I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4751 

To terminate the law enforcement functions of the Forest Service and the 

Bureau of Land Management and to provide block grants to States 

for the enforcement of Federal law on Federal land under the jurisdiction 

of these agencies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 16, 2016 

Mr. CHAFFETZ (for himself, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mr. STEWART, Mrs. LOVE, 

Mr. NEWHOUSE, and Mr. GOSAR) 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 terminate the law enforcement functions of the Forest 

Service and the Bureau of Land Management and to 

provide block grants to States for the enforcement of 

Federal law on Federal land under the jurisdiction of 

these 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 ‘‘Local Enforcement for 

5 Local Lands Act of 2016’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) COVERED LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.— 

4 The term ‘‘covered law enforcement agency’’ 

5 means— 

6 (A) the Forest Service Law Enforcement 

7 and Investigations unit; and 

8 (B) the Bureau of Land Management Of9 fice of Law Enforcement. 

10 (2) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 

11 means— 

12 (A) any land and interest in land owned by 

13 the United States within a State and included 

14 within the National Forest System, including 

15 the National Grasslands; and 

16 (B) the public lands (as defined in section 

17 103(e) of the Federal Land Policy and Manage18 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702(e)). 

19 (3) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec20 retary concerned’’ means— 

21 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re22 spect to Federal land described in subpara23 graph (A) of paragraph (2); and 

24 (B) the Secretary of the Interior, with re25 spect to Federal land described in subpara26 graph (B) of paragraph (2). 


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1 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

2 the several States and the Commonwealth of Puerto 

3 Rico. 

4 (5) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 

5 ‘‘unit of local government’’ means— 

6 (A) any city, county, township, town, bor7 ough, parish, village, or other general purpose 

8 political subdivision of a State; or 

9 (B) an Indian tribe which performs law en10 forcement or emergency response functions as 

11 determined by the Secretary of the Interior. 

12 SEC. 3. TERMINATION OF FOREST SERVICE AND BUREAU 

13 OF LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCY LAW EN14 FORCEMENT AGENCIES AND LAW ENFORCE15 MENT FUNCTIONS. 

16 (a) FOREST SERVICE.—Not later than September 30, 

17 2017, the Secretary of Agriculture shall terminate the 

18 Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations unit 

19 and cease using employees of the Forest Service to per20 form law enforcement functions on Federal land. 

21 (b) DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR.—Not later 

22 than September 30, 2017, the Secretary of the Interior 

23 shall terminate the Bureau of Land Management Office 

24 of Law Enforcement and cease using employees of the DeVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:47 Mar 17, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4751.IH H4751

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1 partment of the Interior to perform law enforcement func2 tions on Federal land. 

3 (c) TERMINATION OF AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO4 PRIATIONS.—Beginning with fiscal year 2018 and each 

5 fiscal year thereafter, no amounts are authorized to be ap6 propriated to the Secretary concerned for a covered law 

7 enforcement agency or for Federal law enforcement func8 tions on Federal land. 

9 (d) NO EFFECT ON AUTHORITY TO CARRY FIRE10 ARMS.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit the 

11 authority of the Secretary concerned to authorize an em12 ployee of the Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Man13 agement to carry a firearm for protection while in the 

14 field. 

15 SEC. 4. BLOCK GRANTS TO STATES FOR ENFORCEMENT OF 

16 FEDERAL LAW ON FEDERAL LAND. 

17 (a) GRANTS REQUIRED; FORMULA.—For fiscal year 

18 2018 and each fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary of the 

19 Interior shall make a grant to each State for the purpose 

20 of permitting the State, directly or through subgrants with 

21 units of local government in that State, to maintain law 

22 and order on Federal land, protect individuals and prop23 erty on Federal land, and enforce Federal law. Grant 

24 funds shall only be allowed to be used to carry out law 

25 enforcement functions on Federal land. 


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1 (b) GRANT FORMULA.— 

2 (1) PERCENTAGE OF FEDERAL LAND.—Subject 

3 to paragraph (2), a State shall receive a grant under 

4 subsection (a) in an amount that bears the same 

5 percentage to the amount appropriated for that fis6 cal year under subsection (d) as the total acreage of 

7 Federal land in that State bears to the total acreage 

8 of Federal land in all States. 

9 (2) MODIFICATION TO REFLECT VISITATION

10 LEVELS.—The Secretary of the Interior shall modify 

11 the grant formula specified in paragraph (1) to take 

12 into account annual visitation levels at individual 

13 units of Federal land in each State so that States 

14 whose Federal land receive the highest number of 

15 recreational users receive additional funds for law 

16 enforcement. Not later than April 1, 2017, the Sec17 retary shall submit to Congress the Secretary’s pro18 posal for modifying the grant formula to reflect visi19 tation levels. 

20 (c) REPORT ON EXPENDITURES.—A State or unit of 

21 local government receiving a grant or subgrant under this 

22 section shall submit to the Secretary of the Interior an 

23 annual report— 


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1 (1) certifying that the grant funds were used 

2 only for the Federal land law enforcement functions 

3 specified in subsection (a); 

4 (2) accounting for all expenditures incurred by 

5 the State or unit of local government in connection 

6 with performing such law enforcement functions on 

7 Federal land; and 

8 (3) indicating whether grant funds were suffi9 cient or insufficient to cover such expenditures. 

10 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For fis11 cal year 2018 and each fiscal year thereafter, there is au12 thorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior 

13 to make grants under this section— 

14 (1) an amount equal to at least the total 

15 amount appropriated for all covered law enforcement 

16 agencies for fiscal year 2016; and 

17 (2) such additional amounts as the Secretary 

18 considers to be necessary for law enforcement func19 tions on Federal land. 

20 SEC. 5. STATE AND LOCAL AGREEMENTS FOR LAW EN21 FORCEMENT FUNCTIONS ON FEDERAL LAND. 

22 (a) AGREEMENT REQUIRED.—As a condition of a 

23 grant or subgrant under section 4, the State or unit of 

24 local government receiving the grant or subgrant and the 

25 Secretary concerned shall enter into an agreement, conVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:47 Mar 17, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4751.IH H4751

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1 sistent with this section, to address the maintenance of 

2 law and order and the protection of individuals and prop3 erty on Federal land. 

4 (b) POWERS AND DUTIES OF LAW ENFORCEMENT

5 PERSONNEL.—The agreement under subsection (a) be6 tween a State or unit of local government receiving a grant 

7 or subgrant and the Secretary concerned shall authorize 

8 designated law enforcement officers of the State or unit 

9 of local government— 

10 (1) to carry firearms on Federal land; 

11 (2) make arrests without warrant for any of12 fense against the United States committed in the 

13 presence of the law enforcement officer, or for any 

14 felony cognizable under the laws of the United 

15 States if the law enforcement officer has reasonable 

16 grounds to believe that the individual to be arrested 

17 has committed or is committing the felony, provided 

18 the arrests occur on Federal land or within the State 

19 or local jurisdiction of the law enforcement officer or 

20 the individual to be arrested is fleeing from the Fed21 eral land; 

22 (3) execute any warrant or other process issued 

23 by a court or officer of competent jurisdiction for 

24 the enforcement of the provisions of any Federal law 

25 or regulation issued pursuant to law arising out of 


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1 an offense committed on Federal land or, where the 

2 individual subject to the warrant or process is on 

3 Federal land, in connection with any Federal of4 fense; and 

5 (4) conduct investigations of offenses against 

6 the United States committed on Federal land in the 

7 absence of investigation of the offenses by any other 

8 Federal law enforcement agency having investigative 

9 jurisdiction over the offense committed or with the 

10 concurrence of the other agency. 

11 (c) INDEMNIFY AND SAVE HARMLESS.—The Sec12 retary concerned shall waive, in any agreement under sub13 section (a) with a State or unit of local government, all 

14 civil claims against the State or unit of local government 

15 and, subject to available appropriations, indemnify and 

16 save harmless the State or unit of local government from 

17 all claims by third parties for property damage or personal 

18 injury, that may arise out of law enforcement functions 

19 performed under the agreement. 

20 (d) LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL NOT DEEMED

21 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro23 vided in this subsection, a law enforcement officer of 

24 a State or unit of local government performing law 

25 enforcement functions pursuant to an agreement 


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1 under subsection (a) shall not be deemed a Federal 

2 employee and shall not be subject to the provisions 

3 of law relating to Federal employment, including 

4 those relating to hours of work, rates of compensa5 tion, leave, unemployment compensation, and Fed6 eral benefits. 

7 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—A law enforcement officer of 

8 a State or unit of local government performing law 

9 enforcement functions pursuant to an agreement 

10 under subsection (a) is deemed to be— 

11 (A) a Federal employee for purposes of 

12 sections 1346(b) and 2401(b) and chapter 171 

13 of title 28, United States Code; and 

14 (B) a civil service employee of the United 

15 States within the meaning of the term ‘‘em16 ployee’’ as defined in section 8101 of title 5, 

17 United States Code, for purposes of subchapter 

18 I of chapter 81 of such title, relating to com19 pensation to Federal employees for work inju20 ries, and the provisions of subchapter I of chap21 ter 81 of such title shall apply. 

22 (e) FEDERAL INVESTIGATIVE JURISDICTION AND

23 STATE CIVIL AND CRIMINAL JURISDICTION NOT PRE24 EMPTED.—This section shall not be construed or ap25 plied— 


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1 (1) to limit or restrict the investigative jurisdic2 tion of any Federal law enforcement agency other 

3 than a covered law enforcement agency; and 

4 (2) to affect any right of a State or unit of local 

5 government to exercise civil and criminal jurisdiction 

6 on Federal land. 

7 (f) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

8 (1) FOREST SERVICE.—Section 15003 of the 

9 National Forest System Drug Control Act of 1986 

10 (16 U.S.C. 559c) is repealed. 

11 (2) BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT.—Section 

12 303(c)(2) of the Federal Land Policy and Manage13 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1733(c)(2)) is amend14 ed by striking ‘‘may authorize Federal personnel or’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘shall authorize’’. 

Æ 


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