118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3123 

AN ACT 

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

use of Federal waterways among Federal land and water 

management agencies, 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, 
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†S 3123 ES

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

3 to Our Public Waters Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) FEDERAL FISHING RESTRICTION.—The 

7 term ‘‘Federal fishing restriction’’ means a defined 

8 area in which all or certain fishing activities are 

9 temporarily or permanently prohibited or restricted 

10 by a Federal land or water management agency. 

11 (2) FEDERAL LAND OR WATER MANAGEMENT

12 AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal land or water man13 agement agency’’ means— 

14 (A) the Bureau of Reclamation; 

15 (B) the National Park Service; 

16 (C) the Bureau of Land Management; 

17 (D) the United States Fish and Wildlife 

18 Service; and 

19 (E) the Forest Service. 

20 (3) FEDERAL WATERWAY.—The term ‘‘Federal 

21 waterway’’ means waters managed by a Federal land 

22 or water management agency. 

23 (4) FEDERAL WATERWAY RESTRICTION.—The 

24 term ‘‘Federal waterway restriction’’ means a re25 striction on the access or use of a Federal waterway 
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1 applied under applicable law by 1 or more of the 

2 Secretaries. 

3 (5) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 

4 means— 

5 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 

6 through the Chief of the Forest Service; and 

7 (B) the Secretary of the Interior. 

8 (6) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec9 retary concerned’’ means— 

10 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 

11 through the Chief of the Forest Service, with 

12 respect to Federal waterways under the juris13 diction of the Secretary of Agriculture; or 

14 (B) the Secretary of the Interior, with re15 spect to Federal waterways under the jurisdic16 tion of the Secretary of the Interior. 

17 SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY DATA STANDARDIZATION. 

18 Not later than 30 months after the date of enactment 

19 of this Act, the Secretaries, in consultation with the Fed20 eral Geographic Data Committee, shall jointly develop and 

21 adopt interagency standards to ensure compatibility and 

22 interoperability among applicable Federal databases with 

23 respect to the collection and dissemination of geospatial 

24 data relating to public outdoor recreational use of Federal 

25 waterways and Federal fishing restrictions. 
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1 SEC. 4. DATA CONSOLIDATION AND PUBLICATION. 

2 (a) FEDERAL WATERWAY RESTRICTIONS.—Not later 

3 than 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

4 Secretary concerned, to the maximum extent practicable, 

5 shall digitize and make publicly available online, as appli6 cable, geographic information system data that includes, 

7 with respect to Federal waterway restrictions— 

8 (1) status information with respect to the con9 ditions under which Federal waterways are open or 

10 closed to entry or watercraft, including watercraft 

11 inspection or decontamination requirements; 

12 (2) the dates on which Federal waterways are 

13 seasonally closed to entry or watercraft; 

14 (3) the areas of Federal waterways with restric15 tions on motorized propulsion, horsepower, or gaso16 line fuel; 

17 (4) the areas of Federal waterways with an18 choring restrictions, no wake zones, or vessel speed 

19 restrictions; 

20 (5) Federal waterway restrictions on the direc21 tion of travel, including upstream or downstream 

22 travel; and 

23 (6) the uses, including by watercraft, that are 

24 restricted on each area of a Federal waterway, in25 cluding the permissibility of— 

26 (A) canoes and other paddlecraft; 
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1 (B) rafts and driftboats; 

2 (C) motorboats; 

3 (D) personal watercraft; 

4 (E) airboats; 

5 (F) amphibious aircraft; 

6 (G) hovercraft; 

7 (H) oversnow vehicles and other motorized 

8 vehicles on frozen bodies of water; 

9 (I) swimming; and 

10 (J) other applicable recreational activities, 

11 as determined to be appropriate by the Sec12 retary concerned. 

13 (b) FEDERAL WATERWAY ACCESS AND NAVIGATION

14 INFORMATION.—Not later than 5 years after the date of 

15 enactment of this Act, the Secretary concerned, to the 

16 maximum extent practicable, shall digitize and make pub17 licly available online, as applicable, geographic information 

18 system data that includes, with respect to Federal water19 way access and navigation information— 

20 (1)(A) the location of boat ramps, portages, and 

21 designated fishing access sites under the authority of 

22 the Secretary concerned; and 

23 (B) the identification of the dates on which the 

24 facilities and sites identified under subparagraph (A) 

25 are open or closed, as applicable; and 
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1 (2) available bathymetric information and depth 

2 charts. 

3 (c) FEDERAL FISHING RESTRICTIONS.—Not later 

4 than 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

5 Secretary concerned, to the maximum extent practicable, 

6 shall digitize and make publicly available online geo7 graphic information system data that describes, with re8 spect to Federal fishing restrictions— 

9 (1) the location and geographic boundaries of 

10 Federal fishing restrictions on recreational and com11 mercial fishing, including— 

12 (A) full or partial closures; 

13 (B) no-take zones; and 

14 (C) Federal fishing restrictions within or 

15 surrounding marine protected areas; 

16 (2) Federal fishing restrictions on the use of 

17 specific types of equipment or bait, such as restric18 tions on the use of barbed hooks or live bait; and 

19 (3) Federal requirements with respect to catch 

20 and release. 

21 (d) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Secretaries shall de22 velop a process to allow members of the public to submit 

23 questions or comments regarding the information de24 scribed in subsections (a) and (b). 
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1 (e) UPDATES.—The Secretary concerned, to the max2 imum extent practicable, shall update— 

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

4 (b) not less frequently than annually; and 

5 (2) the data described in subsection (c) in real 

6 time as changes go into effect. 

7 (f) EXCLUSION.—This section shall not apply to irri8 gation canals and flowage easements. 

9 (g) DISCLOSURE.—Any geographic information sys10 tem data made publicly available under this section shall 

11 not disclose information regarding the nature, location, 

12 character, or ownership of historic, paleontological, or ar13 chaeological 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 concerned may— 

18 (1) coordinate and partner with non-Federal 

19 agencies and private sector and nonprofit partners, 

20 including— 

21 (A) State natural resource agencies; 

22 (B) technology companies; 

23 (C) geospatial data companies; and 

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

25 operations research; and 
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1 (2) enter into an agreement with a third party 

2 to carry out any provision of this Act. 

3 (b) UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.—The 

4 Secretaries shall work with the Director of the United 

5 States Geological Survey to collect, aggregate, digitize, 

6 standardize, and publish data on behalf of the Secretaries 

7 to meet the requirements of this Act. 

8 (c) REQUIREMENT.—With respect to data developed 

9 and distributed under this Act, the Secretaries shall— 

10 (1) develop the data in accordance with applica11 ble Federal, State, and Tribal laws (including regu12 lations); and 

13 (2) include a notice that any geospatial data 

14 are subject to applicable Federal, State, and Tribal 

15 laws (including regulations). 

16 (d) EXISTING EFFORTS.—To the extent practicable, 

17 the Secretary concerned shall use or incorporate existing 

18 applicable data, maps, and resources in carrying out this 

19 Act, including data, maps, and resources developed and 

20 published under— 

21 (1) the Modernizing Access to Our Public Land 

22 Act (16 U.S.C. 6851 et seq.); 

23 (2) section 103 of division DD of the Consoli24 dated Appropriations Act, 2023 (43 U.S.C. 776); or 

25 (3) other applicable law. 
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1 SEC. 6. REPORTS. 

2 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

3 of this Act and annually thereafter through March 30, 

4 2033, the Secretaries shall submit a report that describes 

5 the progress made by the Secretaries with respect to meet6 ing the requirements of this Act to— 

7 (1) the Committee on Energy and Natural Re8 sources of the Senate; 

9 (2) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 

10 and Forestry of the Senate; 

11 (3) the Committee on Natural Resources of the 

12 House of Representatives; 

13 (4) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 

14 the House of Representatives; and 

15 (5) the Committee on Agriculture of the House 

16 of Representatives. 

17 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

18 There are authorized to be appropriated— 

19 (1) to the Secretary of the Interior to carry out 

20 this Act— 

21 (A) $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; and 

22 (B) $6,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

23 2026 through 2029; and 

24 (2) to the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out 

25 this Act— 

26 (A) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; and 
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1 (B) $4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

2 2026 through 2029. 

3 SEC. 8. EFFECT. 

4 Nothing in this Act— 

5 (1) modifies or alters the definition of the term 

6 ‘‘navigable waters’’ under Federal law; 

7 (2) affects the jurisdiction or authority of State 

8 or Federal agencies to regulate navigable waters; 

9 (3) modifies or alters the authority or jurisdic10 tion of Federal or State agencies to manage fish11 eries; or 

12 (4) expands or restricts access to Federal wa13 terways. 

Passed the Senate December 18 (legislative day, December 16), 2024. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3123 

AN ACT 

To provide for the standardization, consolidation, 

and for other purposes. Federal land and water management agencies, recreational use of Federal waterways among and publication of data relating to public outdoor