[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1686 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1686

    To amend the Wilderness Act to allow local Federal officials to 
  determine the manner in which nonmotorized uses may be permitted in 
               wilderness areas, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 18, 2021

    Mr. Lee introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Wilderness Act to allow local Federal officials to 
  determine the manner in which nonmotorized uses may be permitted in 
               wilderness areas, 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 ``Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness 
Areas Act''.

SEC. 2. RETURNING HUMAN-POWERED TRAVEL TO WILDERNESS AREAS.

    Section 4(c) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(c)) is amended--
            (1) by striking the subsection designation and heading and 
        all that follows through ``Except as'' and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(c) Prohibition of Certain Uses.--
            ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Local official.--The term `local official' 
                means the officer or employee who is the head of a unit 
                or jurisdiction of, as applicable--
                            ``(i) the Bureau of Land Management;
                            ``(ii) the National Park Service;
                            ``(iii) the Forest Service; or
                            ``(iv) the United States Fish and Wildlife 
                        Service.
                    ``(B) Nonmotorized travel.--The term `nonmotorized 
                travel' means a method of human travel that does not 
                use a propulsive internal or external motor with a 
                nonliving power source.
                    ``(C) Permitted route.--The term `permitted route' 
                means any new or existing path, trail, paved or unpaved 
                road, or way over snow or ice, located within a 
                wilderness area designated by this Act on which one or 
                more forms of nonmotorized recreational use is 
                permitted under applicable law (including regulations) 
                on the date on which a local official makes a 
                determination under paragraph (3) or the date that is 2 
                years after the date of enactment of the Human-Powered 
                Travel in Wilderness Areas Act, as applicable in 
                accordance with paragraph (3).
            ``(2) Prohibitions.--
                    ``(A) Commercial enterprises; permanent roads.--
                Except as'';
            (2) in paragraph (2) (as so designated)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``this Act 
                and, except as'' and inserting the following: ``this 
                Act.
                    ``(B) Temporary roads; motor vehicles, motorized 
                equipment, and other forms of travel.--Except as''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (B) (as so designated), by 
                inserting ``(but not including any form of nonmotorized 
                travel, regardless of whether the nonmotorized travel 
                is mechanically assisted, in which the sole propulsive 
                power source is one or more persons)'' after 
                ``mechanical transport''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Permissible forms of recreational use on permitted 
        routes.--
                    ``(A) Determinations by local officials.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Notwithstanding any 
                        other provision of law, the Secretary of 
                        Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior 
                        shall authorize relevant local officials to 
                        determine, by not later than 2 years after the 
                        date of enactment of the Human-Powered Travel 
                        in Wilderness Areas Act, all permissible forms 
                        of nonmotorized travel over any permitted route 
                        within the jurisdiction of the local official.
                            ``(ii) Failure to determine.--
                                    ``(I) In general.--If a local 
                                official fails to make the 
                                determination described in clause (i) 
                                with respect to a permitted route 
                                within the jurisdiction of the local 
                                official by the date that is 2 years 
                                after the date of enactment of the 
                                Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness 
                                Areas Act, any form of nonmotorized 
                                travel shall be allowable on the 
                                permitted route.
                                    ``(II) Effect of clause.--Nothing 
                                in this clause limits the authority of 
                                a local official to make a 
                                determination described in clause (i) 
                                relating to a permitted route described 
                                in subclause (I) after the date that is 
                                2 years after the date of enactment of 
                                the Human-Powered Travel in Wilderness 
                                Areas Act, in accordance with this 
                                subparagraph.
                            ``(iii) Requirement.--In making a 
                        determination pursuant to this subparagraph, a 
                        local official shall seek to accommodate all 
                        forms of nonmotorized travel, to the maximum 
                        extent practicable.
                    ``(B) Authority.--In making a determination 
                pursuant to subparagraph (A), a local official may 
                carry out such activities and promulgate such 
                regulations as the local official determines to be 
                appropriate to reduce, eliminate, or prevent 
                environmental impacts or undue conflicts among members 
                of nonmotorized travel user groups, including--
                            ``(i) restricting, by permit or other 
                        means, the number of individuals allowed on a 
                        permitted route or in a wilderness area;
                            ``(ii) instructing users to stay on 
                        permitted routes;
                            ``(iii) limiting party size;
                            ``(iv) educating users regarding best 
                        practices;
                            ``(v) using volunteer or paid patrollers;
                            ``(vi) establishing speed limits;
                            ``(vii) adding natural features to 
                        discourage improper uses of permitted routes;
                            ``(viii) designating the direction of 
                        travel on a permitted route; and
                            ``(ix) separating uses of permitted 
                        routes--
                                    ``(I) by day or time of day; or
                                    ``(II) seasonally.
            ``(4) Effect of subsection.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), 
                nothing in this subsection requires the Secretary of 
                Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior, or any 
                local official--
                            ``(i) to alter any wilderness area;
                            ``(ii) to allow in a wilderness area any 
                        use that is likely to change the wilderness 
                        character of the area;
                            ``(iii)(I) to open a permitted route or 
                        wilderness area to a public recreational use; 
                        or
                            ``(II) to maintain a permitted route or 
                        wilderness area for such a use; or
                            ``(iv) to allow any nonmotorized travel on 
                        any portion of the Appalachian National Scenic 
                        Trail that is administered entirely as a 
                        footpath pursuant to section 5(a)(1) of the 
                        National Trails System Act (16 U.S.C. 
                        1244(a)(1)).
                    ``(B) Presumption.--A form of nonmotorized travel, 
                regardless of whether the nonmotorized travel is 
                mechanically assisted, in which the sole propulsive 
                power source is one or more persons shall be rebuttably 
                presumed to be in accordance with the preservation and 
                maintenance of the wilderness character of a wilderness 
                area.''.
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