II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2115

To protect and enhance sportsmen’s opportunities and conservation of wildlife,

and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 24, 1996

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

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To protect and enhance sportsmen’s opportunities and

conservation of wildlife, 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 ‘‘Sportsmen’s Bill of

5 Rights Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS POLICY.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

8 (1) fishing is an important and traditional rec9 reational activity in which 36,000,000 Americans

10 16-years-old and older participate;
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1 (2) hunting is an important and traditional rec2 reational activity in which 14,000,000 Americans

3 16-years-old and older participate;

4 (3) survey data from a recent comprehensive 3-

5 year study entitled ‘‘Factors Related to Hunting and

6 Fishing Participation in the United States’’ suggest

7 that 95 percent of Americans agreed fishing should

8 remain legal and 81 percent agreed hunting should

9 remain legal;

10 (4) anglers and hunters have been and continue

11 to be among the foremost supporters of sound wild12 life management and conservation practices in the

13 United States;

14 (5) persons who hunt or fish and organizations

15 related to those activities provide direct assistance to

16 wildlife managers and enforcement officers of Fed17 eral, State, and local Governments;

18 (6) funds raised through license, permit, and

19 stamp purchases as well as through excise taxes on

20 goods used by anglers and hunters have generated

21 more than $6,000,000,000 for wildlife research and

22 management; and

23 (7) fishing and hunting are essential compo24 nents of effective wildlife management in that they

25 tend to reduce conflicts between people and wildlife
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1 and by providing incentives for the conservation of

2 wildlife and the habitats and ecosystems on which

3 wildlife depends.

4 (b) POLICY.—It is the policy of the United States

5 that each Federal agency that manages a natural resource

6 or the land and water on which a natural resource depends

7 shall support, promote, and enhance opportunities for fish8 ing and hunting.

9 SEC. 3. TAKING OF FISH AND WILDLIFE ON FEDERAL

10 LANDS.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Federal land shall be open to ac12 cess and for use for fishing and hunting unless—

13 (1) the responsible agency of the State in which

14 the Federal land is located limits access to and use

15 of the land as part of wildlife management by the

16 State; or

17 (2) the Federal agency responsible for Federal

18 public land limits access and use—

19 (A) for reasons of national security; or

20 (B) for reasons related to specific statutory

21 requirements regarding the management and

22 use of the land, if the requirements are clearly

23 and directly incompatible with fishing or hunt24 ing.
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1 (b) NO PRIORITY.—This section does not require a

2 Federal agency to give preference to fishing or hunting

3 over other uses of Federal land or land management prior4 ities established in Federal law.

5 (c) AUTHORITY OF THE STATES.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act impairs

7 the primacy of State authority in regulating the tak8 ing of fish and wildlife on land within the State, in9 cluding Federal land.

10 (2) FEDERAL AUTHORITY.—Except as expressly

11 provided by Act of Congress, the authority of a Fed12 eral agency regarding the taking of fish and wildlife

13 on Federal land managed by the Federal agency

14 shall be no greater than the rights of a private

15 owner of land.

16 SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF THE INTEGRITY OF THE SPORTS17 MEN’S TRUST ACCOUNTS.

18 (a) FUNDING OF PLANS AND PROJECTS.—

19 (1) FEDERAL AID IN WILDLIFE RESTORATION

20 ACT.—The Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide that the

21 United States shall aid the States in wildlife-restora22 tion projects, and for other purposes’’, approved

23 September 2, 1937 (commonly known as the ‘‘Fed24 eral Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act’’) (16 U.S.C.

25 669 et seq.), is amended—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘Secretary of Agriculture’’

2 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary

3 of the Interior’’; and

4 (B) in section 4 by adding at the end the

5 following:

6 ‘‘(c) The amount of funding made available to the

7 Secretary of the Interior for expenses under this section

8 shall not be available for use as a supplement to decreased

9 funding for any other expense under the authority of the

10 Secretary of the Interior.’’.

11 (2) FEDERAL AID IN FISH RESTORATION

12 ACT.—Section 4 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to pro13 vide that the United States shall aid the States in

14 fish restoration and management projects, and for

15 other purposes’’, approved August 9, 1950 (com16 monly known as the ‘‘Federal Aid in Fish Restora17 tion Act’’) (16 U.S.C. 777c), is amended by adding

18 at the end the following:

19 ‘‘(f) The amount of funding made available to the

20 Secretary of the Interior for expenses under this section

21 shall not be available for use as a supplement to decreased

22 funding for any other expense under the authority of the

23 Secretary of the Interior.’’.
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1 SEC. 5. EVALUATION OF WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT EFFECTS.

2 (a) STATEMENT.—No Federal agency action that

3 may significantly diminish opportunities or access to en4 gage in fishing or hunting on Federal land shall be effec5 tive until the agency prepares a detailed statement evalu6 ating the effect of the action on fishing and hunting.

7 (b) NOTICE AND HEARING.—Before taking an action

8 described in subsection (a), a Federal agency shall—

9 (1) provide notice of the proposed agency action

10 to the appropriate State agency responsible for the

11 conduct or oversight or fish and wildlife manage12 ment; and

13 (2) conduct a public hearing in the vicinity of

14 the proposed action.

15 (c) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—An individual or entity that

16 may be adversely affected by a loss of fishing or hunting

17 opportunities on Federal land as a result of an agency ac18 tion described in subsection (a) may bring a civil action

19 in United States district court for review of the action.

20 (d) EMERGENCIES.—Nothing in this section pre21 cludes an agency from exercising statutory authority to

22 close Federal lands in an emergency or other exigent cir23 cumstances.

24 (e) EFFECT ON OTHER LAW.—Nothing in this sec25 tion affects or has application to the Migratory Bird Trea26 ty Act (16 U.S.C. 703 et seq.) or the Magnuson Fishery
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1 Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et

2 seq.).

3 SEC. 6. CLARIFICATIONS RELATING TO MAINTENANCE OF

4 FISHING AND HUNTING OPPORTUNITIES.

5 (a) DEFINITION OF POINT SOURCE.—Section

6 502(14) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33

7 U.S.C. 1362(14)) is amended—

8 (1) by striking ‘‘means’’ and inserting the fol9 lowing:

10 ‘‘(A) means’’;

11 (2) by striking ‘‘discharged.’’ and inserting

12 ‘‘discharged; but’’;

13 (3) by striking ‘‘This term does not include ag14 ricultural stormwater’’ and inserting the following:

15 ‘‘(B) does not include—

16 ‘‘(i) agricultural stormwater dis17 charges and return flows from irrigated

18 agriculture;’’ and

19 (4) by striking the period at the end and insert20 ing ‘‘; or’’; and

21 (5) by adding at the end the following:

22 ‘‘(ii) any conveyance that serves the

23 purposes of directly assisting individuals

24 engaged in fishing, hunting, or recreational

25 shooting.’’.
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1 (b) DREDGED OR FILL MATERIAL.—Section

2 404(f)(1) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33

3 U.S.C. 1344(f)(1)) is amended—

4 (1) by striking the comma at the end of sub5 paragraph (F) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

6 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (F) the fol7 lowing:

8 ‘‘(G) resulting from the conduct of fishing,

9 hunting, or recreational shooting;’’.

10 SEC. 7. PROMOTION OF FISHING AND HUNTING BY FED11 ERAL AGENCIES.

12 Each Federal agency, in carrying out the Act entitled

13 ‘‘An Act to provide that the United States shall aid States

14 in wildlife-restoration projects, and for other purposes’’,

15 approved September 2, 1937 (commonly known as the

16 ‘‘Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act’’) (16 U.S.C. 669

17 et seq.) or the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide that the

18 United States shall aid the States in fish restoration and

19 management projects, and for other purposes’’, approved

20 August 9, 1950 (commonly known as the ‘‘Federal Aid

21 in Fish Restoration Act’’) (16 U.S.C. 777 et seq.), shall

22 seek to enhance existing programs and services and estab23 lish new programs and services that promote fishing and

24 hunting.
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1 SEC. 8. CIVIL ACTIONS.

2 (a) INTERVENTION.—A person interested in fishing

3 or hunting shall be entitled to intervene as a matter of

4 right in a civil action brought under any other Federal

5 law relating to the use of any Federal land in which the

6 plaintiff seeks an order that would require the use (or

7 nonuse) of the land in such a manner as to impair access

8 to or use of the land for the purpose of fishing or hunting

9 as required by this Act.

10 (b) CONSIDERATION OF INTERESTS.—If an inter11 venor under subsection (a) shows that the application of

12 another Federal law as sought by the plaintiff would be

13 likely to impair access to or use of the land for the purpose

14 of fishing or hunting as required by this Act, the court

15 shall not grant the relief sought unless the plaintiff shows

16 that the interest intended to be advanced by the other

17 Federal law clearly outweighs the interest of protecting

18 access to and use of Federal land for fishing and hunting.

19 SEC. 9. STANDING TO BRING A CIVIL ACTION.

20 A licensed angler, licensed hunter, or organization

21 representing the interests of licensed anglers or hunters

22 may bring a civil action in a United States district court

23 to seek declaratory or injunctive relief regarding the imple24 mentation of any provision of this Act, including a declara25 tion that a civil action brought by another person may sig26 nificantly disrupt or eliminate opportunities for fishing or
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1 hunting and an injunction against the prosecution of the

2 civil action.

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