S. 2637 — MAPWaters Act of 2025

This section defines terms used in the Act, including "(1) Federal fishing restriction," meaning a defined area where all or certain fishing activities are temporarily or permanently prohibited or restricted by a Federal land or water management agency (i.e., the Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, or Forest Service); "(2) Federal waterway," meaning waters managed by the Secretary of Agriculture (acting through the Chief of the Forest Service) or the Secretary of the Interior; "(3) Federal waterway restriction," meaning a restriction on access or use of such a waterway applied under applicable law by either Secretary; "(4) Secretaries," meaning those two Secretaries; and "(5) State," meaning each of the several states, the District of Columbia, or any U.S. territory.

This section directs the Secretaries, in coordination with the Federal Geographic Data Committee, to jointly develop and adopt interagency standards—not later than 30 months after enactment—to ensure compatibility and interoperability among applicable federal databases with respect to geospatial data on public outdoor recreational access to federal waterways and federal fishing restrictions.

This section directs each of the Secretaries, not later than 5 years after the date of enactment, to digitize and make publicly available online geographic information system (GIS) data on (1) federal waterway restrictions, including open/closed status and inspection requirements, seasonal closures, limits on propulsion or anchoring, directional travel rules, and permitted uses (e.g., canoes, motorboats, swimming); (2) federal waterway access and navigation information, including locations and open/closed dates of boat ramps, portages, and fishing access sites, plus bathymetric data; and (3) federal fishing restrictions, including closures, no-take zones, equipment or bait limits, and catch-and-release rules. The Secretaries must establish a public comment process on the data in (1) and (2), update that data at least twice annually and fishing restriction data in real time, exclude irrigation canals and flowage easements, and avoid disclosing protected historic, cultural, or archaeological resource information.

This section authorizes the Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Agriculture (Secretaries) to coordinate with and partner among nonfederal agencies, private sector and nonprofit entities (e.g., State and Tribal natural resource agencies, technology and geospatial data companies, and data science experts), and to enter third-party agreements to carry out the Act. The section further permits the Secretaries to work with the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey to collect, aggregate, digitize, standardize, and publish data required by the Act; requires data developed and distributed under the Act to comply with applicable Federal, State, and Tribal laws and to include notice of such requirements; and directs use of existing data, maps, and resources to the extent practicable, including those from the Modernizing Access to Our Public Land Data Act (16 U.S.C. 6851 et seq.) and section 103 of division DD of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (43 U.S.C. 776).

This section requires the Secretaries to submit to the Committees on Natural Resources, Energy and Commerce, and Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Energy and Natural Resources and Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate, not later than one year after enactment and annually thereafter through March 30, 2034, a report describing progress in meeting the requirements of this Act.

This section specifies that nothing in the Act (1) modifies or alters the definition of "navigable waters" under federal law, (2) affects the jurisdiction or authority of state or federal agencies to regulate navigable waters, (3) modifies or alters the authority or jurisdiction of federal or state agencies to manage fisheries, or (4) authorizes or is intended to result in a change in the accessibility of waters open to hunting, fishing, or other outdoor recreation as of enactment.