Sportsmen's Act

Bill: 113-s-1335
Sponsor: Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK]
Introduced: 2013-07-18 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Alaska
Alaska Natives and Hawaiians
Animal protection and human-animal relationships
Art, artists, authorship
Birds
Budget deficits and national debt
Canada
Congressional oversight
Endangered and threatened species
Firearms and explosives
Forests, forestry, trees
Government liability
Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
Hunting and fishing
Lakes and rivers
Land transfers
Land use and conservation
Licensing and registrations
Mammals
Outdoor recreation
Parks, recreation areas, trails
Solid waste and recycling
Television and film
Trade restrictions
User charges and fees
Water use and supply
Wetlands
Wilderness and natural areas, wildlife refuges, wild rivers, habitats
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2013-07-18
text: 
Sportsmen's Act - 
Title I: Recreational Shooting
 - Requires a federal public land management official, in cooperation with the respective state and fish and wildlife agency, to exercise the authority of the official under law, including regarding land use planning, to facilitate the use of, and access to, federal public land for hunting, recreational fishing, and recreational shooting, except as described in this Act.
 
Requires the heads of federal public land management agencies to exercise their discretion in a manner that supports and facilitates hunting, recreational fishing, and recreational shooting opportunities, to the extent authorized under applicable law.
 
Requires that Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service land, excluding land on the Outer Continental Shelf, be open to hunting, recreational fishing, or recreational shooting unless the managing agency acts to close lands to such activity. Permits closures or restrictions on such land for purposes including resource conservation, public safety, energy or mineral production, energy generation or transmission infrastructure, water supply facilities, national security, or compliance with other law.
 
Allows agencies to: (1) lease or permit use of federal public land for recreational shooting ranges, and (2) designate specific land for recreational shooting activities. Excepts from such use or designation land including a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System, land designated as a wilderness study area or administratively classified as wilderness eligible or suitable, and primitive or semiprimitive areas.
 
Requires annual reports on closures of federal public lands to hunting, recreational fishing, or recreational shooting. Sets forth requirements for specified closures or significant restrictions involving 1280 or more contiguous acres of federal public land or water to hunting or recreational fishing or related activities.
 
Instructs federal public land agencies to consult with the advisory councils specified in Executive Orders 12962 (relating to recreational fisheries) and 13443 (relating to the facilitation of hunting heritage and wildlife conservation) in carrying out this Act.
 
Requires the Secretary of the Interior to permit individuals carrying bows and crossbows to traverse the National Park System if the traverse is: (1) for the sole purpose of hunting on adjacent land, and (2) the most direct means of access to such adjacent land.
 
Prohibits the Secretary of the Army from promulgating or enforcing any regulation that prohibits an individual from possessing a firearm at a water resources development project administered by the Chief of Engineers if: (1) the individual is not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing the firearm, and (2) the possession of the firearm is in compliance with the law of the state in which the project is located.
 
Amends the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to direct the Secretary of the Interior to issue a permit for the importation of any polar bear part (other than an internal organ) from a polar bear taken in a sport hunt in Canada to any person who submits proof that the polar bear was legally harvested before May 15, 2008 (currently by February 18, 1997), when polar bears were listed as a threatened species by the Department of the Interior.
 
Amends the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to: (1) authorize a state to pay up to 90% of the costs of acquiring land for, expanding, or constructing a public target range; (2) authorize a state to elect to allocate 10% of a specified amount apportioned to it from the federal aid to wildlife restoration fund for such costs; (3) limit the federal share of such costs under such Act to 90%; and (4) require amounts provided for such costs under such Act to remain available for expenditure and obligation for five fiscal years.
 
Shields the United States from any civil action or claim for money damages for injury to or loss of property, personal injury, or death caused by an activity occurring at a public target range that is funded by the federal government pursuant to such Act or located on federal land, except to the extent provided under the Federal Tort Claims Act with respect to the exercise or performance of a discretionary function.
 
Urges the Chief of the Forest Service and the Director of BLM to cooperate with state and local authorities and other entities to carry out waste removal and other activities on any federal land used as a public target range to encourage its continued use for target practice or marksmanship training.
 

Title II: Duck Stamps
 - Amends the Fish and Wildlife Improvement Act of 1978 to exempt an authorized taking of migratory birds and collection of their eggs by indigenous inhabitants of Alaska from the prohibition on taking under the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp Act.
 
Grants the Secretary of the Interior permanent authority to authorize any state to issue electronic duck stamps. 
 
Sets forth state electronic duck stamp application requirements. 
 
Allows the Secretary to determine the number of new states permitted per year to participate in the electronic duck stamp program. 
 
Instructs the Secretary to require electronic stamp revenue and customer information collected by each state to be transmitted in accordance with a written agreement between the Secretary and the state.
 

Title III: Reauthorizations
 - Amends the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act (FLTFA) to reauthorize, until 15 years after this Act's enactment, the program for the completion of appraisals and satisfaction of other legal requirements for the sale or exchange of public land identified for disposal under approved land use plans under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. 
 
Requires 30% (currently all) of the gross proceeds of the sale or exchange of public land under such Act to be deposited in the Federal Land Disposal Account and 70% of such proceeds to be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury and used for federal budget deficit reduction.
 
Makes the FLTFA inapplicable to land eligible for sale under specified public land laws. 
 
Amends the North American Wetlands Conservation Act to extend through FY2017 the authorization of appropriations for allocations to carry out approved wetlands conservation projects.
 

Title IV: Miscellaneous
 - Amends the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to exclude from the definition of "chemical substance" for purposes of such Act: (1) any component of any pistol, revolver, firearm, shell, or cartridge the sale of which is subject to federal excise tax, including shot, bullets and other projectiles, propellants, and primers; and (2) any sport fishing equipment the sale of which is subject to federal excise tax and sport fishing equipment components. 
 
Requires the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA), for any film crew of five persons or fewer, to require a permit and assess an annual fee of $200 for commercial filming activities or similar projects on federal land and waterways administered by the Secretary. Makes such a permit valid for such activities or projects that occur in areas designated for public use during public hours on all federal land and waterways administered by the Secretary for a one-year period. Allows an applicable land management agency to deny access to a film crew if: (1) there is a likelihood of resource damage that cannot be mitigated, (2) there would be an unreasonable disruption of the public use and enjoyment of the site, (3) the activity poses public health or safety risks, and (4) the filming includes the use of models or props that are not part of the land's natural or cultural resources or administrative facilities.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-07-18
text: Introduced in the Senate. Read twice. Ordered Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 143.
action_date: 2013-07-18
text: Introduced in Senate