zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Federal Wildland Firefighter Recognition Act

 Requires the Office of Personnel Management to develop a separate and distinct wildland firefighter occupational series that more accurately reflects the variety of duties performed by such firefighters. Defines a "wildland firefighter" as a federal land management agency employee whose duties are primarily to perform work directly related to the prevention, control, suppression, and management of wildfires.

Date: 2015-07-29
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Government operations and politics
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park Boundary Adjustment Act of 2015

 (Sec. 3) This bill modifies the boundary of the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park in Georgia to include approximately eight acres identified as Wallis House and Harriston Hill.

 The Department of the Interior may acquire land or interests, by donation or exchange, from willing owners only.

Interior shall administer acquired lands and interests as part of the Park.

 The written consent of property owners is required before the land is included in the park. Interior may not acquire the land by condemnation.

Date: 2015-07-29
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Rural Economic Vitalization Act 

This bill authorizes the voluntary waiver of permits or leases for grazing on federal lands managed by the Department of Agriculture or the Department of the Interior.

If a permit or lease is waived by a permittee or lessee, the appropriate department must:

 accept and terminate the permit or lease, refrain from issuing any new grazing permit or lease within the grazing allotment covered by the permit or lease, and ensure a permanent end to livestock grazing on the allotment covered by the permit or lease. If an allotment covered by a waiver is also covered by another permit or lease that is not waived, the department must reduce the level of commercial livestock grazing on the allotment to reflect the waiver.

The departments must not accept more than 100 grazing permits and leases per year, in the aggregate, under this authority.

Date: 2015-07-29
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Southern Utah Open OHV Areas Act

This bill directs the Department of the Interior to convey specified land owned and managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Washington County, Utah, to the state of Utah in exchange for specified state lands.

Upon the conveyance of the nonfederal land to Interior, such land shall be used only: (1) as an open riding area for the use of off-highway vehicles; or (2) for any other public purpose consistent with uses allowed under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act.

Interior shall convey, without consideration, specified Open OHV Areas managed by the BLM to Washington County.

Interior shall convey to the county, without consideration, all right, title, and interest of the United States in and to the (Open OHV Areas) land managed by the BLM and identified as Hurricane Sand Dunes (NRA).

Such conveyed land shall be used only as: (1) an open riding area for the use of off-highway vehicles, or (2) for any other public purpose consistent with uses allowed under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act.

Date: 2015-09-18
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the House on February 24, 2016. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

(Sec. 1) This bill amends the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Improvement Act with respect to the prohibition against the use of Highway 209, a federally owned road within the boundaries of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in Pennsylvania, by certain commercial vehicles except as they serve businesses located within or in the vicinity of the Recreation Area.

The local business use exception to the prohibition is revised to permit, until September 30, 2020, the use of commercial vehicles with four or fewer axles that are: (1) owned and operated by a business located in the Recreation Area or one or more adjacent municipalities, or (2) necessary to provide services to businesses or persons located in the Recreation Area or one or more such municipalities.

The adjacent municipalities referred to are Delaware Township, Dingman Township, Lehman Township, Matamoras Borough, Middle Smithfield Township, Milford Borough, Milford Township, Smithfield Township, and Westfall Township in Pennsylvania.

The Department of the Interior shall establish a fee and permit program for the use of Highway 209 by commercial vehicles, including an annual fee of up to $200 per vehicle. All fees received shall be set aside in a special account and be available for the administration and enforcement of the program, including registering vehicles, issuing permits and vehicle identification stickers, and personnel costs.

The following vehicles may use Highway 209 without a fee or permit requirement:

 local school buses; fire, ambulance, and other safety and emergency vehicles; and commercial vehicles along specified segments of the highway.

Date: 2015-09-28
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
State National Forest Management Act of 2015

This bill directs the Department of Agriculture, through the Forest Service, to convey to a state up to 2 million acres of eligible portions of the National Forest System (NFS) in it that it elects to acquire through enactment by the state legislature of a bill meeting certain criteria.

Portions of the NFS conveyed to a state shall be administered and managed primarily for timber production.

Date: 2015-09-29
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
California Minerals, Off-Road Recreation, and Conservation Act

Specified off-highway vehicle recreation areas are designated or expanded in San Bernardino County, California.

Certain wilderness areas in California are also designated or expanded, and specified study areas released from further study.

The boundaries of Death Valley National Park and Mojave National Preserve are revised.

 The California Desert Protection Act of 1994 is amended to revise the boundaries of Joshua Tree National Park and authorize a visitor center.

The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act is revised to designate certain wild, scenic, and recreational rivers in California.

There are established the Black Lava Butte and Flat Top Mesa Area of Critical Environmental Concern, the Mojave Trails Special Management Area, and the Sand to Snow National Monument

Federal reversionary interests in certain land in the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California are released.

Certain requirements of the California Desert Protection Act of 1994 for specified California state school land are revised.

Development of renewable energy generation facilities on Juniper Flats is prohibited.

Specified land exchanges are authorized in the San Gorgonio Wilderness and other specified areas.

Requirements are prescribed for conveyance of certain federal lands for the Apple Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area and to the city of Twentynine Palms, California.

The Department of the Interior shall ensure that members of specified Indian tribes have access to designated areas for traditional cultural and religious purposes.

Interior may accept landowner-requested deed restrictions on land donated to or acquired by the United States or, consistent with existing rights, create deed restrictions, easements, or other third-party rights relating to any public land necessary to fulfill certain mitigation requirements or to satisfy the conditions of a habitat conservation plan or general conservation plan.

No extension or establishment of any national monument that would include any designated area may be undertaken by the President except by express authorization of Congress.

A project to install and operate a fiberoptic cable by Inyo County, California, along a certain route shall be eligible for a categorical exclusion from requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.

Date: 2015-10-01
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Forest Service and Department of the Interior Law Enforcement Improvement Act of 2015

This bill makes a Regional Forester for a Forest Service region responsible for all Forest Service law enforcement personnel assigned to that Region. The Chief of the Forest Service, however, acting through the Director of Law Enforcement, shall remain responsible for the Investigations Division.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA), with respect to the Forest Service, and the Department of the Interior, with respect to its land management agencies, shall establish a Federal Lands Law Enforcement Review Board to review and make recommendations regarding:

 law enforcement incidents of concern involving agency law enforcement personnel, proposed changes to agency law enforcement policy, the cooperative law enforcement program, and training of agency law enforcement personnel. If a political subdivision of a state contains 25,000 acres or more of federal land, all or a majority of which is either National Forest System land or land under Interior jurisdiction, USDA or Interior, as appropriate, shall try to develop a memorandum of understanding with that political subdivision to address the specific roles and coordination between Forest Service or Interior law enforcement personnel and local law enforcement.

Date: 2015-10-23
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the House on April 21, 2016. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Mount Hood Cooper Spur Land Exchange Clarification Act

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to revise details of the Cooper Spur-Government Camp land exchange between the United States and Oregon.

After the final appraised value of the federal and nonfederal lands is determined and approved by Department of Agriculture (USDA), the USDA shall not be required to reappraise or update that value for a period of up to three years, unless the condition of any of the lands is significantly and substantially altered by fire, windstorm, or other events.

The bill expresses the intent of Congress that the land exchange be completed within one year of this Act's enactment.

The bill revises conveyance conditions regarding reservation of a conservation easement to protect identified wetland, reservation of a nonexclusive trail easement, and equalization of values of the exchange properties.

Date: 2015-10-23
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Black Hills National Cemetery Boundary Expansion Act

(Sec. 2) This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to: (1) complete environmental, cultural resource, and other due diligence activities on certain public land to confirm its suitability for inclusion in the Black Hills National Cemetery, South Dakota; and (2) notify the Department of the Interior of such activities.

After completion of such activities and upon receipt by Interior of written confirmation of suitability from the VA, the land shall: (1) be withdrawn from all forms of appropriation under the public land laws, including the mining laws, the mineral leasing laws, and the geothermal leasing laws, for as long as it remains under VA administrative jurisdiction; (2) be deemed property; and (3) be transferred to the VA for use as national cemeteries. (Sec. 3) Interior shall publish a notice containing the legal descriptions of such transferred land.

 The VA shall reimburse Interior for reasonable transfer costs, including survey costs.

(Sec. 4) Upon a determination by the VA that all or a portion of such transferred land shall not be used for cemetery purposes, the VA shall: (1) notify Interior and transfer jurisdiction of the land back to Interior, and (2) be responsible for any decontamination costs necessary for restoration of the lands to the public lands.

Date: 2015-10-27
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Bureau of Land Management Foundation Act

(Sec. 3) This bill establishes the Bureau of Land Management Foundation as a charitable, nonprofit organization to encourage, accept, obtain, administer, and use private gifts of money, devises, and bequests of real and personal property for the benefit of, or in connection with, the activities and services of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

The foundation shall conduct and encourage programs and activities that support:

 educational, technical, scientific, and other assistance or activities to support the management of BLM lands with regard to wild free-roaming horses and burros, fish and wildlife and their habitats, National Conservation Lands, and recreation, cultural, and historic resources; and activities that support the reclamation and remediation of specified abandoned mine lands, specified orphaned oil and gas well sites, or public lands impacted by development connected to mineral exploration and development activities. Reclamation activities are to include the remediation of soil and water contamination; the restoration of wildlife habitat in order to restore the natural, scenic, historic, cultural, and ecological values of those areas; or promotion of the areas' economic potential.

Date: 2015-10-28
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Cooperative Management of Mineral Rights Act of 2016

This bill repeals requirements of the Mineral Leasing Act and the Energy Policy Act of 1992 regarding the development of oil and gas deposits on certain lands within the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania.

Nothing in this bill shall be construed or interpreted as:

 limiting, modifying, or otherwise affecting the existing requirement to provide in writing 60-day advance notice of specific activities in accordance with the order dated December 16, 1980, in the case of United States of America v. Minard Run Oil Company; or limiting existing authority of the Forest Service to protect the national forests.

Date: 2015-11-03
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Santa Ana River Wash Plan Land Exchange Act

This bill directs the Department of the Interior to: (1) quitclaim to the San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District in California approximately 327 acres of identified federal land administered by the Bureau of Land Management, and (2) in exchange for such land accept from the Conservation District a conveyance of approximately 310 acres of its land.

Date: 2015-11-17
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Gulf Islands National Seashore Land Exchange Act of 2016

(Sec. 2) This bill authorizes the Department of the Interior, through the National Park Service, to convey to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5699 approximately 1.542 acres of real property located within the Gulf Islands National Seashore in Jackson County, Mississippi, in exchange for a parcel of 2.161 acres.

The values of the parcels of real property to be exchanged shall be equal, as determined by an appraisal conducted:

 by a qualified and independent appraiser, and in accordance with nationally recognized appraisal standards. If the values of such parcels of real property are not equal, their values shall be equalized through:

 a cash payment, or adjustments to their acreage. Interior shall require the Post to cover Interior's costs to carry out the land exchange or to reimburse Interior for them. If Interior collects amounts from the Post in advance of incurring the actual costs, it shall refund to the Post any amount in excess of those costs.

The bill subjects the exchange to valid existing rights.

Land and interests acquired by the United States by this bill shall be administered as part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore.

Interior shall modify the boundaries of the Gulf Islands National Seashore to reflect such land exchange upon its completion.

Date: 2015-11-19
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Abandoned Mine Reclamation Safety Act

This bill directs the Department of the Interior to promulgate regulations for the safe and environmentally responsible reopening of abandoned mines in order to facilitate the cleanup or remediation of conditions at them.

Such regulations shall:

 apply to both coal and noncoal mines; ensure that an abandoned mine is reopened in a manner that protects the safety of workers involved in the reopening, and minimizes the risk of a blowout or other uncontrolled release of water into the environment; require development of emergency response and notification plans before reopening any abandoned mine that poses a risk of such an uncontrolled release of water; provide for the long-term care and maintenance of hardrock mine bulkheads; require approval of reopening plans by a professional engineer; and incorporate recommendations from the Bureau of Reclamation report titled "Technical Evaluation of the Gold King Mine Incident San Juan County, Colorado," and dated October 2015. Interior may seek to arrange with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to study best practices for reopening abandoned mines in order to facilitate cleanup or remediation, and recommend related regulatory and legislative action.

Interior shall initiate a program to identify and regularly monitor known surface and underground abandoned mine sites and features posing the highest risk of an inadvertent release of water into the environment.

Date: 2016-01-06
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Revitalizing the Economy of Coal Communities by Leveraging Local Activities and Investing More Act of 2016 or the RECLAIM Act of 2016

This bill amends the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to make specified funds available to the Department of the Interior for each of FY2017-FY2021 for distribution to states and Indian tribes to promote economic revitalization, diversification, and development in economically distressed communities through the reclamation and restoration of land and water resources adversely affected by coal mining carried out before August 3, 1977.

The bill prescribes general requirements for projects to reclaim abandoned mine lands and waters that are likely to create favorable conditions for the economic development of the project site or promote the general welfare through economic and community development of the area in which the project is conducted. Any such project shall be located in a community affected by a recent decline in mining.

A state or Indian tribe that receives funds under this bill may retain a portion of them as necessary to supplement its acid mine drainage abatement and treatment fund for future operation and maintenance costs for the treatment of acid mine drainage associated with individual projects.

Date: 2016-02-03
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Energy
Cottonwood Land Exchange Act of 2016

This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA), if Yavapai County in Arizona offers to convey to the USDA 369 acres of specified nonfederal land in the county, to accept the offer and convey to Yavapai County 80 acres of specified federal land within the Coconino National Forest in the county.

The USDA shall determine the values of the lands to be exchanged through appraisals following specified requirements. The values shall be equal, or if they are not equal, equalized as prescribed by this bill.

Lands acquired by the USDA under this bill shall become part of the Coconino National Forest.

Date: 2016-02-04
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Bureau of Land Management Foundation Act

This bill establishes a Bureau of Land Management Foundation as a charitable, nonprofit corporation to:

 encourage, accept, and administer private gifts of money and of real and personal property for the benefit of, or in connection with the activities and services of, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM); conduct activities that further the purposes for which public lands are administered; and conduct and encourage educational, technical, scientific, and other assistance or activities that support the BLM's mission.

Date: 2016-02-09
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Soledad Canyon Consistency Act

This bill withdraws 640.16 acres of the Soledad Canyon Sand & Gravel Mining Project Site (California) from:

 entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws; location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and operation of the mineral leasing, mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws.

Date: 2016-02-12
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Utah Test and Training Range Encroachment Prevention and Temporary Closure Act

This bill directs the Departments of the Interior and the Air Force to enter into a memorandum of agreement for the continued management by Interior of approximately 625,643 acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land in Utah in a manner that provides for its limited use by the Air Force.

Under such Agreement the BLM shall continue to manage the BLM land, subject to use by the Air Force for:

 the preservation of the Utah Test and Training Range against encroachments incompatible with test and training requirements; the testing of advanced weapons systems, including hypersonic weapons, and the standoff distance for weapons; increased public safety for civilians accessing the BLM land; and other purposes related to meeting national security needs. If military operations, public safety, or national security require the temporary closure of the use of roads, trails, or other portions of the BLM land to the public, the Air Force may take necessary action to carry out such closure.

The bill establishes the Utah Test and Training Range Community Resource Group to give input to Interior and the Air Force on matters involving public access to, use of, and management of the BLM land.

Interior shall convey to the state of Utah, through the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration in Utah, BLM land in Box Elder, Millard, Juab, Tooele, and Beaver Counties, Utah, in exchange for non-federal land owned by Utah in Box Elder, Juab, and Tooele Counties. Upon conveyance, the non-federal land located: (1) within the Utah Test and Training Range shall be managed according to the memorandum of agreement, and (2) within the Cedar Mountains Wilderness shall be added to and administered as part of such Wilderness.

Interior, respecting BLM land, and the Department of Agriculture, respecting Forest Service land, shall convey to Utah and to Box Elder, Juab, and Tooele Counties separate easements for motorized travel rights of way across the federal land for all Class B and Class D R.S. 2477 roads.

Date: 2016-02-12
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
This bill transfers, upon the request of the city of Flagstaff, Arizona, and the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company, to a specified parcel of land conveyed to the company any reversionary interest of the United States in and to a specified parcel of land conveyed to the city.

Date: 2016-02-24
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the House on November 14, 2016. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Outdoor Recreation Jobs and Economic Impact Act of 2016

(Sec. 2) This bill directs the Department of Commerce to enter into a joint memorandum with the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior to conduct, acting through the Bureau of Economic Analysis, an assessment and analysis of the outdoor recreation economy of the United States and the effects attributable to it on the overall U.S. economy.

In conducting the assessment, Commerce: (1) may consider employment, sales, contributions to travel and tourism, and other appropriate contributing components of the outdoor recreation economy; and (2) must consult with specified federal agency heads and representatives of businesses, including small business concerns, that engage in commerce in the outdoor recreation economy.

No additional funds are authorized to carry out the requirements of this bill. Such requirements shall be carried out using amounts otherwise authorized.

Date: 2016-03-02
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Commerce
Mojave National Preserve Boundary Adjustment Act of 2016

This bill directs the Department of the Interior to transfer administrative jurisdiction over 520 acres of federal land from the National Park Service to the Bureau of Land Management. Interior may acquire by donation up to four acres of land identified in the land protection plan of the Mojave National Preserve as suitable for acquisition to be used for mitigation for every one acre of land removed from the Preserve.

 The acquired land shall become part of the Preserve.

 Interior shall permit cattle grazing on the acquired land according to National Park Service laws and policies.

Date: 2016-03-02
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Douglas County Economic Development and Conservation Act of 2016

This bill directs the Forest Service to convey approximately 67 acres of certain Forest Service land (Lake Tahoe-Nevada State Park) to the state of Nevada for the conservation of wildlife or natural resources or for a public park. Subject to the agreement of the permit holder, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) shall include in the permit for operation of the Zephyr Cove Resort the approximately 44.7 acres of National Forest System land identified as the Zephyr Shoals.

 The Forest Service, for National Forest System land, and the Department of Interior, for land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), shall convey approximately 7,951 acres of specified federal land to Douglas County, Nevada, for flood control or any other public purpose.

USDA shall implement a cooperative management agreement for the approximately 13 acres of land identified as the Tahoe Rim Trail North Parcel to: (1) improve the quality of recreation access to such land by providing additional amenities agreed to by the parties to the agreement, and (2) conserve the natural resource values of the land.

 The Forest Service or Interior, as appropriate, shall conduct one or more sales of specified federal lands in the county to qualified bidders, with the option for the state or county to obtain the land for public purposes before the land is offered for sale.

All U.S. interest in the approximately 1,011acres of certain federal land and certain land administered by the BLM or Forest Service (Section 5 lands) shall be held in trust for the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, and become part of the Tribe's reservation. Certain gaming cannot be conducted on such land. The bill designates approximately 12,330 acres of specified federal land managed by the BLM, to be known as the Burbank Canyons Wilderness, as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System. The bill also releases the approximately 1,065 acres of public land in the Burbank Canyons Wilderness study area not designated as wilderness by this Act from further study for designation as wilderness. USDA may transfer from the Forest Service to Nevada or Douglas County, in coordination with the local forest unit, certain lands or interests in Forest Service land which are unsuitable for Forest Service administration.

Date: 2016-03-03
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Local Enforcement for Local Lands Act of 2016

This bill declares that, by September 30, 2017, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) shall terminate the Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations unit and cease using Forest Service employees to perform law enforcement functions on federal lands.

Also by such date, the Department of the Interior shall terminate the Bureau of Land Management Office of Law Enforcement and cease using Interior employees to perform law enforcement functions on federal lands.

Nothing in this Act shall be construed as limiting the authority of Interior or USDA to authorize an employee of the Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management to carry a firearm for protection while in the field.

For FY2018 and each fiscal year thereafter, Interior shall make a grant to each state, determined according to a specified formula, to permit the state, directly or through subgrants with units of local government in it, to maintain law and order on federal land, protect individuals and property on federal lands, and enforce federal law.

Any state or local government receiving the grant or subgrant shall enter into an agreement with Interior or USDA, as appropriate.

In any such agreement Interior or USDA must waive all civil claims against the state or local government, and indemnify that government and save it harmless from all claims by third parties for property damage or personal injury that may arise out of law enforcement functions performed under the agreement.

A law enforcement officer of a state or local government performing law enforcement functions pursuant to such an agreement shall not, except in certain circumstances, be deemed a federal employee with respect to hours of work, compensation rates, leave, unemployment compensation, and federal benefits, among other things.

Date: 2016-03-16
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
RPPA Commercial Recreation Concessions Pilot Program Act of 2016

This bill amends the Recreation and Public Purposes Act to direct the Department of the Interior to establish a pilot program that authorizes commercial recreation concessions on land patented or leased under the Act. Interior shall enter into at least 10 agreements with parties to whom such land has been patented or leased for the establishment of these concessions.

A party to such an agreement may enter into agreements with third parties to establish such concessions.

Date: 2016-03-17
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Recreation Not Red-Tape Act

This bill amends the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act to require the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Forest Service to adopt a consistent and uniform special recreation permitting process with respect to outfitters and guides.

The Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) shall sell National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Passes entrance and recreation fees through federal websites.

Interior and USDA should:

 work with the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure that veterans have access to outdoor programs, and increase programs focused on improving education about and access to outdoor recreation opportunities on public lands for individuals age 55 or older. Interior and USDA shall make available, free of charge, a certain quantity of America the Beautiful passes for use by specified schools or their students and their families.

Interior and USDA shall study the overall impact that recreation on federal recreational land and water has on the U.S. economy and labor market.

The Forest Service, BLM, and National Park Service may develop respective management plans for extending the recreation season or increasing recreation use during the offseason.

The Forest Service and BLM shall include metrics on recreation use in specified evaluations of lands under their jurisdictions.

The Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shall consider how land and water management decisions can enhance recreation opportunities and the recreation economy.

The bill amends the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996 to prescribe requirements for deposit, administration, and distribution of revenues collected from rental charges for certain ski area permits issued on National Forest System lands.

The bill establishes: (1) a National Recreation Area System, (2) a private sector volunteer enhancement program, and (3) a priority trail maintenance program.

Interior and USDA shall establish an interagency trail management plan under which federal land management agencies shall coordinate so that trails that cross jurisdictional boundaries between those agencies are uniformly managed and maintained.

The Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 is amended to conform to this Act.

Date: 2016-03-17
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
This bill transfers administrative jurisdiction over:

 0.342 acres of federal land within the boundary of the George Washington Memorial Parkway from the Department of the Interior to the Department of Transportation (DOT), and from DOT to Interior 0.479 acres of federal land within the boundary of the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center of the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) adjacent to the Parkway. Interior shall prohibit the storage, construction, or installation of any items that may interfere with access by the Research Center to certain restricted land within the Parkway boundary for security and maintenance purposes.

The transfers of administrative jurisdiction under this bill shall not be subject to reimbursement or consideration.

The National Park Service and the FHA shall comply with the agreement they entered into on September 11, 2002, regarding the transfer of administrative jurisdiction, management, and maintenance of the land specified in it.

Subject to the terms of such agreement, Interior shall allow the Research Center to access specified acreage of the federal land transferred to Interior for purposes of transportation to and from the Research Center and for maintenance of its visual appearance.

The Research Center shall maintain the restricted land.

Date: 2016-04-21
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
21st Century Conservation Service Corps Act of 2016

This bill establishes a 21st Century Conservation Service Corps (21CSC) that provides work and training opportunities for youth and veterans in certain federal agencies. Work and training provided in 21CSC must involve:

 protecting, restoring, and enhancing natural, cultural, and historical resources and treasures, including public and tribal land or water; supporting outdoor recreation and urban green spaces; restoring and safeguarding U.S. natural resources; or service that is primarily indoors with a clear benefit for natural, cultural, or historic resources or treasures. Participating federal agencies may develop public-private partnerships with organizations to support and carry out 21CSC projects.

Participating federal agencies must compensate 21CSC participants with a wage, a stipend, a living allowance, or an educational credit at a participating institution of higher education.

Participating federal agencies must also provide participants with: (1) job skill development; (2) community skill development to help participants acquire an ethic of service to others and become more effective resource and community stewards; and (3) a greater understanding of U.S. natural, cultural, or historic resources or treasures.

Date: 2016-04-28
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Guides and Outfitters Act or the GO Act

This bill amends the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act to specify the circumstances in which the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) may: (1) issue special recreation permits for federal recreational lands and waters, and (2) charge a special recreation permit fee for them.

Interior and USDA may issue special recreation permits:

 for specialized individual and group use of federal facilities and federal recreational lands and waters; to recreation service providers who conduct outfitting, guiding, and other recreation services on federal recreational lands and waters; and to recreation service providers who conduct recreation or competitive events, which may involve incidental sales on federal recreational lands and waters. Interior and USDA shall issue joint permits for the use of lands managed by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

Interior shall publish guidelines for establishing recreation permit fees.

Revenues from special recreation permits issued to recreation service providers shall be used to: (1) offset partially Interior's direct cost of administering permits, and (2) improve and streamline the permitting process.

When reviewing and adjusting allocations for the use of priority use permits for special uses of federal recreational lands and water managed by the Forest Service USDA shall allocate to the permit holder a prescribed amount subject to a cap.

USDA and Interior shall implement a program that authorizes temporary permits for new recreational uses of federal recreational lands and waters managed by the Forest Service or the BLM, respectively.

A permit holder prohibited by a state from indemnifying the federal government shall be considered to be in compliance with Interior and USDA indemnification requirements if the permit holder carries the required minimum amount of liability insurance coverage or is self-insured for the same minimum amount.

Interior and USDA shall revise certain:

 special land use and special recreation permit regulations to streamline the processes for the issuance and renewal of outfitter and guide special use permits, and cost recovery fee regulations to reduce costs and minimize the burden of cost recovery on small businesses and adverse impacts of cost recovery on jobs in the outfitting and guiding industry and on rural economies. If a holder of a special use permit for outfitting and guiding that authorizes priority use has requested renewal of the permit, USDA may grant one or more exiting permit extensions for additional items for up to five years altogether, as necessary to allow completion of the renewal process and avoid the interruption of services under the permit.

Date: 2016-04-29
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Crooked River Ranch Fire Protection Act

This bill requires the Department of the Interior to adjust the eastern boundary of the Whychus-Deschutes Wilderness Study Area in Oregon to exclude approximately 832 acres, as depicted on the map entitled "Whychus-Deschutes Wilderness Study Area" dated December 2015, to facilitate fire prevention and response activities on the excluded public lands and adjacent private property.

Date: 2016-04-29
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Certainty for States and Tribes Act

(Sec. 2)This bill directs the Department of the Interior to reestablish the Royalty Policy Committee, which must include members representing states and Indian tribes who produce minerals on federal or tribal land. In addition, Interior must establish a State and Tribal Resources Board, a subcommittee of the Royalty Policy Committee.

(Sec. 3)The board and committee must advise Interior as it formulates policies and regulations regarding mineral production on federal and tribal lands. Interior must delay issuing a final regulation for 180 days if the board determines that such regulation will have a negative state or tribal budgetary or economic impact.

(Sec. 4)The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) must complete by January 15, 2019, its programmatic review of the federal coal leasing program as described in Secretarial Order 3338, dated January 15, 2016. Secretarial Order 3338 directed the BLM to prepare a discretionary review of the federal coal program.

The moratorium on the issuance of new federal coal leasesby the BLMshall terminate on January 16, 2019.Additionally, the bill allows leases and modifications to be issued by the BLM for any coalleasing application currently under review. Secretarial Order 3338 prohibited approval of such leases and modifications.

(Sec. 6)The bill also directs the BLM toconduct federal coal lease sales and modifications within one year after it completes an environmental analysis of anapplication.

Date: 2016-05-17
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Energy
Finger Lakes National Heritage Area Study Act

This bill directs the Department of the Interior to assess the suitability and feasibility of designating specified counties and other areas in the state of New York as the Finger Lakes National Heritage Area.

Date: 2016-05-26
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Daniel J. Evans Olympic National Park Wilderness Act

This bill amends the Washington Park Wilderness Act of 1988 to redesignate the Olympic Wilderness as the "Daniel J. Evans Wilderness."

Date: 2016-06-07
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Rim of the Valley Corridor Preservation Act

This bill adjusts the boundary of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in California as depicted on a specified map to include the Rim of the Valley Unit.

The Rim of the Valley Unit, and any lands or interests acquired by the United States and located within its boundaries, shall be administered as part of the Recreation Area.

The Department of the Interior may acquire only through exchange, donation, or purchase from a willing seller any nonfederal land within the boundaries of the Rim of the Valley Unit.

Nothing in this bill authorizes the use of eminent domain to acquire lands or interests.

Date: 2016-06-14
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Udall Park Land Exchange Completion Act of 2016

This bill directs the Department of the Interior to convey, without consideration, to the city of Tucson, Arizona, the reversionary interest of the United States in and to an approximately 172.8-acre parcel of land owned by the city for the purpose of unencumbering the title to such land to enable its economic development.

Date: 2016-06-16
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Great Bend of the Gila National Monument Establishment Act

This bill establishes the Great Bend of the Gila National Monument in Arizona.

 The Department of the Interior shall manage the Monument as part of the National Landscape Conservation System to maintain its undeveloped character and to protect and restore its cultural resources, species, and ecosystems.

 Interior shall conduct an inventory of invasive plant species in the Monument.

 Interior may carry out vegetation management treatments within the Monument, including efforts to control salt cedar and other invasive plant species.

The bill permits grazing within the Monument where it is already established.

 Interior shall develop a management plan for the Monument in government-to-government consultation with Indian tribes having a cultural or historic tie to the Great Bend of the Gila.

 The Monument may continue to be used by tribe members for traditional ceremonies and as a source of traditional plants and other materials.

 Interior shall allow scientific research within the Monument, including research for the preservation of its historic and cultural resources.

 Interior may conduct, or authorize other persons to conduct, research regarding the effects of climate change on the Monument's resources.

The bill prohibits renewable energy and transmission development projects in the Monument.

Interior shall establish the Great Bend of the Gila National Monument Advisory Council to advise on the management plan and salt cedar/tamarisk removal.

Date: 2016-06-22
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
This bill amends the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act to direct the Departments of Agriculture (with respect to the Forest Service) and of the Interior (with respect to other federal land management agencies) to arrange for any U.S. citizen or domiciliary age 17 or younger (and for accompanying family members) to be given free admission to federal recreational lands or waters on his or her birthday upon proof of age and citizenship or residency.

Date: 2016-06-22
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Western Colorado Wilderness Study Area Release Act

This bill releases the following areas in Colorado from further review for designation as wilderness: (1) any public lands in the North Sand Hills Instant Study Area, (2) any portions of the Dominguez Canyon Wilderness Study Area within the Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area not designated as wilderness, and (3) any portions of the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness Study Area within the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area not designated as wilderness.

The bill states that in areas in which the Colorado River is used as a reference for defining the boundary of McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area, the boundary shall: (1) be located at the edge of the river, and (2) change according to the river's level.

The bill prohibits the inclusion of any portion of the Colorado River, regardless of its level, within the conservation area.

The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 is amended to authorize the Department of the Interior to enter into land exchanges within the conservation area which would enhance the values for which it was established.

Date: 2016-06-22
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Tulare Youth Recreation and Women's History Enhancement Act

This bill declares that, in order to promote recreational opportunities for youth and commemorate women's history in the city of Tulare, California, the United States authorizes the conveyance of, and relinquishes its reversionary interest in, specified Tulare Railroad Proposed Parcels that were retained as a right-of-way for the construction of a railroad and telegraph to the Pacific coast in 1866.

The relinquishment of the U.S. reversionary interest shall be effective when Union Pacific Railroad conveys the parcels to the city of Tulare.

Date: 2016-07-01
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Shiras Moose Protection and Recovery Act

This bill allows a state to take management actions on covered federal lands within its boundaries to stem the population decline of the Shiras Moose if a portion of the state is within the range of the moose, including by formulating a recovery plan that mitigates the population decline.

Upon request, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) must provide funding for state implementation of a plan from funds appropriated to the USFWS for implementing its Northern Rocky Mountain Gray Wolf Recovery Plan and any of its other gray wolf recovery or monitoring plans.

Utah and Colorado may manage Shiras Moose and their predators on federal, state, and private lands to prevent declines in moose populations within their respective state. They must collect, analyze, and disseminate data on the results of such management.

The Department of the Interior must issue as a final rule the draft rule entitled, "Removing the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) From the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Maintaining Protections for the Mexican Wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) by Listing It as Endangered," as published on June 13, 2013.

The bill exempts the requirements and implementation of this bill from judicial review.

Date: 2016-07-13
Topic: Public Lands (Public Lands)
Subject: Animals