I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 974 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to promulgate regulations to allow 

the use of hand-propelled vessels on certain rivers and streams that 

flow in and through certain Federal lands in Yellowstone National Park, 

Grand Teton National Park, the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial 

Parkway, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2015 

Mrs. LUMMIS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to promulgate regulations to allow the use of hand-propelled vessels on certain 

rivers and streams that flow in and through certain 

Federal lands in Yellowstone National Park, Grand 

Teton National Park, the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway, 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 ‘‘Yellowstone and Grand 

5 Teton Paddling Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after the 

3 date on which funds are first made available for this sec4 tion, the Secretary of the Interior shall promulgate regula5 tions to allow the use of hand-propelled vessels on certain 

6 rivers and streams within— 

7 (1) Yellowstone National Park in the States of 

8 Idaho, Montana, Wyoming; and 

9 (2) Grand Teton National Park and the John 

10 D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway in the State 

11 of Wyoming. 

12 (b) WATER EXCLUDED.—The regulations promul13 gated under this section shall not apply to waters that 

14 are— 

15 (1) open to use by hand-propelled vessels on the 

16 day before the date of the enactment of this Act, 

17 and 

18 (2) within the Teton Range in Grand Teton 

19 National Park south of a latitudinal line anchored at 

20 Wilcox Point and west of an approximate north21 south line that generally defines the base of the 

22 mountains following the western shores of Jackson, 

23 Leigh, Jenny, Bradley, Taggart, and Phelps lakes, 

24 and extending to the southern Grand Teton National 

25 Park boundary at the base of Apres Vous Peak. 


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1 (c) APPLICABLE LAWS.—The regulations required by 

2 subsection (a) shall be promulgated in accordance with— 

3 (1) laws, regulations, and policies generally ap4 plicable to units of the National Park System; and 

5 (2) sections 551 through 559 of title 5, United 

6 States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Administra7 tive Procedure Act’’). 

8 (d) COMMERCIAL USE.— 

9 (1) NO EXPANSION OF USE.—The regulations 

10 issued under this section shall not consider any ex11 pansion of commercial use of hand-propelled vessels 

12 in the parks. 

13 (2) SAVINGS PROVISIONS.—Nothing in this Act 

14 shall be construed as authorizing the commercial use 

15 of hand-propelled vessels. 

16 (e) COORDINATION OF RECREATIONAL USE.—When 

17 promulgating regulations under this section, the Secretary 

18 of the Interior shall consult with the Director of the 

19 United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Director 

20 of the National Park Service to help ensure that the regu21 lations provide that recreational use of hand-propelled ves22 sels on the Gros Ventre River within the National Elk Ref23 uge adjacent to Grand Teton National Park is consistent 

24 with the requirements of the National Wildlife Refuge SysVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Feb 26, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H974.IH H974

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1 tem Administration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd et 

2 seq.). 

3 (f) PREVIOUS REGULATIONS.—Upon issuance of the 

4 final regulations required by subsection (a), the following 

5 regulations shall have no force or effect: 

6 (1) Section 7.13(d)(4)(ii) of title 36, Code of 

7 Federal Regulations (regarding vessels on streams 

8 and rivers in Yellowstone National Park). 

9 (2) Section 7.22(e)(3) of title 36, Code of Fed10 eral Regulations (regarding vessels on lakes and riv11 ers in Grand Teton National Park). 

12 (g) COST RECOVERY.—The Secretary is authorized 

13 to recover all costs, in accordance with section 103104 of 

14 title 54, United States Code, associated with monitoring 

15 the use of hand-propelled vessels, including the cost of in16 specting and decontaminating vessels to prevent the intro17 duction or spread of invasive or injurious species in Yel18 lowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and 

19 the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway. 

Æ 


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