II 

Calendar No. 728 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6127 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 18 (legislative day, DECEMBER 16), 2024 

Received; read twice and placed on the calendar 

AN ACT 

To provide for the standardization, consolidation, and publication of data relating to public outdoor recreational 

use of Federal waterways among Federal land and water 

management 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Modernizing Access 

5 to Our Public Waters Act’’ or the ‘‘MAPWaters Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) FEDERAL FISHING RESTRICTION.—The 

9 term ‘‘Federal fishing restriction’’ means a defined 

10 area in which all or certain fishing activities are 


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1 temporarily or permanently prohibited or restricted 

2 by a Federal land or water management agency. 

3 (2) FEDERAL LAND OR WATER MANAGEMENT

4 AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal land or water man5 agement agency’’ means— 

6 (A) the Bureau of Reclamation; 

7 (B) the National Park Service; 

8 (C) the Bureau of Land Management; 

9 (D) the United States Fish and Wildlife 

10 Service; and 

11 (E) the Forest Service. 

12 (3) FEDERAL WATERWAY.—The term ‘‘Federal 

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

14 managed partially or wholly by 1 or more of the rel15 evant Secretaries. 

16 (4) FEDERAL WATERWAY RESTRICTION.—The 

17 term ‘‘Federal waterway restriction’’ means a re18 striction on the access or use of a Federal waterway 

19 applied under applicable law by 1 or more of the 

20 Secretaries. 

21 (5) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 

22 means— 

23 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 

24 through the Chief of the Forest Service; and 

25 (B) the Secretary of the Interior. 


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1 SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY DATA STANDARDIZATION. 

2 Not later than 30 months after the date of enactment 

3 of this Act, the Secretaries, in coordination with the Fed4 eral Geographic Data Committee established by section 

5 753(a) of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (43 

6 U.S.C. 2802(a)), shall jointly develop and adopt inter7 agency standards to ensure compatibility and interoper8 ability among applicable Federal databases with respect 

9 to the collection and dissemination of geospatial data re10 lating to public outdoor recreational access of Federal wa11 terways and Federal fishing restrictions. 

12 SEC. 4. DATA CONSOLIDATION AND PUBLICATION. 

13 (a) FEDERAL WATERWAY RESTRICTIONS.—Not later 

14 than 4 years after the date of enactment of this Act, each 

15 of the Secretaries, to the maximum extent practicable, 

16 shall digitize and make publicly available online, as appli17 cable, geographic information system data that includes, 

18 with respect to Federal waterway restrictions— 

19 (1) status information with respect to the con20 ditions under which Federal waterways are open or 

21 closed to entry or watercraft, including watercraft 

22 inspection, decontamination requirements, low-ele23 vation aircraft, or diving; 

24 (2) the dates on which Federal waterways are 

25 seasonally closed to entry or watercraft; 


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1 (3) the areas of Federal waterways with restric2 tions on motorized propulsion, horsepower, or fuel 

3 type; 

4 (4) the areas of Federal waterways with an5 choring restrictions, no wake zones, exclusion zones, 

6 danger areas, or vessel speed restrictions; 

7 (5) Federal waterway restrictions on the direc8 tion of travel, including upstream or downstream 

9 travel; and 

10 (6) the types of watercraft that are restricted 

11 on each area of a Federal waterway, including the 

12 permissibility of— 

13 (A) canoes; 

14 (B) rafts and driftboats; 

15 (C) motorboats; 

16 (D) personal watercraft; 

17 (E) airboats; 

18 (F) amphibious aircraft; 

19 (G) hovercraft; 

20 (H) oversnow vehicles and other motorized 

21 vehicles on frozen bodies of water; and 

22 (I) oceangoing ships; and 

23 (7) citations documenting the source of the re24 strictions. 


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1 (b) FEDERAL WATERWAY ACCESS AND NAVIGATION

2 INFORMATION.—Not later than 4 years after the date of 

3 enactment of this Act, each of the Secretaries, to the max4 imum extent practicable, shall digitize and make publicly 

5 available online, as applicable, geographic information sys6 tem data that includes, with respect to Federal waterway 

7 access and navigation information— 

8 (1)(A) the location of boat ramps, portages, and 

9 fishing access sites under the authority of the Fed10 eral land or water management agency; and 

11 (B) the identification of the dates on which the 

12 facilities and sites identified under subparagraph (A) 

13 are open or closed, as applicable; and 

14 (2) bathymetric information and depth charts, 

15 as feasible. 

16 (c) FEDERAL FISHING RESTRICTIONS.—Not later 

17 than 4 years after the date of enactment of this Act, each 

18 of the Secretaries, to the maximum extent practicable, 

19 shall digitize and make publicly available online geo20 graphic information system data that describes, with re21 spect to Federal fishing restrictions— 

22 (1) the location and geographic boundaries of 

23 Federal fishing restrictions on recreational and com24 mercial fishing, including— 

25 (A) full or partial closures; 


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1 (B) no-take zones; and 

2 (C) Federal fishing restrictions within or 

3 surrounding marine protected areas; 

4 (2) Federal fishing restrictions enacted pursu5 ant to section 302(b) of the Federal Land Policy 

6 and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1732(b)); 

7 and 

8 (3) Federal requirements with respect to catch 

9 and release. 

10 (d) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Secretaries shall de11 velop a process to allow members of the public to submit 

12 questions or comments regarding the information de13 scribed in subsections (a) and (b). 

14 (e) UPDATES.—The Secretaries, to the maximum ex15 tent practicable, shall update— 

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

17 (b) not less frequently than 2 times per year; and 

18 (2) the data described in subsection (c) in real 

19 time as changes go into effect. 

20 (f) EXCLUSION.—This section shall not apply to irri21 gation canals and flowage easements. 

22 (g) DISCLOSURE.—Any geographic information sys23 tem data made publicly available under this section shall 

24 not disclose information regarding the nature, location, 


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1 character, or ownership of historic, paleontological, or ar2 chaeological resources, consistent with applicable law. 

3 SEC. 5. COOPERATION AND COORDINATION. 

4 (a) COMMUNITY PARTNERS AND THIRD-PARTY PRO5 VIDERS.—For purposes of carrying out this Act, the Sec6 retaries may— 

7 (1) coordinate and partner with non-Federal 

8 agencies and private sector and nonprofit partners, 

9 including— 

10 (A) State, territorial, and District of Co11 lumbia natural resource agencies; 

12 (B) Tribal natural resource agencies; 

13 (C) technology companies; 

14 (D) geospatial data companies; and 

15 (E) experts in data science, analytics, and 

16 operations research; and 

17 (2) enter into an agreement with a third party 

18 to carry out any provision of this Act. 

19 (b) UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.—The 

20 Secretaries may work with the Director of the United 

21 States Geological Survey to collect, aggregate, digitize, 

22 standardize, and publish data on behalf of the Secretaries 

23 to meet the requirements of this Act. 

24 (c) REQUIREMENT.—With respect to data developed 

25 and distributed under this Act, the Secretaries shall inVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:22 Dec 19, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6127.PCS H6127

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1 clude a notice that any geospatial data are subject to ap2 plicable Federal, State, and Tribal regulations. 

3 SEC. 6. REPORTS. 

4 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

5 of this Act and annually thereafter through March 30, 

6 2033, the Secretaries shall submit a report that describes 

7 the progress made by the Secretaries with respect to meet8 ing the requirements of this Act to— 

9 (1) the Committee on Energy and Natural Re10 sources of the Senate; 

11 (2) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 

12 and Forestry of the Senate; 

13 (3) the Committee on Natural Resources of the 

14 House of Representatives; 

15 (4) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 

16 the House of Representatives; and 

17 (5) the Committee on Agriculture of the House 

18 of Representatives. 

19 SEC. 7. EFFECT. 

20 Nothing in this Act— 

21 (1) modifies or alters the definition of the term 

22 ‘‘navigable waters’’ under Federal law; 

23 (2) affects the jurisdiction or authority of State 

24 or Federal agencies to regulate navigable waters; 


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1 (3) modifies or alters the authority or jurisdic2 tion of Federal or State agencies to manage fish3 eries; or 

4 (4) authorizes or is intended to result in the 

5 closing of or restriction of access to waters open to 

6 hunting, fishing, or other forms of outdoor recre7 ation as of the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives December 17, 

2024. 

Attest: KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 

Clerk. 


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Calendar No. 728 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6127 

AN ACT 

To provide for the standardization, consolidation, 

D

and for other purposes. Federal land and water management agencies, recreational use of Federal waterways among and publication of data relating to public outdoor 

ECEMBER 18 (legislative day, DECEMBER 16), 2024 

Received; read twice and placed on the calendar 


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