The Visitor Infrastrucutre Imporvement Act is a bill written by the ARC. An exceprt from the first section of the act, called the Infrastructure Demonstration Program, is presented here. Using much of the same logic and language of the Recreation Fee Demonstration Program (Fee Demo), this new demonstration program would allow public/ private partnerships much like those in the Fee Demo which would further move public lands agencies towards concessioning recreation facilities to private entities (such as the members of the ARC).
Emphasis has been added for ease of reading.
SEC. 1. INFRASTRUCTURE DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM: VISITOR FACILITIES
(a) The Secretary of Agriculture (acting through the Forest Service) and the Secretary of the Interior (acting through the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service) may each implement a public-private venture demonstration program to evaluate the feasibility of utilizing non-federal funds to construct, rehabilitate, enhance and maintain certain visitor facilities available to the public on federal lands. Visitor facilities eligible under this provision include campgrounds, marinas and other sites for which fees are charged by an agency or its operating partner.
(b) In accord with approved forest plans, park master plans and other appropriate land use plans, the Secretaries may enter into agreements with individuals, corporations, public agencies and non-profit groups to act as operating partners for purposes of construction, maintenance and operation of new visitor facilities and rehabilitation, maintenance and operation of existing visitors facilities. The Secretaries shall provide for an appropriate level of competition in the selection of any operating partner in order to ensure: (1) the highest quality visitor experiences; (2) assistance in protection and management of natural resources associated with the site; and (3) visitor opportunities for a broad spectrum of the American public.
(c) The Secretaries shall establish a special account in the Treasury for each participating agency. Funds deposited into these accounts shall remain available for expenditure in accordance with subsection i without further appropriation.
(d) In each case where the Secretaties enter into such an agreement, the agreement shall provide for deposit by the operating partner of a simple percentage of gross revenues from the site operations into the special account created by authority of this section.
(e) The agreement shall be of sufficient duration to permit the operating partner to amortize the value of any capital improvements made during the duration of the contract or shall provide for purchase of any unamortized improvements by the agency or another partner at the conclusion of the agreement. Agreements shall normally include at least ten years of operations plus a construction period, but may be of a duration equal to those provided under P.L. 104-333, Section xx [ski area permit provision].
(f) In the case of any contract which provides for the rehabilitation or reconstruction of any government owned facilities, the Secretaries are authorized to enter into an agreement which transfers existing federal visitor facilities to the operating partner...