Modernizing Access to Our Public Land Act

II Calendar No. 284 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 904 [Report No. 117–83] 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 recre- ation, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 23, 2021 Mr. RISCH (for himself, Mr. KING, Mr. DAINES, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. MANCHIN, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. KELLY, Mr. BARRASSO, Ms. LUMMIS, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. TESTER, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. HAS- SAN, Mr. CRUZ, and Ms. ROSEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Re- sources FEBRUARY 28, 2022 Reported by Mr. MANCHIN, with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Mar 01, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\S904.RS S904 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 904 RS public access to Federal land and waters for outdoor recreation, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Modernizing Access 4 to our Public Land Act’’ or the ‘‘MAPLand Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds that— 7 (1) recreational fishing and hunting and other 8 forms of outdoor recreation are important and tradi- 9 tional activities in which millions of people in the 10 United States participate; 11 (2) a lack of information about publicly avail- 12 able outdoor recreation opportunities depresses par- 13 ticipation in those traditional activities; 14 (3) it is in the public interest to provide en- 15 hanced and expanded information about access to 16 Federal land for recreational opportunities; 17 (4) modern Global Positioning System tech- 18 nologies can provide detailed and real-time informa- 19 tion to the public about access to, and recreation op- 20 portunities on, Federal land; 21 (5) many of the access easement records held 22 by Federal land management agencies are held on 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Mar 01, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S904.RS S904 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 904 RS paper files and cannot be easily integrated into dig- 1 ital mapping systems; and 2 (6) Federal land management agencies 3 should— 4 (A) accelerate efforts to digitize rec- 5 reational access information into geospatial 6 files; and 7 (B) make that recreational access informa- 8 tion available to the public. 9 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 10 In this Act: 11 (1) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 12 means any land or water managed by a Federal land 13 management agency. 14 (2) FEDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCY.— 15 The term ‘‘Federal land management agency’’ 16 means— 17 (A) the Bureau of Reclamation; 18 (B) the National Park Service; 19 (C) the Bureau of Land Management; 20 (D) the United States Fish and Wildlife 21 Service; 22 (E) the Forest Service; and 23 (F) the Corps of Engineers. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Mar 01, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S904.RS S904 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 904 RS (3) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 1 means— 2 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture; 3 (B) the Secretary of the Interior; and 4 (C) the Secretary of the Army, acting 5 through the Assistant Secretary of the Army 6 for Civil Works. 7 SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY DATA STANDARDIZATION. 8 Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment 9 of this Act, the Secretaries shall jointly develop and adopt 10 interagency standards to ensure compatibility and inter- 11 operability among applicable Federal databases with re- 12 spect to the collection and dissemination of outdoor recre- 13 ation data relating to Federal land. 14 SEC. 5. DATA CONSOLIDATION, DIGITIZATION, AND PUBLI- 15 CATION. 16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after the 17 date of enactment of this Act, each of the Secretaries, to 18 the maximum extent practicable, shall digitize and make 19 publicly available on the website of the Department of the 20 Interior, the Forest Service, and the Corps of Engineers, 21 as applicable, geographic information system mapping 22 data that includes, with respect to the Federal land ad- 23 ministered by the relevant Secretary— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Mar 01, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S904.RS S904 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 904 RS (1) all Federal interests, including easements 1 and rights-of-way, in private land— 2 (A) to which the Federal Government does 3 not have a fee title interest; and 4 (B) that is used to provide recreational ac- 5 cess to the Federal land; 6 (2) status information with respect to whether 7 roads and trails on the Federal land are open or 8 closed; 9 (3) the dates on which roads and trails on the 10 Federal land are seasonally opened and closed; 11 (4) the types of vehicles that are allowed on 12 each segment of the roads and trails on the Federal 13 land, including the permissibility of— 14 (A) off-highway vehicles; 15 (B) motorcycles; 16 (C) bicycles; and 17 (D) passenger vehicles; 18 (5) the boundaries of areas where hunting or 19 recreational shooting is regulated or closed on the 20 Federal land; and 21 (6) the boundaries of any portion of a body of 22 water on the Federal land that— 23 (A) is closed to entry; 24 (B) is closed to watercraft; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Mar 01, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S904.RS S904 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 904 RS (C) has horsepower limitations for water- 1 craft. 2 (b) UPDATES.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall bienni- 4 ally update the data described in subsection (a). 5 (2) PUBLIC EVALUATION OF ACCURACY.—The 6 Secretaries shall include on each website referred to 7 in subsection (a), as applicable, a point of contact to 8 allow members of the public to confirm or dispute 9 the accuracy of the information described in that 10 subsection. 11 SEC. 6. REPORTS. 12 Not later than October 1 of each year— 13 (1) each of the Secretary of the Interior and 14 the Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to the 15 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 16 Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of 17 the House of Representatives a report on the 18 progress made by the Secretary of the Interior and 19 the Secretary of Agriculture, respectively, toward 20 meeting the requirements of section 5; and 21 (2) the Secretary of the Army, acting through 22 the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, 23 shall submit to the Committee on Environment and 24 Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Mar 01, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S904.RS S904 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 904 RS Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 1 Representatives a report on the progress made by 2 the Secretary of the Army, acting through the As- 3 sistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, to- 4 ward meeting the requirements of section 5. 5 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 6 There are authorized to be appropriated— 7 (1) to the Secretary of the Interior to carry out 8 this Act— 9 (A) $2,500,000 for fiscal year 2022; and 10 (B) $5,500,000 for each of fiscal years 11 2023 and 2024; 12 (2) to the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out 13 this Act— 14 (A) $2,500,000 for fiscal year 2022; and 15 (B) $5,500,000 for each of fiscal years 16 2023 and 2024; and 17 (3) to the Secretary of the Army to carry out 18 this Act— 19 (A) $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2022; and 20 (B) $2,500,000 for each of fiscal years 21 2023 and 2024. 22 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 23 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Modernizing Access to 24 Our Public Land Act’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Mar 01, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S904.RS S904 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 904 RS SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 3 means any land managed by a Federal land manage- 4 ment agency. 5 (2) FEDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCY.—The 6 term ‘‘Federal land management agency’’ means— 7 (A) the Bureau of Reclamation; 8 (B) the National Park Service; 9 (C) the Bureau of Land Management; 10 (D) the United States Fish and Wildlife 11 Service; 12 (E) the Forest Service; and 13 (F) the Corps of Engineers. 14 (3) ROAD OR TRAIL.—The term ‘‘road or trail’’ 15 means a road or trail designated by 1 or more of the 16 Secretaries for public use. 17 (4) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 18 means— 19 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 20 through the Chief of the Forest Service; 21 (B) the Secretary of the Interior; and 22 (C) the Secretary of the Army, acting 23 through the Assistant Secretary of the Army for 24 Civil Works. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Mar 01, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S904.RS S904 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 904 RS SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY DATA STANDARDIZATION. 1 Not later than 30 months after the date of enactment 2 of this Act, the Secretaries shall jointly develop and adopt 3 interagency standards to ensure compatibility and inter- 4 operability among applicable Federal databases with re- 5 spect to the collection and dissemination of data— 6 (1) relating to outdoor recreation sites on Fed- 7 eral land; and 8 (2) used to depict locations at which recreation 9 uses are available to the public. 10 SEC. 4. DIGITIZATION AND PUBLICATION OF EASEMENTS. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of appro- 12 priations, not later than 4 years after the date of enactment 13 of this Act, each of the Secretaries, to the maximum extent 14 practicable, shall digitize and make publicly available on 15 the website of the Department of the Interior, the Forest 16 Service, and the Corps of Engineers, as applicable, geo- 17 graphic information system mapping data that specifies, 18 with respect to the relevant Secretary, all Federal interests 19 in private land, including easements, reservations, and 20 rights-of-way— 21 (1) to which the Federal Government does not 22 have a fee title interest; and 23 (2) that may be used to provide recreational ac- 24 cess to the Federal land. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Mar 01, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S904.RS S904 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 904 RS (b) PUBLIC EVALUATION OF ACCURACY.—The Secre- 1 taries shall include on each website referred to in subsection 2 (a), as applicable, a point of contact to allow members of 3 the public to ask questions or provide feedback regarding 4 the information described in that subsection. 5 SEC. 5. DATA CONSOLIDATION AND PUBLICATION OF 6 ROUTE AND AREA DATA FOR RECREATION 7 USERS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of appro- 9 priations, beginning not later than 5 years after the date 10 of enactment of this Act, each of the Secretaries, to the max- 11 imum extent practicable, shall make publicly available on 12 the website of the Department of the Interior, the Forest 13 Service, and the Corps of Engineers, as applicable, geo- 14 graphic information system data with respect to the fol- 15 lowing: 16 (1) Status information with respect to whether 17 roads and trails on the Federal land are open or 18 closed. 19 (2) The dates on which roads and trails on the 20 Federal land are seasonally closed. 21 (3) The classes of vehicles and types of rec- 22 reational uses that are allowed on each segment of 23 roads and trails on the Federal land, including the 24 permissibility of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Mar 01, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S904.RS S904 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 904 RS (A) off-highway vehicles; 1 (B) motorcycles; 2 (C) nonmotorized bicycles; 3 (D) electric bicycles; 4 (E) passenger vehicles; 5 (F) nonmechanized transportation; and 6 (G) over-snow vehicles. 7 (4) The boundaries of areas where hunting or 8 recreational shooting (including archery, firearm dis- 9 charge, and target shooting) is regulated or closed on 10 the Federal land. 11 (b) UPDATES.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall update 13 the data described in subsection (a) not less frequently 14 than 2 times per year. 15 (2) PUBLIC EVALUATION OF ACCURACY.—The 16 Secretaries shall include on each website referred to in 17 subsection (a), as applicable, a point of contact to 18 allow members of the public to ask questions or pro- 19 vide feedback regarding the information described in 20 that subsection. 21 (c) EFFECT.—Geographic information system data 22 made publicly available under subsection (a) shall not dis- 23 close information regarding the nature, location, character, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Mar 01, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S904.RS S904 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 904 RS or ownership of historic, paleontological, or archaeological 1 resources, consistent with applicable law. 2 SEC. 6. COOPERATION AND COORDINATION. 3 (a) THIRD-PARTY PROVIDERS.—The Secretaries may 4 enter into an agreement with a third party to carry out 5 any provision of this Act. 6 (b) US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.—The Director of the 7 United States Geological Survey may collect, aggregate, 8 digitize, standardize, or publish data on behalf of the Sec- 9 retary of the Interior to meet the requirements of this Act. 10 SEC. 7. REPORTS. 11 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 12 this Act and annually thereafter through September 30, 13 2031, the Secretaries shall submit a report on the progress 14 made by the Secretaries with respect to meeting the require- 15 ments of this Act to— 16 (1) the Committee on Energy and Natural Re- 17 sources of the Senate; 18 (2) the Committee on Environment and Public 19 Works of the Senate; 20 (3) the Committee on Natural Resources of the 21 House of Representatives; and 22 (4) the Committee on Transportation and Infra- 23 structure of the House of Representatives. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:01 Mar 01, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S904.RS S904 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 904 RS SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATI [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]