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. 

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

3 SECTION 1. INTERAGENCY REPORT ON THE BENEFITS OF 

4 SPECIAL RECREATION PERMITS TO ENVI5 RONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITIES. 

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 (1) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITY.— 

8 The term ‘‘environmental justice community’’ means 


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1 a community with significant representation of com2 munities of color, low-income communities, or Tribal 

3 and indigenous communities, that experiences, or is 

4 at risk of experiencing, higher or more adverse 

5 human health or environmental effects than other 

6 communities. 

7 (2) FEDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCY; 

8 FEDERAL RECREATIONAL LANDS AND WATERS; SEC9 RETARIES.—The terms ‘‘Federal land management 

10 agency’’, ‘‘Federal recreational lands and waters’’, 

11 and ‘‘Secretaries’’ have the meanings given the 

12 terms in section 802 of the Federal Lands Recre13 ation Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. 6801). 

14 (3) RECREATION SERVICE PROVIDER.—The 

15 term ‘‘recreation service provider’’ means an indi16 vidual or entity that— 

17 (A) provides outfitting, guiding, or other 

18 recreation services; or 

19 (B) conducts recreational or competitive 

20 events, including incidental sales. 

21 (4) SPECIAL RECREATION PERMIT.—The term 

22 ‘‘special recreation permit’’ means a permit issued 

23 by a Federal land management agency for special24 ized individual or group uses of Federal recreational 

25 lands and waters, including— 


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1 (A) for outfitting, guiding, or other recre2 ation services; 

3 (B) for recreation or competitive events, 

4 which may include incidental sales; 

5 (C) for the use of— 

6 (i) a special area; or 

7 (ii) an area in which use is allocated; 

8 (D) for motorized recreational vehicle use 

9 in compliance with an applicable travel manage10 ment plan or other regulation; and 

11 (E) for a group activity or event. 

12 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date 

13 of enactment of this Act, the Secretaries shall submit to 

14 the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 

15 Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the 

16 House of Representatives a report that describes— 

17 (1) the estimated use of special recreation per18 mits by recreation service providers serving environ19 mental justice communities; 

20 (2) any national, regional, State, local, or site21 specific policies, including any policies required 

22 under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement 

23 Act (16 U.S.C. 6801 et seq.), that facilitate public 

24 land access for recreation service providers serving 

25 environmental justice communities; 


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1 (3) any case studies that may provide illus2 trative examples of the manner in which special 

3 recreation permits, partnerships, or cooperative 

4 agreements are being effectively used by land man5 agers for the purpose of providing public land access 

6 to recreation service providers serving environmental 

7 justice communities; 

8 (4) any barriers to public land access for recre9 ation service providers serving environmental justice 

10 communities; and 

11 (5) any recommendations for agency policy, or 

12 if necessary, action by Congress, to encourage and 

13 simplify public land access for recreation service pro14 viders serving environmental justice communities. 

15 (c) VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION BY RECREATION

16 SERVICE PROVIDERS.—For purposes of preparing the re17 port under subsection (b), the Secretaries— 

18 (1) shall contact all existing or prospective 

19 recreation service providers to request a voluntary 

20 estimate of the number of user days used by or, in 

21 the case of a prospective recreation service provider, 

22 expected to be used by, individuals from environ23 mental justice communities during the period cov24 ered by the report; 


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1 (2) shall request from recreation service pro2 viders and interested members of the public any 

3 other information required for the report; and 

4 (3) shall not use the participation of, or the 

5 provision of information to the Secretaries by, a 

6 recreation service provider under this subsection as 

7 a condition of a special recreation permit. 

Æ 


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