More disappointment with vague GAOA federal deferred maintenance list
The Trump administration has identified 725 deferred maintenance projects at national parks and on public lands to be funded in fiscal 2021, adding up to $1.9 billion.
The rollout of these funding priorities yesterday was in compliance with the Nov. 2 deadline set forth in the Great American Outdoors Act — a landmark conservation law enacted back in August that fully and permanently funded the Land and Water Conservation Fund and created a five-year deferred maintenance project trust fund.
Advocates, elected officials and other leaders, however, are scratching their heads about the lack of detail and say they are still waiting for more information.
The two lengthy lists submitted to Congress yesterday — one from Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and another from the Forest Service — provided few, if any, specifics for what the administration has in mind for fixing aging buildings, inaccessible trails and crumbling infrastructure on federal property.
“The amount of time and effort [the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable] and our members, and Congress, and certainly the agencies, put in, I think is deserving of much more detailed lists that would help everyone better understand where federal dollars are going to be going over the next few years, and understand how they were solicited,” said Jess Turner, executive director of the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable, a coalition of leading outdoor recreation industry groups.
For many advocates and lawmakers, it marked another disappointment after the administration failed yesterday, on Election Day eve, to meet the second key deadline put forward by the Great American Outdoors Act: the submission of the priority list of projects to be funded by the LWCF, which covers outdoor recreation access projects across the states and federal land acquisitions around the country.
This list has not materialized, and Interior has provided no information about the reason for the delay or when it will be released (E&E Daily, Nov. 3).
“It raises doubts about the Department’s seriousness in implementing a law they have been so eager to promote for months now,” Athan Manuel, director of lands protection at Sierra Club, said in a statement.
“Many communities — particularly those communities historically denied equitable access to the outdoors — are waiting on these funds from the LWCF, and so far, Secretary Bernhardt is leaving them out in the cold,” Manuel said.
When it comes to the deferred maintenance backlog list, it’s easy to guess in some cases what project would be addressed from very general line items. For instance, a project involving “The Statue of Liberty National Monument” in New York might have to do with stabilizing the surrounding sea wall, which is a widely acknowledged concern.
But there’s little to gauge from what the administration might have in mind for “Colorado Buildings” in Colorado or a demolition project slated to take place in the “Central Region” of Kansas.
The Forest Service list is just a list of forests to receive funding that are broken down by state. The Interior Department’s list is divided into categories and subtotals for each: Buildings & Structures, Demolition, Recreational Assets, Transportation, and Water & Utilities.
There are also no descriptions beyond saying, for instance, that money would go toward improving recreation somewhere at Yosemite National Park in California, or demolishing some structure in the Twin Falls District of Idaho.
“We asked for detailed project lists and got a bunch of numbers,” said Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, which has oversight authority over Interior.
“I’m glad to see Grand Canyon identified on this list, but based on the total lack of information, for all I know Secretary Bernhardt could be proposing uranium mining as a water improvement project,” he said. “The lack of transparency and accountability is ridiculous.”
‘We don’t know’
In a letter yesterday to relevant congressional committee chairs and ranking members, including Grijalva, Bernhardt said the deferred maintenance project priority lists due to lawmakers by Nov. 2 — or within 90 days of the bill’s enactment — followed the legislative mandate.
“In contrast,” Bernhardt wrote, “the annual list of projects must include ‘a detailed description of each project, including the estimated expenditures from the fund for the project for the applicable fiscal years.'”
That might mean administration officials felt little urgency to fill in more details under a tight deadline, in the lead-up to a presidential election.
Turner said she was willing to give the administration the benefit of the doubt. “I’m assuming the information has to exist,” Turner said, “so I think we’re just waiting for another stage of the rollout that we don’t know about yet.”
But she also indicated there was some urgency to get answers quickly. While she said she was “excited” to see $630 million earmarked for recreation assets across 14 different projects, “We want more details. … Are they trails? Are they bridges?”
The type of project being funded by the administration, Turner explained, will determine where outdoor recreation businesses make their own private investments to prepare for increased economic activities and opportunities.
Full implementation of the Great American Outdoors Act has been a No. 1 priority for Turner’s industry, which has been struggling to make ends meet during the pandemic despite the increased appetite for engagement outdoors.
“With enactment of the Great American Outdoors Act, Congress and the public entrusted Interior with billions of dollars to help restore our aging parks and public land infrastructure,” said Marcia Argust, the director of the Restore America’s Parks project at Pew Charitable Trusts.
“Given the importance of this investment, it’s pretty disappointing that the repair list sent to Congress lacks substance and details,” she said.
Julia Peebles, the government relations manager for Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, agreed the deferred maintenance backlog list was “not very detailed” but conceded it was “a step forward and they’re making progress.”
Her organization, however, is more concerned about the lack of clarity about the priority list for the LWCF.
“While we are encouraged to see Secretary Bernhardt and Interior release their maintenance backlog priorities, respecting legal deadlines, we remain concerned that Land and Water Conservation Fund priorities — which fall under the same legal deadlines — have not been released,” said Backcountry Hunters and Anglers CEO Land Tawney.
“A promise was made to the American people, and we expect it to be kept, not half-considered,” Tawney said. “We hope more comprehensive and coordinated lists from DOI and the Forest Service will be formulated prior to congressional review and implementation.”
