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Title 16, ConservationRelease 119-73not60

§460l–18 Authority of Secretary of the Interior

Title 16 › Chapter 1— NATIONAL PARKS, MILITARY PARKS, MONUMENTS, AND SEASHORES › Subchapter LXIX— OUTDOOR RECREATION PROGRAMS › Part C— Water Resources Projects › § 460l–18

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Interior Secretary can plan, build, run, and keep up public outdoor recreation and fish and wildlife projects at reservoirs he built or controls, except inside national wildlife refuges. He can get or set aside nearby land needed for those uses and must run these recreation uses so they fit with the other purposes of the project. These actions can happen only after an agreement required under section 460l–14(b) or (c) is signed. The Interior Secretary can make deals with federal, state, or local agencies to manage, operate, maintain, or replace project lands and facilities, and can transfer them by lease or exchange to promote public recreation and wildlife. He cannot use lands controlled by another federal agency without that agency head’s consent, but that head may transfer the lands to the Interior Secretary. Lands inside or next to national forests can be moved to the Agriculture Secretary and become national forest lands, except waters and areas inside the reservoir’s flow lines or needed for project operations, which stay with the Interior Secretary as needed. This does not limit other recreation or wildlife powers the Interior Secretary already has.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §460l–18

Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary is authorized, in conjunction with any reservoir heretofore constructed by him pursuant to the Federal reclamation laws or any reservoir which is otherwise under his control, except reservoirs within national wildlife refuges, to investigate, plan, construct, operate and maintain, or otherwise provide for public outdoor recreation and fish and wildlife enhancement facilities, to acquire or otherwise make available such adjacent lands or interests therein as are necessary for public outdoor recreation or fish and wildlife use, and to provide for public use and enjoyment of project lands, facilities, and water areas in a manner coordinated with the other project purposes. Lands, facilities and project modifications for the purposes of this subsection may be provided only after an agreement in accordance with subsection (b) or (c) of section 460l–14 of this title has been executed.
(b)The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to enter into agreements with Federal agencies or State or local public bodies for the administration of project land and water areas and the operation, maintenance, and replacement of facilities and to transfer project lands or facilities to Federal agencies or State or local public bodies by lease agreement or exchange upon such terms and conditions as will best promote the development and operation of such lands or facilities in the public interest for recreation and fish and wildlife enhancement purposes.
(c)No lands under the jurisdiction of any other Federal agency may be included for or devoted to recreation or fish and wildlife purposes under the authority of this section without the consent of the head of such agency; and the head of any such agency is authorized to transfer any such lands to the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior for purposes of this section. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to transfer jurisdiction over project lands within or adjacent to the exterior boundaries of national forests and facilities thereon to the Secretary of Agriculture for recreation and other national forest system purposes; and such transfer shall be made in each case in which the project reservoir area is located wholly within the exterior boundaries of a national forest unless the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior jointly determine otherwise. Where any project lands are transferred hereunder to the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Agriculture, the lands involved shall become national forest lands: Provided, That the lands and waters within the flow lines of any reservoir or otherwise needed or used for the operation of the project for other purposes shall continue to be administered by the Secretary of the Interior to the extent he determines to be necessary for such operation. Nothing herein shall limit the authority of the Secretary of the Interior granted by existing provisions of law relating to recreation or fish and wildlife development in connection with water resource projects or to disposition of public lands for such purposes.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1992—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 102–575, § 2804(e)(2), substituted “subsection (b) or (c) of section 460l–14” for “subsection 460l–14(b)”. Pub. L. 102–575, § 2804(e)(1), which directed amendment of subsec. (a) by striking “purposes: Provided,” and all that follows through end of sentence and inserting “purposes”, could not be executed because the words “purposes: Provided,” did not appear subsequent to amendment by Pub. L. 102–377. See below. Pub. L. 102–377 substituted “purposes.” for “purposes: Provided, That not more than $100,000 shall be available to carry out the provisions of this subsection at any one reservoir.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 460l–18

Title 16, Conservation

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60