Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions S917
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Ms. MURKOWSKI:
S. 917. A bill to amend title 23, United States Code, to require the use of a certain minimum amount of funds for winter motorized access trails; to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Ms. MURKOWSKI. Madam President, I rise to introduce a bill with great significance for snowmachine and snowmobile advocates both in Alaska and nationwide.
As many of my colleagues know, the use of snowmobiles is growing as a form of recreation. There are an estimated 1.64 million snowmobiles currently in use. In my State of Alaska, and in other northern States, travel by snowmobile goes beyond recreation. In many areas it is a regular form of transportation when snow prevents people from traveling any other way. Snowmobiles are used regularly to visit neighbors, to hunt for a family's food supply, to carry people who are sick or injured to a place they can receive care. In many parts of Alaska, snowmobiles are as common as cars.
Unfortunately, there is no existing program to provide for the proper marking of snowmobile trails, to maintain trails, or even to encourage safe use of these machines. The bill I am introducing today is intended to correct that situation.
First, my bill directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish a snowmobile education program. Second, the bill directs the Secretary, working with the snowmobile industry and others, to estimate the amount of fuel tax attributable to snowmobile use in each State, and provides that at least the same dollar amount be dedicated to the acquisition, design, planning, construction and maintenance of snowmobile trails.
At present, 30 percent of the Recreational Trails program funding is reserved for motorized uses, which may be combined with money for other uses, to establish multiple-use trails and associated facilities. However, although a portion of this funding comes from the tax paid for fuel used in snowmobiles, there is no guarantee that any of that money actually is used to benefit snowmobile activities.
My bill takes nothing away from any other part of the Recreational Trails programit simply ensures that each State spends on snowmobiles what is collected from snowmobiles. That is simple fairness.