1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Land and Water Conservation Fund Reauthorization and Fairness Act”.
Land and Water Conservation Fund Reauthorization and Fairness Act
A BILL
To permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
2. Reauthorization of Land and Water Conservation Fund
In general— Section 200302 of title 54, United States Code, is amended—
in subsection (b), in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking “During the period ending September 30, 2018, there” and inserting “There”; and
in subsection (c)(1), by striking “through September 30, 2018”.
Allocation of Funds— Section 200304 of title 54, United States Code, is amended—
by striking “There” and inserting the following:
“(a) In general—There”
by striking “Not less than 40 percent of such appropriations shall be available for Federal purposes.”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(b) Allocation of funds—Of the total amount made available to the Fund through appropriations and deposited into the fund under section 105(a)(2)(B) of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 (43 U.S.C. 1331 note)—
“(1) not less than 40 percent of such amount shall be used for Federal purposes under section 200306; and
“(2) not less than 40 percent of such amount shall be used to provide financial assistance to States under section 200305.”
Parity for territories and the District of Columbia— Section 200305(b) of title 54, United States Code, is amended by striking paragraph (5).
Public access— Section 200306 of title 54, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(c) Public access
“(1) In general—Of the amounts made available for expenditure in any fiscal year under section 200303, not less than the greater of 3 percent of the amounts or $20,000,000 shall be made available for projects identified on the priority list developed under paragraph (2).
“(2) Priority list—The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the head of each affected Federal agency, shall annually develop a priority list for projects related to Federal land under the jurisdiction of the applicable Secretary.
“(3) Criteria—Projects identified on the priority list developed under paragraph (2) shall—
“(A) maintain or increase public access to existing Federal public land for hunting, fishing, recreational shooting, or other outdoor recreational purposes through acquisition of rights-of-way or acquisition of land (or any interest in land), including through equal value land exchanges; or
“(B) enhance, maintain, or restore access on existing trails or rights-of-way.”