[Senate Report 114-371]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
114th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 114-371
_______________________________________________________________________
Calendar No. 664
OUTDOOR RECREATION JOBS AND ECONOMIC IMPACT ACT OF 2015
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
on
S. 2219
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
November 15, 2016.--Ordered to be printed
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U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
69-010 WASHINGTON : 2016
SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
one hundred fourteenth congress
second session
JOHN THUNE, South Dakota, Chairman
ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi BILL NELSON, Florida
ROY BLUNT, Missouri MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
MARCO RUBIO, Florida CLAIRE McCASKILL, Missouri
KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
TED CRUZ, Texas RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
DEB FISCHER, Nebraska BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
JERRY MORAN, Kansas ED MARKEY, Massachusetts
DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska CORY BOOKER, New Jersey
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin TOM UDALL, New Mexico
DEAN HELLER, Nevada JOE MANCHIN, West Virginia
CORY GARDNER, Colorado GARY PETERS, Michigan
STEVE DAINES, Montana
Nick Rossi, Staff Director
Adrian Arnakis, Deputy Staff Director
Jason Van Beek, General Counsel
Kim Lipsky, Democratic Staff Director
Christopher Day, Democratic Deputy Staff Director
Clint Odom, Democratic General Counsel
Calendar No. 664
114th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 114-371
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OUTDOOR RECREATION JOBS AND ECONOMIC IMPACT ACT OF 2015
_______
November 15, 2016.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Thune, from the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 2219]
The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, to
which was referred the bill (S. 2219) to require the Secretary
of Commerce to conduct an assessment and analysis of the
outdoor recreation economy of the United States, and for other
purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon
with an amendment (in the nature of a substitute) and
recommends that the bill (as amended) do pass.
Purpose of the Bill
The purpose of this bill is to direct the Bureau of
Economic Analysis (BEA) within the Department of Commerce to
conduct an assessment of the outdoor recreation industry's full
contribution to the U.S. economy.
Background and Needs
The outdoor recreation economy includes direct spending by
Americans in pursuit of outdoor activities as well as the
indirect effects of this spending on jobs and wages. Direct
spending on outdoor recreation includes outdoor recreation
product sales (e.g., apparel, footwear, equipment, vehicles,
accessories, and services) and dollars spent on trips and
travel (including food, drink, transportation, entertainment,
activities, lodging, souvenirs, etc.). The outdoor recreation
industry's full contribution to the U.S. economy includes not
only direct spending in pursuit of outdoor activities but also
the impact, and associated multiplier effect, of related
spending, jobs, and wages on the broader economy.
BEA is an agency within the Department of Commerce that
produces economic accounts statistics that enable government
and business decision-makers, researchers, and the U.S. public
to follow and understand the performance of the U.S. economy.
It measures economic impact at the national, regional, and
industry level. BEA's national accounts provide a quantitative
assessment of U.S. domestic production, investment, and
consumption of exports and imports, and of national and
domestic income and saving. The most closely watched statistic
published by BEA is its gross domestic product (GDP) estimate,
which is published quarterly.
BEA's industry economic accounts provide a detailed view of
the interrelationship between U.S. producers and users and the
contributions to production across industries. These accounts
are used extensively by policymakers and businesses to
understand industry interactions, productivity trends, and the
changing structure of the U.S. economy. BEA publishes economic
data for annual industry accounts, providing a time series of
detailed, consistent information, including the annual
contribution of private industries and government to the
national GDP.
In addition to published estimates for 61 private
industries, BEA provides data from several satellite accounts--
statistical frameworks that are designed to expand the
analytical capacity of the industry economic accounts and to
supplement them by focusing on a particular aspect of economic
activity. Currently, BEA maintains five satellite accounts:
Arts and Cultural Production; Healthcare; Innovation; Travel
and Tourism; and Transportation.
BEA is currently working with the Department of the
Interior (DOI) to stand up a sixth satellite account to provide
data on outdoor recreation. In April of 2016, the Secretary of
the Interior, Sally Jewell, announced that the Federal
Government will undertake a BEA feasibility study to analyze
the impact outdoor recreation has on the U.S. economy.
Secretary Jewell stated:
By producing credible data on the tangible economic
benefits of public lands, we can help the public and
Members of Congress better understand the benefits of
investing in them. . . . Industry estimates show that
consumer spending for outdoor recreation is greater
than household utilities and pharmaceuticals combined--
and yet the federal government has never fully
recognized or quantified these benefits. This project
is the start of a multi-year effort to count these
contributions in a comprehensive and impartial way.\1\
BEA is currently working with the Federal Recreation
Council, comprised of the Forest Service, the Army Corps of
Engineers, the National Park Service, the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and
the Bureau of Land Management, to initiate the Outdoor
Recreation Satellite Account.\2\
In this effort, the DOI will sign a memorandum of
understanding with BEA to establish the satellite account,
focusing on an initial, one-year feasibility study necessary to
establish experimental, national-level and regional estimates,
beginning with California, which will be completed in 2017.\3\
To ensure the availability of economic data on outdoor
recreation, this legislation would explicitly authorize these
efforts. The legislation is designed to ensure methodological
uniformity between this economic analysis and existing Federal
efforts to analyze the impact of other private industries,
while at the same time requiring consultation with various
stakeholders, including small businesses in the outdoor
recreation economy of the United States. The bill is not
intended to delay or otherwise disrupt ongoing efforts to
create this outdoor recreation satellite account.
To ensure Congress becomes informed of the outdoor
recreation industry's full contributions to the U.S. economy
and to allow for meaningful congressional oversight of the
execution of this legislation, the bill would require the
Secretary of Commerce to submit a report to appropriate
committees of Congress on the findings of this assessment.
S. 2219 would allow the Secretary of Commerce to consider a
variety of considerations in conducting an assessment and
analysis of the outdoor recreation economy of the United States
and its effects on the overall economy of the United States.
While the Committee defers to the judgment and existing
methodology of BEA in conducting this analysis, it notes that
the outdoor recreation economy encompasses a wide variety of
outdoor recreation activities, including motorized recreation.
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\1\Sally Jewell, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, ``The Next 100
Years of Conservation in America'' (Speech, The National Geographic
Society, Apr. 19, 2016), Medium, at https://medium.com/@Interior/the-
next-100-years-of-american-conservation-397c42b8f1f2#.4duek7nkr.
\2\Department of the Interior, Outdoor Recreation Economic Study,
no date, at https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/uploads/
Fact%20Sheet%20-%20Outdoor%20Recreation%20Economic%20Study%20final.pdf.
\3\Ibid.
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Legislative History
Senator Shaheen introduced this bill on October 29, 2015,
with Senator Gardner as an original cosponsor. The bill is also
cosponsored by Senators Ayotte, Bennet, Daines, Enzi, Heinrich,
Klobuchar, Moran, Murray, Peters, Risch, Sessions, Tester,
Wicker, and Wyden.
On June 29, 2016, the Committee met in open Executive
Session, and by voice vote ordered S. 2219 to be reported
favorably with an amendment (in the nature of a substitute)
offered by Senator Gardner.
Estimated Costs
In accordance with paragraph 11(a) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate and section 403 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee provides the
following cost estimate, prepared by the Congressional Budget
Office:
S. 2219--Outdoor Recreation Jobs and Economic Impact Act of 2016
S. 2219 would direct the Department of Commerce (DOC) to
enter into a joint memorandum with the Secretary of Agriculture
and the Secretary of the Interior to conduct an assessment and
analysis of the outdoor recreation economy and issue a report.
On the basis of information from the affected departments, CBO
estimates that implementing S. 2219 would require an additional
four or five people to conduct the study and issue the report
and would cost $2 million over the 2017-2021 period; such
spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated
funds.
Enacting S. 2219 would not affect direct spending or
revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO
estimates that enacting S. 2219 would not increase net direct
spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive
10-year periods beginning in 2027.
S. 2219 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal
governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Stephen Rabent.
The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
Regulatory Impact
Because S. 2219 does not create any new programs, the
legislation will have no additional regulatory impact, and will
result in no additional reporting requirements for the private
sector. The legislation will have no further effect on the
number or types of individuals and businesses regulated, the
economic impact of such regulation, the personal privacy of
affected individuals, or the paperwork required from such
individuals and businesses.
Congressionally Directed Spending
In compliance with paragraph 4(b) of rule XLIV of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee provides that no
provisions contained in the bill, as reported, meet the
definition of congressionally directed spending items under the
rule.
Section-by-Section Analysis
Section 1. Short title.
This section would establish the bill's short title as the
``Outdoor Recreation Jobs and Economic Impact Act of 2016.''
Section 2. Assessment and analysis of outdoor recreation economy of the
United States.
This section would require the Secretary of Commerce to
jointly enter into a memorandum of understanding with the
Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to
conduct, acting through the Director of BEA, an assessment and
analysis of the outdoor recreation economy of the United States
and the effects attributable to such economy on the overall
economy of the United States.
In conducting this assessment, this section would allow the
Secretary of Commerce to consider employment, sales, and
contributions to travel and tourism, and such other
contributing components of the outdoor recreation economy of
the United States as the Secretary of Commerce considers
appropriate.
This section would require, as part of the assessment, that
the Secretary consult with the heads of such agencies and
offices of the Federal Government as the Secretary of Commerce
considers appropriate, including the Secretary of Agriculture,
the Secretary of the Interior, the Director of the Bureau of
the Census, and the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
It would further require the Secretary of Commerce to
consult with representatives of businesses, including small
business concerns, that engage in commerce in the outdoor
recreation economy of the United States.
This section would require the Secretary of Commerce to
submit a report on the assessment's findings to the Committee
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the Committee on
Environment and Public Works, the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources, and the Committee on Small Business and
Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and
Commerce and the Committee on Small Business of the House of
Representatives, and would establish a reporting deadline of 24
months after the bill's enactment.
Changes in Existing Law
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee states that the
bill as reported would make no change to existing law.
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