[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2925 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.2925

                      One Hundred Seventh Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

         Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
             the third day of January, two thousand and one


                                 An Act


 
 To amend the Reclamation Recreation Management Act of 1992 in order to 
 provide for the security of dams, facilities, and resources under the 
               jurisdiction of the Bureau of Reclamation.

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

SECTION. 1. LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY AT BUREAU OF RECLAMATION 
              FACILITIES.

    (a) Public Safety Regulations.--The Secretary of the Interior shall 
issue regulations necessary to maintain law and order and protect 
persons and property within Reclamation projects and on Reclamation 
lands.
    (b) Violations; Criminal Penalties.--Any person who knowingly and 
willfully violates any regulation issued under subsection (a) shall be 
fined under chapter 227, subchapter C of title 18, United States Code, 
imprisoned for not more than 6 months, or both. Any person charged with 
a violation of a regulation issued under subsection (a) may be tried 
and sentenced by any United States magistrate judge designated for that 
purpose by the court by which he was appointed, in the same manner and 
subject to the same conditions and limitations as provided for in 
section 3401 of title 18, United States Code.
    (c) Authorization of Law Enforcement Officers.--The Secretary of 
the Interior may--
        (1) authorize law enforcement personnel from the Department of 
    the Interior to act as law enforcement officers to enforce Federal 
    laws and regulations within a Reclamation project or on Reclamation 
    lands;
        (2) authorize law enforcement personnel of any other Federal 
    agency that has law enforcement authority (with the exception of 
    the Department of Defense) or law enforcement personnel of any 
    State or local government, including an Indian tribe, when deemed 
    economical and in the public interest, through cooperative 
    agreement or contract, to act as law enforcement officers to 
    enforce Federal laws and regulations within a Reclamation project 
    or on Reclamation lands with such enforcement powers as may be so 
    assigned to them by the Secretary;
        (3) cooperate with any State or local government, including an 
    Indian tribe, in the enforcement of the laws or ordinances of that 
    State or local government; and
        (4) provide reimbursement to a State or local government, 
    including an Indian tribe, for expenditures incurred in connection 
    with activities under paragraph (2).
    (d) Powers of Law Enforcement Officers.--A law enforcement officer 
authorized by the Secretary of the Interior under subsection (c) may--
        (1) carry firearms within a Reclamation project or on 
    Reclamation lands;
        (2) make arrests without warrants for--
            (A) any offense against the United States committed in his 
        presence; or
            (B) any felony cognizable under the laws of the United 
        States if he has--
                (i) reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be 
            arrested has committed or is committing such a felony; and
                (ii) such arrest occurs within a Reclamation project or 
            on Reclamation lands or the person to be arrested is 
            fleeing therefrom to avoid arrest;
        (3) execute within a Reclamation project or on Reclamation 
    lands any warrant or other process issued by a court or officer of 
    competent jurisdiction for the enforcement of the provisions of any 
    Federal law or regulation issued pursuant to law for any offense 
    committed within a Reclamation project or on Reclamation lands; and
        (4) conduct investigations within a Reclamation project or on 
    Reclamation lands of offenses against the United States committed 
    within a Reclamation project or on Reclamation lands if the Federal 
    law enforcement agency having investigative jurisdiction over the 
    offense committed declines to investigate the offense.
    (e) Legal Status of State or Local Law Enforcement Officers.--
        (1) State or local officers not federal employees.--Except as 
    otherwise provided in this section, a law enforcement officer of 
    any State or local government, including an Indian tribe, 
    authorized to act as a law enforcement officer under subsection (c) 
    shall not be deemed to be a Federal employee and shall not be 
    subject to the provisions of law relating to Federal employment, 
    including those relating to hours of work, rates of compensation, 
    employment discrimination, leave, unemployment compensation, and 
    Federal benefits.
        (2) Application of federal tort claims act.--For purposes of 
    chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code (commonly known as the 
    Federal Tort Claims Act), a law enforcement officer of any State or 
    local government, including an Indian tribe, shall, when acting as 
    a law enforcement officer under subsection (c) and while under 
    Federal supervision and control, and only when carrying out Federal 
    law enforcement responsibilities, be considered a Federal employee.
        (3) Availability of workers compensation.--For purposes of 
    subchapter I of chapter 81 of title 5, United States Code, relating 
    to compensation to Federal employees for work injuries, a law 
    enforcement officer of any State or local government, including an 
    Indian tribe, shall, when acting as a law enforcement officer under 
    subsection (c) and while under Federal supervision and control, and 
    only when carrying out Federal law enforcement responsibilities, be 
    deemed a civil service employee of the United States within the 
    meaning of the term employee as defined in section 8101 of title 5, 
    and the provisions of that subchapter shall apply. Benefits under 
    such subchapter shall be reduced by the amount of any entitlement 
    to State or local workers compensation benefits arising out of the 
    same injury or death.
    (f) Concurrent Jurisdiction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed or applied to limit or restrict the investigative 
jurisdiction of any Federal law enforcement agency, or to affect any 
existing right of a State or local government, including an Indian 
tribe, to exercise civil and criminal jurisdiction within a Reclamation 
project or on Reclamation lands.
    (g) Regulations.--Except for the authority provided in section 
2(c)(1), the law enforcement authorities provided for in this section 
may be exercised only pursuant to regulations issued by the Secretary 
of the Interior and approved by the Attorney General.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
        (1) Law enforcement personnel.--The term ``law enforcement 
    personnel'' means an employee of a Federal, State, or local 
    government agency, including an Indian tribal agency, who has 
    successfully completed law enforcement training approved by the 
    Secretary and is authorized to carry firearms, make arrests, and 
    execute service of process to enforce criminal laws of his or her 
    employing jurisdiction.
        (2) Reclamation project; reclamation lands.--The terms 
    ``Reclamation project'' and ``Reclamation lands'' have the meaning 
    given such terms in section 2803 of the Reclamation Projects 
    Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 (16 U.S.C. 460l-32).

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.