I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3824 
To reform oversight of law enforcement activities of the Forest Service and 
the Department of the Interior and to improve coordination and coopera-
tion with local law enforcement agencies, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 23, 2015 
Mr. HARDY 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 reform oversight of law enforcement activities of the 
Forest Service and the Department of the Interior and 
to improve coordination and cooperation with local law 
enforcement agencies, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Forest Service and 
Department of the Interior Law Enforcement Improve-
ment Act of 2015’’. 
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SEC. 2. MANAGEMENT OF FOREST SERVICE LAW ENFORCE-
MENT PERSONNEL. 
(a) RESPONSIBILITY OF REGIONAL FORESTER.—Ex-
cept in the case of law enforcement personnel described 
in subsection (b), the Regional Forester for a Forest Serv-
ice Region shall be responsible for all Forest Service law 
enforcement personnel assigned to that Region. The Re-
gional Forester may delegate this responsibility to Forest 
Supervisors and District Rangers as the Regional Forester 
considers appropriate and based on the capabilities of the 
line officer. 
(b) INVESTIGATIONS DIVISION.—The Chief of the 
Forest Service, acting through the Director of Law En-
forcement, shall remain responsible for the Investigations 
Division of Forest Service law enforcement. 
SEC. 3. FEDERAL LANDS LAW ENFORCEMENT REVIEW 
BOARDS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Agriculture, 
with respect to the Forest Service, and the Secretary of 
the Interior, with respect to the land management agen-
cies of the Department of the Interior, shall establish a 
Federal Lands Law Enforcement Review Board. 
(b) COMPOSITION.—Each Federal Lands Law En-
forcement Review Board shall be composed of seven mem-
bers as follows: 
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(d) ADDITIONAL BOARDS.—The Secretary of Agri-
culture, with respect to the Forest Service, and the Sec-
retary of the Interior, with respect to the land manage-
ment agencies of the Department of the Interior, may es-
tablish additional Federal Lands Law Enforcement Re-
view Boards at subordinate levels of the agency. 
SEC. 4. IMPROVED COORDINATION AND COOPERATION 
WITH LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES. 
(a) FOREST
SERVICE.—Public Law 92–82 (16 
U.S.C. 551a) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new sentence: ‘‘If a political subdivision of a State 
contains 25,000 acres or more of Federal land, all or a 
majority of which is National Forest System land, the Sec-
retary shall endeavor to develop a memorandum of under-
standing with the political subdivision to address the spe-
cific roles and coordination between Forest Service law en-
forcement personnel and local law enforcement.’’. 
(b) DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR.—If a political 
subdivision of a State contains 25,000 acres or more of 
Federal land, all or a majority of which is under the juris-
diction of a land management agency of the Department 
of the Interior, the Secretary of the Interior shall endeavor 
to develop a memorandum of understanding with the polit-
ical subdivision to address the specific roles and coordina-
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tion between Department law enforcement personnel and 
local law enforcement. 
Æ 
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