Gateway Community and Recreation Enhancement Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3200 To require the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to carry out certain activities to enhance recreational opportunities for gateway communities, to amend the Federal Lands Recreation Enhance- ment Act to provide for the establishment of a digital National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 10, 2023 Mr. ZINKE (for himself, Mrs. PELTOLA, Mr. CURTIS, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. STAUBER, Ms. SALAZAR, Mr. LAWLER, and Mr. OWENS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agri- culture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned A BILL To require the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to carry out certain activities to enhance recreational opportunities for gateway communities, to amend the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act to provide for the establishment of a digital National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3200.IH H3200 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3200 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Gateway Community 2 and Recreation Enhancement Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 4 In this Act: 5 (1) FEDERAL RECREATIONAL LANDS AND 6 WATERS.—The term ‘‘Federal recreational lands and 7 waters’’ has the meaning given the term in section 8 802 of the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement 9 Act (16 U.S.C. 6801). 10 (2) GATEWAY COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘gate- 11 way community’’ means a community that serves as 12 an entry point or is adjacent to a recreation destina- 13 tion on Federal recreational lands and waters or 14 non-Federal land at which there is consistently high, 15 in the determination of the Secretaries, seasonal or 16 year-round visitation. 17 (3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 18 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 19 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 20 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 21 (4) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 22 means— 23 (A) the Secretary; and 24 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 25 through the Chief of the Forest Service. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3200.IH H3200 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3200 IH (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 1 the Secretary of the Interior. 2 SEC. 3. GATEWAY COMMUNITIES. 3 (a) ASSESSMENT OF IMPACTS AND NEEDS IN GATE- 4 WAY COMMUNITIES.—Using existing funds available to 5 the Secretaries, the Secretaries— 6 (1) shall collaborate with State and local gov- 7 ernments, Indian Tribes, housing authorities, appli- 8 cable trade associations, nonprofit organizations, 9 and other relevant stakeholders to identify needs and 10 economic impacts in gateway communities, includ- 11 ing— 12 (A) housing shortages; 13 (B) demands on existing municipal infra- 14 structure; 15 (C) accommodation and management of 16 sustainable visitation; and 17 (D) the expansion and diversification of 18 visitor experiences by bolstering the visitation 19 at— 20 (i) underutilized locations on nearby 21 Federal recreational lands and waters that 22 are suitable for developing, expanding, or 23 enhancing recreation use, as identified by 24 the Secretaries; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3200.IH H3200 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3200 IH (ii) lesser-known recreation sites, as 1 identified under section 5(b)(1)(B), on 2 nearby land managed by a State agency or 3 a local agency; 4 (2) may address a need identified under para- 5 graph (1) by— 6 (A) providing financial or technical assist- 7 ance to a gateway community under an existing 8 program; 9 (B) entering into a lease, right-of-way, or 10 easement, in accordance with applicable laws; or 11 (C) issuing an entity referred to in para- 12 graph (1) a special use permit (other than a 13 special recreation permit), in accordance with 14 applicable laws. 15 (b) TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO 16 BUSINESSES.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture 18 (acting through the Administrator of the Rural 19 Business-Cooperative Service), in coordination with 20 the Secretary and the Secretary of Commerce, shall 21 provide to businesses in gateway communities the 22 assistance described in paragraph (2) to establish, 23 operate, or expand infrastructure to accommodate 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3200.IH H3200 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3200 IH and manage sustainable visitation, including hotels, 1 campgrounds, and restaurants. 2 (2) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of Agriculture 3 may provide assistance under paragraph (1) through 4 the use of existing, or the establishment of new, en- 5 trepreneur and vocational training programs, tech- 6 nical assistance programs, low-interest business loan 7 programs, and loan guarantee programs. 8 (c) PARTNERSHIPS.—In carrying out this section, the 9 Secretaries may, in accordance with applicable laws, enter 10 into a public-private partnership, cooperative agreement, 11 memorandum of understanding, or similar agreement with 12 a gateway community or a business in a gateway commu- 13 nity. 14 SEC. 4. PUBLIC MEETINGS BEFORE REDUCTION OF ACCESS 15 TO NATIONAL PARKS. 16 Before taking any action that will reduce access to 17 a National Park (not including actions to reduce access 18 due to incident specific events that present a risk to health 19 and safety such as a weather event or vehicle accident), 20 the Superintendent of the affected National Park shall— 21 (1) conduct public meetings; 22 (2) consult local stakeholders; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3200.IH H3200 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3200 IH (3) provide an opportunity for submission of 1 public comments for a period of not less than 60 2 days. 3 SEC. 5. IMPROVED RECREATION VISITATION DATA. 4 (a) CONSISTENT VISITATION DATA.— 5 (1) ANNUAL VISITATION DATA.—The Secre- 6 taries shall establish a single visitation data report- 7 ing system to report accurate annual visitation data, 8 in a consistent manner, for— 9 (A) each unit of Federal recreational lands 10 and waters; and 11 (B) land held in trust for an Indian Tribe, 12 on request of the Indian Tribe. 13 (2) CATEGORIES OF USE.—Within the visitation 14 data reporting system established under paragraph 15 (1), the Secretaries shall— 16 (A) establish multiple categories of dif- 17 ferent recreation activities that are reported 18 consistently across agencies; and 19 (B) provide an estimate of the number of 20 visitors for each applicable category established 21 under subparagraph (A) for each unit of Fed- 22 eral recreational lands and waters. 23 (b) REAL-TIME DATA PILOT PROGRAM.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3200.IH H3200 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3200 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 1 the date of enactment of this Act, using existing 2 funds available to the Secretaries, the Secretaries 3 shall carry out a pilot program, to be known as the 4 ‘‘Real-time Data Pilot Program’’ (referred to in this 5 section as the ‘‘Pilot Program’’), to make available 6 to the public, for each unit of Federal recreational 7 lands and waters selected for participation in the 8 Pilot Program under paragraph (2)— 9 (A) real-time or predictive data on visita- 10 tion (including data and resources publicly 11 available from existing nongovernmental plat- 12 form) at— 13 (i) the unit of Federal recreational 14 lands and waters; 15 (ii) to the extent practicable, areas 16 within the unit of Federal recreational 17 lands and waters; and 18 (iii) to the extent practicable, recre- 19 ation sites managed by any other Federal 20 agency, a State agency, or a local agency 21 that are located near the unit of Federal 22 recreational lands and waters; and 23 (B) through multiple media platforms, in- 24 formation about lesser-known recreation sites 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3200.IH H3200 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3200 IH located near the unit of Federal recreational 1 lands and waters (including recreation sites 2 managed by any other Federal agency, a State 3 agency, or a local agency), in an effort to en- 4 courage visitation among recreational sites. 5 (2) LOCATIONS.— 6 (A) INITIAL NUMBER OF UNITS.—On es- 7 tablishment of the Pilot Program, the Secre- 8 taries shall select for participation in the Pilot 9 Program— 10 (i) 15 units of Federal recreational 11 lands and waters managed by the Sec- 12 retary; and 13 (ii) 5 units of Federal recreational 14 lands and waters managed by the Sec- 15 retary of Agriculture (acting through the 16 Chief of the Forest Service). 17 (B) EXPANSION.—Not later than 5 years 18 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 19 retaries shall expand the Pilot Program by se- 20 lecting 80 additional units of Federal rec- 21 reational lands and waters managed by the Sec- 22 retaries for participation in the Pilot Program, 23 not fewer than 50 of which shall be units man- 24 aged by the Secretary. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3200.IH H3200 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3200 IH (C) FEEDBACK; SUPPORT OF GATEWAY 1 COMMUNITIES.—The Secretaries shall— 2 (i) solicit feedback regarding partici- 3 pation in the Pilot Program from commu- 4 nities adjacent to units of Federal rec- 5 reational lands and waters and the public; 6 and 7 (ii) in carrying out subparagraphs (A) 8 and (B), select a unit of Federal recreation 9 lands and waters to participate in the Pilot 10 Program only if the community adjacent to 11 the unit of Federal recreational lands and 12 waters is supportive of the participation of 13 the unit of Federal recreational lands and 14 waters in the Pilot Program. 15 (3) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—The 16 Secretaries may disseminate the information de- 17 scribed in paragraph (1) directly or through an enti- 18 ty or organization referred to in subsection (c). 19 (c) COMMUNITY PARTNERS AND THIRD-PARTY PRO- 20 VIDERS.—For purposes of carrying out this section, the 21 Secretary concerned may— 22 (1) coordinate and partner with— 23 (A) communities adjacent to units of Fed- 24 eral recreational lands and waters; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3200.IH H3200 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3200 IH (B) State and local outdoor recreation and 1 tourism offices; 2 (C) local governments; 3 (D) Indian Tribes; 4 (E) trade associations; 5 (F) local outdoor recreation marketing or- 6 ganizations; 7 (G) permitted facilitated recreation pro- 8 viders; or 9 (H) other relevant stakeholders; and 10 (2) coordinate or enter into agreements, as ap- 11 propriate, with private sector and nonprofit part- 12 ners, including— 13 (A) technology companies; 14 (B) geospatial data companies; 15 (C) experts in data science, analytics, and 16 operations research; or 17 (D) data companies. 18 (d) EXISTING PROGRAMS.—The Secretaries may use 19 existing programs or products of the Secretaries to carry 20 out this section. 21 (e) PRIVACY CLAUSES.—Nothing in this section pro- 22 vides authority to the Secretaries— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3200.IH H3200 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3200 IH (1) to monitor or record the movements of a 1 visitor to a unit of Federal recreational lands and 2 waters; 3 (2) to restrict, interfere with, or monitor a pri- 4 vate communication of a visitor to a unit of Federal 5 recreational lands and waters; or 6 (3) to collect— 7 (A) information from owners of land adja- 8 cent to a unit of Federal recreational lands and 9 waters; or 10 (B) information on non-Federal land. 11 (f) REPORTS.—Not later than January 1, 2024, and 12 annually thereafter, the Secretaries shall publish on a 13 website of the Secretaries a report that describes the an- 14 nual visitation of each unit of Federal recreational lands 15 and waters, including, to the maximum extent practicable, 16 visitation categorized by recreational activity. 17 SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT OF A DIGITAL VERSION OF AMER- 18 ICA THE BEAUTIFUL—THE NATIONAL PARKS 19 AND FEDERAL RECREATIONAL LANDS 20 PASSES. 21 Section 805(a) of the Federal Lands Recreation En- 22 hancement Act (16 U.S.C. 6804(a)) is amended by adding 23 at the end the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3200.IH H3200 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3200 IH ‘‘(10) DIGITAL RECREATION PASSES.—By not 1 later than January 1, 2024, the Secretaries shall— 2 ‘‘(A) establish a digital version of the Na- 3 tional Parks and Federal Recreational Lands 4 Pass that is able to be stored on a mobile de- 5 vice; and 6 ‘‘(B) on the completion of a sale of a Na- 7 tional Parks and Federal Recreational Lands 8 Pass carried out under paragraph (6)(A), make 9 available to the passholder the digital version of 10 the National Parks and Federal Recreational 11 Lands Pass established under subparagraph 12 (A).’’. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3200.IH H3200 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS