I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8401 

To require the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture 

to complete an interagency report on the effects of special recreation 

permits on environmental justice communities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2020 

Ms. HAALAND (for herself, Ms. MENG, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. 

DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, and Ms. TLAIB) 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 require the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 

of Agriculture to complete an interagency report on the 

effects of special recreation permits on environmental 

justice communities, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. INTERAGENCY REPORT ON SPECIAL RECRE2 ATION PERMITS BENEFITS TO ENVIRON3 MENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITIES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years following 

5 the enactment of this Act, the Secretaries shall submit a 

6 report to the Committee on Natural Resources of the 

7 House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy 

8 and Natural Resources of the Senate on the following: 

9 (1) Estimated use of special recreation permits 

10 by recreation service providers serving environmental 

11 justice communities. 

12 (2) Any national, regional, State, local, or site13 specific policies, including those required under the 

14 Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (16 

15 U.S.C. 6801 et seq.) that facilitate public lands ac16 cess for recreational service providers serving envi17 ronmental justice communities. 

18 (3) Any case studies that may provide illus19 trative examples of how special recreation permits, 

20 partnerships, or cooperative agreements are being ef21 fectively used by land managers for the purposes of 

22 providing public lands access to recreation service 

23 providers serving environmental justice communities. 

24 (4) Identification of any barriers to public lands 

25 access for recreation service providers serving envi26 ronmental justice communities. 


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1 (5) Any recommendations for agency policy, or 

2 if necessary, action by Congress to encourage and 

3 simplify public lands access for recreational service 

4 providers serving environmental justice communities. 

5 (b) VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION BY SPECIAL RECRE6 ATION PROVIDERS.—The Secretaries— 

7 (1) shall contact all current or prospective spe8 cial recreation providers to request a voluntary esti9 mation of how many user days are used by individ10 uals from environmental justice communities; 

11 (2) shall request from recreational service pro12 viders and interested members of the public any 

13 other information that supports the reporting re14 quirements in subsection (a); and 

15 (3) shall not use participation or information 

16 provided as a condition in approving or rejecting a 

17 special recreation permit. 

18 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

19 (1) The term ‘‘environmental justice commu20 nity’’ means a community with significant represen21 tation of communities of color, low-income commu22 nities, or Tribal and indigenous communities, that 

23 experiences, or is at risk of experiencing, higher or 

24 more adverse human health or environmental effects 

25 than other communities. 


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1 (2) The terms ‘‘recreation service provider’’, 

2 ‘‘special recreation permit’’, ‘‘Secretaries’’, and 

3 ‘‘Secretary’’ have the same meaning as defined in 

4 section 802 of the Federal Lands Recreation En5 hancement Act (16 U.S.C. 6801). 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS