I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6441 

To allow holders of certain grazing permits to make minor range improvements and to require that the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary 

of the Interior respond to requests for range improvements within 30 

days, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 15, 2023 

Mr. VASQUEZ (for himself, Mr. CURTIS, and Mr. DUARTE) 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 allow holders of certain grazing permits to make minor 

range improvements and to require that the Secretary 

of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior respond 

to requests for range improvements within 30 days, 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 ‘‘Ranching Without Red 

5 Tape Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MINOR RANGE IMPROVEMENTS UNDER USFS GRAZ2 ING PERMITS. 

3 (a) MINOR RANGE IMPROVEMENTS BY PERMIT4 TEES.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the enact5 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue regulations al6 lowing a permittee to carry out a minor range improve7 ment on the lands with respect to which the permittee 

8 holds a grazing permit if— 

9 (1) the permittee notifies the applicable Forest 

10 Service district ranger at least 30 days prior to car11 rying out such minor range improvement; and 

12 (2) such applicable district ranger— 

13 (A) approves the minor range improve14 ment; or 

15 (B) does not respond to the minor range 

16 improvement. 

17 (b) RANGE IMPROVEMENTS BY THE SECRETARY.— 

18 The Secretary, acting through the applicable forest super19 visor, shall— 

20 (1) respond to a covered request not later than 

21 30 days after the date on which such request is sub22 mitted; and 

23 (2) if such response confirms that the Sec24 retary, acting through the applicable forest super25 visor, will carry out the range improvement re26 quested— 


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1 (A) notify the district office that serves the 

2 area in which such range improvement will 

3 occur; and 

4 (B) expedite the carrying out of such 

5 range improvement using any available adminis6 trative tools or authorities, including categorical 

7 exclusions. 

8 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) CFR TERMS.—The terms ‘‘grazing permit’’, 

10 ‘‘permittee’’, and ‘‘range improvement’’ have the 

11 meanings given those terms, respectively, in section 

12 222.1 of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations (or 

13 successor regulations). 

14 (2) COVERED REQUEST.—The term ‘‘covered 

15 request’’ means a request submitted by a permittee 

16 to the Secretary requesting that the Secretary carry 

17 out a range improvement. 

18 (3) MINOR RANGE IMPROVEMENT.—The term 

19 ‘‘minor range improvement’’ includes improvements 

20 to existing fences and fence lines, wells, water pipe21 lines, and stock tanks. 

22 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

23 the Secretary of Agriculture. 


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1 SEC. 3. MINOR RANGE IMPROVEMENTS UNDER BLM GRAZ2 ING PERMITS. 

3 (a) MINOR RANGE IMPROVEMENTS BY GRAZING

4 PERMIT HOLDERS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

5 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue reg6 ulations allowing a grazing permit or lease holder to carry 

7 out a minor range improvement on the lands with respect 

8 to which the grazing permit or lease applies if— 

9 (1) the grazing permit or lease holder notifies 

10 the applicable Bureau of Land Management district 

11 or field manager at least 30 days prior to carrying 

12 out such minor range improvement; and 

13 (2) such applicable district or field manager— 

14 (A) approves the minor range improve15 ment; or 

16 (B) does not respond to the minor range 

17 improvement. 

18 (b) RANGE IMPROVEMENTS BY THE SECRETARY.— 

19 The Secretary, acting through the applicable State Direc20 tor of the Bureau of Land Management, shall— 

21 (1) respond to a covered request not later than 

22 30 days after the date on which such request is sub23 mitted; and 

24 (2) if such response confirms that the Sec25 retary, acting through the applicable State Director 


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1 of the Bureau of Land Management, will carry out 

2 the range improvement requested— 

3 (A) notify the State office that serves the 

4 area in which such range improvement will 

5 occur; and 

6 (B) expedite the carrying out of such 

7 range improvement using any available adminis8 trative tools or authorities, including categorical 

9 exclusions. 

10 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 (1) COVERED REQUEST.—The term ‘‘covered 

12 request’’ means a request submitted by a grazing 

13 permit holder to the Secretary requesting that the 

14 Secretary carry out a range improvement. 

15 (2) GRAZING PERMIT OR LEASE.—The term 

16 ‘‘grazing permit or lease’’ means a grazing permit or 

17 lease described in section 4130.2 of title 43, Code of 

18 Federal Regulations (or success regulations). 

19 (3) MINOR RANGE IMPROVEMENT.—The term 

20 ‘‘minor range improvement’’ includes improvements 

21 to existing fences and fence lines, wells, water pipe22 lines, and stock tanks. 

23 (4) RANGE IMPROVEMENT.—The term ‘‘range 

24 improvement’’ means a range improvement carried 


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1 out pursuant to subpart 4120 of title 43, Code of 

2 Federal Regulations (or successor regulations). 

3 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

4 the Secretary of the Interior. 

Æ 


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