§ 101917 — Franchise Fees

(a) A concession contract shall provide for payment to the Federal Government of a franchise fee or other monetary consideration as determined by the Secretary, on consideration of the probable value to the concessioner of the privileges granted by the particular contract involved. Probable value shall be based on a reasonable opportunity for net profit in relation to capital invested and the obligations of the concession contract. Consideration of revenue to the United States shall be subordinate to the objectives of protecting and preserving System units and of providing necessary and appropriate services for visitors at reasonable rates. (b) The amount of the franchise fee or other monetary consideration paid to the United States for the term of the concession contract shall be specified in the concession contract and may be modified only to reflect extraordinary unanticipated changes from the conditions anticipated as of the effective date of the concession contract. The Secretary shall include in concession contracts with a term of more than 5 years a provision that allows reconsideration of the franchise fee at the request of the Secretary or the concessioner in the event of extraordinary unanticipated changes. The provision shall provide for binding arbitration in the event that the Secretary and the concessioner are unable to agree on an adjustment to the franchise fee in those circumstances. (1) All franchise fees (and other monetary consideration) paid to the United States pursuant to concession contracts shall be deposited in a special account established in the Treasury. Twenty percent of the funds deposited in the special account shall be available for expenditure by the Secretary, without further appropriation, to support activities throughout the System regardless of the System unit in which the funds were collected. The funds deposited in the special account shall remain available until expended. (2) There shall be established within the special account a subaccount for each System unit. Each subaccount shall be credited with 80 percent of the franchise fees (and other monetary consideration) collected at a single System unit under concession contracts. The funds credited to the subaccount for a System unit shall be available for expenditure by the Secretary, without further appropriation, for use at the System unit for visitor services and for purposes of funding high-priority and urgently necessary resource management programs and operations. The funds credited to a subaccount shall remain available until expended. (3) The Secretary may reduce the percentage allocation otherwise applicable under paragraph (2) to a unit or area of the National Park Service for a fiscal year if the Secretary determines 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. In no event may a percentage allocation be reduced below 60 percent.