EXPLORE Act passes House: New legislation to impact videographers filming on public lands

The video above from RV Miles, one of the winners of our 2024 RV video awards, brings news about the EXPLORE Act, which is good news to videographers as well as everyone who enjoys recreating on public lands.

This new bill that just passed Congress will bring about a lot of new changes including:

• Expanding recreation opportunities like biking and rock climbing.
• Addressing access barriers for veterans and the disabled.
• Streamlining the permitting process for businesses who work with public lands.

But for videographers, bloggers, and the like, it provides some clarity on the legality of filming videos in national parks and on other public lands.

The Expanding Public Lands Outdoors Recreation Experiences Act (aka the EXPLORE Act) passed the House of Representatives with broad bipartisan support.

Introduced by Arkansas Republican Bruce Westerman and Arizona Democrat Raul Grijalva, the bill still needs to pass the Senate and be signed by the President to become law, but because it has so much bipartisan support, it just might make it! The topic of filming has been hotly debated since the National Park Service specifically called out social media in its official rules. The park service stated that ALL commercial filming—and that includes for YouTube, TikTok, et al.—is illegal unless you first get a permit.

In the video, host Jason Epperson covers the case that first set off the controversy.

The law is dicey and likely unenforceable for reasons Jason explains. That’s probably why the National Park Service has rarely enforced it. Not to mention the rules seem to vary at different locations and a 2020 lawsuit found the rules to be unconstitutional due to free speech issues.

So the NPS changed the rules to allow filming without a permit as long as you could carry all the equipment yourself. They then set about appealing the decision. In 2021, the D.C. Court of Appeals reversed the ruling, making it illegal again unless you had a permit.

So what does the EXPLORE Act do about it?

It establishes new rules for filming on public lands, including National Park Service lands, and combines those rules with the rules set out for photographers. For whatever reason, photographers were always able to make money from the photos shot on public lands, but videographers and moviemakers were not.

• There will no longer be a permit or fee required for filming involving less than 6 individuals, or that is merely incidental to or documenting an event that is allowed or authorized.
• If 7–8 people are involved, there will be an easy online permit process with no fees required.
• More than 8 people involved? Sorry, you will still need to pay a fee and get a permit. You will also need a permit for anything that impedes or intrudes on the experience of the visitors or that impacts a natural or cultural resource or the environmental or scenic use of the property. Ditto if you need staging equipment.
• You can only film in areas where the public is allowed.
• You may not ask people to move out of your shot.

If you are curious about what other provisions are in this bill, and there are MANY, Jason covers them starting at point 14.25 in the video.

##RVT1154b