II
115th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1522
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 10, 2017
Mr. Heinrich (for himself and Mr. Alexander) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
A BILL
To establish an Every Kid Outdoors program, and for other purposes.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the Every Kid Outdoors Act
.
Definitions
In this Act:
Federal land and waters
The term Federal land and waters means any Federal land or body of water under the jurisdiction of any of the Secretaries to which the public has access.
Program
The term program means the Every Kid Outdoors program established under section 3(a).
Secretaries
The term Secretaries means—
the Secretary of the Interior, acting through—
the Director of the National Park Service;
the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service;
the Director of the Bureau of Land Management; and
the Commissioner of Reclamation;
the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service;
the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and
the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers of the Corps of Engineers.
Students
The term students means a student in grade 4.
Every Kid Outdoors program
Establishment
The Secretaries shall jointly establish a program, to be known as the Every Kid Outdoors program
, to provide free access to Federal land and waters for students and accompanying individuals in accordance with this section.
Annual passes
In general
On request of a student, the Secretaries shall issue a pass to the student, which shall allow access to Federal land and waters free of charge for the student and—
in the case of a per-vehicle fee area—
any passengers accompanying the student in a private, noncommercial vehicle; or
not more than 3 adults accompanying the student on bicycles; or
in the case of a per-person fee area, not more than 3 adults accompanying the student.
Term
A pass described in paragraph (1) shall be effective during the period beginning on September 1 and ending on August 30 of the following year.
Presence of student in grade four required
A pass described in paragraph (1) shall be effective only if the student to which the pass was issued is present at the point of entry to the applicable Federal land or water.
Other activities
In carrying out the program, the Secretaries—
may collaborate with State Park systems that opt to implement a complementary Every Kid Outdoors State park pass;
shall maintain a publicly available website with information about the program;
may provide visitor services for the program; and
may support approved partners of the Federal land and waters by providing the partners with opportunities to participate in the program.
Reports
In general
The Secretaries shall jointly prepare a report each year describing—
the implementation of the program;
the number and geographical distribution of students who participated in the program; and
the number of passes described in subsection (b)(1) that were distributed.
Submission
The Secretaries shall submit the report described in paragraph (1) to Congress.