HR 5182: To make improvements in the enactment of title 54, United States Code, into a positive law title and to correct related technical errors.

HR 5182 in plain English: This bill makes technical corrections and other modifications to Title 54 of the U.S. Code, which governs the National Park Service, and related laws. It fixes errors introduced when Title 54 was enacted as a positive law title.

Stated purpose

To fix technical errors and make improvements in how Title 54 of the U.S. Code (which covers the National Park Service) was written into law, correcting cross-references, headings, and related language in other parts of federal law.

Key points

• Makes technical corrections to Title 54, which covers the National Park Service
• Reduces a funding amount under the First State National Historical Park Act by $6,500,000
• Corrects related errors in chapter tables of contents and other provisions

Arguments supporters make

• Cleaning up technical errors and broken cross-references prevents confusion, legal disputes, and misapplication of the law by agencies and courts.
• This kind of housekeeping legislation keeps the U.S. Code accurate and consistent, which is a basic responsibility of Congress when it reorganizes statutes.
• Fixing errors now avoids costly mistakes later, since outdated or wrong citations can delay government projects or undermine legal cases.

Arguments opponents make

• Even purely technical bills can quietly change legal meaning, and reviving or altering repealed provisions—as this bill does—deserves careful scrutiny to ensure no unintended policy shifts occur.
• Congressional time and resources spent on technical corrections could be directed toward more substantive legislative priorities.
• Retroactive effective dates in the bill, such as changes effective December 2014, can create legal uncertainty about how the law applied in the intervening years.

Tradeoffs

Correcting technical errors improves legal clarity and reduces future confusion, but retroactive changes and revivals of previously repealed provisions introduce some uncertainty about how the law was understood and applied in the past.

Current status in Congress: Passed House.

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