Sponsors (4)
The bill directs more fee revenue to local parks and restoration and gives local managers pricing flexibility to improve park upkeep and experiences, but it shifts costs onto international visitors and raises equity, transactional, and reputational concerns for communities and foreign travelers.
Visitors to specific National Park units will see improved facilities, visitor services, and staffing because surcharge revenue collected at each park stays with that park to fund maintenance and operations.
National Parks and public lands (and all visitors) will get more funding for restoration because surcharge receipts from interagency pass sales are deposited into the Legacy Restoration Fund for land and park restoration projects nationwide.
National Park Service superintendents and visitors will benefit from more locally responsive management because superintendents (with Secretary oversight) can set, tier, or suspend surcharges to match visitation and revenue needs.
International visitors (including B visa holders and visa-waiver entrants) will face higher entrance or pass costs, increasing travel expenses and financial barriers to visiting U.S. parks.
Communities and small businesses near parks (rural and urban) may lose tourism spending if higher surcharges reduce international visitation, harming local economies that depend on visitor dollars.
International visitors and purchasers using third-party sellers may incur extra fees, face more complicated purchase processes, and be exposed to privacy or transaction risks when third-party vendors collect surcharges.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes surcharges on entrance fees and interagency pass sales for certain international visitors, with unit surcharges retained by parks and pass surcharges directed to the Legacy Restoration Fund.
Official title: Amend the Federal Land Recreation Enhancement Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to collect a surcharge from international visitors to units of the National Park System, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 16, 2025 by James E. Banks · Last progress July 16, 2025
Creates authority for National Park units and the interagency pass program to add a surcharge on certain international visitors admitted on B visas or through the Visa Waiver Program. Unit-level surcharges stay with the collecting park for maintenance, visitor services, and staffing; pass surcharges go to the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund. Superintendents set unit surcharge amounts by regulation subject to Secretary oversight and rules on collection and tiering.