Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF): Frequently Asked Questions

Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF): Frequently Asked Questions

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May 3, 2019
Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF): Frequently
Asked Questions
What is the Land and Water Conservation Fund?
GOMESA (except in FY2021 and FY2022, when the
The Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965
maximum is $162.5 million).
(LWCF Act; 54 U.S.C. §§200301 et seq.) was enacted to
What can money in the LWCF be used for?
help preserve, develop, and ensure access to outdoor
The LWCF Act identifies “federal purposes” for which
recreation resources. The law created the LWCF in the
appropriations from the fund are to be allotted by the
Department of the Treasury as a dedicated funding source
President “unless otherwise allotted in the appropriation
to implement its stated outdoor recreation goals. Similar to
Act making them available” (54 U.S.C. §200306). The
other special funds in the federal budget, the LWCF is an
“federal purposes” in the act focus on acquisition of land by
accounting mechanism to link dedicated receipts with the
the federal government. The LWCF Act also sets out a
spending of those receipts.
matching grant program for “financial assistance to states,”
How does the LWCF get revenue?
to foster outdoor recreation (54 U.S.C. §200305).
Under the LWCF Act, the fund is credited with revenues
In practice, appropriations from the fund have been made
totaling $900 million annually. The revenues come from
for three main purposes: (1) land acquisition by the four
three sources: (1) surplus federal property sales, (2) the
major federal land management agencies—the Bureau of
federal motorboat fuel tax, and (3) revenues from oil and
Land Management (BLM), Fish and Wildlife Service
gas leases on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Since the
(FWS), National Park Service (NPS), and Forest Service
early 1990s, nearly all revenues deposited in the LWCF
(FS); (2) a matching grant program to assist states with
have been from OCS receipts.
outdoor recreation, including recreational planning,
In addition to the $900 million, the LWCF receives money
acquiring recreational lands and waters, and developing
under provisions of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security
outdoor recreational facilities (Secretary of the Interior,
Act of 2006 (GOMESA; P.L. 109-432, §105, Div. C).
through the NPS); and (3) other federal programs with
Specifically, 12.5% of the revenues from qualified OCS
related purposes, such as grants under the FS’s Forest
leases under GOMESA are directed to the LWCF for a state
Legacy program and the FWS’s Cooperative Endangered
grant program (see below). States can receive a maximum
Species Conservation Fund. Figure 1 shows the historical
of $125 million annually in mandatory funding under
appropriations for the three purposes.
Figure 1. LWCF Annual Discretionary Appropriations, FY1965-FY2019

Sources: For FY1965-FY2013, Department of the Interior, Office of Budget. For FY2014-FY2019, the annual Interior Budget in Brief and
congressional documents accompanying the annual appropriations bil .
Notes: Figures are not adjusted for inflation. The graph does not reflect $76 mil ion for a 1976 transition quarter. “State Grants” reflects the
NPS state matching grant program for outdoor recreation. Beginning in FY1998, appropriations have been provided from the LWCF each year,
except FY1999, to fund purposes in addition to state grants and land acquisition (referred to herein as “other purposes”).
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Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF): Frequently Asked Questions
How can money be taken out of the LWCF?
the agencies, ranging from relatively broad general
In general, monies in the fund are available only as
authority (BLM) to no general authority (NPS).
provided in appropriations acts, which constitutes
What changes has the 116th Congress made to the
discretionary appropriations. However, a portion of the
LWCF Act?
appropriations for the state matching grant program is
On March 12, 2019, through the John D. Dingell, Jr.,
available without further legislative action, which
Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act (P.L. 116-
constitutes mandatory spending under GOMESA.
9, §3001), Congress made permanent the provisions of the
Do LWCF discretionary appropriations count toward
LWCF Act that provide for $900 million in revenues to be
budgetary caps?
deposited in the fund annually (54 U.S.C. §200302).
Yes. Monies from the LWCF made available in
appropriations acts are subject to spending caps, such as the
The law made several other changes to the LWCF Act. One
statutory limits set by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (P.L.
change specified that, of the total made available through
112-5) and recently modified by the Bipartisan Budget Act
appropriations or deposits under GOMESA, not less than
of 2018 (P.L. 115-123). (The monies from the LWCF made
40% is to be used for “federal purposes” and not less than
available under GOMESA do not constitute discretionary
40% is to be used to provide “financial assistance to states.”
appropriations and therefore are not subject to such caps.)
A second change specified that, of the amounts
appropriated annually, a portion (not less than 3%, or $15.0
Is there any money currently in the LWCF?
million, whichever is greater) is to be used for acquisitions
Yes. From FY1965 through FY2019, about $40.9 billion
that foster access to federal land for recreational purposes.
has been credited to the LWCF under both the LWCF Act
Other amendments set out criteria for the agencies to
and GOMESA. Less than half that amount—about $18.9
consider in selecting which lands to acquire, such as
billion—has been appropriated, leaving an unappropriated
management efficiencies and the recreational value of the
balance of approximately $22.0 billion in the fund. (Figures
land, and altered the apportionment of funds for the state
were derived primarily from data provided by the
grant program to treat the U.S. territories and DC the same
Department of the Interior [DOI], Office of Budget.) The
as states.
balance is to remain credited to the fund until appropriated
or otherwise reduced by new law.
Has the 116th Congress made the LWCF permanent?
In P.L. 116-9 (§3001), Congress made permanent the
How much of the appropriations have been mandatory,
provisions of the LWCF Act that provide for $900 million
and why have the mandatory appropriations increased
in specified revenues to be deposited in the fund each year
recently?
(as described above). However, Congress did not
Of the $18.9 billion total appropriations made available
permanently appropriate these monies (i.e., make them
from the LWCF since FY1965, $146.6 million has been
mandatory funding); they continue to require action by
mandatory (and $18.8 billion has been discretionary).
Congress to be appropriated from the fund (i.e., they
Mandatory appropriations of $8.4 million in proceeds from
continue to constitute discretionary appropriations). In the
OCS leasing under GOMESA were first collected in
116th Congress, measures have been introduced (but not
FY2008 and disbursed to the LWCF state matching grant
enacted) to permanently appropriate the $900 million
program in FY2009. Such disbursements subsequently
annually deposited into the fund (i.e., to make the $900
decreased through FY2017. DOI had anticipated that
million mandatory funding).
mandatory appropriations would increase significantly
beginning in FY2018 due to additional revenues from
Would legislation score if it permanently appropriated
leasing in the Gulf of Mexico under Phase II of GOMESA.
the $900 million deposited each year into the LWCF?
DOI reported mandatory appropriations for the LWCF of
Yes. Current law does not provide the legal authority to
$62.6 million for FY2018 and projected $71.6 million for
spend the monies in the LWCF, including its balances
FY2019, although this estimate is subject to change based
(except mandatory spending under GOMESA; see above).
on actual collections.
Therefore, any legislation that would provide permanent
authority to spend the monies in the LWCF would be
What provisions of the LWCF Act expired on
scored as new budget authority and new outlays for
September 30, 2018?
purposes of budget enforcement. That is, given existing
The provisions of the act that provided for $900 million in
budget rules, any legislation providing such authority
specified revenues to be deposited annually into the LWCF
presumably would be subject to certain budget points of
expired on September 30, 2018. (These provisions were
order if not offset.
later renewed and made permanent; see below.)
For additional background on the LWCF, including
Related provisions of law did not expire, such as the
historical appropriations, see CRS Report RL33531, Land
authority to carry out the purposes of the LWCF Act,
and Water Conservation Fund: Overview, Funding History,
including the authority to appropriate monies from the fund.
and Issues, by Carol Hardy Vincent.
The LWCF Act does not include an expiration date and
therefore continues indefinitely, unless changed by law.

Also, provisions of GOMESA that direct 12.5% of the
revenues from qualified OCS leases to the LWCF did not
Carol Hardy Vincent, Specialist in Natural Resources
expire. Moreover, the authorities of the four major land
Policy
management agencies to acquire land were unaffected.
Bill Heniff Jr., Analyst on Congress and the Legislative
These authorities derive from other laws and differ among
Process
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Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF): Frequently Asked Questions

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