II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1480

To amend the Reclamation Recreation Management Act of 1992 in order

to provide for the security of dams, facilities, and resources under the

jurisdiction of the Bureau of Reclamation.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 1, 2001

Mr. BINGAMAN (by request) introduced the following bill; which was read

twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To amend the Reclamation Recreation Management Act of

1992 in order to provide for the security of dams, facilities, and resources under the jurisdiction of the Bureau

of Reclamation.

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

3 That section 2805(a) of the Act of October 30, 1992 (106

4 Stat. 4692; 16 U.S.C. 4601–33(a), is amended by adding

5 at the end the following:

6 ‘‘(3) Any person who violates any such regula7 tion which is issued pursuant to this Act shall be

8 fined under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned
2

•S 1480 IS

1 not more than 6 months, or both. Any person

2 charged with a violation of such regulation may be

3 tried and sentenced by any United States magistrate

4 judge designated for that purpose by the court by

5 which he was appointed, in the same manner and

6 subject to the same conditions and limitations as

7 provided for in section 3401 of title 18, United

8 States Code.

9 ‘‘(4) The Secretary may—

10 ‘‘(A) authorize law enforcement personnel

11 from the Department of the Interior to act as

12 law enforcement officers to maintain law and

13 order and protect persons and property within

14 a Reclamation project or on Reclamation lands;

15 ‘‘(B) authorize law enforcement personnel

16 of any other Federal agency that has law en17 forcement authority (with the exception of the

18 Department of Defense) or law enforcement

19 personnel of any State or local government, in20 cluding Indian tribes, when deemed economical

21 and in the public interest, and with the concur22 rence of that agency or that State or local gov23 ernment, to act as law enforcement officers

24 within a Reclamation project or on Reclamation

25 lands with such enforcement powers as may be
3

•S 1480 IS

1 so assigned them by the Secretary to carry out

2 the regulations promulgated under paragraph

3 (2);

4 ‘‘(C) cooperate with any State or local gov5 ernment, including Indian tribes, in the enforce6 ment of the laws or ordinances of that State or

7 local government; and

8 ‘‘(D) provide reimbursement to a State or

9 local government, including Indian tribes, for

10 expenditures incurred in connection with activi11 ties under subparagraph (B).

12 ‘‘(5) Officers or employees designated or au13 thorized by the Secretary under paragraph (4) are

14 authorized to—

15 ‘‘(A) carry firearms within a Reclamation

16 project or on Reclamation lands and make ar17 rests without warrants for any offense against

18 the United States committed in their presence,

19 or for any felony cognizable under the laws of

20 the United States if they have reasonable

21 grounds to believe that the person to be ar22 rested has committed or is committing such a

23 felony, and if such arrests occur within a Rec24 lamation project or on Reclamation lands or the
4

•S 1480 IS

1 person to be arrested is fleeing therefrom to

2 avoid arrest;

3 ‘‘(B) execute within a Reclamation project

4 or on Reclamation lands any warrant or other

5 process issued by a court or officer of com6 petent jurisdiction for the enforcement of the

7 provisions of any Federal law or regulation

8 issued pursuant to law for an offense com9 mitted within a Reclamation project or on Rec10 lamation lands; and

11 ‘‘(C) conduct investigations within a Rec12 lamation project or on Reclamation lands of of13 fenses against the United States committed

14 within a Reclamation project or on Reclamation

15 lands if the Federal law enforcement agency

16 having investigative jurisdiction over the offense

17 committed declines to investigate the offense.

18 ‘‘(6)(A) Except as otherwise provided in this

19 paragraph, a law enforcement officer of any State or

20 local government, including Indian Tribes, des21 ignated to act as a law enforcement officer under

22 paragraph (4) shall not be deemed a Federal em23 ployee and shall not be subject to the provisions of

24 law relating to Federal employment, including, but

25 not limited to, those relating to hours of work, rates
5

•S 1480 IS

1 of compensation, employment discrimination, leave,

2 unemployment compensation, and Federal benefits.

3 ‘‘(B) For purposes of chapter 171 of title 28,

4 United States Code, popularly known as the Federal

5 Tort Claims Act, a law enforcement officer of any

6 State or local government, including Indian Tribes,

7 shall, when acting as a designated law enforcement

8 officer under paragraph (4) and while under Federal

9 supervision and control, and only when carrying out

10 Federal law enforcement responsibilities, be consid11 ered a Federal employee.

12 ‘‘(C) For purposes of subchapter I of chapter

13 81 of title 5, United States Code, relating to com14 pensation to Federal employees for work injuries, a

15 law enforcement officer of any State or local govern16 ment, including Indian Tribes, shall, when acting as

17 a designated law enforcement officer under para18 graph (4) and while under Federal supervision and

19 control, and only when carrying out Federal law en20 forcement responsibilities, be deemed a civil service

21 employee of the United States within the meaning of

22 the term ‘employee’ as defined in section 8101 of

23 title 5, and the provisions of that subchapter shall

24 apply. Benefits under this subchapter shall be re25 duced by the amount of any entitlement to State or
6

•S 1480 IS

1 local workers’ compensation benefits arising out of

2 the same injury or death.

3 ‘‘(7) Nothing in paragraphs (3) through (9)

4 shall be construed or applied to limit or restrict the

5 investigative jurisdiction of any Federal law enforce6 ment agency, or to affect any existing right of a

7 State or local government, including Indian tribes,

8 to exercise civil and criminal jurisdiction within a

9 Reclamation project or on Reclamation lands.

10 ‘‘(8) For the purposes of this subsection, the

11 term ‘law enforcement personnel’ means employees

12 of a Federal, State, or local government agency, in13 cluding an Indian tribal agency, who have success14 fully completed law enforcement training approved

15 by the Secretary and are authorized to carry fire16 arms, make arrests, and execute services of process

17 to enforce criminal laws of their employing jurisdic18 tion.

19 ‘‘(9) The law enforcement authorities provided

20 for in this subsection may be exercised only pursu21 ant to rules and regulations promulgated by the Sec22 retary and approved by the Attorney General.’’.

Æ