§ 200305 — Financial Assistance To States

(a) The Secretary may provide financial assistance to the States from amounts available for State purposes. Payments may be made to the States by the Secretary as provided in this section, subject to such terms and conditions as the Secretary considers appropriate and in the public interest to carry out the purposes of this chapter, for outdoor recreation: (1) Planning. (2) Acquisition of land, water, or interests in land or water. (3) Development. (b) Amounts appropriated and available for State purposes for each fiscal year shall be apportioned among the States by the Secretary, whose determination shall be final, in accordance with the following formula: (1) Forty percent of the 1st $225,000,000; 30 percent of the next $275,000,000; and 20 percent of all additional appropriations shall be apportioned equally among the States. (2) At any time, the remaining appropriation shall be apportioned on the basis of need to individual States by the Secretary in such amounts as in the Secretary’s judgment will best accomplish the purposes of this chapter. The determination of need shall include consideration of— (A) the proportion that the population of each State bears to the total population of the United States; (B) the use of outdoor recreation resources of each State by persons from outside the State; and (C) the Federal resources and programs in each State. (3) The total allocation to a State under paragraphs (1) and (2) shall not exceed 10 percent of the total amount allocated to all of the States in any one year. (4) The Secretary shall notify each State of its apportionments. The amounts shall be available for payment to the State for planning, acquisition, or development projects as prescribed. Any amount of any apportionment that has not been paid or obligated by the Secretary during the fiscal year in which the notification is given and for 2 fiscal years thereafter shall be reapportioned by the Secretary in accordance with paragraph (2) without regard to the 10 percent limitation to an individual State specified in this subsection. (c) Payments to any State shall cover not more than 50 percent of the cost of planning, acquisition, or development projects that are undertaken by the State. The remaining share of the cost shall be borne by the State in a manner and with funds or services as shall be satisfactory to the Secretary. (1) A comprehensive statewide outdoor recreation plan shall be required prior to the consideration by the Secretary of financial assistance for acquisition or development projects. The plan shall be adequate if, in the judgment of the Secretary, it encompasses and will promote the purposes of this chapter. No plan shall be approved unless the chief executive official of the State certifies that ample opportunity for public participation in plan development and revision has been accorded. The Secretary shall develop, in consultation with others, criteria for public participation, which criteria shall constitute the basis for the certification by the chief executive official. The plan shall contain— (A) the name of the State agency that will have authority to represent and act for the State in dealing with the Secretary for purposes of this chapter; (B) an evaluation of the demand for and supply of outdoor recreation resources and facilities in the State; (C) a program for the implementation of the plan; and (D) other necessary information, as determined by the Secretary. (2) The plan shall take into account relevant Federal resources and programs and shall be correlated so far as practicable with other State, regional, and local plans. Where there exists or is in preparation for any particular State a comprehensive plan financed in part with funds supplied by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, any statewide outdoor recreation plan prepared for purposes of this part shall be based on the same population, growth, and other pertinent factors as are used in formulating plans financed by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. (3) The Secretary may provide financial assistance to any State for projects for the preparation of a comprehensive statewide outdoor recreation plan when the plan is not otherwise available or for the maintenance of the plan. (4) A comprehensive statewide outdoor recreation plan shall specifically address wetlands within the State as an important outdoor recreation resource as a prerequisite to approval, except that a revised comprehensive statewide outdoor recreation plan shall not be required by the Secretary, if a State submits, and the Secretary, acting through the Director, approves, as a part of and as an addendum to the existing comprehensive statewide outdoor recreation plan, a wetlands priority plan developed in consultation with the State agency with responsibility for fish and wildlife resources and consistent with the national wetlands priority conservation plan developed under section 301 of the Emergency Wetlands Resources Act of 1986 (16 U.S.C. 3921) or, if the national plan has not been completed, consistent with the provisions of that section. (1) In addition to assistance for planning projects, the Secretary may provide financial assistance to any State for the types of projects described in paragraphs (2) and (3), or combinations of those projects, if the projects are in accordance with the State comprehensive plan. (A) Under paragraph (1), the Secretary may provide financial assistance for a project for the acquisition of land, water, or an interest in land or water, or a wetland area or an interest in a wetland area, as identified in the wetlands provisions of the comprehensive plan (other than land, water, or an interest in land or water acquired from the United States for less than fair market value), but not including incidental costs relating to acquisition. (B) When a State provides that the owner of a single-family residence may, at the owner’s option, elect to retain a right of use and occupancy for not less than 6 months after the date of acquisition of the residence and the owner elects to retain such a right— (i) the owner shall be deemed to have waived any benefits under sections 203 to 206 of the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C. 4623 to 4626); and (ii) for the purposes of those sections the owner shall not be deemed to be a displaced person as defined in section 101 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 4601). (3) Under paragraph (1), the Secretary may provide financial assistance for a project for development of basic outdoor recreation facilities to serve the general public, including the development of Federal land under lease to States for terms of 25 years or more. No assistance shall be available under this chapter to enclose or shelter a facility normally used for an outdoor recreation activity, but the Secretary may permit local funding, not to exceed 10 percent of the total amount allocated to a State in any one year, to be used for construction of a sheltered facility for a swimming pool or ice skating rink in an area where the Secretary determines that the construction is justified by the severity of climatic conditions and the increased public use made possible by the construction. (1) The Secretary may make a payment to a State only for a planning, acquisition, or development project that is approved by the Secretary. The Secretary shall not make a payment for or on account of any project with respect to which financial assistance has been given or promised under any other Federal program or activity, and no financial assistance shall be given under any other Federal program or activity for or on account of any project with respect to which the assistance has been given or promised under this chapter. The Secretary may make payments from time to time in keeping with the rate of progress toward the satisfactory completion of a project. The approval of all projects and all payments, or any commitments relating thereto, shall be withheld until the Secretary receives appropriate written assurance from the State that the State has the ability and intention to finance its share of the cost of all of the projects, and to operate and maintain by acceptable standards, at State expense, the properties or facilities acquired or developed for public outdoor recreation use. (2) Payments for all projects shall be made by the Secretary to the chief executive official of the State or to a State official or agency designated by the chief executive official or by State law having authority and responsibility to accept and to administer funds paid under this section for approved projects. If consistent with an approved project, funds may be transferred by the State to a political subdivision or other appropriate public agency. (3) No property acquired or developed with assistance under this section shall, without the approval of the Secretary, be converted to other than public outdoor recreation use. The Secretary shall approve a conversion only if the Secretary finds it to be in accordance with the then-existing comprehensive statewide outdoor recreation plan and only on such conditions as the Secretary considers necessary to ensure the substitution of other recreation properties of at least equal fair market value and of reasonably equivalent usefulness and location. Wetland areas and interests therein as identified in the wetlands provisions of the comprehensive plan and proposed to be acquired as suitable replacement property within the same State that is otherwise acceptable to the Secretary, acting through the Director, shall be deemed to be of reasonably equivalent usefulness with the property proposed for conversion. (4) No payment shall be made to any State until the State has agreed to— (A) provide such reports to the Secretary in such form and containing such information as may be reasonably necessary to enable the Secretary to perform the Secretary’s duties under this chapter; and (B) provide such fiscal control and fund accounting procedures as may be necessary to ensure proper disbursement and accounting for Federal funds paid to the State under this chapter. (g) A recipient of assistance under this chapter shall keep such records as the Secretary shall prescribe, including records that fully disclose— (1) the amount and the disposition by the recipient of the proceeds of the assistance; (2) the total cost of the project or undertaking in connection with which the assistance is given or used; and (3) the amount and nature of that portion of the cost of the project or undertaking supplied by other sources, and such other records as will facilitate an effective audit. (h) The Secretary, and the Comptroller General, or any of their duly authorized representatives, shall have access for the purpose of audit and examination to any records of the recipient that are pertinent to assistance received under this chapter. (i) With respect to property acquired or developed with assistance from the Fund, discrimination on the basis of residence, including preferential reservation or membership systems, is prohibited except to the extent that reasonable differences in admission and other fees may be maintained on the basis of residence. (j) To ensure consistency in policies and actions under this chapter with other related Federal programs and activities and to ensure coordination of the planning, acquisition, and development assistance to States under this section with other related Federal programs and activities— (1) the President may issue such regulations with respect thereto as the President considers desirable; and (2) the assistance may be provided only in accordance with the regulations. (1) In addition to assistance for planning projects, and in addition to the projects identified in subsection (e), and from amounts appropriated out of the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund, the Secretary may provide financial assistance to the States, not to exceed $15,000,000, for projects or combinations thereof for the purpose of making capital improvements and other measures to increase safety in urban parks and recreation areas, including funds to— (A) increase lighting within or adjacent to public parks and recreation areas; (B) provide emergency telephone lines to contact law enforcement or security personnel in areas within or adjacent to public parks and recreation areas; (C) increase security personnel within or adjacent to public parks and recreation areas; and (D) fund any other project intended to increase the security and safety of public parks and recreation areas. (2) In addition to the requirements for project approval imposed by this section, eligibility for assistance under this subsection shall depend on a showing of need. In providing funds under this subsection, the Secretary shall give priority to projects proposed for urban parks and recreation areas with the highest rates of crime and, in particular, to urban parks and recreation areas with the highest rates of sexual assault. (3) Notwithstanding subsection (c), the Secretary may provide 70 percent improvement grants for projects undertaken by a State for the purposes described in this subsection.