Title: Making Public Lands Public Act
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources

Summary:
Making Public Lands Public Act
This bill requires the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to ensure that a specified portion of the Land and Water Conservation Fund is made available each fiscal year for projects to: (1) maintain or increase public access to existing federal public land for hunting, fishing, or recreational shooting through the acquisition of rights-of-way or the acquisition of land through equal value land exchanges from willing owners; or (2) enhance, maintain, or restore access on existing roads, trails, or rights-of-way.
Interior and USDA must develop a priority list of such projects each year.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2950 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2950

To amend section 200303 of title 54, United States Code, to ensure that 
amounts are made available for projects to provide recreational public 
                    access, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 20, 2017

  Mr. Pearce introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend section 200303 of title 54, United States Code, to ensure that 
amounts are made available for projects to provide recreational public 
                    access, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Making Public Lands Public Act''.

SEC. 2. AVAILABILITY OF LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND FOR CERTAIN 
              PUBLIC ACCESS PROJECTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 200303 of title 54, United States Code, is 
amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 200303. Availability of funds for certain priority projects
    ``(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, 
the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall 
ensure that, of the amounts appropriated for the fund for each fiscal 
year, not less than the greater of 3 percent of the amounts or 
$20,000,000 shall be made available for projects identified on the 
priority list developed under subsection (b).
    ``(b) Priority List.--The Secretary of the Interior and the 
Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the head of each 
affected Federal agency, shall annually develop a priority list for 
projects related to Federal land under the jurisdiction of the 
applicable Secretary.
    ``(c) Criteria.--Projects identified on the priority list developed 
under subsection (b) shall--
            ``(1) maintain or increase public access to existing 
        Federal public land for hunting, fishing, or recreational 
        shooting through acquisition of rights-of-way or acquisition of 
        land (or any interest in land) through equal value land 
        exchanges from willing owners; or
            ``(2) enhance, maintain, or restore access on existing 
        roads, trails, or rights-of-way.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Land and water conservation fund act.--Chapter 2003 of 
        title 54, United States Code, is amended--
                    (A) in the first sentence of section 200308, by 
                striking ``by section 200303 of this title''; and
                    (B) in the third sentence of section 200309, by 
                striking ``by section 200303 of this title''.
            (2) Federal land transaction facilitation act.--Section 
        206(f)(2) of the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act (43 
        U.S.C. 2305(f)(2)) is amended by striking ``section 3 of the 
        Land and Water Conservation Fund Act (16 U.S.C. 460l-6)'' and 
        inserting ``chapter 2003 of title 54, United States Code''.
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