II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2335 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture 

to issue permits for recreation services on lands managed by Federal 

agencies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 24, 2018 

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

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 

of Agriculture to issue permits for recreation services 

on lands managed by Federal 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS; DEFINI4 TIONS. 

5 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

6 ‘‘Guides and Outfitters Act’’ or the ‘‘GO Act’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows: 


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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents; definitions. 

Sec. 2. Special recreation permit and fee. 

Sec. 3. Permit across multiple jurisdictions. 

Sec. 4. Guidelines and permit fee calculation. 

Sec. 5. Use of permit fees for permit administration. 

Sec. 6. Adjustment to permit use reviews. 

Sec. 7. Authorization of temporary permits for new uses for the Forest Service 

and BLM. 

Sec. 8. Indemnification requirements. 

Sec. 9. Streamlining of permitting process. 

Sec. 10. Cost recovery reform. 

Sec. 11. Extension of Forest Service recreation priority use permits. 

1 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

2 (1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

3 means— 

4 (A) the Secretary of the Interior, with re5 spect to a Federal land management agency 

6 (other than the Forest Service); and 

7 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re8 spect to the Forest Service. 

9 (2) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 

10 means the Secretary of the Interior and the Sec11 retary of Agriculture acting jointly. 

12 SEC. 2. SPECIAL RECREATION PERMIT AND FEE. 

13 Subsection (h) of section 803 of the Federal Lands 

14 Recreation Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. 6802) is amend15 ed to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(h) SPECIAL RECREATION PERMIT AND FEE.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may— 

18 ‘‘(A) issue a special recreation permit for 

19 Federal recreational lands and waters; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) charge a special recreation permit fee 

2 in connection with the issuance of the permit. 

3 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RECREATION PERMITS.—The 

4 Secretary may issue special recreation permits in the 

5 following circumstances: 

6 ‘‘(A) For specialized individual and group 

7 use of Federal facilities and Federal rec8 reational lands and waters, such as, but not 

9 limited to, use of special areas or areas where 

10 use is allocated, motorized recreational vehicle 

11 use, and group activities or events. 

12 ‘‘(B) To recreation service providers who 

13 conduct outfitting, guiding, and other recre14 ation services on Federal recreational lands and 

15 waters managed by the Forest Service, Bureau 

16 of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, 

17 or the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 

18 ‘‘(C) To recreation service providers who 

19 conduct recreation or competitive events, which 

20 may involve incidental sales on Federal rec21 reational lands and waters managed by the For22 est Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bu23 reau of Reclamation, or the United States Fish 

24 and Wildlife Service. 


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1 ‘‘(3) REDUCTION IN FEDERAL COSTS AND DU2 PLICATION OF ANALYSIS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The issuance of a new 

4 special recreation permit for activities under 

5 paragraph (2) shall be categorically excluded 

6 from further analysis and documentation under 

7 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

8 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), if the proposed use is 

9 the same as or similar to a previously author10 ized use and the Secretary determines that such 

11 issuance does not have significant environ12 mental effects based upon application of the ex13 traordinary circumstances procedures estab14 lished by the Secretary under the National En15 vironmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

16 4321 et seq.). 

17 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION.—For the purposes of 

18 this paragraph, the term ‘similar’ means— 

19 ‘‘(i) substantially similar in type, na20 ture, and scope; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) will not result in significant new 

22 impacts. 

23 ‘‘(4) RELATION TO FEES FOR USE OF HIGH24 WAYS OR ROADS.—An entity that pays a special 

25 recreation permit fee shall not be subject to a road 


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1 cost-sharing fee or a fee for the use of highways or 

2 roads that are open to private, noncommercial use 

3 within the boundaries of any Federal recreational 

4 lands or waters, as authorized under section 6 of 

5 Public Law 88–657 (16 U.S.C. 537).’’. 

6 SEC. 3. PERMIT ACROSS MULTIPLE JURISDICTIONS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an activity requir8 ing permits pursuant to subsection (h) of section 803 of 

9 the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (16 

10 U.S.C. 6802) for use of lands managed by both the Forest 

11 Service and the Bureau of Land Management— 

12 (1) the Secretaries may issue a joint permit 

13 based upon a single application to both agencies 

14 when issuance of a joint permit based upon a single 

15 application will lower processing and other adminis16 tration costs for the permittee, provided that the 

17 permit applicant shall have the option to apply for 

18 separate permits rather than a joint permit; and 

19 (2) the permit application required under para20 graph (1) shall be— 

21 (A) the application required by the lead 

22 agency; and 

23 (B) submitted to the lead agency. 

24 (b) REQUIREMENTS OF THE LEAD AGENCY.—The 

25 lead agency for a permit under subsection (a) shall— 


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1 (1) coordinate with the associated agencies, 

2 consistent with the authority of the Secretaries 

3 under section 330 of the Department of the Interior 

4 and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 (43 

5 U.S.C. 1703), to develop and issue the single, joint 

6 permit that covers the entirety of the trip; 

7 (2) in processing the joint permit application, 

8 incorporate the findings, interests, and needs of the 

9 associated agencies, provided that such coordination 

10 shall not be subject to cost recovery; and 

11 (3) complete the permitting process within a 

12 reasonable time after receiving the permit applica13 tion. 

14 (c) EFFECT ON REGULATIONS.—Nothing in this sec15 tion shall alter, expand, or limit the applicability of any 

16 Federal law (including regulations) to lands administered 

17 by the relevant Federal agencies. 

18 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 (1) ASSOCIATED AGENCY.—The term ‘‘associ20 ated agency’’ means an agency that manages the 

21 land on which the trip of the special recreation per22 mit applicant will enter after leaving the land man23 aged by the lead agency. 

24 (2) LEAD AGENCY.—The term ‘‘lead agency’’ 

25 means the agency that manages the land on which 


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1 the trip of the special recreation permit applicant 

2 will begin. 

3 SEC. 4. GUIDELINES AND PERMIT FEE CALCULATION. 

4 (a) GUIDELINES AND EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN REV5 ENUES.—The Secretary shall— 

6 (1) publish guidelines in the Federal Register 

7 for establishing recreation permit fees; and 

8 (2) provide appropriate deductions from gross 

9 revenues used as the basis for the fees established 

10 under paragraph (1) for— 

11 (A) revenue from goods, services, and ac12 tivities provided by a recreation service provider 

13 outside Federal recreational lands and waters, 

14 such as costs for transportation, lodging, and 

15 other services before or after a trip; and 

16 (B) fees to be paid by permit holder under 

17 applicable law to provide services on other Fed18 eral lands, if separate permits are issued to 

19 that permit holder for a single event or trip. 

20 (b) FEE CONDITIONS.—The fee charged by the Sec21 retary for a permit issued under section 803(h) of the 

22 Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. 

23 6802(h)) shall not exceed 3 percent of the recreational 

24 service provider’s annual gross revenue for activities au25 thorized by the permit on Federal lands, plus applicable 


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1 revenue additions, minus applicable revenue exclusions or 

2 a similar flat per person fee. 

3 (c) DISCLOSURE OF FEES.—A holder of a special 

4 recreation permit may inform its customers of the various 

5 fees charged by the Secretary under section 803(h) of the 

6 Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. 

7 6802(h)). 

8 SEC. 5. USE OF PERMIT FEES FOR PERMIT ADMINISTRA9 TION. 

10 (a) DEPOSITS.—Subject to subsection (b), revenues 

11 from special recreation permits issued to recreation service 

12 providers under subparagraphs (B) and (C) of section 

13 803(h)(2) of the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement 

14 Act (16 U.S.C. 6802(h)(2)) shall be held in special ac15 counts established for each specific unit or area for which 

16 such revenues are collected, and shall remain available for 

17 expenditure, without further appropriation, until ex18 pended. 

19 (b) USE OF PERMIT FEES.—Revenues from special 

20 recreation permits issued to recreation service providers 

21 under subparagraphs (B) and (C) of section 803(h)(2) of 

22 the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (16 

23 U.S.C. 6802(h)(2)) shall be used only— 

24 (1) to partially offset the Secretary’s direct cost 

25 of administering the permits; 


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1 (2) to improve and streamline the permitting 

2 process; and 

3 (3) for related recreation infrastructure and 

4 other purposes specifically to support recreation ac5 tivities at the specific site or unit where use is au6 thorized under the permit, after obtaining input 

7 from any related permittees; provided, however, that 

8 the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. 

9 1 et seq.) shall not apply to any advisory committee 

10 or other group established to carry out this para11 graph. 

12 (c) LIMITATION ON USE OF FEES.—The Secretary 

13 may not use any permit fees for biological monitoring on 

14 Federal recreational lands and waters under the Endan15 gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) for 

16 listed or candidate species. 

17 SEC. 6. ADJUSTMENT TO PERMIT USE REVIEWS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—To the extent that the Secretary 

19 utilizes permit use reviews, in reviewing and adjusting al20 locations of use for permits for special uses of Federal rec21 reational lands and waters managed by the Forest Service, 

22 and in renewing such permits, the Secretary of Agriculture 

23 shall allocate to a permit holder a level of use that is no 

24 less than the highest amount of actual annual use over 

25 the reviewed period plus 25 percent, capped at the amount 


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1 of use allocated when the permit was issued unless addi2 tional capacity is available. The Secretary may assign any 

3 use remaining after adjusting allocations on a temporary 

4 basis to qualified permit holders. 

5 (b) WAIVER.—Use reviews under subsection (a) may 

6 be waived for periods in which circumstances that pre7 vented use of assigned capacity, such as weather, fire, nat8 ural disasters, wildlife displacement, business interrup9 tions, insufficient availability of hunting and fishing li10 censes, or when allocations on permits include significant 

11 shoulder seasons. The authorizing office may approve non12 use without reducing the number of service days assigned 

13 to the permit in such circumstances at the request of the 

14 permit holder. Approved non-use may be temporarily as15 signed to other qualified permit holders when conditions 

16 warrant. 

17 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF TEMPORARY PERMITS FOR 

18 NEW USES FOR THE FOREST SERVICE AND 

19 BLM. 

20 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact21 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture and the Sec22 retary of the Interior shall establish and implement a pro23 gram to authorize temporary permits for new recreational 

24 uses of Federal recreational lands and waters managed by 

25 the Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management, 


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1 respectively, and to provide for the conversions of such 

2 temporary permits to long-term permits after 2 years of 

3 satisfactory operation where appropriate. The issuance 

4 and conversion of such permits shall be subject to sub5 section (h)(3) of section 803 of the Federal Lands Recre6 ation Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. 6802). 

7 SEC. 8. INDEMNIFICATION REQUIREMENTS. 

8 (a) INDEMNIFICATION.—A permit holder that is pro9 hibited by the State from providing indemnification to the 

10 Federal Government shall be considered to be in compli11 ance with indemnification requirements of the Department 

12 of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture if the 

13 permit holder carries the required minimum amount of li14 ability insurance coverage or is self-insured for the same 

15 minimum amount. 

16 (b) EXCULPATORY AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary 

17 shall not implement, administer or enforce any regulation 

18 or policy prohibiting the use of exculpatory agreements be19 tween recreation service providers and their customers for 

20 services provided under a special recreation permit. 

21 SEC. 9. STREAMLINING OF PERMITTING PROCESS. 

22 (a) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 

23 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

24 Agriculture shall revise part 251, subpart B, of title 36 

25 Code of Federal Regulations, and the Secretary of the InVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:36 Jan 24, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2335.IS S2335

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1 terior shall revise subpart 2932, of title 43, Code of Fed2 eral Regulations, to streamline the processes for the 

3 issuance and renewal of outfitter and guide special use 

4 permits. Such amended regulations shall— 

5 (1) shorten application processing times and 

6 minimize application and administration costs; and 

7 (2) provide for the use of programmatic envi8 ronmental assessments and categorical exclusions for 

9 environmental reviews under the National Environ10 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) 

11 for the issuance or renewal of outfitter and guide 

12 and similar recreation special use permits when the 

13 Secretary determines that such compliance is re14 quired, to the maximum extent allowable under ap15 plicable law, including, but not limited to, use of a 

16 categorical exclusion as provided under section 

17 803(h)(3) of the Federal Lands Recreation En18 hancement Act (16 U.S.C. 6802(h)(3)). 

19 (b) ONLINE APPLICATIONS.—To the maximum ex20 tent practicable, where feasible and efficient, the Secretary 

21 shall make special recreation permit applications available 

22 to be filled out and submitted online. 

23 SEC. 10. COST RECOVERY REFORM. 

24 (a) REGULATORY PROCESS.—Not later than 180 

25 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 


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1 of Agriculture shall revise section 251.58 of title 36, Code 

2 of Federal Regulations, and the Secretary of the Interior 

3 shall revise section 2932.31(e) and (f) of title 43, Code 

4 of Federal Regulations, to reduce costs and minimize the 

5 burden of cost recovery on small businesses and adverse 

6 impacts of cost recovery on jobs in the outfitting and guid7 ing industry and on rural economies provided, however, 

8 that nothing in the revised regulations shall further limit 

9 the Secretary’s authority to issue or renew recreation spe10 cial use permits. 

11 (b) DE MINIMIS EXEMPTION.— 

12 (1) COST RECOVERY LIMITATION.—Any regula13 tions issued by the Secretary of the Interior or the 

14 Secretary of Agriculture to establish fees to recover 

15 processing costs for recreation special use applica16 tions and monitoring costs for recreation special use 

17 authorizations shall include an exemption providing 

18 that at least the first 50 hours of work necessary in 

19 any one year to process or monitor such an applica20 tion shall not be subject to cost recovery. The appli21 cation of a 50-hour credit per permit shall also apply 

22 to any monitoring fees on a per annum basis during 

23 the term of each permit. 

24 (2) APPLICATION OF EXEMPTION.—An exemp25 tion under paragraph (1) shall apply to the procVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:36 Jan 24, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2335.IS S2335

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1 essing of each recreation special use permit applica2 tion and monitoring of each recreation special use 

3 authorization for which cost recovery is required, in4 cluding any application or authorization requiring 

5 more than 50 hours (or such other greater number 

6 of hours specified for exemption) to process or mon7 itor. In the event that the amount of work required 

8 to process such an application or monitor such an 

9 authorization exceeds the specified exemption, the 

10 amount of work for which cost recovery is required 

11 shall be reduced by the amount of the exemption. 

12 (3) MULTIPLE APPLICATIONS.—In situations 

13 involving multiple recreation special use applications 

14 for similar services in the same unit or area that re15 quire more than 50 hours (or such other greater 

16 number of hours specified for exemption) in the ag17 gregate to process, the Secretary shall, regardless of 

18 whether the applications are solicited or unsolicited 

19 and whether there is competitive interest— 

20 (A) determine the share of the aggregate 

21 amount to be allocated to each application, on 

22 an equal or prorated basis, as appropriate; and 

23 (B) for each application, apply a separate 

24 exemption of up to 50 hours (or such other 


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1 greater number of hours specified for exemp2 tion) to the share allocated to such application. 

3 (4) COST REDUCTION.—The agency processing 

4 a recreation special use application shall utilize ex5 isting studies and analysis to the greatest extent 

6 practicable in order to reduce the amount of work 

7 and cost necessary to process the application. 

8 (5) LIMITATION.—The Secretary of the Interior 

9 and the Secretary of Agriculture may not recover as 

10 processing costs for recreation special use applica11 tions and monitoring costs for recreation special use 

12 authorizations any costs for consultations conducted 

13 under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 

14 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) or for biological monitoring 

15 on Federal recreational lands and waters under such 

16 Act for listed, proposed, or candidate species. 

17 (6) WAIVER OF COST RECOVERY.—The Sec18 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agri19 culture may waive the recovery of costs for proc20 essing recreation special use permit applications and 

21 renewals, on a categorical or case-by-case basis as 

22 appropriate, if the Secretary determines that— 

23 (A) such costs would impose a significant 

24 economic burden on any small business or cat25 egory of small businesses; 


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1 (B) such cost recovery could threaten the 

2 ability of an applicant or permittee to provide, 

3 in a particular area, a particular outdoor rec4 reational activity that is consistent with the 

5 public interest and with applicable resource 

6 management plans; or 

7 (C) prevailing economic conditions are un8 favorable, such as during economic recessions, 

9 or when drought, fire, or other natural disasters 

10 have depressed economic activity in the area of 

11 operation. 

12 SEC. 11. EXTENSION OF FOREST SERVICE RECREATION 

13 PRIORITY USE PERMITS. 

14 Where the holder of a special use permit for outfitting 

15 and guiding that authorizes priority use has submitted a 

16 request for renewal of such permit in accordance with ap17 plicable laws and regulations, the Secretary of Agriculture 

18 shall have the authority to grant the holder one or more 

19 extensions of the existing permit for additional items not 

20 to exceed 5 years in the aggregate, as necessary to allow 

21 the Secretary to complete the renewal process and to avoid 

22 the interruption of services under such permit. Before 

23 granting an extension under this section, the Secretary 

24 shall take all reasonable and appropriate steps to complete 


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1 the renewal process before the expiration of the special 

2 use permit. 

Æ 


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