The NPS Needs To Improve Management of Commercial Cellular Facilities’ Right-of-Way Permits and Revenues

We evaluated the National Park Service’s (NPS’) right-of-way (ROW) permitting process and how revenues for commercial cellular facilities are collected and accounted for. We found that the NPS was not properly collecting and accounting for revenues for commercial ROW permits, including the collection of land use fees and cost recovery. Overall, the management of the commercial ROW program and the implementation of governing NPS policy need improvement. Specifically, the NPS could improve its management of the permitting process, collect additional revenue, recover costs, and increase compliance with NPS policy by: • Preparing and issuing accurate and timely bills for collection to ROW permit holders • Documenting employee time and costs associated with ROW permits for cost recovery • Completing and updating its cellular facilities inventory, including evaluating the appropriateness of currently unpermitted facilities • Developing an action plan to ensure compliance with NPS policy We made six recommendations to help the NPS improve its commercial ROW program. The NPS concurred with all six recommendations and has started implementing some.