Outdoor Americans with Disabilities Act

Key Points

• This bill aims to keep more roads open on federal lands so people with disabilities can access the outdoors. It requires the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to prioritize keeping roads available for motorized vehicles, off-road vehicles, and electric bicycles.
• The proposal creates a standard for disability-accessible land, which must have at least two and a half miles of road for every square mile of land. If an area meets this standard, the government is generally banned from closing roads if it would reduce the total amount of road below that level.
• If a federal agency decides to close a road for safety reasons, they would be required to open a new road nearby within one year. Agencies would also have to review all roads closed in the last ten years to see if they should be reopened for public use.
• To make these changes faster, the bill would allow the government to skip certain environmental impact studies usually required by law. It also creates a legal rule that roads should stay open unless there is clear and compelling evidence that a closure is necessary.
• These new rules would apply to National Forests and other public lands but would not affect most National Parks or protected Wilderness areas. The bill focuses on areas used for activities like hunting, fishing, camping, and mountain biking.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.