I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7925 

To provide for the standardization, publication, and accessibility of data 

relating to public outdoor recreational use of Federal waterways, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 10, 2024 

Mr. D’ESPOSITO (for himself, Mr. LEVIN, Ms. SALAZAR, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. 

KAMLAGER-DOVE, Mr. DONALDS, Mrs. PELTOLA, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. 

KILMER, Mr. CARL, and Mr. MOYLAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for the standardization, publication, and accessibility of data relating to public outdoor recreational use 

of Federal waterways, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Modernizing Access 

5 to Our Public Oceans Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) FEDERAL FISHING RESTRICTION AREA.— 

2 The term ‘‘Federal fishing restriction area’’ means 

3 a defined area in which all or certain fishing activi4 ties are temporarily or permanently banned or re5 stricted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

6 Administration. 

7 (2) FEDERAL WATERWAY.—The term ‘‘Federal 

8 waterway’’ means any portion of a body of water 

9 managed in part or in entirety by the Secretary. 

10 (3) FEDERAL WATERWAY RESTRICTION.—The 

11 term ‘‘Federal waterway restriction’’ means a re12 striction on access to or use of a Federal waterway 

13 applied under applicable law by the Secretary. 

14 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

15 the Secretary of Commerce. 

16 SEC. 3. DATA STANDARDIZATION. 

17 Not later than 30 months after the date of the enact18 ment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with rel19 evant stakeholders, shall develop and adopt standards with 

20 respect to the collection and dissemination of geospatial 

21 data relating to public outdoor recreational use of Federal 

22 waterways and Federal fishing restriction areas, including 

23 such data made available under section 4. 


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1 SEC. 4. DATA PUBLICATION AND ACCESSIBILITY. 

2 (a) FEDERAL WATERWAY FISHING ACCESS DATA.— 

3 Not later than 4 years after the date of the enactment 

4 of this Act, the Secretary, to the maximum extent prac5 ticable, shall make available on a publicly accessible 

6 website geographic information system data that— 

7 (1) includes, with respect to Federal waterway 

8 restrictions— 

9 (A) information with respect to the condi10 tions under which Federal waterways are open 

11 or closed to entry, watercraft, low-elevation air12 craft, or diving; 

13 (B) the areas of Federal waterways with 

14 restrictions on motorized propulsion, horse15 power, or gasoline fuel; 

16 (C) the areas of Federal waterways with 

17 anchoring restrictions, no-wake zones, or vessel 

18 speed restrictions; and 

19 (D) the types of watercraft that are re20 stricted on each area of a Federal waterway, in21 cluding the permissibility of— 

22 (i) motorboats; 

23 (ii) non-motorized watercraft; 

24 (iii) personal watercraft; 

25 (iv) airboats; 

26 (v) amphibious aircraft; and 


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1 (vi) oceangoing ships; and 

2 (2) describes— 

3 (A) the location and geographic boundaries 

4 of Federal fishing restriction areas, including— 

5 (i) any zones where, and periods 

6 when, fishing is limited under paragraphs 

7 (2), (3), and (4) of section 303(b)(2) of 

8 the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conserva9 tion and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 

10 1853(b)(2)); 

11 (ii) full and partial closures, in terms 

12 of both area and duration, as well as sea13 sonal closures; 

14 (iii) no-catch zones; and 

15 (iv) Federal fishing restrictions within 

16 or surrounding marine protected areas, in17 cluding National Marine Sanctuaries; and 

18 (B) to the maximum extent practicable, re19 strictions imposed by the National Oceanic and 

20 Atmospheric Administration on method of 

21 catch, such as requirements relating to the use 

22 of circle hooks, descending devices, and trolling. 

23 (b) FEDERAL WATERWAY ACCESS AND NAVIGATION

24 INFORMATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, to the 

2 maximum extent practicable, continue to make avail3 able digitized geographic information system data 

4 that includes, with respect to access to Federal wa5 terways— 

6 (A) navigation information; 

7 (B) bathymetric information; and 

8 (C) depth charts. 

9 (2) WEBSITE.—The Secretary shall make the 

10 data described in paragraph (1) available on the 

11 website on which the Secretary makes the data de12 scribed in subsection (a) available. 

13 (c) DATA ACCESSIBILITY.—The Secretary shall en14 sure that the website on which the Secretary makes the 

15 data described in subsections (a) and (b) available— 

16 (1) organizes that data so that the data is 

17 findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable; and 

18 (2) includes a mechanism by which users can be 

19 easily updated when new data becomes available. 

20 (d) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Secretary shall develop 

21 a process to allow members of the public to submit ques22 tions or comments regarding the data described in sub23 sections (a) and (b) and the accessibility of that data 

24 under subsection (c). 


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1 (e) UPDATES.—The Secretary, to the maximum ex2 tent practicable, shall update— 

3 (1) the data described in subsections (a)(1) and 

4 (b) not less frequently than 2 times each year; and 

5 (2) the data described in subsection (a)(2) in 

6 real time as changes to Federal fishing restriction 

7 areas take effect. 

8 (f) NONDISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN INFORMATION.— 

9 The Secretary may not disclose, in any geographic infor10 mation system data made publicly available under this sec11 tion, information regarding the nature, location, char12 acter, or ownership of historic, paleontological, cultural, 

13 or archaeological resources, consistent with applicable law. 

14 SEC. 5. COOPERATION AND COORDINATION. 

15 (a) COMMUNITY PARTNERS AND THIRD-PARTY PRO16 VIDERS.—For purposes of carrying out this Act, the Sec17 retary may— 

18 (1) coordinate and partner with non-Federal 

19 entities, including— 

20 (A) State agencies; 

21 (B) interstate marine fisheries commis22 sions; 

23 (C) Regional Ocean Partnerships; 

24 (D) experts in data science, analytics, and 

25 operations research; 


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1 (E) the private sector, including technology 

2 or geospatial data industries; and 

3 (F) nonprofit organizations; and 

4 (2) enter into agreements with experts de5 scribed in subparagraph (D) of paragraph (1), or ex6 perts within entities described in subparagraph (A), 

7 (B), (C), (E), or (F) of that paragraph, to carry out 

8 any of the provisions of this Act. 

9 (b) INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.—The Secretary 

10 shall, to the maximum extent practicable, work with the 

11 relevant offices of the Department of the Interior, the De12 partment of Agriculture, the Coast Guard, the Army 

13 Corps of Engineers, and the Interagency Working Group 

14 on Ocean and Coastal Mapping codified by section 12203 

15 of the Ocean and Coastal Mapping Integration Act (33 

16 U.S.C. 3502) to ensure compatibility and interoperability 

17 among applicable Federal databases with respect to the 

18 collection and dissemination of geospatial data relating to 

19 public outdoor recreational use of Federal waterways and 

20 Federal fishing restriction areas. 

21 (c) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL, STATE, AND TRIB22 AL REGULATIONS.—The Secretary, in developing and dis23 tributing geospatial data under this Act, shall make clear 

24 that the data are subject to— 

25 (1) applicable Federal regulations; and 


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1 (2) applicable State and Tribal regulations. 

2 SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

3 Nothing in this Act may be construed— 

4 (1) to modify or alter the definition of the term 

5 ‘‘navigable waters’’ under any provision of Federal 

6 law; 

7 (2) to affect the jurisdiction or authority of 

8 Federal or State agencies to regulate navigable 

9 waters; or 

10 (3) to increase or diminish the responsibility or 

11 authority of Federal or State agencies to manage 

12 fisheries. 

Æ 


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