[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 298 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 298

 To require the Secretary of the Interior to provide public access to 
 Farallon National Wildlife Refuge, Navassa National Wildlife Refuge, 
                 and Desecheo National Wildlife Refuge.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 25, 2005

 Mr. Rahall (for himself and Mr. Pombo) introduced the following bill; 
            which was referred to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the Secretary of the Interior to provide public access to 
 Farallon National Wildlife Refuge, Navassa National Wildlife Refuge, 
                 and Desecheo National Wildlife Refuge.

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

SECTION 1. ACCESS TO FARALLON, NAVASSA, AND DESECHEO NATIONAL WILDLIFE 
              REFUGES.

    (a) Access, Generally.--The Secretary of the Interior, acting 
through the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (in 
this section referred to as the ``Secretary''), shall provide public 
access to, use of, and recreational opportunities at Farallon National 
Wildlife Refuge, Navassa National Wildlife Refuge, and Desecheo 
National Wildlife Refuge under special use permits issued under the 
first section of Public Law 87-714 (16 U.S.C. 460k), popularly known as 
the Refuge Recreation Act, section 4 of the National Wildlife Refuge 
System Administration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd), and regulations 
issued under this section.
    (b) Time Limitations.--The Secretary--
            (1) subject to paragraph (2), may limit access to such 
        refuges to specific time periods in any year; and
            (2) shall provide access to each refuge during at least one 
        period each year.
    (c) Priority.--In issuing special use permits under this section, 
the Secretary shall give priority to consideration of permit 
applications that do not negatively impact opportunities for wildlife-
dependent recreation.
    (d) Conditions.--The Secretary may include in any permit issued 
under this section conditions that the Secretary determines are 
necessary to protect fish and wildlife populations and their habitat or 
public health and safety.
                                 <all>