(a) The regulations contained in this chapter apply to all persons entering, using, visiting, or otherwise within:
(1) The boundaries of federally owned lands and waters administered by the National Park Service;
(2) The boundaries of lands and waters administered by the National Park Service for public-use purposes pursuant to the terms of a written instrument;
(3) Waters subject to the jurisdiction of the United States located within the boundaries of the National Park System, including navigable waters and areas within their ordinary reach (up to the mean high water line in places subject to the ebb and flow of the tide and up to the ordinary high water mark in other places) and, except in Alaska, without regard to the ownership of submerged lands, tidelands, or lowlands;
(4) Lands and waters in the environs of the District of Columbia, policed with the approval or concurrence of the head of the agency having jurisdiction or control over such reservations, pursuant to the provisions of the Act of March 17, 1948 (62 Stat. 81);
(5) Other lands and waters over which the United States holds a less-than-fee interest, to the extent necessary to fulfill the purpose of the National Park Service administered interest and compatible with the nonfederal interest.
(b) The regulations contained in parts 1 through 5, part 7, and part 13 of this chapter do not apply on non-federally owned lands and waters or on Indian tribal trust lands located within National Park System boundaries, except as provided in paragraph (a) or in regulations specifically written to be applicable on such lands and waters.
(c) The regulations contained in part 7 and part 13 of this chapter are special regulations prescribed for specific park areas. Those regulations may amend, modify, relax or make more stringent the regulations contained in parts 1 through 5 and part 12 of this chapter.
(d) The regulations contained in parts 2 through 5, part 7, and part 13 of this section shall not be construed to prohibit administrative activities conducted by the National Park Service, or its agents, in accordance with approved general management and resource management plans, or in emergency operations involving threats to life, property, or park resources.
(e) The regulations in this chapter are intended to treat a mobility-impaired person using a manual or motorized wheelchair as a pedestrian, and are not intended to restrict the activities of such a person beyond the degree that the activities of a pedestrian are restricted by the same regulations.
(f) In Alaska, unless otherwise provided, only the public lands (federally owned lands) within Park area boundaries are deemed a part of that Park area, and non-public lands (including state, Native, and other non-federally owned lands, including submerged lands and the waters flowing over them) shall not be regulated as part of the National Park System.
[51 FR 37010, Oct. 17, 1986, as amended at 52 FR 10683, Apr. 2, 1987; 52 FR 35239, Sept. 18, 1987; 61 FR 35136, July 5, 1996; 85 FR 72961, Nov. 16, 2020]