National Park System Long-Term Lease Investment Act
The National Park System Long-Term Lease Investment Act would authorize the Secretary of the Interior, through the National Park Service, to extend certain leases within units of the National Park System without opening them to competitive bidding. This authority would apply only to leases entered into under Part 18 of Title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations (as of January 3, 2025) and would require that the lessee’s lease was entered at least five years before the extension, that the lessee is in compliance with the lease terms, and that extending the lease is in the best interests of administering the relevant park unit. The bill also requires the Secretary to revise Part 18 CFR within 90 days after enactment to reflect this new authority. In short, the bill creates a limited exception to bidding requirements for long-standing, compliant leases in national parks, aimed at facilitating long-term investment, with a directive to update the regulatory text to codify the exception.
Key Points
- 1The Secretary may extend a Part 18 lease without the bidding requirements in 18.7 or 18.8, if the lessee’s lease was entered at least five years before the extension and the lessee complies with the lease.
- 2The extension must be determined to be in the best interests of managing the applicable National Park System unit.
- 3The authority applies specifically to leases authorized under Part 18 of 36 CFR (as in effect on January 3, 2025).
- 4The Secretary must revise Part 18 CFR within 90 days after enactment to reflect this authority.
- 5The bill does not create a general blanket extension; it is a targeted exception with specific eligibility and overriding administrative consideration.