Freedom to Fish Act
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| Full title | To prohibit the Corps of Engineers from taking certain actions to establish a restricted area prohibiting public access to waters downstream of a dam, and for other purposes. |
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| Introduced in | 113th United States Congress |
| Introduced on | May 16, 2013 |
| Sponsored by | Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) |
| Number of co-sponsors | 0 |
| Effects and codifications | |
| Act(s) affected | Flood Control Act of 1944 |
| U.S.C. section(s) affected | |
| Agencies affected | United States Department of the Army |
| [S. 982 Legislative history] | |
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The Freedom to Fish Act (Pub.L. 113–13; S. 982) is a law that creates a two-year moratorium on plans by the Chief of the Army Corps of Engineers to restrict access of the general public to the tailwaters along the Cumberland River, primarily located in Kentucky and Tennessee. The tailwater of a river is the area immediately following a structure like a dam where there is better fishing than elsewhere on the river. The Army Corps of Engineers announced that they would be restricting access to these areas in 2012 for reasons of safety.
The bill passed during the 113th United States Congress and was signed into law on June 3, 2013.
This summary is based largely on the summary provided by the Congressional Research Service, a public domain source.
The Freedom to Fish Act requires the Chief of the United States Army Corps of Engineers to: (1) cease implementing and enforcing, until two years after enactment of the Act, any restricted area for hazardous waters at dams and other civil works structures in the Cumberland River Basin that the Chief established or modified between August 1, 2012, and the day before the enactment of this Act; and (2) remove any permanent physical barriers constructed in connection with such area.
The Freedom to Fish Act also requires the Chief, before establishing any such restricted area after the Act's enactment, to: (1) ensure that any restrictions are based on operational conditions that create hazardous waters, and (2) publish and seek and consider public comment on a draft describing the restricted area. The Act prohibits the Chief from: (1) implementing or enforcing the restricted area until two years after this Act's enactment, or (2) taking any action to establish a permanent physical barrier in connection with such area. (Excludes the installation and maintenance of measures for alerting the public of hazardous water conditions as such a permanent physical barrier.)
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