I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5129 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture 

to issue permits for recreation services on lands managed by Federal 

agencies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 29, 2016 

Mr. LAMALFA (for himself, Mrs. LOVE, Mr. STEWART, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, and 

Mr. VALADAO) 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 authorize the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 

of Agriculture to issue permits for recreation services 

on lands managed by Federal 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS; DEFINI4 TIONS. 

5 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

6 ‘‘Guides and Outfitters Act’’ or the ‘‘GO Act’’. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 5129 IH

1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; Table of contents; Definitions. 

Sec. 2. Special recreation permit and fee. 

Sec. 3. Permit across multiple jurisdictions. 

Sec. 4. Guidelines and permit fee calculation. 

Sec. 5. Use of permit fees for permit administration. 

Sec. 6. Adjustment to permit use reviews. 

Sec. 7. Authorization of temporary permits for new uses for the Forest Service 

and BLM. 

Sec. 8. Indemnification requirements. 

Sec. 9. Streamlining of permitting process. 

Sec. 10. Cost recovery reform. 

Sec. 11. Extension of Forest Service recreation priority use permits. 

3 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

4 (1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

5 means— 

6 (A) the Secretary of the Interior, with re7 spect to a Federal land management agency 

8 (other than the Forest Service); and 

9 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re10 spect to the Forest Service. 

11 (2) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 

12 means the Secretary of the Interior and the Sec13 retary of Agriculture acting jointly. 

14 SEC. 2. SPECIAL RECREATION PERMIT AND FEE. 

15 Subsection (h) of section 803 of the Federal Lands 

16 Recreation Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. 6802) is amend17 ed to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(h) SPECIAL RECREATION PERMIT AND FEE.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may— 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 5129 IH

1 ‘‘(A) issue a special recreation permit for 

2 Federal recreational lands and waters; and 

3 ‘‘(B) charge a special recreation permit fee 

4 in connection with the issuance of the permit. 

5 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RECREATION PERMITS.—The 

6 Secretary may issue special recreation permits in the 

7 following circumstances: 

8 ‘‘(A) For specialized individual and group 

9 use of Federal facilities and Federal rec10 reational lands and waters, such as, but not 

11 limited to, use of special areas or areas where 

12 use is allocated, motorized recreational vehicle 

13 use, and group activities or events. 

14 ‘‘(B) To recreation service providers who 

15 conduct outfitting, guiding, and other recre16 ation services on Federal recreational lands and 

17 waters managed by the Forest Service, Bureau 

18 of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, 

19 or the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 

20 ‘‘(C) To recreation service providers who 

21 conduct recreation or competitive events, which 

22 may involve incidental sales on Federal rec23 reational lands and waters managed by the For24 est Service, Bureau of Land Management, BuVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 May 05, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5129.IH H5129

emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 5129 IH

1 reau of Reclamation, or the United States Fish 

2 and Wildlife Service. 

3 ‘‘(3) REDUCTION IN FEDERAL COSTS.—To re4 duce Federal costs in administering this subsection, 

5 the issuance of a new special recreation permit for 

6 activities under paragraph (2) that have been con7 sidered under previous analysis or that are similar 

8 to existing uses or are not inconsistent with ap9 proved uses shall qualify for categorical exclusions 

10 under the National Environmental Policy Act of 

11 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).’’. 

12 SEC. 3. PERMIT ACROSS MULTIPLE JURISDICTIONS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an activity requir14 ing permits pursuant to subsection (h) of section 803 of 

15 the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (16 

16 U.S.C. 6802) for use of lands managed by both the Forest 

17 Service and the Bureau of Land Management— 

18 (1) the Secretaries may issue a joint permit 

19 based upon a single application to both agencies 

20 when issuance of a joint permit based upon a single 

21 application will lower processing and other adminis22 tration costs for the permittee, provided that the 

23 permit applicant shall have the option to apply for 

24 separate permits rather than a joint permit; and 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 5129 IH

1 (2) the permit application required under clause 

2 (i) shall be— 

3 (A) the application required by the lead 

4 agency; and 

5 (B) submitted to the lead agency. 

6 (b) REQUIREMENTS OF THE LEAD AGENCY.—The 

7 lead agency for a permit under subsection (a) shall— 

8 (1) coordinate with the associated agencies, 

9 consistent with the authority of the Secretaries 

10 under section 330 of the Department of the Interior 

11 and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 (43 

12 U.S.C. 1703), to develop and issue the single, joint 

13 permit that covers the entirety of the trip; 

14 (2) in processing the joint permit application, 

15 incorporate the findings, interests, and needs of the 

16 associated agencies, provided that such coordination 

17 shall not be subject to cost recovery; and 

18 (3) complete the permitting process within a 

19 reasonable time after receiving the permit applica20 tion. 

21 (c) EFFECT ON REGULATIONS.—Nothing in this sec22 tion shall alter, expand, or limit the applicability of any 

23 Federal law (including regulations) to lands administered 

24 by the relevant Federal agencies. 

25 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 5129 IH

1 (1) ASSOCIATED AGENCY.—The term ‘‘associ2 ated agency’’ means an agency that manages the 

3 land on which the trip of the special recreation per4 mit applicant will enter after leaving the land man5 aged by the lead agency. 

6 (2) LEAD AGENCY.—The term ‘‘lead agency’’ 

7 means the agency that manages the land on which 

8 the trip of the special recreation permit applicant 

9 will begin. 

10 SEC. 4. GUIDELINES AND PERMIT FEE CALCULATION. 

11 (a) GUIDELINES AND EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN REV12 ENUES.—The Secretary shall— 

13 (1) publish guidelines in the Federal Register 

14 for establishing recreation permit fees; and 

15 (2) provide appropriate deductions from the fee 

16 established under paragraph (1) for— 

17 (A) revenue from goods, services, and ac18 tivities provided by a recreation service provider 

19 outside Federal recreational lands and waters, 

20 such as costs for transportation, lodging, and 

21 other services before or after a trip; and 

22 (B) fees to be paid by permit holder under 

23 applicable law to provide services on other Fed24 eral lands, if separate permits are issued to 

25 that permit holder for a single event. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 5129 IH

1 (b) FEE CONDITIONS.—The fee charged by the Sec2 retary for a permit issued under section 803(h) of the 

3 Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. 

4 6802(h)) shall not exceed 3 percent of the recreational 

5 service provider’s annual gross revenue for activities au6 thorized by the permit on Federal lands, plus applicable 

7 revenue additions, minus applicable revenue exclusions or 

8 a similar flat per person fee. 

9 (c) DISCLOSURE OF FEES.—A holder of a special 

10 recreation permit may inform its customers of the various 

11 fees charged by the Secretary under section 803(h) of the 

12 Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. 

13 6802(h)). 

14 SEC. 5. USE OF PERMIT FEES FOR PERMIT ADMINISTRA15 TION. 

16 Revenues from special recreation permits issued to 

17 recreation service providers under subparagraphs (B) and 

18 (C) of section 803(h)(1) of the Federal Lands Recreation 

19 Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. 6802(h)(1)) shall be used— 

20 (1) to partially offset the Secretary’s direct cost 

21 of administering the permits; and 

22 (2) to improve and streamline the permitting 

23 process. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 5129 IH

1 SEC. 6. ADJUSTMENT TO PERMIT USE REVIEWS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—In reviewing and adjusting alloca3 tions of use for priority use permits for special uses of 

4 Federal recreational lands and waters managed by the 

5 Forest Service, and in renewing such permits, the Sec6 retary of Agriculture shall allocate to a permit holder the 

7 highest amount of actual annual use over the reviewed pe8 riod plus 25 percent, capped at the amount of use allo9 cated when the permit was issued unless additional capac10 ity is available. 

11 (b) WAIVER.—Use reviews under subsection (a) may 

12 be waived for periods in which circumstances that pre13 vented use of assigned capacity, such as weather, fire, nat14 ural disasters, wildlife displacement, business interrup15 tions, and when allocations on permits include significant 

16 shoulder seasons. The authorizing office may approve non17 use without reducing the number of service days assigned 

18 to the permit in such circumstances at the request of the 

19 permit holder. Approved non-use may be temporarily as20 signed to other qualified permit holders when conditions 

21 warrant. 

22 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF TEMPORARY PERMITS FOR 

23 NEW USES FOR THE FOREST SERVICE AND 

24 BLM. 

25 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact26 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture and the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 May 05, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5129.IH H5129

emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 5129 IH

1 retary of the Interior shall establish and implement a pro2 gram to authorize temporary permits for new recreational 

3 uses of Federal recreational lands and waters managed by 

4 the Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management, 

5 respectively, and to provide for the conversions of such 

6 temporary permits to long-term permits after 2 years of 

7 satisfactory operation. The issuance and conversion of 

8 such permits shall be subject to subsection (h)(3) of sec9 tion 803 of the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement 

10 Act (16 U.S.C. 6802). 

11 SEC. 8. INDEMNIFICATION REQUIREMENTS. 

12 (a) INDEMNIFICATION.—A permit holder that is pro13 hibited by the State from providing indemnification to the 

14 Federal Government shall be considered to be in compli15 ance with indemnification requirements of the Department 

16 of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture if the 

17 permit holder carries the required minimum amount of li18 ability insurance coverage or is self-insured for the same 

19 minimum amount. 

20 (b) EXCULPATORY AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary 

21 shall not implement, administer or enforce any regulation 

22 or policy prohibiting the use of exculpatory agreements be23 tween recreation service providers and their customers for 

24 services provided under a special recreation permit when 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 5129 IH

1 such agreements are enforceable pursuant to the law of 

2 the State in which the permitted services are provided. 

3 SEC. 9. STREAMLINING OF PERMITTING PROCESS. 

4 (a) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretaries shall 

6 revise part 251, subpart B, of title 36 Code of Federal 

7 Regulations, and subpart 2932, of title 43, Code of Fed8 eral Regulations to streamline the processes for the 

9 issuance and renewal of outfitter and guide special use 

10 permits. Such amended regulations shall— 

11 (1) shorten application processing times and 

12 minimize application and administration costs; and 

13 (2) provide for the use of programmatic envi14 ronmental assessments and categorical exclusions for 

15 environmental reviews under the National Environ16 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) 

17 for the issuance or renewal of outfitter and guide 

18 and similar recreation special use permits, to the 

19 maximum extent allowable under applicable law, in20 cluding, but not limited to, use of a categorical ex21 clusion for the issuance of a new special recreation 

22 permit for activities under paragraph (2)(B) of sub23 section (h) of section 803 of the Federal Lands 

24 Recreation Enhancement Act (16 U.S.C. 6802) that 

25 have been considered under previous analysis or that 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 5129 IH

1 are similar to existing uses or are not inconsistent 

2 with approved uses. 

3 (b) ONLINE APPLICATIONS.—To the maximum ex4 tent practicable, where feasible and efficient, the Secre5 taries shall make special recreation permit applications 

6 available to be filled out and submitted online. 

7 SEC. 10. COST RECOVERY REFORM. 

8 (a) REGULATORY PROCESS.—Not later than 180 

9 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secre10 taries shall revise section 251.58 of title 36, Code of Fed11 eral Regulations, and section 2932.31(e) and (f) of title 

12 43, Code of Federal Regulations, to reduce costs and mini13 mize the burden of cost recovery on small businesses and 

14 adverse impacts of cost recovery on jobs in the outfitting 

15 and guiding industry and on rural economies provided, 

16 however, that nothing in the revised regulations shall fur17 ther limit the Secretaries’ authority to issue or renew 

18 recreation special use permits. 

19 (b) DE MINIMIS EXEMPTION.— 

20 (1) COST RECOVERY LIMITATION.—Any regula21 tions issued by the Secretary of the Interior or the 

22 Secretary of Agriculture to establish fees to recover 

23 processing costs for recreation special use applica24 tions and monitoring costs for recreation special use 

25 authorizations shall include an exemption providing 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
12 

•HR 5129 IH

1 that at least the first 50 hours of work necessary in 

2 any one year to process and/or monitor such an ap3 plication shall not be subject to cost recovery. The 

4 application of a 50-hour credit per permit shall also 

5 apply to any monitoring fees on a per annum basis 

6 during the term of each permit. 

7 (2) APPLICATION OF EXEMPTION.—An exemp8 tion under paragraph (1) shall apply to the proc9 essing of each recreation special use permit applica10 tion and monitoring of each recreation special use 

11 authorization for which cost recovery is required, in12 cluding any application or authorization requiring 

13 more than 50 hours (or such other greater number 

14 of hours specified for exemption) to process or mon15 itor. In the event that the amount of work required 

16 to process such an application or monitor such an 

17 authorization exceeds the specified exemption, the 

18 amount of work for which cost recovery is required 

19 shall be reduced by the amount of the exemption. 

20 (3) MULTIPLE APPLICATIONS.—In situations 

21 involving multiple recreation special use applications 

22 for similar services in the same unit or area that re23 quire more than 50 hours (or such other greater 

24 number of hours specified for exemption) in the ag25 gregate to process, the Secretary shall, regardless of 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
13 

•HR 5129 IH

1 whether the applications are solicited or unsolicited 

2 and whether there is competitive interest— 

3 (A) determine the share of the aggregate 

4 amount to be allocated to each application, on 

5 an equal or prorated basis, as appropriate; and 

6 (B) for each application, apply a separate 

7 exemption of up to 50 hours (or such other 

8 greater number of hours specified for exemp9 tion) to the share allocated to such application. 

10 (4) COST REDUCTION.—The agency processing 

11 a recreation special use application shall utilize ex12 isting studies and analysis to the greatest extent 

13 practicable in order to reduce the amount of work 

14 and cost necessary to process the application. 

15 (5) LIMITATION.—The Secretary of the Interior 

16 and the Secretary of Agriculture may not recover as 

17 processing costs for recreation special use applica18 tions and monitoring costs for recreation special use 

19 authorizations any costs for consultations conducted 

20 under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 

21 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) or for biological monitoring 

22 on Federal recreational lands and waters under such 

23 Act for listed, proposed, or candidate species. 

24 (6) WAIVER OF COST RECOVERY.—The Sec25 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of AgriVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 May 05, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5129.IH H5129

emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
14 

•HR 5129 IH

1 culture may waive the recovery of costs for proc2 essing recreation special use permit applications and 

3 renewals, on a categorical or case-by-case basis as 

4 appropriate, if the Secretary determines that— 

5 (A) such costs would impose a significant 

6 economic burden on any small business or cat7 egory of small businesses; 

8 (B) such cost recovery could threaten the 

9 ability of an applicant or permittee to provide, 

10 in a particular area, a particular outdoor rec11 reational activity that is consistent with the 

12 public interest and with applicable resource 

13 management plans; or 

14 (C) prevailing economic conditions are un15 favorable, such as during economic recessions, 

16 or when drought, fire, or other natural disasters 

17 have depressed economic activity in the area of 

18 operation. 

19 SEC. 11. EXTENSION OF FOREST SERVICE RECREATION 

20 PRIORITY USE PERMITS. 

21 Where the holder of a special use permit for outfitting 

22 and guiding that authorizes priority use has submitted a 

23 request for renewal of such permit in accordance with ap24 plicable laws and regulations, the Secretary of Agriculture 

25 shall have the authority to grant the holder one or more 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
15 

•HR 5129 IH

1 extensions of the exiting permit for additional items not 

2 to exceed 5 years in the aggregate, as necessary to allow 

3 the Secretary to complete the renewal process and to avoid 

4 the interruption of services under such permit. Before 

5 granting an extension under this section, the Secretary 

6 shall take all reasonable and appropriate steps to complete 

7 the renewal process before the expiration of the special 

8 use permit. 

Æ 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS