[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4718 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4718

To amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to clarify 
 the nature of public involvement for purposes of certain rulemaking, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                July 11 (legislative day, July 10), 2024

   Mr. Barrasso (for himself, Ms. Lummis, Mr. Risch, and Mr. Daines) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
               Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to clarify 
 the nature of public involvement for purposes of certain rulemaking, 
                        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 ``American Voices in Federal Lands 
Act''.

SEC. 2. PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT IN CERTAIN PUBLIC LAND RULEMAKING.

    (a) Definition of Public Involvement.--Section 103(d) of the 
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702(d)) is 
amended by striking ``citizens'' and inserting ``citizens of the United 
States, in accordance with section 310(d), as applicable,''.
    (b) Public Involvement Relating to Certain Rules and Regulations.--
Section 310 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 
U.S.C. 1740) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 310. RULES AND REGULATIONS.

    ``(a) Authorization.--
            ``(1) Secretary.--Subject to subsection (d), the Secretary, 
        with respect to public lands, shall promulgate rules and 
        regulations to carry out the purposes of--
                    ``(A) this Act; and
                    ``(B) other laws applicable to public lands.
            ``(2) Secretary of agriculture.--The Secretary of 
        Agriculture, with respect to land in the National Forest 
        System, shall promulgate rules and regulations to carry out the 
        purposes of this Act.
    ``(b) Requirement.--The promulgation of rules and regulations 
pursuant to this section shall be in accordance with chapter 5 of title 
5, United States Code, without regard to section 553(a)(2) of that 
title.
    ``(c) Absence of Regulation.--Before the promulgation of a rule or 
regulation pursuant to this section with respect to public lands or 
land in the National Forest System, the applicable land shall be 
administered under existing rules and regulations concerning the land, 
to the maximum extent practicable.
    ``(d) Public Involvement Relating to Bureau Land.--Notwithstanding 
any other provision of law, with respect to public lands managed by the 
Bureau, the Secretary--
            ``(1) in promulgating any applicable regulations pursuant 
        to this or any other Act, may take into consideration only 
        public comments received from citizens of the United States; 
        and
            ``(2) in any public involvement under this Act or any other 
        provision of law (including regulations), shall establish and 
        implement a process commonly known as `Completely Automated 
        Public Test to tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA)' to 
        deter attempts at public involvement via artificial 
        intelligence.''.
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