Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1686 To amend the Wilderness Act to allow local Federal officials to determine the manner in which nonmotorized uses may be permitted in wilderness areas, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 18, 2021 Mr. LEE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To amend the Wilderness Act to allow local Federal officials to determine the manner in which nonmotorized uses may be permitted in wilderness areas, 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 ‘‘Human-Powered Trav- 4 el in Wilderness Areas Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:09 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1686.IS S1686 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1686 IS SEC. 2. RETURNING HUMAN-POWERED TRAVEL TO WILDER- 1 NESS AREAS. 2 Section 4(c) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 3 1133(c)) is amended— 4 (1) by striking the subsection designation and 5 heading and all that follows through ‘‘Except as’’ 6 and inserting the following: 7 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN USES.— 8 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 9 ‘‘(A) LOCAL OFFICIAL.—The term ‘local 10 official’ means the officer or employee who is 11 the head of a unit or jurisdiction of, as applica- 12 ble— 13 ‘‘(i) the Bureau of Land Management; 14 ‘‘(ii) the National Park Service; 15 ‘‘(iii) the Forest Service; or 16 ‘‘(iv) the United States Fish and 17 Wildlife Service. 18 ‘‘(B) NONMOTORIZED TRAVEL.—The term 19 ‘nonmotorized travel’ means a method of 20 human travel that does not use a propulsive in- 21 ternal or external motor with a nonliving power 22 source. 23 ‘‘(C) PERMITTED ROUTE.—The term ‘per- 24 mitted route’ means any new or existing path, 25 trail, paved or unpaved road, or way over snow 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:09 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1686.IS S1686 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1686 IS or ice, located within a wilderness area des- 1 ignated by this Act on which one or more forms 2 of nonmotorized recreational use is permitted 3 under applicable law (including regulations) on 4 the date on which a local official makes a deter- 5 mination under paragraph (3) or the date that 6 is 2 years after the date of enactment of the 7 Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas 8 Act, as applicable in accordance with paragraph 9 (3). 10 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITIONS.— 11 ‘‘(A) COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISES; PERMA- 12 NENT ROADS.—Except as’’; 13 (2) in paragraph (2) (as so designated)— 14 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘this 15 Act and, except as’’ and inserting the following: 16 ‘‘this Act. 17 ‘‘(B) TEMPORARY ROADS; MOTOR VEHI- 18 CLES, MOTORIZED EQUIPMENT, AND OTHER 19 FORMS OF TRAVEL.—Except as’’; and 20 (B) in subparagraph (B) (as so des- 21 ignated), by inserting ‘‘(but not including any 22 form of nonmotorized travel, regardless of 23 whether the nonmotorized travel is mechanically 24 assisted, in which the sole propulsive power 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:09 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1686.IS S1686 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1686 IS source is one or more persons)’’ after ‘‘mechan- 1 ical transport’’; and 2 (3) by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(3) PERMISSIBLE FORMS OF RECREATIONAL 4 USE ON PERMITTED ROUTES.— 5 ‘‘(A) DETERMINATIONS BY LOCAL OFFI- 6 CIALS.— 7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 8 any other provision of law, the Secretary of 9 Agriculture and the Secretary of the Inte- 10 rior shall authorize relevant local officials 11 to determine, by not later than 2 years 12 after the date of enactment of the Human- 13 Powered Travel in Wilderness Areas Act, 14 all permissible forms of nonmotorized trav- 15 el over any permitted route within the ju- 16 risdiction of the local official. 17 ‘‘(ii) FAILURE TO DETERMINE.— 18 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—If a local of- 19 ficial fails to make the determination 20 described in clause (i) with respect to 21 a permitted route within the jurisdic- 22 tion of the local official by the date 23 that is 2 years after the date of enact- 24 ment of the Human-Powered Travel 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:09 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1686.IS S1686 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1686 IS in Wilderness Areas Act, any form of 1 nonmotorized travel shall be allowable 2 on the permitted route. 3 ‘‘(II) EFFECT OF CLAUSE.— 4 Nothing in this clause limits the au- 5 thority of a local official to make a de- 6 termination described in clause (i) re- 7 lating to a permitted route described 8 in subclause (I) after the date that is 9 2 years after the date of enactment of 10 the Human-Powered Travel in Wilder- 11 ness Areas Act, in accordance with 12 this subparagraph. 13 ‘‘(iii) REQUIREMENT.—In making a 14 determination pursuant to this subpara- 15 graph, a local official shall seek to accom- 16 modate all forms of nonmotorized travel, to 17 the maximum extent practicable. 18 ‘‘(B) AUTHORITY.—In making a deter- 19 mination pursuant to subparagraph (A), a local 20 official may carry out such activities and pro- 21 mulgate such regulations as the local official de- 22 termines to be appropriate to reduce, eliminate, 23 or prevent environmental impacts or undue con- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:09 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1686.IS S1686 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1686 IS flicts among members of nonmotorized travel 1 user groups, including— 2 ‘‘(i) restricting, by permit or other 3 means, the number of individuals allowed 4 on a permitted route or in a wilderness 5 area; 6 ‘‘(ii) instructing users to stay on per- 7 mitted routes; 8 ‘‘(iii) limiting party size; 9 ‘‘(iv) educating users regarding best 10 practices; 11 ‘‘(v) using volunteer or paid patrol- 12 lers; 13 ‘‘(vi) establishing speed limits; 14 ‘‘(vii) adding natural features to dis- 15 courage improper uses of permitted routes; 16 ‘‘(viii) designating the direction of 17 travel on a permitted route; and 18 ‘‘(ix) separating uses of permitted 19 routes— 20 ‘‘(I) by day or time of day; or 21 ‘‘(II) seasonally. 22 ‘‘(4) EFFECT OF SUBSECTION.— 23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 24 graph (B), nothing in this subsection requires 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:09 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1686.IS S1686 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1686 IS the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of 1 the Interior, or any local official— 2 ‘‘(i) to alter any wilderness area; 3 ‘‘(ii) to allow in a wilderness area any 4 use that is likely to change the wilderness 5 character of the area; 6 ‘‘(iii)(I) to open a permitted route or 7 wilderness area to a public recreational 8 use; or 9 ‘‘(II) to maintain a permitted route or 10 wilderness area for such a use; or 11 ‘‘(iv) to allow any nonmotorized travel 12 on any portion of the Appalachian Na- 13 tional Scenic Trail that is administered en- 14 tirely as a footpath pursuant to section 15 5(a)(1) of the National Trails System Act 16 (16 U.S.C. 1244(a)(1)). 17 ‘‘(B) PRESUMPTION.—A form of non- 18 motorized travel, regardless of whether the non- 19 motorized travel is mechanically assisted, in 20 which the sole propulsive power source is one or 21 more persons shall be rebuttably presumed to 22 be in accordance with the preservation and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:09 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1686.IS S1686 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1686 IS maintenance of the wilderness character of a 1 wilderness area.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:09 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1686.IS S1686 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS