to 2021.
Unlike other infrastructure, NPS roads and bridges rely exclusively on federal funds. These roads and bridges are located in districts across the country, and the needs are spread across most of the 50 States. These roads and bridges are not funded out of state apportionments, and Members may not realize that there are few alternative sources of funds for maintenance and improvements of these assets.
Infrastructure in our national parks continues to crumble at an alarming rate, threatening not only our largest and most famous parks, but also the significant revenue that states and localities earn from the presence of national parks and from federal roads and bridges that are essential for daily commerce.
Significant investments are needed for roads, bridges, and related transportation infrastructure on NPS land. Under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (Map-21), the Federal Lands Transportation Program is funded at $300 million per fiscal year, with NPS receiving $240 million. Yet, NPS has an $11.5 billion maintenance backlog and needs $460 million per year just to maintain the existing condition of its core transportation infrastructure.
NPS also has several ``mega-projects'' that are in critical need, but the current annual transportation allocation for NPS does not allow for any progress on these projects. Last week, NPS announced weight restrictions and lane closures on the iconic Arlington Memorial Bridge, spanning the Potomac River between Virginia and the District of Columbia. Memorial Bridge carries more than 68,000 vehicles per day, and it's a critical transportation artery to Arlington National Cemetery, Mount Vernon and for the National Capital Region. With a cost of $250 million to replace the bridge, the necessary improvements to this one bridge exceed the entire annual Federal Lands Transportation Program allocation for NPS. There are other large projects across the country that require equally significant investments, including the Tamiami Trail in Florida; the Foothills Parkway project in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee; the Yellowstone National Park Road Reconstruction in Wyoming; and the Water Gap National Recreation Area Road Reconstruction project in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
To address the need to fund these large projects, the bill establishes a Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Transportation Projects program. The authorized funding for the program will be $150 million per year for five years and would cover projects with a minimum cost of $25 million. Under the program, the Federal Land Management Agencies and Indian Tribes are eligible to compete for funding to construct, reconstruct, and rehabilitate nationally significant federal lands and tribal transportation projects. This provision is also included in H.R. 2410, the ``Generating Renewal, Opportunity, and Work with Accelerated Mobility, Efficiency, and Rebuilding of Infrastructure and Communities throughout America Act'' (GROW AMERICA Act), which I have introduced along with my Democratic colleagues on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
The federal government has a responsibility to maintain the highway and transit assets it owns. Neglect has now reached crisis proportions. This bill is an important step in empowering NPS to fulfill its responsibility.
I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill.
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