GO Act

Summary: Guides and Outfitters Act or the GO Act This bill amends the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act to specify the circumstances in which the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) may: (1) issue special recreation permits for federal recreational lands and waters, and (2) charge a special recreation permit fee for them.  Interior and USDA may issue special recreation permits:   for specialized individual and group use of federal facilities and federal recreational lands and waters; to recreation service providers who conduct outfitting, guiding, and other recreation services on federal recreational lands and waters; and  to recreation service providers who conduct recreation or competitive events, which may involve incidental sales on federal recreational lands and waters.  Interior and USDA shall issue joint permits for the use of lands managed by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).  Interior shall publish guidelines for establishing recreation permit fees. Revenues from special recreation permits issued to recreation service providers shall be used to: (1) offset partially Interior's direct cost of administering permits, and (2) improve and streamline the permitting process.  When reviewing and adjusting allocations for the use of priority use permits for special uses of federal recreational lands and water managed by the Forest Service USDA shall allocate to the permit holder a prescribed amount subject to a cap.  USDA and Interior shall implement a program that authorizes temporary permits for new recreational uses of federal recreational lands and waters managed by the Forest Service or the BLM, respectively.  A permit holder prohibited by a state from indemnifying the federal government shall be considered to be in compliance with Interior and USDA indemnification requirements if the permit holder carries the required minimum amount of liability insurance coverage or is self-insured for the same minimum amount. Interior and USDA shall revise certain:  special land use and special recreation permit regulations to streamline the processes for the issuance and renewal of outfitter and guide special use permits, and cost recovery fee regulations to reduce costs and minimize the burden of cost recovery on small businesses and adverse impacts of cost recovery on jobs in the outfitting and guiding industry and on rural economies.   If a holder of a special use permit for outfitting and guiding that authorizes priority use has requested renewal of the permit, USDA may grant one or more exiting permit extensions for additional items for up to five years altogether, as necessary to allow completion of the renewal process and avoid the interruption of services under the permit.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS; DEFINITIONS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Guides and 
Outfitters Act'' or the ``GO Act''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; Table of contents; Definitions.
Sec. 2. Special recreation permit and fee.
Sec. 3. Permit across multiple jurisdictions.
Sec. 4. Guidelines and permit fee calculation.
Sec. 5. Use of permit fees for permit administration.
Sec. 6. Adjustment to permit use reviews.
Sec. 7. Authorization of temporary permits for new uses for the Forest 
                            Service and BLM.
Sec. 8. Indemnification requirements.
Sec. 9. Streamlining of permitting process.
Sec. 10. Cost recovery reform.
Sec. 11. Extension of Forest Service recreation priority use permits.
    (c) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means--
                    (A) the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to 
                a Federal land management agency (other than the Forest 
                Service); and
                    (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to 
                the Forest Service.
            (2) Secretaries.--The term ``Secretaries'' means the 
        Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture 
        acting jointly.

SEC. 2. SPECIAL RECREATION PERMIT AND FEE.

    Subsection (h) of section 803 of the Federal Lands Recreation 
Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. 6802) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(h) Special Recreation Permit and Fee.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary may--
                    ``(A) issue a special recreation permit for Federal 
                recreational lands and waters; and
                    ``(B) charge a special recreation permit fee in 
                connection with the issuance of the permit.
            ``(2) Special recreation permits.--The Secretary may issue 
        special recreation permits in the following circumstances:
                    ``(A) For specialized individual and group use of 
                Federal facilities and Federal recreational lands and 
                waters, such as, but not limited to, use of special 
                areas or areas where use is allocated, motorized 
                recreational vehicle use, and group activities or 
                events.
                    ``(B) To recreation service providers who conduct 
                outfitting, guiding, and other recreation services on 
                Federal recreational lands and waters managed by the 
                Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of 
                Reclamation, or the United States Fish and Wildlife 
                Service.
                    ``(C) To recreation service providers who conduct 
                recreation or competitive events, which may involve 
                incidental sales on Federal recreational lands and 
                waters managed by the Forest Service, Bureau of Land 
                Management, Bureau of Reclamation, or the United States 
                Fish and Wildlife Service.
            ``(3) Reduction in federal costs.--To reduce Federal costs 
        in administering this subsection, the issuance of a new special 
        recreation permit for activities under paragraph (2) that have 
        been considered under previous analysis or that are similar to 
        existing uses or are not inconsistent with approved uses shall 
        qualify for categorical exclusions under the National 
        Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).''.

SEC. 3. PERMIT ACROSS MULTIPLE JURISDICTIONS.

    (a) In General.--In the case of an activity requiring permits 
pursuant to subsection (h) of section 803 of the Federal Lands 
Recreation Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. 6802) for use of lands managed by 
both the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management--
            (1) the Secretaries may issue a joint permit based upon a 
        single application to both agencies when issuance of a joint 
        permit based upon a single application will lower processing 
        and other administration costs for the permittee, provided that 
        the permit applicant shall have the option to apply for 
        separate permits rather than a joint permit; and
            (2) the permit application required under clause (i) shall 
        be--
                    (A) the application required by the lead agency; 
                and
                    (B) submitted to the lead agency.
    (b) Requirements of the Lead Agency.--The lead agency for a permit 
under subsection (a) shall--
            (1) coordinate with the associated agencies, consistent 
        with the authority of the Secretaries under section 330 of the 
        Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations 
        Act, 2001 (43 U.S.C. 1703), to develop and issue the single, 
        joint permit that covers the entirety of the trip;
            (2) in processing the joint permit application, incorporate 
        the findings, interests, and needs of the associated agencies, 
        provided that such coordination shall not be subject to cost 
        recovery; and
            (3) complete the permitting process within a reasonable 
        time after receiving the permit application.
    (c) Effect on Regulations.--Nothing in this section shall alter, 
expand, or limit the applicability of any Federal law (including 
regulations) to lands administered by the relevant Federal agencies.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Associated agency.--The term ``associated agency'' 
        means an agency that manages the land on which the trip of the 
        special recreation permit applicant will enter after leaving 
        the land managed by the lead agency.
            (2) Lead agency.--The term ``lead agency'' means the agency 
        that manages the land on which the trip of the special 
        recreation permit applicant will begin.

SEC. 4. GUIDELINES AND PERMIT FEE CALCULATION.

    (a) Guidelines and Exclusion of Certain Revenues.--The Secretary 
shall--
            (1) publish guidelines in the Federal Register for 
        establishing recreation permit fees; and
            (2) provide appropriate deductions from the fee established 
        under paragraph (1) for--
                    (A) revenue from goods, services, and activities 
                provided by a recreation service provider outside 
                Federal recreational lands and waters, such as costs 
                for transportation, lodging, and other services before 
                or after a trip; and
                    (B) fees to be paid by permit holder under 
                applicable law to provide services on other Federal 
                lands, if separate permits are issued to that permit 
                holder for a single event.
    (b) Fee Conditions.--The fee charged by the Secretary for a permit 
issued under section 803(h) of the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement 
Act (16 U.S.C. 6802(h)) shall not exceed 3 percent of the recreational 
service provider's annual gross revenue for activities authorized by 
the permit on Federal lands, plus applicable revenue additions, minus 
applicable revenue exclusions or a similar flat per person fee.
    (c) Disclosure of Fees.--A holder of a special recreation permit 
may inform its customers of the various fees charged by the Secretary 
under section 803(h) of the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act 
(16 U.S.C. 6802(h)).

SEC. 5. USE OF PERMIT FEES FOR PERMIT ADMINISTRATION.

    Revenues from special recreation permits issued to recreation 
service providers under subparagraphs (B) and (C) of section 803(h)(1) 
of the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. 6802(h)(1)) 
shall be used--
            (1) to partially offset the Secretary's direct cost of 
        administering the permits; and
            (2) to improve and streamline the permitting process.

SEC. 6. ADJUSTMENT TO PERMIT USE REVIEWS.

    (a) In General.--In reviewing and adjusting allocations of use for 
priority use permits for special uses of Federal recreational lands and 
waters managed by the Forest Service, and in renewing such permits, the 
Secretary of Agriculture shall allocate to a permit holder the highest 
amount of actual annual use over the reviewed period plus 25 percent, 
capped at the amount of use allocated when the permit was issued unless 
additional capacity is available.
    (b) Waiver.--Use reviews under subsection (a) may be waived for 
periods in which circumstances that prevented use of assigned capacity, 
such as weather, fire, natural disasters, wildlife displacement, 
business interruptions, and when allocations on permits include 
significant shoulder seasons. The authorizing office may approve non-
use without reducing the number of service days assigned to the permit 
in such circumstances at the request of the permit holder. Approved 
non-use may be temporarily assigned to other qualified permit holders 
when conditions warrant.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF TEMPORARY PERMITS FOR NEW USES FOR THE FOREST 
              SERVICE AND BLM.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior 
shall establish and implement a program to authorize temporary permits 
for new recreational uses of Federal recreational lands and waters 
managed by the Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management, 
respectively, and to provide for the conversions of such temporary 
permits to long-term permits after 2 years of satisfactory operation. 
The issuance and conversion of such permits shall be subject to 
subsection (h)(3) of section 803 of the Federal Lands Recreation 
Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. 6802).

SEC. 8. INDEMNIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Indemnification.--A permit holder that is prohibited by the 
State from providing indemnification to the Federal Government shall be 
considered to be in compliance with indemnification requirements of the 
Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture if the 
permit holder carries the required minimum amount of liability 
insurance coverage or is self-insured for the same minimum amount.
    (b) Exculpatory Agreements.--The Secretary shall not implement, 
administer or enforce any regulation or policy prohibiting the use of 
exculpatory agreements between recreation service providers and their 
customers for services provided under a special recreation permit when 
such agreements are enforceable pursuant to the law of the State in 
which the permitted services are provided.

SEC. 9. STREAMLINING OF PERMITTING PROCESS.

    (a) Regulations.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretaries shall revise part 251, subpart 
B, of title 36 Code of Federal Regulations, and subpart 2932, of title 
43, Code of Federal Regulations to streamline the processes for the 
issuance and renewal of outfitter and guide special use permits. Such 
amended regulations shall--
            (1) shorten application processing times and minimize 
        application and administration costs; and
            (2) provide for the use of programmatic environmental 
        assessments and categorical exclusions for environmental 
        reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
        U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) for the issuance or renewal of outfitter 
        and guide and similar recreation special use permits, to the 
        maximum extent allowable under applicable law, including, but 
        not limited to, use of a categorical exclusion for the issuance 
        of a new special recreation permit for activities under 
        paragraph (2)(B) of subsection (h) of section 803 of the 
        Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. 6802) that 
        have been considered under previous analysis or that are 
        similar to existing uses or are not inconsistent with approved 
        uses.
    (b) Online Applications.--To the maximum extent practicable, where 
feasible and efficient, the Secretaries shall make special recreation 
permit applications available to be filled out and submitted online.

SEC. 10. COST RECOVERY REFORM.

    (a) Regulatory Process.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretaries shall revise section 251.58 of 
title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, and section 2932.31(e) and (f) 
of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations, to reduce costs and minimize 
the burden of cost recovery on small businesses and adverse impacts of 
cost recovery on jobs in the outfitting and guiding industry and on 
rural economies provided, however, that nothing in the revised 
regulations shall further limit the Secretaries' authority to issue or 
renew recreation special use permits.
    (b) De Minimis Exemption.--
            (1) Cost recovery limitation.--Any regulations issued by 
        the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture 
        to establish fees to recover processing costs for recreation 
        special use applications and monitoring costs for recreation 
        special use authorizations shall include an exemption providing 
        that at least the first 50 hours of work necessary in any one 
        year to process and/or monitor such an application shall not be 
        subject to cost recovery. The application of a 50-hour credit 
        per permit shall also apply to any monitoring fees on a per 
        annum basis during the term of each permit.
            (2) Application of exemption.--An exemption under paragraph 
        (1) shall apply to the processing of each recreation special 
        use permit application and monitoring of each recreation 
        special use authorization for which cost recovery is required, 
        including any application or authorization requiring more than 
        50 hours (or such other greater number of hours specified for 
        exemption) to process or monitor. In the event that the amount 
        of work required to process such an application or monitor such 
        an authorization exceeds the specified exemption, the amount of 
        work for which cost recovery is required shall be reduced by 
        the amount of the exemption.
            (3) Multiple applications.--In situations involving 
        multiple recreation special use applications for similar 
        services in the same unit or area that require more than 50 
        hours (or such other greater number of hours specified for 
        exemption) in the aggregate to process, the Secretary shall, 
        regardless of whether the applications are solicited or 
        unsolicited and whether there is competitive interest--
                    (A) determine the share of the aggregate amount to 
                be allocated to each application, on an equal or 
                prorated basis, as appropriate; and
                    (B) for each application, apply a separate 
                exemption of up to 50 hours (or such other greater 
                number of hours specified for exemption) to the share 
                allocated to such application.
            (4) Cost reduction.--The agency processing a recreation 
        special use application shall utilize existing studies and 
        analysis to the greatest extent practicable in order to reduce 
        the amount of work and cost necessary to process the 
        application.
            (5) Limitation.--The Secretary of the Interior and the 
        Secretary of Agriculture may not recover as processing costs 
        for recreation special use applications and monitoring costs 
        for recreation special use authorizations any costs for 
        consultations conducted under section 7 of the Endangered 
        Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) or for biological 
        monitoring on Federal recreational lands and waters under such 
        Act for listed, proposed, or candidate species.
            (6) Waiver of cost recovery.--The Secretary of the Interior 
        and the Secretary of Agriculture may waive the recovery of 
        costs for processing recreation special use permit applications 
        and renewals, on a categorical or case-by-case basis as 
        appropriate, if the Secretary determines that--
                    (A) such costs would impose a significant economic 
                burden on any small business or category of small 
                businesses;
                    (B) such cost recovery could threaten the ability 
                of an applicant or permittee to provide, in a 
                particular area, a particular outdoor recreational 
                activity that is consistent with the public interest 
                and with applicable resource management plans; or
                    (C) prevailing economic conditions are unfavorable, 
                such as during economic recessions, or when drought, 
                fire, or other natural disasters have depressed 
                economic activity in the area of operation.

SEC. 11. EXTENSION OF FOREST SERVICE RECREATION PRIORITY USE PERMITS.

    Where the holder of a special use permit for outfitting and guiding 
that authorizes priority use has submitted a request for renewal of 
such permit in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, the 
Secretary of Agriculture shall have the authority to grant the holder 
one or more extensions of the exiting permit for additional items not 
to exceed 5 years in the aggregate, as necessary to allow the Secretary 
to complete the renewal process and to avoid the interruption of 
services under such permit. Before granting an extension under this 
section, the Secretary shall take all reasonable and appropriate steps 
to complete the renewal process before the expiration of the special 
use permit.