Modernizing Access to Our Public Land Act

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6169 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6169

To require the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, 
and the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works to digitize and 
  make publicly available geographic information system mapping data 
   relating to public access to Federal land and waters for outdoor 
                  recreation, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 10, 2020

Mr. Fulcher (for himself and Mr. Kilmer) introduced the following bill; 
   which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in 
   addition to the Committees on Agriculture, and Transportation and 
   Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, 
and the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works to digitize and 
  make publicly available geographic information system mapping data 
   relating to public access to Federal land and waters for outdoor 
                  recreation, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Modernizing Access to Our Public 
Land Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) recreational fishing and hunting and other forms of 
        outdoor recreation are important and traditional activities in 
        which millions of people in the United States participate;
            (2) a lack of information about publicly available outdoor 
        recreation opportunities depresses participation in those 
        traditional activities;
            (3) it is in the public interest to provide enhanced and 
        expanded information about access to Federal land for 
        recreational opportunities;
            (4) modern Global Positioning System technologies can 
        provide detailed and real-time information to the public about 
        access to, and recreation opportunities on, Federal land;
            (5) many of the access easement records held by Federal 
        land management agencies are held on paper files and cannot be 
        easily integrated into digital mapping systems; and
            (6) Federal land management agencies should--
                    (A) accelerate efforts to digitize recreational 
                access information into geospatial files; and
                    (B) make that recreational access information 
                available to the public.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Federal land.--The term ``Federal land'' means any land 
        or water managed by a Federal land management agency.
            (2) Federal land management agency.--The term ``Federal 
        land management agency'' means--
                    (A) the Bureau of Reclamation;
                    (B) the National Park Service;
                    (C) the Bureau of Land Management;
                    (D) the United States Fish and Wildlife Service;
                    (E) the Forest Service; and
                    (F) the Corps of Engineers.
            (3) Secretaries.--The term ``Secretaries'' means--
                    (A) the Secretary of Agriculture;
                    (B) the Secretary of the Interior; and
                    (C) the Secretary of the Army, acting through the 
                Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works.

SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY DATA STANDARDIZATION.

    Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Secretaries shall jointly develop and adopt interagency standards 
to ensure compatibility and interoperability among applicable Federal 
databases with respect to the collection and dissemination of outdoor 
recreation data relating to Federal land.

SEC. 5. DATA CONSOLIDATION, DIGITIZATION, AND PUBLICATION.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, each of the Secretaries, to the maximum extent 
practicable, shall digitize and make publicly available on the website 
of the Department of the Interior, the Forest Service, and the Corps of 
Engineers, as applicable, geographic information system mapping data 
that includes, with respect to the Federal land administered by the 
relevant Secretary--
            (1) all Federal interests, including easements and rights-
        of-way, in private land--
                    (A) to which the Federal Government does not have a 
                fee title interest; and
                    (B) that is used to provide recreational access to 
                the Federal land;
            (2) status information with respect to whether roads and 
        trails on the Federal land are open or closed;
            (3) the dates on which roads and trails on the Federal land 
        are seasonally opened and closed;
            (4) the types of vehicles that are allowed on each segment 
        of the roads and trails on the Federal land, including the 
        permissibility of--
                    (A) off-highway vehicles;
                    (B) motorcycles;
                    (C) bicycles; and
                    (D) passenger vehicles;
            (5) the boundaries of areas where hunting or recreational 
        shooting is regulated or closed on the Federal land; and
            (6) the boundaries of any portion of a body of water on the 
        Federal land that--
                    (A) is closed to entry;
                    (B) is closed to watercraft; or
                    (C) has horsepower limitations for watercraft.
    (b) Updates.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretaries shall biennially update 
        the data described in subsection (a).
            (2) Public evaluation of accuracy.--The Secretaries shall 
        include on each website referred to in subsection (a), as 
        applicable, a point of contact to allow members of the public 
        to confirm or dispute the accuracy of the information described 
        in that subsection.

SEC. 6. REPORTS.

    Not later than October 1 of each year--
            (1) each of the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 
        of Agriculture shall submit to the Committee on Energy and 
        Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural 
        Resources of the House of Representatives a report on the 
        progress made by the Secretary of the Interior and the 
        Secretary of Agriculture, respectively, toward meeting the 
        requirements of section 5; and
            (2) the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Assistant 
        Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, shall submit to the 
        Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the 
        Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 
        Representatives a report on the progress made by the Secretary 
        of the Army, acting through the Assistant Secretary of the Army 
        for Civil Works, toward meeting the requirements of section 5.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated--
            (1) to the Secretary of the Interior to carry out this 
        Act--
                    (A) $2,500,000 for fiscal year 2021; and
                    (B) $5,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 and 
                2023;
            (2) to the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out this Act--
                    (A) $2,500,000 for fiscal year 2021; and
                    (B) $5,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 and 
                2023; and
            (3) to the Secretary of the Army to carry out this Act--
                    (A) $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2021; and
                    (B) $2,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 and 
                2023.
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