[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1555 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1555

  To stop implementation and enforcement of the Forest Service travel 
 management rule and require the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land 
   Management to incorporate the needs, uses, and input of affected 
  communities, and to obtain their consent, before taking any travel 
  management action affecting access to National Forest System lands 
derived from the public domain or public lands, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 23, 2015

  Mr. Walden introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To stop implementation and enforcement of the Forest Service travel 
 management rule and require the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land 
   Management to incorporate the needs, uses, and input of affected 
  communities, and to obtain their consent, before taking any travel 
  management action affecting access to National Forest System lands 
derived from the public domain or public lands, 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 ``Forest Access in Rural Communities 
Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON IMPLEMENTATION OR ENFORCEMENT OF TRAVEL 
              MANAGEMENT RULE.

    Effective upon the enactment of this Act, in all units of the 
National Forest System derived from the public domain, the Secretary of 
Agriculture shall cease all implementation and enforcement of the 
travel management rule under subparts A, B, and C of part 212 of title 
36, Code of Federal Regulations, and subparts A and B of part 261 of 
such title.

SEC. 3. CONDITIONS ON FOREST SERVICE AND BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT 
              ACCESS TRAVEL MANAGEMENT ACTIONS FOR NATIONAL FOREST 
              SYSTEM LANDS DERIVED FROM THE PUBLIC DOMAIN AND PUBLIC 
              LANDS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Access travel management action.--The term ``access 
        travel management action'' means any action by the Secretary 
        regarding National Forest System lands or public lands that--
                    (A) will, or can reasonably be expected to, alter 
                public access to National Forest System lands or public 
                lands, including any change in access to mining claims 
                or access using motorized vehicles or nonmotorized 
                means, resulting from--
                            (i) decommissioning, in whole or in part, 
                        of a road, trail, or combination road and trail 
                        system;
                            (ii) a change in the status of a road as 
                        open or closed; or
                            (iii) a change in road densities; and
                    (B) requires the preparation of an environmental 
                impact statement or environmental assessment under the 
                National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 
                4331 et seq.).
            (2) Affected community.--The term ``affected community'' 
        means--
                    (A) a political subdivision whose boundaries 
                contain National Forest System lands or public lands 
                affected by an access travel management action; or
                    (B) a political subdivision adjacent to a political 
                subdivision described in subparagraph (A).
            (3) Political subdivision.--The term ``political 
        subdivision'' means any county, municipality, city, town, or 
        township created pursuant to State law.
            (4) National forest system lands.--The term ``National 
        Forest System lands'' means Federal lands derived from the 
        public domain that are included in the National Forest System 
        (as defined in section 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland 
        Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a))).
            (5) Public lands.--The term ``public lands'' has the 
        meaning given that term in section 103(e) of the Federal Land 
        Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702(e)).
            (6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary concerned'' means--
                    (A) the Secretary of the Interior, acting through 
                the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, with 
                respect to public lands; and
                    (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through 
                the Chief of the Forest Service, with respect to 
                National Forest System lands.
    (b) Consultation With Affected Communities Required.--As a 
condition on the preparation of an environmental impact statement or 
environmental assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.) for a proposed access travel management 
action, the Secretary concerned shall consult with each affected 
community for the purpose of incorporating the needs, uses, and input 
of affected communities.
    (c) Concurrence of Affected Communities Required.--The Secretary 
concerned may not implement an access travel management action unless 
and until the Secretary concerned--
            (1) complies with the consultation requirement imposed by 
        subsection (b); and
            (2) obtains the concurrence of each affected community for 
        implementation of the access travel management action.
                                 <all>