Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery and Economic Stability Act of 1997

Summary: Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery and Economic Stability Act of 1997 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a pilot project within the Plumas, Lassen, and Tahoe National Forests, California, to demonstrate the effectiveness of specified fire resiliency resource management activities recommended by the Quincy Library Group-Community Stability Proposal. 
Exempts spotted owl habitat and protected areas within the project area from such required activities and timber harvesting.  Provides for riparian protection. 
Limits:  (1) annual project acreage; (2) funding sources; (3) project duration; and (4) report expenditures.    Requires corresponding amendments to be made to the Plumas, Lassen, and Tahoe forest management plans within a specified time. 
Sets forth reporting provisions.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Quincy Library Group Forest Recovery 
and Economic Stability Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. PILOT PROJECT FOR PLUMAS, LASSEN, AND TAHOE NATIONAL FORESTS TO 
              IMPLEMENT QUINCY LIBRARY GROUP PROPOSAL.

    (a) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term ``Quincy 
Library Group-Community Stability Proposal'' means the agreement by a 
coalition of representatives of fisheries, timber, environmental, 
county government, citizen groups, and local communities that formed in 
northern California to develop a resource management program that 
promotes ecologic and economic health for certain Federal lands and 
communities in the Sierra Nevada area. Such proposal includes the map 
entitled ``QUINCY LIBRARY GROUP Community Stability Proposal'', dated 
June 1993, and prepared by VESTRA Resources of Redding, California.
    (b) Pilot Project Required.--
            (1) Pilot project and purpose.--The Secretary of 
        Agriculture (in this section referred to as the ``Secretary''), 
        acting through the Forest Service and after completion of an 
        environmental impact statement (a record of decision for which 
        shall be adopted within 200 days), shall conduct a pilot 
        project on the Federal lands described in paragraph (2) to 
        implement and demonstrate the effectiveness of the resource 
        management activities described in subsection (d) and the other 
        requirements of this section, as recommended in the Quincy 
        Library Group-Community Stability Proposal.
            (2) Pilot project area.--The Secretary shall conduct the 
        pilot project on the Federal lands within Plumas National 
        Forest, Lassen National Forest, and the Sierraville Ranger 
        District of Tahoe National Forest in the State of California 
        designated as ``Available for Group Selection'' on the map 
        entitled ``QUINCY LIBRARY GROUP Community Stability Proposal'', 
        dated June 1993 (in this section referred to as the ``pilot 
        project area''). Such map shall be on file and available for 
        inspection in the appropriate offices of the Forest Service.
    (c) Exclusion of Certain Lands, Riparian Protection and 
Compliance.--
            (1) Exclusion.--All spotted owl habitat areas and protected 
        activity centers located within the pilot project area 
        designated under subsection (b)(2) will be deferred from 
        resource management activities required under subsection (d) 
        and timber harvesting during the term of the pilot project.
            (2) In general.--The Regional Forester for region 5 shall 
        direct that during the term of the pilot project any resource 
        management activity required by subsection (d), all road 
        building, and all timber harvesting activities shall not be 
        conducted on the Federal lands within the Plumas National 
        Forest, Lassen National Forest, and Sierraville Ranger District 
        of the Tahoe National Forest in the State of California that 
        are designated as either ``Off Base'' or ``Deferred'' on the 
        map referred to in subsection (a).
            (3) Riparian protection.--
                    (A) In general.--The Scientific Analysis Team 
                guidelines for riparian system protection described in 
                subparagraph (B) shall apply to all resource management 
                activities conducted under subsection (d) and all 
                timber harvesting activities that occur in the pilot 
                project area during the term of the pilot project.
                    (B) Guidelines described.--The guidelines referred 
                to in subparagraph (A) are those in the document 
                entitled ``Viability Assessments and Management 
                Considerations for Species Associated with Late-
                Successional and Old-Growth Forests of the Pacific 
                Northwest'', a Forest Service research document dated 
                March 1993 and co-authored by the Scientific Analysis 
                Team, including Dr. Jack Ward Thomas.
            (4) Compliance.--All resource management activities 
        required by subsection (d) shall be implemented to the extent 
        consistent with applicable Federal law and the standards and 
        guidelines for the conservation of the California spotted owl 
        as set forth in the California Spotted Owl Sierran Provence 
        Interim Guidelines, or the subsequently issued final guidelines 
        whichever is in effect.
    (d) Resource Management Activities.--During the term of the pilot 
project, the Secretary shall implement and carry out the following 
resource management activities on an acreage basis on the Federal lands 
included within the pilot project area designated under subsection 
(b)(2):
            (1) Fuelbreak construction.--Construction of a strategic 
        system of defensible fuel profile zones, including shaded 
        fuelbreaks, utilizing thinning, individual tree selection, and 
        other methods of vegetation management consistent with the 
        Quincy Library Group-Community Stability Proposal, on not less 
        than 40,000, but not more than 60,000, acres per year.
            (2) Group selection and individual tree selection.--
        Utilization of group selection and individual tree selection 
        uneven-aged forest management prescriptions described in the 
        Quincy Library Group-Community Stability Proposal to achieve a 
        desired future condition of all-age, multistory, fire resilient 
        forests as follows:
                    (A) Group selection.--Group selection on an average 
                acreage of .57 percent of the pilot project area land 
                each year of the pilot project.
                    (B) Individual tree selection.--Individual tree 
                selection may also be utilized within the pilot project 
                area.
            (3) Total acreage.--The total acreage on which resource 
        management activities are implemented under this subsection 
        shall not exceed 70,000 acres each year.
            (4) Riparian management.--A program of riparian management, 
        including wide protection zones and riparian restoration 
        projects, consistent with riparian protection guidelines in 
        subsection (c)(2)(B).
    (e) Cost-Effectiveness.--In conducting the pilot project, Secretary 
shall use the most cost-effective means available, as determined by the 
Secretary, to implement resource management activities described in 
subsection (d).
    (f) Funding.--
            (1) Source of funds.--In conducting the pilot project, the 
        Secretary shall use, subject to the relevant reprogramming 
        guidelines of the House and Senate Committees on 
        Appropriations--
                    (A) those funds specifically provided to the Forest 
                Service by the Secretary to implement resource 
                management activities according to the Quincy Library 
                Group-Community Stability Proposal; and
                    (B) excess funds that are allocated for the 
                administration and management of Plumas National 
                Forest, Lassen National Forest, and the Sierraville 
                Ranger District of Tahoe National Forest.
            (2) Prohibition on use of certain funds.--The Secretary may 
        not conduct the pilot project using funds appropriated for any 
        other unit of the National Forest System.
            (3) Flexibility.--Subject to normal reprogramming 
        guidelines, during the term of the pilot project, the forest 
        supervisors of Plumas National Forest, Lassen National Forest, 
        and Tahoe National Forest may allocate and use all accounts 
        that contain excess funds and all available excess funds for 
        the administration and management of Plumas National Forest, 
        Lassen National Forest, and the Sierraville Ranger District of 
        Tahoe National Forest to perform the resource management 
        activities described in subsection (d).
            (4) Restriction.--The Secretary or the forest supervisors, 
        as the case may be, shall not utilize authority provided under 
        paragraphs (1)(B) and (3) if, in their judgment, doing so will 
        limit other nontimber related multiple use activities for which 
        such funds were available.
            (5) Overhead.--Of amounts available to carry out this 
        section--
                    (A) not more than 12 percent may be used or 
                allocated for general administration or other overhead; 
                and
                    (B) at least 88 percent shall be used to implement 
                and carry out activities required by this section.
            (6) Authorized supplemental funds.--There are authorized to 
        be appropriated to implement and carry out the pilot project 
        such sums as are necessary.
            (7) Baseline funds.--Amounts available for resource 
        management activities authorized under subsection (d) shall at 
        a minimum include existing baseline funding levels.
    (g) Term of Pilot Project.--The Secretary shall conduct the pilot 
project during the period beginning on the date of the enactment of 
this Act and ending on the later of the following:
            (1) The date on which the Secretary completes amendment or 
        revision of the land and resource management plans for Plumas 
        National Forest, Lassen National Forest, and Tahoe National 
        Forest pursuant to subsection (i).
            (2) The date that is five years after the date of the 
        commencement of the pilot project.
    (h) Consultation.--(1) Each statement required by subsection (b)(1) 
shall be prepared in consultation with the Quincy Library Group.
    (2) Contracting.--The Forest Service, subject to the availability 
of appropriations, may carry out any (or all) of the requirements of 
this section using private contracts.
    (i) Corresponding Forest Plan Amendments.--Within 180 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Regional Forester for Region 
5 shall initiate the process to amend or revise the land and resource 
management plans for Plumas National Forest, Lassen National Forest, 
and Tahoe National Forest. The process shall include preparation of at 
least one alternative that--
            (1) incorporates the pilot project and area designations 
        made by subsection (b), the resource management activities 
        described in subsection (d), and other aspects of the Quincy 
        Library Group Community Stability Proposal; and
            (2) makes other changes warranted by the analyses conducted 
        in compliance with section 102(2) of the National Environmental 
        Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)), section 6 of the Forest 
        and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 
        U.S.C. 1604), and other applicable laws.
    (j) Reporting Requirements.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than February 28 of each year 
        during the term of the pilot project, the Secretary after 
        consultation with the Quincy Library Group, shall submit to 
        Congress a report on the status of the pilot project. The 
        report shall include at least the following:
                    (A) A complete accounting of the use of funds made 
                available under subsection (f)(1)(A) until such funds 
                are fully expended.
                    (B) A complete accounting of the use of funds and 
                accounts made available under subsection (f)(1) for the 
                previous fiscal year, including a schedule of the 
                amounts drawn from each account used to perform 
                resource management activities described in subsection 
                (d).
                    (C) A description of total acres treated for each 
                of the resource management activities required under 
                subsection (d), forest health improvements, fire risk 
                reductions, water yield increases, and other natural 
                resources-related benefits achieved by the 
                implementation of the resource management activities 
                described in subsection (d).
                    (D) A description of the economic benefits to local 
                communities achieved by the implementation of the pilot 
                project.
                    (E) A comparison of the revenues generated by, and 
                costs incurred in, the implementation of the resource 
                management activities described in subsection (d) on 
                the Federal lands included in the pilot project area 
                with the revenues and costs during each of the fiscal 
                years 1992 through 1997 for timber management of such 
                lands before their inclusion in the pilot project.
                    (F) A schedule for the resource management 
                activities to be undertaken in the pilot project area 
                during the calendar year.
                    (G) A description of any adverse environmental 
                impacts.
            (2) Limitation on expenditures.--The amount of Federal 
        funds expended on each annual report under this subsection 
        shall not exceed $50,000.
    (k) Final Report.--
            (1) In general.--Beginning after completion of 6 months of 
        the second year of the pilot project, the Secretary shall 
        compile a science-based assessment of, and report on, the 
        effectiveness of the pilot project in meeting the stated goals 
        of this pilot project. Such assessment and report--
                    (A) shall include watershed monitoring of lands 
                treated under this section, that should address the 
                following issues on a priority basis: timing of water 
                releases, water quality changes, and water yield 
                changes over the short and long term in the pilot 
                project area;
                    (B) shall include an analysis of any adverse 
                environmental impacts;
                    (C) shall be compiled in consultation with the 
                Quincy Library Group; and
                    (D) shall be submitted to the Congress by July 1, 
                2002.
            (2) Limitations on expenditures.--The amount of Federal 
        funds expended for the assessment and report under this 
        subsection, other than for watershed monitoring under paragraph 
        (1)(A), shall not exceed $150,000. The amount of Federal funds 
        expended for watershed monitoring under paragraph (1)(A) shall 
        not exceed $75,000 for each of fiscal years 2000, 2001, and 
        2002.
    (l) Relationship to Other Laws.--Nothing in this section exempts 
the pilot project from any Federal environmental law.