[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3824 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3824

To reform oversight of law enforcement activities of the Forest Service 
  and the Department of the Interior and to improve coordination and 
    cooperation with local law enforcement agencies, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 23, 2015

  Mr. Hardy introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
  Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on 
Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To reform oversight of law enforcement activities of the Forest Service 
  and the Department of the Interior and to improve coordination and 
    cooperation with local law enforcement agencies, 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 Service and Department of the 
Interior Law Enforcement Improvement Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. MANAGEMENT OF FOREST SERVICE LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL.

    (a) Responsibility of Regional Forester.--Except in the case of law 
enforcement personnel described in subsection (b), the Regional 
Forester for a Forest Service Region shall be responsible for all 
Forest Service law enforcement personnel assigned to that Region. The 
Regional Forester may delegate this responsibility to Forest 
Supervisors and District Rangers as the Regional Forester considers 
appropriate and based on the capabilities of the line officer.
    (b) Investigations Division.--The Chief of the Forest Service, 
acting through the Director of Law Enforcement, shall remain 
responsible for the Investigations Division of Forest Service law 
enforcement.

SEC. 3. FEDERAL LANDS LAW ENFORCEMENT REVIEW BOARDS.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to 
the Forest Service, and the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to 
the land management agencies of the Department of the Interior, shall 
establish a Federal Lands Law Enforcement Review Board.
    (b) Composition.--Each Federal Lands Law Enforcement Review Board 
shall be composed of seven members as follows:
            (1) The applicable Director of Law Enforcement.
            (2) A Law Enforcement Regional Special Agent in Charge, in 
        the case of the Board established by the Secretary of 
        Agriculture, and a State Director of Law Enforcement and 
        Security, in the case of the Board established by the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
            (3) Three line officers selected by the Secretary 
        concerned.
            (4) One member of the National Sheriffs' Association who 
        resides east of the 100th meridian and is recommended by the 
        Association.
            (5) One member of the National Sheriffs' Association who 
        resides west of the 100th meridian and is recommended by the 
        Association.
    (c) Purposes.--The purposes of a Federal Lands Law Enforcement 
Review Board are to review and make recommendations regarding the 
following:
            (1) Law enforcement incidents of concern involving law 
        enforcement personnel of the agency.
            (2) Proposed changes to agency law enforcement policy.
            (3) The cooperative law enforcement program.
            (4) Training of agency law enforcement personnel.
    (d) Additional Boards.--The Secretary of Agriculture, with respect 
to the Forest Service, and the Secretary of the Interior, with respect 
to the land management agencies of the Department of the Interior, may 
establish additional Federal Lands Law Enforcement Review Boards at 
subordinate levels of the agency.

SEC. 4. IMPROVED COORDINATION AND COOPERATION WITH LOCAL LAW 
              ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES.

    (a) Forest Service.--Public Law 92-82 (16 U.S.C. 551a) is amended 
by adding at the end the following new sentence: ``If a political 
subdivision of a State contains 25,000 acres or more of Federal land, 
all or a majority of which is National Forest System land, the 
Secretary shall endeavor to develop a memorandum of understanding with 
the political subdivision to address the specific roles and 
coordination between Forest Service law enforcement personnel and local 
law enforcement.''.
    (b) Department of the Interior.--If a political subdivision of a 
State contains 25,000 acres or more of Federal land, all or a majority 
of which is under the jurisdiction of a land management agency of the 
Department of the Interior, the Secretary of the Interior shall 
endeavor to develop a memorandum of understanding with the political 
subdivision to address the specific roles and coordination between 
Department law enforcement personnel and local law enforcement.
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