EXPLORE Act
Latest action. Became public lawWhat a bill becomes when enacted, numbered by Congress and order of enactment: Public Law 119-4 is the 4th law of the 119th Congress.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) No: 118-234.
Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences Act or the EXPLORE Act
TITLE I--OUTDOOR RECREATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Subtitle A--Outdoor Recreation Policy
(Sec. 111) This section declares that it is the policy of the federal government to foster and encourage recreation on federal recreational lands and waters, to the extent consistent with the laws applicable to specific areas of federal recreational lands and waters, including multiple-use mandates and land management planning requirements.
(Sec. 112) This section directs the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service to
inventory and assess recreation resources for federal recreational lands and waters,
develop the inventory and assessment with support from public comment, and
update the inventory and assessment when appropriate.
The inventory and assessments must recognize any unique recreation values and opportunities and areas of concentrated recreational use. Additionally, the inventory and assessments must identify, list, and map recreation resources by
type of recreation opportunity and type of natural or artificial recreation infrastructure,
the level of use of the recreation resource as of the date of the inventory, and
any trends relating to recreation opportunities or use at a recreation resource.
For each recreational resource inventoried, Interior and the Forest Service must assess (1) the maintenance needs of, and expenses necessary to administer, the recreation resource; (2) the suitability for developing, expanding, or enhancing such recreation resource; and (3) the adequacy of the current management of the recreation resource.
(Sec 113) This section directs Interior to establish a Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation to coordinate issues related to outdoor recreation on federal recreational lands and waters, including
recreation programs and management policies of federal land and water management agencies,
responses by such agencies to public health and other emergencies,
investments relating to outdoor recreation,
management of emerging technologies,
research activities,
dissemination of information about recreation to the public,
improving access to outdoor recreational areas, and
identification and engagement of nonfederal partners to support outdoor recreation.
The summary continues for 140 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Public Law" stage on January 4, 2025. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
This bill has been enacted. It is law.
The record's latest action, on January 4, 2025: Became Public Law No: 118-234.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Bruce Westerman (R-AR) introduced it on November 29, 2023, and 51 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 27 Democrats, 24 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HousePassed
- SenatePassed
- PresidentSigned into law