Summary
# S. 784 - Plain English Translation
## WHAT THIS BILL DOES
This bill requires two federal agencies—the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture—to write a report about how special recreation permits affect environmental justice communities. The report must describe how these permits are currently used, what barriers exist, and what changes could help these communities access public lands for recreation.
## WHO IT AFFECTS
- The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture
- Recreation service providers (people or businesses that guide outdoor activities, run outfitting services, or organize recreational events)
- Environmental justice communities (communities with significant representation of people of color, low-income people, or Tribal and indigenous people that face higher health or environmental risks than other communities)
- The public who use these recreation services
## KEY PROVISIONS
- The Secretaries must submit a report to Congress within 3 years describing the estimated use of special recreation permits by providers serving environmental justice communities (Sec. 1(b)(1))
- The report must identify national, regional, state, local or site-specific policies that help make public lands accessible to recreation providers serving environmental justice communities (Sec. 1(b)(2))
- The report must include case studies showing successful examples of how special recreation permits help provide public land access to these communities (Sec. 1(b)(3))
- The report must identify barriers preventing recreation providers serving environmental justice communities from accessing public lands (Sec. 1(b)(4))
- The Secretaries must contact recreation service providers to voluntarily estimate how many user days (days of recreational use) their services provide to people from environmental justice communities (Sec. 1(c)(1))
- Participation in providing information for the report cannot be required as a condition of getting a special recreation permit (Sec. 1(c)(3))
## WHAT CHANGES
If this bill becomes law, the federal government will document how special recreation permits currently serve environmental justice communities and identify what policy changes might improve access to public lands for these communities.
## IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS
- **Environmental justice community:** A community with significant representation of communities of color, low-income communities, or Tribal and indigenous communities that experiences or is at risk of experiencing higher or more adverse human health or environmental effects than other communities (Sec. 1(a)(1))
- **Special recreation permit:** A permit issued by a federal land management agency for specialized individual or group uses of federal recreational lands and waters, including outfitting, guiding, recreation services, competitive events, motorized recreational vehicle use, or group activities (Sec. 1(a)(4))
- **Recreation service provider:** An individual or entity that provides outfitting, guiding, or other recreation services, or conducts recreational or competitive events, including incidental sales (Sec. 1(a)(3))
## EFFECTIVE DATE
Not specified in bill text
II
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 784
To require the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture
to complete an interagency report on the effects of special recreation
permits on environmental justice communities, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH 14, 2023
Ms. CORTEZ MASTO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
A BILL
To require the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary
of Agriculture to complete an interagency report on the
effects of special recreation permits on environmental
justice communities, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. INTERAGENCY REPORT ON THE BENEFITS OF
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SPECIAL RECREATION PERMITS TO ENVI-
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RONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITIES.
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(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
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(1) ENVIRONMENTAL
JUSTICE
COMMUNITY.—
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The term ‘‘environmental justice community’’ means
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a community with significant representation of com-
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munities of color, low-income communities, or Tribal
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and indigenous communities, that experiences, or is
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at risk of experiencing, higher or more adverse
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human health or environmental effects than other
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communities.
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(2) FEDERAL
LAND
MANAGEMENT
AGENCY;
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FEDERAL RECREATIONAL LANDS AND WATERS; SEC-
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RETARIES.—The terms ‘‘Federal land management
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agency’’, ‘‘Federal recreational lands and waters’’,
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and ‘‘Secretaries’’ have the meanings given the
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terms in section 802 of the Federal Lands Recre-
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ation Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. 6801).
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(3) RECREATION
SERVICE
PROVIDER.—The
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term ‘‘recreation service provider’’ means an indi-
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vidual or entity that—
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(A) provides outfitting, guiding, or other
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recreation services; or
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(B) conducts recreational or competitive
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events, including incidental sales.
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(4) SPECIAL RECREATION PERMIT.—The term
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‘‘special recreation permit’’ means a permit issued
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by a Federal land management agency for special-
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ized individual or group uses of Federal recreational
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lands and waters, including—
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(A) for outfitting, guiding, or other recre-
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ation services;
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(B) for recreation or competitive events,
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which may include incidental sales;
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(C) for the use of—
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(i) a special area; or
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(ii) an area in which use is allocated;
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(D) for motorized recreational vehicle use
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in compliance with an applicable travel manage-
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ment plan or other regulation; and
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(E) for a group activity or event.
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(b) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date
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of enactment of this Act, the Secretaries shall submit to
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the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the
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Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the
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House of Representatives a report that describes—
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(1) the estimated use of special recreation per-
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mits by recreation service providers serving environ-
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mental justice communities;
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(2) any national, regional, State, local, or site-
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specific policies, including any policies required
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under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement
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Act (16 U.S.C. 6801 et seq.), that facilitate public
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land access for recreation service providers serving
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environmental justice communities;
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(3) any case studies that may provide illus-
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trative examples of the manner in which special
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recreation permits, partnerships, or cooperative
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agreements are being effectively used by land man-
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agers for the purpose of providing public land access
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to recreation service providers serving environmental
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justice communities;
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(4) any barriers to public land access for recre-
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ation service providers serving environmental justice
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communities; and
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(5) any recommendations for agency policy, or
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if necessary, action by Congress, to encourage and
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simplify public land access for recreation service pro-
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viders serving environmental justice communities.
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(c) VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION
BY RECREATION
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SERVICE PROVIDERS.—For purposes of preparing the re-
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port under subsection (b), the Secretaries—
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(1) shall contact all existing or prospective
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recreation service providers to request a voluntary
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estimate of the number of user days used by or, in
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the case of a prospective recreation service provider,
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expected to be used by, individuals from environ-
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mental justice communities during the period cov-
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ered by the report;
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(2) shall request from recreation service pro-
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viders and interested members of the public any
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other information required for the report; and
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(3) shall not use the participation of, or the
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provision of information to the Secretaries by, a
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recreation service provider under this subsection as
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a condition of a special recreation permit.
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Æ
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