II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3786 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 8 (legislative day, FEBRUARY 7), 2024 

Mr. CRUZ introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

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: 

8 (1) FEDERAL FISHING RESTRICTION AREA.— 

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


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1 a defined area in which all or certain fishing activi2 ties are temporarily or permanently banned or re3 stricted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

4 Administration. 

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

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

7 managed in part or in entirety by the Secretary. 

8 (3) FEDERAL WATERWAY RESTRICTION.—The 

9 term ‘‘Federal waterway restriction’’ means a re10 striction on access to or use of a Federal waterway 

11 applied under applicable law by the Secretary. 

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

13 the Secretary of Commerce. 

14 SEC. 3. DATA STANDARDIZATION. 

15 Not later than 30 months after the date of the enact16 ment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with rel17 evant stakeholders, shall develop and adopt standards with 

18 respect to the collection and dissemination of geospatial 

19 data relating to public outdoor recreational use of Federal 

20 waterways and Federal fishing restriction areas, including 

21 such data made available under section 4. 

22 SEC. 4. DATA PUBLICATION AND ACCESSIBILITY. 

23 (a) FEDERAL WATERWAY FISHING ACCESS DATA.— 

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

25 of this Act, the Secretary, to the maximum extent pracVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:48 Feb 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3786.IS S3786

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1 ticable, shall make available on a publicly accessible 

2 website geographic information system data that— 

3 (1) includes, with respect to Federal waterway 

4 restrictions— 

5 (A) information with respect to the condi6 tions under which Federal waterways are open 

7 or closed to entry, watercraft, low-elevation air8 craft, or diving; 

9 (B) the areas of Federal waterways with 

10 restrictions on motorized propulsion, horse11 power, or gasoline fuel; 

12 (C) the areas of Federal waterways with 

13 anchoring restrictions, no-wake zones, or vessel 

14 speed restrictions; and 

15 (D) the types of watercraft that are re16 stricted on each area of a Federal waterway, in17 cluding the permissibility of— 

18 (i) motorboats; 

19 (ii) non-motorized watercraft; 

20 (iii) personal watercraft; 

21 (iv) airboats; 

22 (v) amphibious aircraft; and 

23 (vi) oceangoing ships; and 

24 (2) describes— 


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1 (A) the location and geographic boundaries 

2 of Federal fishing restriction areas, including— 

3 (i) any zones where, and periods 

4 when, fishing is limited under paragraphs 

5 (2), (3), and (4) of section 303(b)(2) of 

6 the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conserva7 tion and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 

8 1853(b)(2)); 

9 (ii) full and partial closures, in terms 

10 of both area and duration, as well as sea11 sonal closures; 

12 (iii) no-catch zones; and 

13 (iv) Federal fishing restrictions within 

14 or surrounding marine protected areas, in15 cluding National Marine Sanctuaries; and 

16 (B) to the maximum extent practicable, re17 strictions imposed by the National Oceanic and 

18 Atmospheric Administration on method of 

19 catch, such as requirements relating to the use 

20 of circle hooks, descending devices, and trolling. 

21 (b) FEDERAL WATERWAY ACCESS AND NAVIGATION

22 INFORMATION.— 

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

24 maximum extent practicable, continue to make avail25 able digitized geographic information system data 


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1 that includes, with respect to access to Federal wa2 terways— 

3 (A) navigation information; 

4 (B) bathymetric information; and 

5 (C) depth charts. 

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

7 data described in paragraph (1) available on the 

8 website on which the Secretary makes the data de9 scribed in subsection (a) available. 

10 (c) DATA ACCESSIBILITY.—The Secretary shall en11 sure that the website on which the Secretary makes the 

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

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

14 findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable; and 

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

16 easily updated when new data becomes available. 

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

18 a process to allow members of the public to submit ques19 tions or comments regarding the data described in sub20 sections (a) and (b) and the accessibility of that data 

21 under subsection (c). 

22 (e) UPDATES.—The Secretary, to the maximum ex23 tent practicable, shall update— 

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

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


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

2 real time as changes to Federal fishing restriction 

3 areas take effect. 

4 (f) NONDISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN INFORMATION.— 

5 The Secretary may not disclose, in any geographic infor6 mation system data made publicly available under this sec7 tion, information regarding the nature, location, char8 acter, or ownership of historic, paleontological, cultural, 

9 or archaeological resources, consistent with applicable law. 

10 SEC. 5. COOPERATION AND COORDINATION. 

11 (a) COMMUNITY PARTNERS AND THIRD-PARTY PRO12 VIDERS.—For purposes of carrying out this Act, the Sec13 retary may— 

14 (1) coordinate and partner with non-Federal 

15 entities, including— 

16 (A) State agencies; 

17 (B) interstate marine fisheries commis18 sions; 

19 (C) Regional Ocean Partnerships; 

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

21 operations research; 

22 (E) the private sector, including technology 

23 or geospatial data industries; and 

24 (F) nonprofit organizations; and 


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1 (2) enter into agreements with experts de2 scribed in subparagraph (D) of paragraph (1), or ex3 perts within entities described in subparagraph (A), 

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

5 any of the provisions of this Act. 

6 (b) INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.—The Secretary 

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

8 relevant offices of the Department of the Interior, the De9 partment of Agriculture, the Coast Guard, the Army 

10 Corps of Engineers, and the Interagency Working Group 

11 on Ocean and Coastal Mapping codified by section 12203 

12 of the Ocean and Coastal Mapping Integration Act (33 

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

14 among applicable Federal databases with respect to the 

15 collection and dissemination of geospatial data relating to 

16 public outdoor recreational use of Federal waterways and 

17 Federal fishing restriction areas. 

18 (c) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL, STATE, AND TRIB19 AL REGULATIONS.—The Secretary, in developing and dis20 tributing geospatial data under this Act, shall make clear 

21 that the data are subject to— 

22 (1) applicable Federal regulations; and 

23 (2) applicable State and Tribal regulations. 

24 SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

25 Nothing in this Act may be construed— 


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

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

3 law; 

4 (2) to affect the jurisdiction or authority of 

5 Federal or State agencies to regulate navigable 

6 waters; or 

7 (3) to increase or diminish the responsibility or 

8 authority of Federal or State agencies to manage 

9 fisheries. 

Æ 


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