16 U.S. Code § 8549 - Cost recovery reform

(a) Cost recovery for special recreation permits

In addition to a fee collected under section 6802 of this title or any other authorized fee collected by the Secretary concerned, the Secretary concerned may assess and collect a reasonable fee from an applicant for, or holder of, a special recreation permit to recover administrative costs incurred by the Secretary concerned for—

(1) processing a proposal or application for the special recreation permit;

(2) issuing the special recreation permit; and

(3) monitoring the special recreation permit to ensure compliance with the terms and conditions of the special recreation permit.

(b) De minimis exemption from cost recovery

If the administrative costs described in subsection (a) are assessed on an hourly basis, the Secretary concerned shall—

(1) establish an hourly de minimis threshold that exempts a specified number of hours from the assessment and collection of administrative costs described in subsection (a); and

(2) charge an applicant only for any hours that exceed the de minimis threshold.

(c) Multiple applications

If the Secretary concerned collectively processes multiple applications for special recreation permits for the same or similar services in the same unit of Federal recreational lands and waters, the Secretary concerned shall, to the extent practicable—

(1) assess from the applicants the fee described in subsection (a) on a prorated basis; and

(2) apply the exemption described in subsection (b) to each applicant on an individual basis.

(d) Limitation

The Secretary concerned shall not assess or collect administrative costs under this section for a programmatic environmental review.

(e) Cost reduction

To the maximum extent practicable, the agency processing an application for a special recreation permit shall use existing studies and analysis to reduce the quantity of work and costs necessary to process the application.

(Pub. L. 118–234, title III, § 320, Jan. 4, 2025, 138 Stat. 2908.)