II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2130 

To establish within the Department of the Interior the Outdoor Recreation 

Advisory Committee. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 15, 2017 

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

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To establish within the Department of the Interior the 

Outdoor Recreation Advisory Committee. 

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 ‘‘Outdoor Economy 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OUTDOOR RECREATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

8 the Department of the Interior a committee, to be known 

9 as the ‘‘Outdoor Recreation Advisory Committee’’ (re10 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Committee’’). 


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1 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

2 (1) COMPOSITION.—The Committee shall be 

3 composed of 17 members, of whom— 

4 (A) one shall be the Chief of the Forest 

5 Service (or a designee); 

6 (B) one shall be the Director of the United 

7 States Fish and Wildlife Service (or a des8 ignee); 

9 (C) one shall be the Director of the Bu10 reau of Land Management (or a designee); 

11 (D) one shall be the Director of the Na12 tional Park Service (or a designee); 

13 (E) one shall be the Chief of Engineers (or 

14 a designee); 

15 (F) one shall be the Commissioner of the 

16 Bureau of Reclamation (or a designee); and 

17 (G) eleven shall be appointed jointly by the 

18 Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of 

19 the Interior, with special consideration given to 

20 appointees who represent diverse or underrep21 resented groups in the outdoor recreation econ22 omy, of whom one shall be a representative of 

23 each of— 

24 (i) State fish and wildlife management 

25 agencies; 


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1 (ii) Tribal governments; 

2 (iii) hunting organizations; 

3 (iv) angler organizations; 

4 (v) motorized recreation organiza5 tions; 

6 (vi) horsemen organizations; 

7 (vii) human-powered transportation 

8 organizations; 

9 (viii) organizations that provide out10 reach or education to encourage youth par11 ticipation in the outdoors, with specific 

12 preference given to organizations that en13 gage economically disadvantaged or other 

14 underserved youth populations; 

15 (ix) veterans service organizations; 

16 (x) the outdoor recreation retail in17 dustry; and 

18 (xi) conservation organizations. 

19 (2) DATE OF APPOINTMENTS.—The appoint20 ment of a member of the Committee shall be made 

21 not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

22 of this Act. 

23 (3) TERM; VACANCIES.— 

24 (A) TERM.—A member shall be appointed 

25 for the life of the Committee. 


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1 (B) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Com2 mittee— 

3 (i) shall not affect the powers of the 

4 Committee; and 

5 (ii) shall be filled in the same manner 

6 as the original appointment was made. 

7 (4) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON.— 

8 The Committee shall select a chairperson and vice 

9 chairperson from among the members of the Com10 mittee. 

11 (c) MEETINGS.—The Committee shall meet at the 

12 call of the chairperson. 

13 (d) DUTIES.— 

14 (1) STUDY.—The Committee shall conduct a 

15 study and develop recommendations relating to the 

16 following: 

17 (A) Increasing public access to public land. 

18 (B) Identifying and addressing the mainte19 nance needs on public land that most directly 

20 impact recreational opportunities. 

21 (C) Reducing barriers for underserved 

22 communities to engage in outdoor recreation. 

23 (D) Promoting new and existing service 

24 opportunities on public land for youth and oth25 ers. 


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1 (E) Methods to engage the outdoor recre2 ation community to curb the spread of invasive 

3 species. 

4 (F) Any other strategies to strengthen the 

5 outdoor recreation economy and increase re6 sponsible recreation on public land. 

7 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act, and not less fre9 quently than once every 2 years thereafter, the Com10 mittee shall submit to Congress a report that con11 tains— 

12 (A) a detailed statement of the findings 

13 and conclusions of the Committee under para14 graph (1); and 

15 (B) recommendations of the Committee for 

16 such legislation and administrative actions as 

17 the Committee considers to be appropriate. 

18 (e) POWERS.— 

19 (1) HEARINGS.—The Committee may hold such 

20 hearings, meet and act at such times and places, 

21 take such testimony, and receive such evidence as 

22 the Committee considers to be advisable to carry out 

23 this section. 

24 (2) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Committee may 

2 secure directly from a Federal department or 

3 agency such information as the Committee con4 siders to be necessary to carry out this section. 

5 (B) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—On re6 quest of the chairperson of the Committee, the 

7 head of a Federal department or agency shall 

8 provide the information to the Committee. 

9 (3) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Committee may 

10 use the United States mails in the same manner and 

11 under the same conditions as other Federal depart12 ments and agencies. 

13 (f) COMMITTEE PERSONNEL MATTERS.— 

14 (1) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.— 

15 (A) NON-FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—A mem16 ber of the Committee who is not an officer or 

17 employee of the Federal Government shall be 

18 compensated at a rate equal to the daily equiva19 lent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed 

20 for level IV of the Executive Schedule under 

21 section 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for 

22 each day (including travel time) during which 

23 the member is engaged in the performance of 

24 the duties of the Committee. 


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1 (B) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—A member of 

2 the Committee who is an officer or employee of 

3 the Federal Government shall serve without 

4 compensation in addition to the compensation 

5 received for the services of the member as an 

6 officer or employee of the Federal Government. 

7 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—A member of the 

8 Committee shall be allowed travel expenses, includ9 ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates author10 ized for an employee of an agency under subchapter 

11 I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while 

12 away from the home or regular place of business of 

13 the member in the performance of the duties of the 

14 Committee. 

15 (3) STAFF.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The chairperson of the 

17 Committee may, without regard to the civil 

18 service laws (including regulations), appoint 

19 and terminate an executive director and such 

20 other additional personnel as are necessary to 

21 enable the Committee to perform the duties of 

22 the Committee. 

23 (B) CONFIRMATION OF EXECUTIVE DIREC24 TOR.—The employment of an executive director 


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1 shall be subject to confirmation by the Com2 mittee. 

3 (C) COMPENSATION.— 

4 (i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

5 in subparagraph (B), the chairperson of 

6 the Committee may fix the compensation 

7 of the executive director and other per8 sonnel without regard to the provisions of 

9 chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 

10 53 of title 5, United States Code, relating 

11 to classification of positions and General 

12 Schedule pay rates. 

13 (ii) MAXIMUM RATE OF PAY.—The 

14 rate of pay for the executive director and 

15 other personnel shall not exceed the rate 

16 payable for level V of the Executive Sched17 ule under section 5316 of title 5, United 

18 States Code. 

19 (4) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTER20 MITTENT SERVICES.—The chairperson of the Com21 mittee may procure temporary and intermittent serv22 ices in accordance with section 3109(b) of title 5, 

23 United States Code, at rates for individuals that do 

24 not exceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of 


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1 basic pay prescribed for level V of the Executive 

2 Schedule under section 5316 of that title. 

3 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

4 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

5 $2,000,000 for each fiscal year, to remain available until 

6 expended. 

Æ 


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