The National Park Service (NPS) concessions group recently provided some updates on the issues it is working on and status of various initiatives. NPS stated that it had held off on issuing prospectuses during the period Covid-19 was impacting the country due to the uncertainty that health emergency had created as to visitation to the parks. It has been issuing more prospectuses as of late which can be viewed at Concessions (U.S. National Park Service).
The agency also discussed that it now has to work with the recent amendments to its concession regulations and how best to implement those changes. The agency also noted that, even though those changes include adjustments to the rules for setting rates, NPS has not had a significant increase in requests to adjust rates. Those changes also include revisions to the authority to add new services to a contract and the program’s approach in this area is to start out with small additions to see how those work out.
In addition, the agency is making efforts to issue its first concession contract under the new Visitor Experiences Improvement Act (VEIA) for the lodging services at Bryce National Park. In addition to seeking a company to provide commercial visitor services through a management agreement, the agency is seeking a hospitality asset manager to assist the NPS is overseeing that management agreement. Prospectus Releases - Concessions (U.S. National Park Service).
NPS also stated that it is not intending on issuing any regulations to implement its Commercial Use Authorizations (CUAs). NPS was given congressional authority to issue CUAs in 1998 and issued proposed regulations in 2002. NPS then issued CUA Guidelines in 2005 while it pursued final regulations. Because the agency will not be issuing any regulations for this purpose, those CUA Guidelines provide the most information for how to apply for and operate under a CUA.
Finally, NPS discussed its priorities for use of franchise fees it collects and retains from concessioners. Those priorities for those fees are: (1) funding new prospectus work; (2) buying down existing Leasehold Surrender Interest (LSI); (3) funding the management of concession contracts; (4) funding unrelated projects in the local park; and (4) funding other ongoing support for the local park. The agency indicated that a sizeable amount of funds are currently being used to pay for developing prospectuses.
