I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6208 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture 

to submit to Congress a report on the amount of waste collected on 

certain Federal land along the southern border of the United States, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 2, 2023 

Mr. TIFFANY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 

of Agriculture to submit to Congress a report on the 

amount of waste collected on certain Federal land along 

the southern border of the United States, 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 ‘‘Trash Reduction And 

5 Suppressing Harm from Environmental Degradation at 

6 the Border Act’’ or the ‘‘TRASHED Border Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. POLICIES AND PROCEDURES TO REDUCE TRASH 

2 ALONG THE SOUTHERN BORDER. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

4 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary concerned, 

5 in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security, 

6 shall establish and implement policies and protocols to 

7 prevent and mitigate environmental degradation on cov8 ered Federal lands caused by aliens without lawful immi9 gration status— 

10 (1) crossing the southern border; or 

11 (2) being housed, or otherwise illegally en12 croaching or camping, on National Forest System 

13 lands or lands under the jurisdiction of the Sec14 retary of the Interior. 

15 (b) PROTOCOLS.—In developing the policies and pro16 tocols under subsection (a), the Secretary concerned shall 

17 consider policies and seek to implement best practices with 

18 respect to— 

19 (1) reducing trash accumulation, particularly in 

20 ecologically sensitive areas— 

21 (A) on covered Federal lands; or 

22 (B) where aliens without lawful immigra23 tion status are being housed, or are otherwise 

24 illegally encroaching or camping, on National 

25 Forest System lands or lands under the juris26 diction of the Secretary of the Interior; 


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1 (2) address the destruction of sensitive natural 

2 and archeological resources; and 

3 (3) address the destruction of wildlife habitat. 

4 SEC. 3. TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN TRASH 

5 ACCUMULATION ON THE SOUTHERN BOR6 DER. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

8 date of the enactment of this Act, and for each fiscal year 

9 thereafter, the Secretary concerned shall submit to the ap10 propriate congressional committees a report on the 

11 amount of waste collected in the following areas: 

12 (1) Covered Federal lands. 

13 (2) Sites on National Forest System lands or 

14 lands under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the 

15 Interior— 

16 (A) on which aliens without lawful immi17 gration status are being housed, or are other18 wise illegally encroaching or camping; or 

19 (B) used for the illegal cultivation of nar20 cotics, including the cultivation of cannabis, by 

21 aliens without lawful immigration status. 

22 (b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—Each report submitted 

23 under subsection (a) shall include the following with re24 spect to areas covered by the report: 


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1 (1) The total amount of waste collected (in 

2 pounds) by employees and contractors of Federal 

3 agencies and the cost of collecting such waste, in4 cluding a breakdown by agency, region, or other unit 

5 the Secretary concerned determines appropriate in 

6 illustrating the distribution of waste. 

7 (2) Suggestions on how to reduce environmental 

8 degradation caused by waste. 

9 (3) Data provided by Federal, State, and local 

10 agencies, nonprofit and volunteer organizations, and 

11 individuals with respect to— 

12 (A) the amount of waste collected; and 

13 (B) the number of waste collection events. 

14 (4) The total number of acres of wildlife habitat 

15 impacted by waste. 

16 (5) The discovery of any unauthorized trails or 

17 roads. 

18 (6) The number of wildfires started as a result 

19 of unauthorized human activity, including fires 

20 started by aliens without lawful immigration status. 

21 (7) Any other information the Secretary con22 cerned determines appropriate to demonstrate the 

23 amount of waste found or collected. 

24 (c) COLLECTION DATA.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—In developing the reports re2 quired under subsection (a), the Secretary concerned 

3 shall— 

4 (A) collaborate in information gathering 

5 with State, local, nonprofit, and volunteer orga6 nizations and individuals assisting in waste col7 lection efforts; and 

8 (B) to the maximum extent practicable, 

9 verify the information provided by such organi10 zations and individuals. 

11 (2) PROTECTION OF DATA.—The Secretary con12 cerned shall take precautions to ensure the privacy 

13 of organizations and individuals submitting data for 

14 the purposes of this Act and prevent the disclosure 

15 of personal identifiable information to the public. 

16 (d) DATES FOR SUBMISSION.—Except for the first 

17 report submitted in accordance with subsection (a), the 

18 Secretary concerned shall submit to the appropriate con19 gressional committees each fiscal year report not later 

20 than 90 days after the last day of the fiscal year covered 

21 by the report. 

22 SEC. 4. PENALTIES AND FINES. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—An alien without lawful immigra24 tion status who, while on covered Federal land, carries out 


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1 an activity prohibited under applicable fire and sanitation 

2 regulations shall be subject to penalties and fines. 

3 (b) PENALTIES DOUBLED.—Not later than 1 year 

4 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

5 concerned shall promulgate rules and regulations to double 

6 the penalties and fines for prohibited activities referred to 

7 in subsection (a) carried out on covered Federal lands. 

8 (c) ENFORCEMENT.—The Secretary concerned shall 

9 enforce existing regulations regarding penalties and fines, 

10 specifically regarding applicable fire and sanitation regula11 tions on covered Federal land. 

12 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

13 of the enactment of this Act, and for each fiscal year 

14 thereafter, the Secretary concerned shall submit to the ap15 propriate congressional committees a report detailing the 

16 total amount collected in penalties and fines under sub17 section (a). 

18 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

19 In this Act: 

20 (1) APPLICABLE FIRE AND SANITATION REGU21 LATIONS.—The term ‘‘applicable fire and sanitation 

22 regulations’’ means the following provisions of the 

23 Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date 

24 of the enactment of this Act: 


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1 (A) With respect to lands under the juris2 diction of the Secretary of the Interior— 

3 (i) sections 2.13 and 2.14 of title 36; 

4 (ii) sections 423.29, 423.31, 423.34, 

5 8365.1–1, 8365.1–7, 8365.2–1, 8365.2–3, 

6 9212.1, and 9212.2 of title 43; and 

7 (iii) sections 26.34, 27.94, and 27.95 

8 of title 50. 

9 (B) With respect to National Forest Sys10 tem lands, sections 261.5 and 261.11 of title 

11 36. 

12 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT13 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com14 mittees’’ means— 

15 (A) the Committees on Natural Resources, 

16 Agriculture, Homeland Security, and the Judi17 ciary of the House of Representatives; and 

18 (B) the Committees on Energy and Nat19 ural Resources, Agriculture, Nutrition, and 

20 Forestry, Homeland Security & Governmental 

21 Affairs, and the Judiciary of the Senate. 

22 (3) COVERED FEDERAL LANDS.—The term 

23 ‘‘covered Federal lands’’ means land— 

24 (A) owned by the United States; 


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1 (B) located in a unit that shares an exte2 rior boundary with the southern border; and 

3 (C) administered by— 

4 (i) the National Park Service; 

5 (ii) the Bureau of Land Management; 

6 (iii) the United States Fish and Wild7 life Service; 

8 (iv) the Bureau of Reclamation; or 

9 (v) the Forest Service. 

10 (4) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec11 retary concerned’’ means— 

12 (A) the Secretary of the Interior, with re13 spect to lands under the jurisdiction of the Sec14 retary of the Interior; and 

15 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 

16 through the Chief of the Forest Service, with 

17 respect to National Forest System lands. 

18 (5) SOUTHERN BORDER.—The term ‘‘southern 

19 border’’ means the international land border between 

20 the United States and Mexico. 

21 (6) WASTE.—The term ‘‘waste’’ means any 

22 refuse, garbage, rubbish, trash, debris, or litter left 

23 or created by humans and disposed of— 


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1 (A) without authorization from the Federal 

2 agency administering the area where the waste 

3 is found; or 

4 (B) outside of a waste collection receptacle. 

Æ 


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