[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 491 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 491

To reaffirm the policy of the United States with respect to management 
          authority over public land, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 14, 2019

Mr. Heinrich (for himself, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Udall, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. 
  Blumenthal, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Merkley, and Mr. Tester) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                      Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To reaffirm the policy of the United States with respect to management 
          authority over public land, 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 ``America's Public Land Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) public land in the United States is--
                    (A) iconic, including national parks, wildlife 
                refuges, and national forests; and
                    (B) irreplaceable, including wildlife habitat, 
                archaeological resources, and other national treasures;
            (2) public land--
                    (A) provides unrivaled recreational opportunities; 
                and
                    (B) is enjoyed by hundreds of millions of people in 
                the United States each year;
            (3) public land--
                    (A) strengthens the United States economy; and
                    (B) powers a recreation industry that supports--
                            (i) 7,600,000 jobs; and
                            (ii) nearly $900,000,000,000 in direct 
                        spending annually;
            (4) United States public land provides numerous other 
        benefits to the people of the United States, including--
                    (A) clean air and water;
                    (B) public health gains; and
                    (C) access to the outdoors;
            (5) retaining United States public land is in the public 
        interest; and
            (6) except as expressly authorized by Congress, United 
        States public land should be retained under the ownership of 
        the United States.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Management authority.--The term ``management 
        authority'' means--
                    (A) the ability to determine--
                            (i) which uses to permit on public land, 
                        including uses relating to--
                                    (I) timber;
                                    (II) grazing;
                                    (III) renewable and nonrenewable 
                                energy and mineral resources;
                                    (IV) recreation; and
                                    (V) vegetation management; or
                            (ii) where and how those uses of public 
                        land take place; and
                    (B) the ability to regulate, permit, or authorize 
                use of public land.
            (2) Public land.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``public land'' means any 
                land or interest in land--
                            (i) owned by the United States; and
                            (ii) administered by--
                                    (I) the Secretary of the Interior, 
                                acting through--
                                            (aa) the Director of the 
                                        Bureau of Land Management;
                                            (bb) the Director of the 
                                        National Park Service; or
                                            (cc) the Director of the 
                                        United States Fish and Wildlife 
                                        Service; or
                                    (II) the Secretary of Agriculture, 
                                acting through the Chief of the Forest 
                                Service.
                    (B) Exclusion.--The term ``public land'' does not 
                include land held in trust for the benefit of an Indian 
                Tribe.
            (3) Secretary concerned.--The term ``Secretary concerned'' 
        means--
                    (A) the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to 
                land or an interest in land under the jurisdiction of 
                the Department of the Interior; and
                    (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to 
                land or an interest in land under the jurisdiction of 
                the Department of Agriculture.

SEC. 4. REAFFIRMATION OF POLICY.

    Congress reaffirms that the policy of the United States is--
            (1) to retain public land in Federal ownership unless the 
        disposal of public land has been authorized by an Act of 
        Congress;
            (2) to retain management authority over public land, except 
        in any case in which a non-Federal individual or entity is 
        authorized to exercise management authority pursuant to--
                    (A) an Act of Congress; or
                    (B) another applicable law; and
            (3) that retention of public land and the management 
        authority over public land is in the public interest.

SEC. 5. RETENTION REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Public Land.--Except as authorized by an Act of Congress, the 
Secretary concerned shall not approve or permit the conveyance of 
public land to any non-Federal individual or entity.
    (b) Management Authority.--Except as authorized by an Act of 
Congress or other applicable law, the Secretary concerned shall not 
approve or permit the granting of management authority over public land 
to any non-Federal individual or entity.

SEC. 6. EFFECT OF ACT.

    Nothing in this Act--
            (1) affects the jurisdiction of any State with respect to 
        the management of fish or wildlife on public land;
            (2) diminishes the rights of any Indian Tribe, including 
        rights regarding access to public land for Tribal activities 
        (including spiritual, cultural, and traditional food-gathering 
        activities);
            (3) alters, modifies, enlarges, diminishes, or abrogates 
        the treaty rights of any Indian Tribe, including off-
        reservation reserved rights;
            (4) creates an express or implied reservation by the United 
        States of any water or water right for any purpose;
            (5) affects, modifies, or affects the use or allocation, as 
        in existence on the date of enactment of this Act, of any 
        water, water right, or interest in water; or
            (6) affects any interstate water compact in existence on 
        the date of enactment of this Act.
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