II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2999 

To provide consistent enforcement authority to the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife 

Service, and the Forest Service to respond to violations of regulations 

regarding the management, use, and protection of public lands under 

the jurisdiction of these agencies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 4, 2010 

Mr. UDALL of Colorado introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide consistent enforcement authority to the Bureau 

of Land Management, the National Park Service, the 

United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Forest 

Service to respond to violations of regulations regarding 

the management, use, and protection of public lands 

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, 

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1 SECTION 1. CONSISTENT ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY RE2 GARDING NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM LANDS, 

3 NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS, AND 

4 OTHER PUBLIC LANDS. 

5 (a) LANDS UNDER JURISDICTION OF BUREAU OF

6 LAND MANAGEMENT.—Section 303(a) of the Federal 

7 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 

8 1733(a)) is amended— 

9 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(a)’’; 

10 (2) by striking the second sentence; and 

11 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

12 paragraphs: 

13 ‘‘(2) Any person who knowingly violates or fails 

14 to comply with any of the provisions of this Act or 

15 any regulation issued under this Act shall be guilty 

16 of a Class A misdemeanor, subject to fine as pro17 vided in section 3571 of title 18, United States 

18 Code, or imprisonment as provided in section 3581 

19 of that title, or both. 

20 ‘‘(3) Any person who otherwise violates or fails 

21 to comply with any of the provisions of this Act or 

22 any regulation issued under this Act shall be guilty 

23 of a Class B misdemeanor, subject to fine or impris24 onment, or both, as provided in such sections. A per25 son who violates any such provision or regulation 

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1 may also be adjudged to pay all costs of the pro2 ceedings.’’. 

3 (b) NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM LANDS.— 

4 (1) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 3 of the National 

5 Park Service Organic Act (16 U.S.C. 3) is amend6 ed— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘That the Secretary’’ the 

8 first place it appears and inserting ‘‘(a) REGU9 LATIONS FOR USE AND MANAGEMENT OF NA10 TIONAL PARK SYSTEM; ENFORCEMENT (1) The 

11 Secretary’’; 

12 (B) by striking ‘‘Service,’’ and all that fol13 lows through ‘‘proceedings.’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘Service.’’; and 

15 (C) by inserting after the first sentence the 

16 following new paragraphs: 

17 ‘‘(2) Any person who knowingly violates or fails 

18 to comply with any rule or regulation issued under 

19 this section shall be guilty of a Class A mis20 demeanor, subject to fine as provided in section 

21 3571 of title 18, United States Code, or imprison22 ment as provided in section 3581 of that title, or 

23 both. 

24 ‘‘(3) Any person who otherwise violates or fails 

25 to comply with any rule or regulation issued under 

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1 this section shall be guilty of a Class B mis2 demeanor, subject to fine or imprisonment, or both, 

3 as provided in such sections. A person who violates 

4 any such rule or regulation may also be adjudged to 

5 pay all costs of the proceedings.’’. 

6 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Such section 

7 is further amended— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘He may also’’ the first 

9 place it appears and inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AUTHORITIES.—The 

11 Secretary of the Interior may’’; 

12 (B) by striking ‘‘He may also’’ the second 

13 place it appears and inserting ‘‘The Secretary 

14 may’’; and 

15 (C) by striking ‘‘No natural,’’ and insert16 ing the following: 

17 ‘‘(c) LEASE AND PERMIT AUTHORITIES.—No nat18 ural’’. 

19 (c) NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE SYSTEM LANDS.— 

20 Section 4(f) of the National Wildlife Refuge System Ad21 ministration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd(f)) is amend22 ed— 

23 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘fined under 

24 title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned for not 

25 more than 1 year, or both.’’ and inserting ‘‘guilty of 

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1 a Class A misdemeanor, subject to fine as provided 

2 in section 3571 of title 18, United States Code, or 

3 imprisonment as provided in section 3581 of that 

4 title, or both. A person who violates any such provi5 sion or regulation may also be adjudged to pay all 

6 costs of the proceedings.’’; and 

7 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘fined under 

8 title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned not more 

9 than 180 days, or both.’’ and inserting ‘‘guilty of a 

10 Class B misdemeanor, subject to fine as provided in 

11 section 3571 of title 18, United States Code, or im12 prisonment as provided in section 3581 of that title, 

13 or both. A person who violates any such provision or 

14 regulation may also be adjudged to pay all costs of 

15 the proceedings.’’. 

16 (d) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS.—The elev17 enth undesignated paragraph under the heading ‘‘SUR18 VEYING THE PUBLIC LANDS’’ of the Act of June 4, 1897 

19 (16 U.S.C. 551), is amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 551. PROTECTION OF NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM 

21 LANDS; REGULATIONS. 

22 ‘‘(a) REGULATIONS FOR USE AND PROTECTION OF

23 NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.—The Secretary of Agri24 culture shall make provisions for the protection of the Na25 tional Forest System (as defined in section 11 of the Formstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with BILLS

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1 est and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 

2 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609)) against destruction by fire and 

3 depredations. The Secretary may issue such regulations 

4 and establish such service as will insure the objects of the 

5 National Forest System, namely, to regulate their occu6 pancy and use and to protect National Forest System 

7 lands from destruction. 

8 ‘‘(b) VIOLATIONS; PENALTIES.—(1) Any person who 

9 knowingly violates any regulation issued under subsection 

10 (a) shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor and shall 

11 be subject to a fine as provided in section 3571 of title 

12 18, United States Code, or imprisonment as provided in 

13 section 3581 of that title, or both. 

14 ‘‘(2) Any person who otherwise violates any regula15 tion issued under subsection (a) shall be guilty of a Class 

16 B misdemeanor and shall be subject to a fine as provided 

17 in section 3571 of title 18, United States Code, or impris18 onment as provided in section 3581 of that title, or both. 

19 ‘‘(3) A person who violates any regulation issued 

20 under subsection (a) may also be adjudged to pay all costs 

21 of the proceedings. 

22 ‘‘(c) PROCEDURE.—Any person charged with the vio23 lation of a regulation issued under subsection (a) may be 

24 tried and sentenced by any United States magistrate judge 

25 specially designated for that purpose by the court by which 

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1 the magistrate judge was appointed, in the same manner 

2 and subject to the same conditions as provided for in sub3 sections (b) through (e) of section 3401 of title 18, United 

4 States Code.’’. 

5 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF MINIMUM FINE FOR VIOLA6 TION OF PUBLIC LAND FIRE REGULATIONS 

7 DURING FIRE BAN. 

8 (a) LANDS UNDER JURISDICTION OF BUREAU OF

9 LAND MANAGEMENT.—Section 303(a) of the Federal 

10 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 

11 1733(a)), as amended by section 1(a), is further amended 

12 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(4) In the case of a regulation issued under 

14 this section regarding the use of fire by individuals 

15 on the public lands, if the violation of the regulation 

16 was the result of reckless conduct, occurred in an 

17 area subject to a complete ban on open fires, and re18 sulted in damage to public or private property, the 

19 fine may not be less than $500.’’. 

20 (b) NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM LANDS.—Subsection 

21 (a) of section 3 of the National Park Service Organic Act 

22 (16 U.S.C. 3), as designated and amended by section 1(b), 

23 is further amended by adding at the end the following new 

24 paragraph: 

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1 ‘‘(4) In the case of a rule or regulation issued 

2 under this subsection regarding the use of fire by in3 dividuals on such lands, if the violation of the rule 

4 or regulation was the result of reckless conduct, oc5 curred in an area subject to a complete ban on open 

6 fires, and resulted in damage to public or private 

7 property, the fine may not be less than $500.’’. 

8 (c) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS.—Subsection 

9 (b) of section 551 of the Act of June 4, 1897 (16 U.S.C. 

10 551), as designated and amended by section 1(d), which 

11 before such designation and amendment was the eleventh 

12 undesignated paragraph under the heading ‘‘SURVEYING

13 THE PUBLIC LANDS’’ of such Act, is further amended by 

14 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(4) In the case of a regulation issued under 

16 subsection (a) regarding the use of fire by individ17 uals on National Forest System lands, if the viola18 tion of the regulation was the result of reckless con19 duct, occurred in an area subject to a complete ban 

20 on open fires, and resulted in damage to public or 

21 private property, the fine may not be less than 

22 $500.’’. 

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