S. 3313Senate119th Congress (2025-2027)In Committee

Wintergreen Emergency Egress Act

AI-Generated Summary

Updated February 26, 2026 at 5:01 AM UTC

The Wintergreen Emergency Egress Act directs the Interior Department to create an emergency exit route through National Park Service land in Virginia’s Wintergreen area. It requires the Secretary of the Interior to issue a right‑of‑way for the exit only after completing studies of alternative routes, fire‑behavior impacts, and all required environmental reviews. The bill mainly affects federal lands and agencies managing those lands.

Key Provisions

The Secretary of the Interior must issue a right‑of‑way for an emergency exit (shown as “Proposed Egress” on a specific map) on National Park Service land in Virginia’s Wintergreen area.
Before issuing the right‑of‑way, the Secretary must certify that an evaluation of alternatives that avoid crossing federal land – including whether existing trails could be turned into roads – has been completed.
The Secretary must also certify that an analysis of how a fire would behave on the proposed route has been completed.
All required environmental reviews, such as those under the National Environmental Policy Act and related federal statutes, must be finished before the right‑of‑way is granted.

Legislative Activity

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3 earlier actions

SenateCommittee Latest Action

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.

Energy and Natural Resources Committee

July 29, 2026

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SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

December 2, 2025

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Energy and Natural Resources Committee

December 2, 2025

SenateCommittee

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks. Hearings held.

National Parks Subcommittee

July 21, 2026

SenateCommittee

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.

Energy and Natural Resources Committee

July 29, 2026

Bill Text

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Introduced in SenateIssued December 2, 2025

119th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 3313

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

December 2, 2025

Mr. Kaine (for himself and Mr. Warner) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To require the Secretary of the Interior to issue a right-of-way for an emergency exit on certain National Park Service land in the State of Virginia, and for other purposes.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Wintergreen Emergency Egress Act.

Right-of-way for emergency exit, Blue Ridge Parkway

Section 2 of the Act of June 30, 1936 (49 Stat. 2041, chapter 883; 54 Stat. 250, chapter 277; 16 U.S.C. 460a–3), is amended—

(1)

by striking Secretary of the Interior may issue and inserting the following: “Secretary of the Interior—

(1)

may issue

;

(2)

by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and; and

(3)

by adding at the end the following:

(2)

shall issue the right-of-way generally depicted as Proposed Egress on the map entitled Proposed Wintergreen Emergency Egress Near Milepost 9.6, numbered 601/194,694, and dated September 2024, if the Secretary certifies that—

(A)

an evaluation has been completed of alternatives to the right-of-way for egress that do not cross Federal land that includes evaluating whether existing trails can be converted to roads;

(B)

an analysis of expected fire ecology behavior in the event of a fire emergency has been completed with respect to the right-of-way; and

(C)

any required reviews with respect to the right-of-way have been completed in accordance with—

(i)

the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); and

(ii)

division A of subtitle III of title 54, United States Code.