H.R. 519: Yosemite National Park Equal Access and Fairness Act

This bill makes changes with respect to the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and Lake Eleanor Basin areas of Yosemite National Park.

Specifically, the bill increases rent paid by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission for the use of the park from $30,000 to $2 million per year. That amount shall be adjusted annually to reflect increases in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers. The commission may not recoup such sums from wholesale water or power customers. The bill allows collected rent to be used by the Department of the Interior for wildfire mitigation activities in the park and other national parks in California.

The bill requires the National Park Service to administer the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and Lake Eleanor Basin areas for public recreation, benefit, and use in a manner that will preserve scenic, historic, scientific, or otherwise important features.

Written by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.