II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1192

To designate national forest land managed by the Forest Service in the

Lake Tahoe Basin as the ‘‘Lake Tahoe National Scenic Forest and

Recreation Area’’, and to promote environmental restoration around the

Lake Tahoe Basin.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 9, 1999

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. REID, Mrs. BOXER, and Mr. BRYAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To designate national forest land managed by the Forest

Service in the Lake Tahoe Basin as the ‘‘Lake Tahoe

National Scenic Forest and Recreation Area’’, and to

promote environmental restoration around the Lake

Tahoe Basin.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lake Tahoe Restora5 tion Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
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1 (1) Lake Tahoe, one of the largest, deepest,

2 and clearest lakes in the world, has a cobalt blue

3 color, a unique alpine setting, and remarkable water

4 clarity, and is recognized nationally and worldwide

5 as a natural resource of special significance;

6 (2) in addition to being a scenic and ecological

7 treasure, Lake Tahoe is one of the outstanding rec8 reational resources of the United States, offering

9 skiing, water sports, biking, camping, and hiking to

10 millions of visitors each year, and contributing sig11 nificantly to the economies of California, Nevada,

12 and the United States;

13 (3) the economy in the Lake Tahoe Basin is de14 pendent on the protection and restoration of the nat15 ural beauty and recreation opportunities in the area;

16 (4) Lake Tahoe is in the midst of an environ17 mental crisis; the Lake’s water clarity has declined

18 from a visibility level of 105 feet in 1967 to only 70

19 feet in 1999, and scientific estimates indicate that if

20 the water quality at the Lake continues to degrade,

21 Lake Tahoe will lose its famous clarity in only 30

22 years;

23 (5) sediment and algae-nourishing phosphorous

24 and nitrogen continue to flow into the Lake from a

25 variety of sources, including land erosion, fertilizers,
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1 air pollution, urban runoff, highway drainage,

2 streamside erosion, land disturbance, and ground

3 water flow;

4 (6) destruction of wetlands, wet meadows, and

5 stream zone habitat has compromised the Lake’s

6 ability to cleanse itself of pollutants;

7 (7) approximately 25 percent of the trees in the

8 Lake Tahoe Basin are either dead or dying, and the

9 increased quantity of combustible forest fuels has

10 significantly increased the risk of catastrophic forest

11 fire in the Lake Tahoe Basin;

12 (8) as the largest land manager in the Lake

13 Tahoe Basin, with 77 percent of the land, the Fed14 eral Government has a unique responsibility for re15 storing environmental health to Lake Tahoe;

16 (9) the Federal Government has a long history

17 of environmental preservation at Lake Tahoe,

18 including—

19 (A) congressional consent to the establish20 ment of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency in

21 1969 (Public Law 91–148; 83 Stat. 360) and

22 in 1980 (Public Law 96–551; 94 Stat. 3233);

23 (B) the establishment of the Lake Tahoe

24 Basin Management Unit in 1973; and
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1 (C) the enactment of Public Law 96–586

2 (94 Stat. 3381) in 1980 to provide for the ac3 quisition of environmentally sensitive land and

4 erosion control grants;

5 (10) President Clinton renewed the Federal

6 Government’s commitment to Lake Tahoe in 1997

7 at the Lake Tahoe Presidential Forum, when he

8 committed to increased Federal resources for envi9 ronmental restoration at Lake Tahoe and estab10 lished the Federal Interagency Partnership and Fed11 eral Advisory Committee to consult on natural re12 sources issues concerning the Lake Tahoe Basin;

13 (11) the States of California and Nevada have

14 contributed proportionally to the effort to protect

15 and restore Lake Tahoe, including—

16 (A) expenditures—

17 (i) exceeding $200,000,000 by the

18 State of California since 1980 for land ac19 quisition, erosion control, and other envi20 ronmental projects in the Lake Tahoe

21 Basin; and

22 (ii) exceeding $30,000,000 by the

23 State of Nevada since 1980 for the pur24 poses described in clause (i); and
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1 (B) the approval of a bond issue by voters

2 in the State of Nevada authorizing the expendi3 ture by that State of an additional

4 $20,000,000; and

5 (12) significant additional investment from

6 Federal, State, local, and private sources is needed

7 to stop the damage to Lake Tahoe and its forests,

8 and restore the Lake Tahoe Basin to ecological

9 health.

10 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

11 (1) to recognize Lake Tahoe’s unique national

12 status by designating the Lake Tahoe National Sce13 nic Forest and Recreation Area;

14 (2) to enable the Forest Service to plan and im15 plement significant new environmental restoration

16 activities on land surrounding Lake Tahoe;

17 (3) to ensure that Federal, State, local, re18 gional, tribal, and private agencies continue to work

19 together to improve water quality and manage Fed20 eral land surrounding Lake Tahoe; and

21 (4) to provide funding to local governments for

22 erosion and sediment control projects on non-Fed23 eral land.

24 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

25 In this Act:
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1 (1) ENVIRONMENTAL THRESHOLD CARRYING

2 CAPACITY.—The term ‘‘environmental threshold car3 rying capacity’’ has the meaning given the term in

4 Article II of the Tahoe Regional Planning Compact

5 set forth in the first section of Public Law 96–551

6 (94 Stat. 3235).

7 (2) FIRE RISK REDUCTION ACTIVITY.—

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘fire risk re9 duction activity’’ means an activity that is nec10 essary to reduce the risk of wildfire and simul11 taneously achieve and maintain the environ12 mental threshold carrying capacities established

13 by the Planning Agency in a manner consistent,

14 where applicable, with chapter 71 of the Tahoe

15 Regional Planning Agency Code of Ordinances.

16 (B) INCLUDED ACTIVITIES.—The term

17 ‘‘fire risk reduction activity’’ includes—

18 (i) prescribed burning;

19 (ii) mechanical treatment to remove

20 dead or dying trees;

21 (iii) mechanical treatment to remove

22 small trees or brush;

23 (iv) road obliteration or reconstruc24 tion; and
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1 (v) such other activities as the Sec2 retary determines to be appropriate.

3 (3) MAP.—The term ‘‘Map’’ means the map en4 titled ‘‘Official Map of the Lake Tahoe National

5 Scenic Forest and Recreation Area’’ and dated April

6 27, 1999.

7 (4) PLANNING AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Planning

8 Agency’’ means the Tahoe Regional Planning Agen9 cy established under Public Law 91–148 (83 Stat.

10 360) and Public Law 96–551 (94 Stat. 3233).

11 (5) PRIORITY LIST.—The term ‘‘priority list’’

12 means the environmental restoration priority list de13 veloped under section 7.

14 (6) SCENIC FOREST AND RECREATION AREA.—

15 The term ‘‘Scenic Forest and Recreation Area’’

16 means the Lake Tahoe National Scenic Forest and

17 Recreation Area established by section 4.

18 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

19 the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the

20 Chief of the Forest Service.

21 SEC. 4. SCENIC FOREST AND RECREATION AREA.

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Lake

23 Tahoe National Scenic Forest and Recreation Area as a

24 unit of the National Forest System.
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1 (b) BOUNDARY.—The land in and boundaries of the

2 Scenic Forest and Recreation Area shall be identical to

3 the land in and boundaries of the Lake Tahoe Basin Man4 agement Unit of the Forest Service, which comprises ap5 proximately 158,000 acres, as generally depicted on the

6 Map.

7 (c) AVAILABILITY OF MAP.—The Map shall be on file

8 and available for public inspection in the Office of the

9 Chief of the Forest Service.

10 (d) TERMINATION OF LAKE TAHOE BASIN MANAGE11 MENT UNIT.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The designation of the Lake

13 Tahoe Basin Management Unit in existence on the

14 date of enactment of this Act is terminated.

15 (2) TRANSFER.—All obligations, responsibil16 ities, and management plans for the Lake Tahoe

17 Basin Management Unit are transferred to the Sce18 nic Forest and Recreation Area.

19 (3) REFERENCE TO SCENIC FOREST AND

20 RECREATION AREA.—Any reference to the Lake

21 Tahoe Basin Management Unit shall be deemed to

22 be a reference to the Scenic Forest and Recreation

23 Area.

24 (4) FUNDS.—Any funds made available for the

25 purposes of the Lake Tahoe Basin Management
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1 Unit shall be available for the purposes of the Scenic

2 Forest and Recreation Area.

3 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATION OF SCENIC FOREST AND RECRE4 ATION AREA.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Scenic Forest and Recreation

6 Area shall be administered by the Secretary in accordance

7 with this Act and the laws applicable to the National For8 est System.

9 (b) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER AUTHORITY.—

10 (1) PRIVATE OR NON-FEDERAL LAND.—Noth11 ing in this Act confers regulatory authority on the

12 Secretary over private or other non-Federal land.

13 (2) PLANNING AGENCY.—Nothing in this Act

14 affects or increases the authority of the Planning

15 Agency.

16 (3) ACQUISITION UNDER OTHER LAW.—Noth17 ing in this Act affects the authority of the Secretary

18 to acquire land in the Lake Tahoe Basin under any

19 other law.

20 SEC. 6. CONSULTATION WITH PLANNING AGENCY AND

21 OTHER ENTITIES.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—With respect to the duties de23 scribed in subsection (b), the Secretary may, as appro24 priate, consult with and seek the advice and recommenda25 tions of—
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1 (1) the Planning Agency;

2 (2) the Tahoe Federal Interagency Partnership

3 established by Executive Order No. 13057 (62 Fed.

4 Reg. 41249) or a successor Executive order; and

5 (3) the Lake Tahoe Basin Federal Advisory

6 Committee established by the Secretary on Decem7 ber 15, 1998 (64 Fed. Reg. 2876).

8 (b) DUTIES.—The Secretary may consult with and

9 seek advice and recommendations from the entities de10 scribed in subsection (a) with respect to—

11 (1) the administration of the Scenic Forest and

12 Recreation Area;

13 (2) the development of the priority list;

14 (3) the promotion of consistent policies and

15 strategies to address the Lake Tahoe Basin’s envi16 ronmental and recreational concerns;

17 (4) the coordination of the various programs,

18 projects, and activities relating to the environment

19 and recreation in the Lake Tahoe Basin to avoid un20 necessary duplication and inefficiencies of Federal,

21 State, local, tribal, and private efforts; and

22 (5) the coordination of scientific resources and

23 data, for the purpose of obtaining the best available

24 science as a basis for decisionmaking on an ongoing

25 basis.
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1 SEC. 7. ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION PRIORITY LIST.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the

3 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall develop

4 a priority list of potential or proposed environmental res5 toration projects for the Scenic Forest and Recreation

6 Area.

7 (b) DEVELOPMENT OF PRIORITY LIST.—In devel8 oping the priority list, the Secretary shall—

9 (1) use the best available science, including any

10 relevant findings and recommendations of the water11 shed assessment conducted by the Forest Service in

12 the Lake Tahoe Basin;

13 (2) include, in order of priority, potential or

14 proposed environmental restoration projects in the

15 Scenic Forest and Recreation Area that—

16 (A) are included in or are consistent with

17 the environmental improvement program adopt18 ed by the Planning Agency in February 1998

19 and amendments to the program; and

20 (B) would help to achieve and maintain the

21 environmental threshold carrying capacities

22 for—

23 (i) water quality;

24 (ii) soil conservation;

25 (iii) air quality;

26 (iv) vegetation;
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1 (v) fisheries;

2 (vi) wildlife;

3 (vii) scenic resources;

4 (viii) recreation; and

5 (ix) noise;

6 (3) in determining the order of priority of po7 tential and proposed environmental restoration

8 projects under paragraph (2), give priority to

9 projects involving—

10 (A) the acquisition of environmentally sen11 sitive land under Public Law 96–586 (94 Stat.

12 3381);

13 (B) erosion and sediment control, including

14 the activities described in section 2(g) of Public

15 Law 96–586 (94 Stat. 3381) (as amended by

16 section 8);

17 (C) fire risk reduction activities in urban

18 areas and urban-wildland interface areas, in19 cluding urban lots acquired under Public Law

20 96–586 (94 Stat. 3381); and

21 (D) the management of vehicular parking

22 and traffic in the Scenic Forest and Recreation

23 Area, especially—

24 (i) improvement of public access to

25 the Scenic Forest and Recreation Area, in-
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1 cluding the promotion of alternatives to

2 the private automobile;

3 (ii) the Highway 28 and 89 corridors;

4 (iii) Forest Service concession hold5 ings; and

6 (iv) cooperation with local public

7 transportation systems, including—

8 (I) the Coordinated Transit Sys9 tem; and

10 (II) public transit systems on the

11 north shore of Lake Tahoe.

12 (c) MONITORING.—The Secretary shall provide for

13 continuous scientific research on and monitoring of the

14 implementation of projects on the priority list, including

15 the status of the achievement and maintenance of environ16 mental threshold carrying capacities.

17 (d) CONSISTENCY WITH MEMORANDUM OF UNDER18 STANDING.—A project on the priority list shall be con19 ducted in accordance with the memorandum of under20 standing signed by the Forest Supervisor and the Plan21 ning Agency on November 10, 1989, including any amend22 ments to the memorandum as long as the memorandum

23 remains in effect.

24 (e) REVIEW OF PRIORITY LIST.—Periodically, but

25 not less often than every 3 years, the Secretary shall re-
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1 view the priority list and make any necessary changes

2 based on—

3 (1) the findings of scientific research and moni4 toring in the Lake Tahoe Basin;

5 (2) any change in an environmental threshold

6 as determined by the Planning Agency; or

7 (3) any change in general environmental condi8 tions in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

9 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

10 authorized to be appropriated, for the implementation of

11 projects on the priority list, $20,000,000 for the first fis12 cal year that begins after the date of enactment of this

13 Act and for each of the 9 fiscal years thereafter.

14 SEC. 8. EROSION CONTROL PAYMENTS.

15 Section 2 of Public Law 96–586 (94 Stat. 3381) is

16 amended by striking subsection (g) and inserting the fol17 lowing:

18 ‘‘(g) PAYMENTS TO LOCALITIES.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agri20 culture shall make annual payments to the gov21 erning bodies of each of the political subdivisions,

22 any portion of which is located in the area depicted

23 on the final map filed under section 3(a).

24 ‘‘(2) USE OF PAYMENTS.—Payments under this

25 subsection may be used for—
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1 ‘‘(A) the restoration of wetland, wet mead2 ows, and stream environment zones, including

3 acquisition of land by the political subdivisions

4 for the purpose of restoration or designation of

5 riparian buffer zones;

6 ‘‘(B) planting and enhancing native vegeta7 tion in riparian areas;

8 ‘‘(C) restoration of fish and wildlife habi9 tat; and

10 ‘‘(D) soil conservation and erosion mitiga11 tion projects.

12 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENTS.—

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a

14 payment under this subsection, a political sub15 division shall annually submit a priority list of

16 proposed projects to the Secretary of Agri17 culture.

18 ‘‘(B) COMPONENTS OF LIST.—A priority

19 list under subparagraph (A) shall include, for

20 each proposed project listed—

21 ‘‘(i) a description of the need for the

22 project;

23 ‘‘(ii) all projected costs and benefits;

24 and

25 ‘‘(iii) a detailed budget.
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1 ‘‘(C) LIMITATION ON USE OF PAY2 MENTS.—A payment under this subsection shall

3 be used only to carry out a project or proposed

4 project that is part of the environmental im5 provement program adopted by the Tahoe Re6 gional Planning Agency in February 1998 and

7 amendments to the program.

8 ‘‘(4) DIVISION OF FUNDS.—

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The total amounts ap10 propriated for payments under this subsection

11 shall be allocated by the Secretary of Agri12 culture based on the relative need for and mer13 its of erosion control projects proposed for pay14 ment under this section.

15 ‘‘(B) MINIMUM.—To the maximum extent

16 practicable, for each fiscal year, the Secretary

17 of Agriculture shall ensure that each political

18 subdivision in the Lake Tahoe Basin receives at

19 least 10 percent of the total amounts appro20 priated for payments under this subsection.

21 ‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In

22 addition to the amounts authorized to be appro23 priated to carry out section 3, there are authorized

24 to be appropriated for making payments under this

25 subsection—
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1 ‘‘(A) a sum equal to 15 percent of the

2 amount appropriated under section 3; and

3 ‘‘(B) $10,000,000 for the first fiscal year

4 that begins after the date of enactment of this

5 paragraph and for each of the 9 fiscal years

6 thereafter.’’.

7 SEC. 9. FIRE RISK REDUCTION ACTIVITIES.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—In conducting fire risk reduction

9 activities in urban areas in the Lake Tahoe Basin, the

10 Secretary shall, as appropriate, coordinate with State and

11 local agencies and organizations, including local fire de12 partments and volunteer groups.

13 (b) GROUND DISTURBANCE.—The Secretary shall, to

14 the maximum extent practicable, minimize any ground dis15 turbances caused by fire risk reduction activities.

16 (c) ROADLESS AREAS.—The Secretary shall seek to

17 ensure that no mechanical treatment under this Act occurs

18 in inventoried roadless areas.

19 SEC. 10. AVAILABILITY AND SOURCE OF FUNDS.

20 Funds authorized under this Act and the amendment

21 made by this Act—

22 (1) shall be in addition to any other amounts

23 available to the Secretary for expenditure in the

24 Lake Tahoe Basin; and
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1 (2) shall not be drawn from an appropriation

2 for any other unit of the National Forest System.

3 SEC. 11. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.

4 Nothing in this Act exempts the Secretary from the

5 duty to comply with any applicable Federal law.

6 SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

7 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

8 as are necessary to carry out this Act.

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