[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2115 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2115

 To protect and enhance sportsmen's opportunities and conservation of 
                   wildlife, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 24, 1996

  Mr. Shelby introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To protect and enhance sportsmen's opportunities and conservation of 
                   wildlife, 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 ``Sportsmen's Bill of Rights Act of 
1996''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS POLICY.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) fishing is an important and traditional recreational 
        activity in which 36,000,000 Americans 16-years-old and older 
        participate;
            (2) hunting is an important and traditional recreational 
        activity in which 14,000,000 Americans 16-years-old and older 
        participate;
            (3) survey data from a recent comprehensive 3-year study 
        entitled ``Factors Related to Hunting and Fishing Participation 
        in the United States'' suggest that 95 percent of Americans 
        agreed fishing should remain legal and 81 percent agreed 
        hunting should remain legal;
            (4) anglers and hunters have been and continue to be among 
        the foremost supporters of sound wildlife management and 
        conservation practices in the United States;
            (5) persons who hunt or fish and organizations related to 
        those activities provide direct assistance to wildlife managers 
        and enforcement officers of Federal, State, and local 
        Governments;
            (6) funds raised through license, permit, and stamp 
        purchases as well as through excise taxes on goods used by 
        anglers and hunters have generated more than $6,000,000,000 for 
        wildlife research and management; and
            (7) fishing and hunting are essential components of 
        effective wildlife management in that they tend to reduce 
        conflicts between people and wildlife and by providing 
        incentives for the conservation of wildlife and the habitats 
        and ecosystems on which wildlife depends.
    (b) Policy.--It is the policy of the United States that each 
Federal agency that manages a natural resource or the land and water on 
which a natural resource depends shall support, promote, and enhance 
opportunities for fishing and hunting.

SEC. 3. TAKING OF FISH AND WILDLIFE ON FEDERAL LANDS.

    (a) In General.--Federal land shall be open to access and for use 
for fishing and hunting unless--
            (1) the responsible agency of the State in which the 
        Federal land is located limits access to and use of the land as 
        part of wildlife management by the State; or
            (2) the Federal agency responsible for Federal public land 
        limits access and use--
                    (A) for reasons of national security; or
                    (B) for reasons related to specific statutory 
                requirements regarding the management and use of the 
                land, if the requirements are clearly and directly 
                incompatible with fishing or hunting.
    (b) No Priority.--This section does not require a Federal agency to 
give preference to fishing or hunting over other uses of Federal land 
or land management priorities established in Federal law.
    (c) Authority of the States.--
            (1) In general.--Nothing in this Act impairs the primacy of 
        State authority in regulating the taking of fish and wildlife 
        on land within the State, including Federal land.
            (2) Federal authority.--Except as expressly provided by Act 
        of Congress, the authority of a Federal agency regarding the 
        taking of fish and wildlife on Federal land managed by the 
        Federal agency shall be no greater than the rights of a private 
        owner of land.

SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF THE INTEGRITY OF THE SPORTSMEN'S TRUST ACCOUNTS.

    (a) Funding of Plans and Projects.--
            (1) Federal aid in wildlife restoration act.--The Act 
        entitled ``An Act to provide that the United States shall aid 
        the States in wildlife-restoration projects, and for other 
        purposes'', approved September 2, 1937 (commonly known as the 
        ``Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act'') (16 U.S.C. 669 et 
        seq.), is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``Secretary of Agriculture'' each 
                place it appears and inserting ``Secretary of the 
                Interior''; and
                    (B) in section 4 by adding at the end the 
                following:
    ``(c) The amount of funding made available to the Secretary of the 
Interior for expenses under this section shall not be available for use 
as a supplement to decreased funding for any other expense under the 
authority of the Secretary of the Interior.''.
            (2) Federal aid in fish restoration act.--Section 4 of the 
        Act entitled ``An Act to provide that the United States shall 
        aid the States in fish restoration and management projects, and 
        for other purposes'', approved August 9, 1950 (commonly known 
        as the ``Federal Aid in Fish Restoration Act'') (16 U.S.C. 
        777c), is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) The amount of funding made available to the Secretary of the 
Interior for expenses under this section shall not be available for use 
as a supplement to decreased funding for any other expense under the 
authority of the Secretary of the Interior.''.

SEC. 5. EVALUATION OF WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT EFFECTS.

    (a) Statement.--No Federal agency action that may significantly 
diminish opportunities or access to engage in fishing or hunting on 
Federal land shall be effective until the agency prepares a detailed 
statement evaluating the effect of the action on fishing and hunting.
    (b) Notice and Hearing.--Before taking an action described in 
subsection (a), a Federal agency shall--
            (1) provide notice of the proposed agency action to the 
        appropriate State agency responsible for the conduct or 
        oversight or fish and wildlife management; and
            (2) conduct a public hearing in the vicinity of the 
        proposed action.
    (c) Judicial Review.--An individual or entity that may be adversely 
affected by a loss of fishing or hunting opportunities on Federal land 
as a result of an agency action described in subsection (a) may bring a 
civil action in United States district court for review of the action.
    (d) Emergencies.--Nothing in this section precludes an agency from 
exercising statutory authority to close Federal lands in an emergency 
or other exigent circumstances.
    (e) Effect on Other Law.--Nothing in this section affects or has 
application to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703 et seq.) or 
the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et 
seq.).

SEC. 6. CLARIFICATIONS RELATING TO MAINTENANCE OF FISHING AND HUNTING 
              OPPORTUNITIES.

    (a) Definition of Point Source.--Section 502(14) of the Federal 
Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1362(14)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``means'' and inserting the following:
                    ``(A) means'';
            (2) by striking ``discharged.'' and inserting ``discharged; 
        but'';
            (3) by striking ``This term does not include agricultural 
        stormwater'' and inserting the following:
                    ``(B) does not include--
                            ``(i) agricultural stormwater discharges 
                        and return flows from irrigated agriculture;'' 
                        and
            (4) by striking the period at the end and inserting ``; 
        or''; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(ii) any conveyance that serves the 
                        purposes of directly assisting individuals 
                        engaged in fishing, hunting, or recreational 
                        shooting.''.
    (b) Dredged or Fill Material.--Section 404(f)(1) of the Federal 
Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344(f)(1)) is amended--
            (1) by striking the comma at the end of subparagraph (F) 
        and inserting ``; or''; and
            (2) by inserting after subparagraph (F) the following:
                    ``(G) resulting from the conduct of fishing, 
                hunting, or recreational shooting;''.

SEC. 7. PROMOTION OF FISHING AND HUNTING BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.

    Each Federal agency, in carrying out the Act entitled ``An Act to 
provide that the United States shall aid States in wildlife-restoration 
projects, and for other purposes'', approved September 2, 1937 
(commonly known as the ``Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act'') (16 
U.S.C. 669 et seq.) or the Act entitled ``An Act to provide that the 
United States shall aid the States in fish restoration and management 
projects, and for other purposes'', approved August 9, 1950 (commonly 
known as the ``Federal Aid in Fish Restoration Act'') (16 U.S.C. 777 et 
seq.), shall seek to enhance existing programs and services and 
establish new programs and services that promote fishing and hunting.

SEC. 8. CIVIL ACTIONS.

    (a) Intervention.--A person interested in fishing or hunting shall 
be entitled to intervene as a matter of right in a civil action brought 
under any other Federal law relating to the use of any Federal land in 
which the plaintiff seeks an order that would require the use (or 
nonuse) of the land in such a manner as to impair access to or use of 
the land for the purpose of fishing or hunting as required by this Act.
    (b) Consideration of Interests.--If an inter-
venor under subsection (a) shows that the application of another 
Federal law as sought by the plaintiff would be likely to impair access 
to or use of the land for the purpose of fishing or hunting as required 
by this Act, the court shall not grant the relief sought unless the 
plaintiff shows that the interest intended to be advanced by the other 
Federal law clearly outweighs the interest of protecting access to and 
use of Federal land for fishing and hunting.

SEC. 9. STANDING TO BRING A CIVIL ACTION.

    A licensed angler, licensed hunter, or organization representing 
the interests of licensed anglers or hunters may bring a civil action 
in a United States district court to seek declaratory or injunctive 
relief regarding the implementation of any provision of this Act, 
including a declaration that a civil action brought by another person 
may significantly disrupt or eliminate opportunities for fishing or 
hunting and an injunction against the prosecution of the civil action.
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