II 112th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1265 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES June 23, 2011 Mr. Bingaman (for himself, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Udall of Colorado, and Mr. Tester) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To amend the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 to provide consistent and reliable authority for, and for the funding of, the land and water conservation fund to maximize the effectiveness of the fund for future generations, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Land and Water Conservation Authorization and Funding Act of 2011.

2.

Permanent authorization; full funding

(a)

Purposes

The purposes of the amendments made by subsection (b) are— (1)to provide consistent and reliable authority for, and for the funding of, the land and water conservation fund established under section 2 of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–5); and (2)to maximize the effectiveness of the fund for future generations. (b)

Amendments

(1)

Permanent authorization

Section 2 of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–5) is amended— (A)in the matter preceding subsection (a), by striking During the period ending September 30, 2015, there and inserting There; and (B)in subsection (c)(1), by striking through September 30, 2015. (2)

Full funding

Section 3 of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–6) is amended to read as follows:

3.

Availability of funds

Monies covered into the fund under section 2 shall be available for expenditure to carry out the purposes of this Act, without further appropriation.

. (c)

Public access

Section 7 of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460l–9) is amended by adding at the end the following: (d)

Public access

Not less than 1.5 percent of the annual authorized funding amount shall be made available each year for projects that secure recreational public access to existing Federal public land for hunting, fishing, and other recreational purposes. .