Gateway Communities Cooperation Act

(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the House on May 20, 2004. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Gateway Communities Cooperation Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture (the relevant Secretary) to: (1) solicit involvement by government officials of local gateway communities (communities, including recognized Indian tribes or Alaska Native villages, that abut or are near public lands) in the development of land use plans, programs, regulations, and decisions, transportation plans, general management plans, and any other public land plans, decisions, projects, or policies for public lands under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service, the United States Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management which are likely to have a significant impact; (2) facilitate such involvement, provide the appropriate officials with a summary of the assumptions, purposes, goals, and objectives of a plan, decision, project, or policy, a description of any anticipated significant impact, and information regarding the technical assistance and training available; (3) at the request of a gateway community, offer training sessions for officials for understanding and participating in agency planning processes and the methods by which they can most meaningfully participate in the development of agency plans, decisions, and policies; and (4) at the request of a gateway community, make available personnel, on a temporary basis, to assist gateway communities in the development of mutually compatible land use or management plans.

Authorizes the relevant Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements with gateway communities to coordinate the management of: (1) the land use inventory, planning, and management activities administered by such Secretary; and (2) the land use planning and management activities of other Federal agencies, agencies of the State in which the public lands are located, and local and tribal governments in the vicinity of such lands.

Requires, when the plans of two or more Federal agencies are anticipated to have an impact on a gateway community, the consolidation and coordination of the agencies' plans and planning processes in order to facilitate the participation of affected gateway communities.

Directs the relevant Secretary to allow any affected gateway communities the opportunity to be recognized as cooperating agencies under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 when a proposed action is determined to require an environmental impact statement.

Allows the relevant Secretary to make grants to any gateway community with a population of 10,000 or less to carry out the purposes of this Act.

Authorizes appropriations.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov