Need To Reexamine the Federal Role in Planning, Selecting, and Funding State and Local Parks

Highlights

GAO assessed how well the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service (HCRS) has administered the share of a fund established under the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 which was spent for State and local outdoor recreation to evaluate the basis for making grants from the fund and to provide recommendations to help guide future public funding of park and recreational land facilities.

Recommendations

Matter for Congressional Consideration

Matter	Status	Comments
Congress should authorize the Secretary to waive all or part of the required match for fiscally stressed grantees.	Closed – Not Implemented	No appropriations were provided for fiscal year 1983 and beyond.
Congress should review the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act's matching requirement and the act's corollary restriction against using Federal funding sources to satisfy the match.	Closed – Not Implemented	No appropriations were provided for fiscal year 1983 and beyond.
Congress should decide whether the matching requirement should be eliminated or modified so that the match must be satisfied by State or local origin funds and resources, exclusive of funds available under other Federal grant-in-aid programs.	Closed – Not Implemented	No appropriations were provided for fiscal year 1983 and beyond.
Congress should amend the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act to provide the Secretary with explicit authority to discontinue funding projects in whole or in part in States where it is determined that existing projects are not adequately operated and maintained.	Closed – Not Implemented	No appropriations were provided for fiscal year 1983 and beyond.
Congress should accept the President's proposed elimination of funding to States for recreation projects from the Land and Water Conservation Fund because States are becoming dependent on Federal funding sources for planning, acquiring, developing, operating, and maintaining their outdoor recreation facilities.	Closed – Implemented	When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

See All 5 Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Department of the Interior	The Secretary of the Interior should clarify and provide guidance to States on how the new project selection guidelines should be developed and implemented.	Closed – Implemented When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of the Interior	The Secretary of the Interior should monitor State plan implementation to assure that the awarding of grants is directly linked to the planning process.	Closed – Implemented When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of the Interior	The Secretary of the Interior should monitor the States to ensure compliance with the statutory requirements for disclosing the amount and sources of Federal funds.	Closed – Implemented When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of the Interior	The Secretary of the Interior should withhold States' eligibility to participate in the fund program during periods when plans do not meet applicable requirements, as determined under criteria established by the Secretary.	Closed – Implemented When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of the Interior	The Secretary of the Interior should develop uniform criteria for monitoring the flow of all Federal funds to State and local governments, including a cross-referencing index system to identify the various Federal sources and amounts going to each project.	Closed – Implemented When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of the Interior	The Secretary of the Interior should encourage State and local governments to budget the entire life-cycle costs of proposed projects showing the Federal contribution and the State or local government total obligation for the estimated useful life of the project.	Closed – Implemented When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of the Interior	The Secretary of the Interior should also encourage States to collect user fees whenever practicable to lessen the burden of operation and maintenance costs on local tax revenues and Federal programs.	Closed – Implemented When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of the Interior	The Secretary of the Interior should require States to prepare comprehensive outdoor recreation plans that identify and rank the recreational needs of the State and establish project funding priorities.	Closed – Implemented When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

See All 8 Recommendations

Full Report

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Topics

Natural Resources and Environment

Cost analysisFederal aid to statesFederal fundsFederal grantsstate relationsFunds managementLand managementMaintenance costsRecreation areasWater supply management