In the Senate of the United States,

October 30, 2003.

Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 1904) entitled ‘‘An Act to improve the capacity

of the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to plan and conduct hazardous fuels reduction projects

on National Forest System lands and Bureau of Land Management lands aimed at protecting communities, watersheds,

and certain other at-risk lands from catastrophic wildfire, to

enhance efforts to protect watersheds and address threats to

forest and rangeland health, including catastrophic wildfire,

across the landscape, and for other purposes.’’, do pass with

the following

AMENDMENTS:

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

3 ‘‘Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003’’.
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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of this

2 Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Purposes.

Sec. 3. Definitions.

TITLE I—HAZARDOUS FUEL REDUCTION ON FEDERAL LAND

Sec. 101. Definitions.

Sec. 102. Authorized hazardous fuel reduction projects.

Sec. 103. Prioritization.

Sec. 104. Environmental analysis.

Sec. 105. Special administrative review process.

Sec. 106. Judicial review in United States district courts.

Sec. 107. Effect of title.

Sec. 108. Authorization of appropriations.

TITLE II—BIOMASS

Sec. 201. Findings.

Sec. 202. Definitions.

Sec. 203. Grants to improve commercial value of forest biomass for electric energy, useful heat, transportation fuels, compost, value-added

products, and petroleum-based product substitutes.

Sec. 204. Reporting requirement.

Sec. 205. Improved biomass use research program.

Sec. 206. Rural revitalization through forestry.

TITLE III—WATERSHED FORESTRY ASSISTANCE

Sec. 301. Findings and purposes.

Sec. 302. Watershed forestry assistance program.

Sec. 303. Tribal watershed forestry assistance.

TITLE IV—INSECT INFESTATIONS AND RELATED DISEASES

Sec. 401. Findings and purpose.

Sec. 402. Definitions.

Sec. 403. Accelerated information gathering regarding forest-damaging insects.

Sec. 404. Applied silvicultural assessments.

Sec. 405. Relation to other laws.

Sec. 406. Authorization of appropriations.

TITLE V—HEALTHY FORESTS RESERVE PROGRAM

Sec. 501. Establishment of healthy forests reserve program.

Sec. 502. Eligibility and enrollment of lands in program.

Sec. 503. Restoration plans.

Sec. 504. Financial assistance.

Sec. 505. Technical assistance.

Sec. 506. Protections and measures

Sec. 507. Involvement by other agencies and organizations.

Sec. 508. Authorization of appropriations.
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TITLE VI—PUBLIC LAND CORPS

Sec. 601. Purposes.

Sec. 602. Definitions.

Sec. 603. Public Land Corps.

Sec. 604. Nondisplacement.

Sec. 605. Authorization of appropriations.

TITLE VII—RURAL COMMUNITY FORESTRY ENTERPRISE PROGRAM

Sec. 701. Purpose

Sec. 702. Definitions.

Sec. 703. Rural community forestry enterprise program.

TITLE VIII—FIREFIGHTERS MEDICAL MONITORING ACT

Sec. 801. Short Title.

Sec. 802. Monitoring of firefighters in disaster areas.

TITLE IX—DISASTER AIR QUALITY MONITORING ACT

Sec. 901. Short Title.

Sec. 902. Monitoring of air quality in disaster areas.

TITLE X—HIGHLANDS REGION CONSERVATION

Sec. 1001. Short title.

Sec. 1002. Findings.

Sec. 1003. Purposes.

Sec. 1004. Definitions.

Sec. 1005. Land conservation partnership projects in the Highlands region.

Sec. 1006. Forest Service and USDA programs in the Highlands region.

Sec. 1007. Private property protection and lack of regulatory effect.

TITLE XI—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Sec. 1101. Forest inventory and management.

Sec. 1102. Program for emergency treatment and reduction of nonnative invasive

plants.

Sec. 1103. USDA National Agroforestry Center.

Sec. 1104. Upland Hardwoods Research Center.

Sec. 1105. Emergency fuel reduction grants.

Sec. 1106. Eastern Nevada landscape coalition.

Sec. 1107. Sense of Congress regarding enhanced community fire protection.

Sec. 1108. Collaborative monitoring.

Sec. 1109. Best-value contracting.

Sec. 1110. Suburban and community forestry and open space program; Forest

Legacy Program.

Sec. 1111. Wildland firefighter safety.

Sec. 1112. Green Mountain National Forest boundary adjustment.

Sec. 1113. Puerto Rico karst conservation.

Sec. 1114. Farm Security and Rural Development Act.

Sec. 1115. Enforcement of animal fighting prohibitions under the Animal Welfare

Act.

Sec. 1116. Increase in maximum fines for violation of public land regulations

and establishment of minimum fine for violation of public land

fire regulations during fire ban.
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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

2 The purposes of this Act are—

3 (1) to reduce wildfire risk to communities, mu4 nicipal water supplies, and other at-risk Federal land

5 through a collaborative process of planning,

6 prioritizing, and implementing hazardous fuel reduc7 tion projects;

8 (2) to authorize grant programs to improve the

9 commercial value of forest biomass (that otherwise

10 contributes to the risk of catastrophic fire or insect or

11 disease infestation) for producing electric energy, use12 ful heat, transportation fuel, and petroleum-based

13 product substitutes, and for other commercial pur14 poses;

15 (3) to enhance efforts to protect watersheds and

16 address threats to forest and rangeland health, includ17 ing catastrophic wildfire, across the landscape;

18 (4) to promote systematic gathering of informa19 tion to address the impact of insect and disease infes20 tations and other damaging agents on forest and

21 rangeland health;

22 (5) to improve the capacity to detect insect and

23 disease infestations at an early stage, particularly

24 with respect to hardwood forests; and

25 (6) to protect, restore, and enhance forest eco26 system components—
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1 (A) to promote the recovery of threatened

2 and endangered species;

3 (B) to improve biological diversity; and

4 (C) to enhance productivity and carbon se5 questration.

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:

8 (1) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’

9 means—

10 (A) land of the National Forest System (as

11 defined in section 11(a) of the Forest and Range12 land Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974

13 (16 U.S.C 1609(a))) administered by the Sec14 retary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of

15 the Forest Service; and

16 (B) public lands (as defined in section 103

17 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act

18 of 1976 (43 U.S.C 1702)), the surface of which

19 is administered by the Secretary of the Interior,

20 acting through the Director of the Bureau of

21 Land Management.

22 (2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ has

23 the meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian

24 Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25

25 U.S.C. 450b).
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1 TITLE I—HAZARDOUS FUEL

2 REDUCTION ON FEDERAL LAND

3 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS.

4 In this title:

5 (1) AT-RISK COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘at-risk

6 community’’ means an area—

7 (A) that is comprised of—

8 (i) an interface community as defined

9 in the notice entitled ‘‘Wildland Urban

10 Interface Communities Within the Vicinity

11 of Federal Lands That Are at High Risk

12 From Wildfire’’ issued by the Secretary of

13 Agriculture and the Secretary of the Inte14 rior in accordance with title IV of the De15 partment of the Interior and Related Agen16 cies Appropriations Act, 2001 (114 Stat.

17 1009) (66 Fed. Reg. 753, January 4, 2001);

18 or

19 (ii) a group of homes and other struc20 tures with basic infrastructure and services

21 (such as utilities and collectively main22 tained transportation routes) within or ad23 jacent to Federal land;

24 (B) in which conditions are conducive to a

25 large-scale wildland fire disturbance event; and
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1 (C) for which a significant threat to human

2 life or property exists as a result of a wildland

3 fire disturbance event.

4 (2) AUTHORIZED HAZARDOUS FUEL REDUCTION

5 PROJECT.—The term ‘‘authorized hazardous fuel re6 duction project’’ means the measures and methods de7 scribed in the definition of ‘‘appropriate tools’’ con8 tained in the glossary of the Implementation Plan, on

9 Federal land described in section 102(a) and con10 ducted under sections 103 and 104.

11 (3) COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN.—

12 The term ‘‘community wildfire protection plan’’

13 means a plan for an at-risk community that—

14 (A) is developed within the context of the

15 collaborative agreements and the guidance estab16 lished by the Wildland Fire Leadership Council

17 and agreed to by the applicable local govern18 ment, local fire department, and State agency

19 responsibile for forest management, in consulta20 tion with interested parties and the Federal land

21 management agencies managing land in the vi22 cinity of the at-risk community;

23 (B) identifies and prioritizes areas for haz24 ardous fuel reduction treatments and rec25 ommends the types and methods of treatment on
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1 Federal and non-Federal land that will protect

2 1 or more at-risk communities and essential in3 frastructure; and

4 (C) recommends measures to reduce struc5 tural ignitability throughout the at-risk commu6 nity.

7 (4) CONDITION CLASS 2.—The term ‘‘condition

8 class 2’’, with respect to an area of Federal land,

9 means the condition class description developed by the

10 Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station in

11 the general technical report entitled ‘‘Development of

12 Coarse-Scale Spatial Data for Wildland Fire and

13 Fuel Management’’ (RMRS–87), dated April 2000

14 (including any subsequent revision to the report),

15 under which—

16 (A) fire regimes on the land have been mod17 erately altered from historical ranges;

18 (B) there exists a moderate risk of losing

19 key ecosystem components from fire;

20 (C) fire frequencies have increased or de21 creased from historical frequencies by 1 or more

22 return intervals, resulting in moderate changes

23 to—

24 (i) the size, frequency, intensity, or se25 verity of fires; or
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1 (ii) landscape patterns; and

2 (D) vegetation attributes have been mod3 erately altered from the historical range of the

4 attributes.

5 (5) CONDITION CLASS 3.—The term ‘‘condition

6 class 3’’, with respect to an area of Federal land,

7 means the condition class description developed by the

8 Rocky Mountain Research Station in the general tech9 nical report referred to in paragraph (4) (including

10 any subsequent revision to the report), under which—

11 (A) fire regimes on land have been signifi12 cantly altered from historical ranges;

13 (B) there exists a high risk of losing key

14 ecosystem components from fire;

15 (C) fire frequencies have departed from his16 torical frequencies by multiple return intervals,

17 resulting in dramatic changes to—

18 (i) the size, frequency, intensity, or se19 verity of fires; or

20 (ii) landscape patterns; and

21 (D) vegetation attributes have been signifi22 cantly altered from the historical range of the at23 tributes.

24 (6) DAY.—The term ‘‘day’’ means—

25 (A) a calendar day; or
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1 (B) if a deadline imposed by this title

2 would expire on a nonbusiness day, the end of

3 the next business day.

4 (7) DECISION DOCUMENT.—The term ‘‘decision

5 document’’ means—

6 (A) a decision notice (as that term is used

7 in the Forest Service Handbook);

8 (B) a decision record (as that term is used

9 in the Bureau of Land Management Handbook);

10 and

11 (C) a record of decision (as that term is

12 used in applicable regulations of the Council on

13 Environmental Quality).

14 (8) FIRE REGIME I.—The term ‘‘fire regime I’’

15 means an area—

16 (A) in which historically there have been

17 low-severity fires with a frequency of 0 through

18 35 years; and

19 (B) that is located primarily in low ele20 vation forests of pine, oak, or pinyon juniper.

21 (9) FIRE REGIME II.—The term ‘‘fire regime II’’

22 means an area—

23 (A) in which historically there are stand re24 placement severity fires with a frequency of 0

25 through 35 years; and
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1 (B) that is located primarily in low- to

2 mid-elevation rangeland, grassland, or

3 shrubland.

4 (10) FIRE REGIME III.—The term ‘‘fire regime

5 III’’ means an area—

6 (A) in which historically there are mixed se7 verity fires with a frequency of 35 through 100

8 years; and

9 (B) that is located primarily in forests of

10 mixed conifer, dry Douglas fir, or wet Ponderosa

11 pine.

12 (11) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—The term ‘‘Imple13 mentation Plan’’ means the Implementation Plan for

14 the Comprehensive Strategy for a Collaborative Ap15 proach for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Commu16 nities and the Environment, dated May 2002, devel17 oped pursuant to the conference report to accompany

18 the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies

19 Appropriations Act, 2001 (House Report 106–64)

20 (and subsequent revisions).

21 (12) MUNICIPAL WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM.—The

22 term ‘‘municipal water supply system’’ means the res23 ervoirs, canals, ditches, flumes, laterals, pipes, pipe24 lines, and other surface facilities and systems con25 structed or installed for the collection, impoundment,
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1 storage, transportation, or distribution of drinking

2 water.

3 (13) RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term

4 ‘‘resource management plan’’ means—

5 (A) a land and resource management plan

6 prepared for 1 or more units of land of the Na7 tional Forest System described in section 3(1)(A)

8 under section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland Re9 newable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16

10 U.S.C. 1604); or

11 (B) a land use plan prepared for 1 or more

12 units of the public land described in section

13 3(1)(B) under section 202 of the Federal Land

14 Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C.

15 1712).

16 (14) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’

17 means—

18 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re19 spect to land of the National Forest System de20 scribed in section 3(1)(A); and

21 (B) the Secretary of the Interior, with re22 spect to public lands described in section

23 3(1)(B).
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1 (15) THREATENED AND ENDANGERED SPECIES

2 HABITAT.—The term ‘‘threatened and endangered spe3 cies habitat’’ means Federal land identified in—

4 (A) a determination that a species is an en5 dangered species or a threatened species under

6 the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C.

7 1531 et seq.);

8 (B) a designation of critical habitat of the

9 species under that Act; or

10 (C) a recovery plan prepared for the species

11 under that Act.

12 (16) WILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE.—The term

13 ‘‘wildland-urban interface’’ means—

14 (A) an area within or adjacent to an at-risk

15 community that is identified in recommenda16 tions to the Secretary in a community wildfire

17 protection plan; or

18 (B) in the case of any area for which a

19 community wildfire protection plan is not in

20 effect—

(i) an area extending 1 21 ⁄2-mile from the

22 boundary of an at-risk community;

(ii) an area extending more than 1 23 ⁄2-

24 mile from the boundary of an at-risk com-
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1 munity, if the land adjacent to the at-risk

2 community—

3 (I) has a sustained steep slope

4 that creates the potential for wildfire

5 behavior endangering the at-risk com6 munity; or

7 (II) has a geographic feature that

8 aids in creating an effective fire break,

such as a road or ridge top, within 3 9 ⁄4-

10 mile of the nearest at-risk community

11 boundary; and

12 (iii) an area that is adjacent to an

13 evacuation route for an at-risk community

14 that the Secretary determines, in coopera15 tion with the at-risk community, requires

16 hazardous fuel reduction to provide safer

17 evacuation from the at-risk community.

18 SEC. 102. AUTHORIZED HAZARDOUS FUEL REDUCTION

19 PROJECTS.

20 (a) AUTHORIZED PROJECTS.—As soon as practicable

21 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall

22 implement authorized hazardous fuel reduction projects,

23 consistent with the Implementation Plan, on—

24 (1) Federal land in wildland-urban interface

25 areas;
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1 (2) condition class 3 Federal land, in such prox2 imity to a municipal water supply system or a

3 stream feeding such a system within a municipal wa4 tershed that a significant risk exists that a fire dis5 turbance event would have adverse effects on the water

6 quality of the municipal water supply or the mainte7 nance of the system, including a risk to water quality

8 posed by erosion following such a fire disturbance

9 event;

10 (3) condition class 2 Federal land located within

11 fire regime I, fire regime II, or fire regime III, in

12 such proximity to a municipal water supply system

13 or a stream feeding such a system within a municipal

14 watershed that a significant risk exists that a fire dis15 turbance event would have adverse effects on the water

16 quality of the municipal water supply or the mainte17 nance of the system, including a risk to water quality

18 posed by erosion following such a fire disturbance

19 event;

20 (4) Federal land on which windthrow or blow21 down, ice storm damage, or the existence of disease or

22 insect infestation, poses a significant threat to an eco23 system component, or forest or rangeland resource, on

24 the Federal land or adjacent non-Federal land;
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1 (5) Federal land not covered by paragraphs (1)

2 through (4) that contains threatened and endangered

3 species habitat, if—

4 (A) natural fire regimes on that land are

5 identified as being important for, or wildfire is

6 identified as a threat to, an endangered species,

7 a threatened species, or habitat of an endangered

8 species or threatened species in a species recovery

9 plan prepared under section 4 of the Endangered

10 Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533), or a notice

11 published in the Federal Register determining a

12 species to be an endangered species or a threat13 ened species or designating critical habitat;

14 (B) the authorized hazardous fuel reduction

15 project will provide enhanced protection from

16 catastrophic wildfire for the endangered species,

17 threatened species, or habitat of the endangered

18 species or threatened species; and

19 (C) the Secretary complies with any appli20 cable guidelines specified in any management or

21 recovery plan described in subparagraph (A).

22 (b) RELATION TO AGENCY PLANS.—An authorized

23 hazardous fuel reduction project shall be conducted con24 sistent with the resource management plan and other rel-
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1 evant administrative policies or decisions applicable to the

2 Federal land covered by the project.

3 (c) ACREAGE LIMITATION.—Not more than a total of

4 20,000,000 acres of Federal land may be treated under au5 thorized hazardous fuel reduction projects.

6 (d) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN FEDERAL LAND.—The

7 Secretary may not conduct an authorized hazardous fuel

8 reduction project that would occur on—

9 (1) a component of the National Wilderness Pres10 ervation System;

11 (2) Federal land on which the removal of vegeta12 tion is prohibited or restricted by Act of Congress or

13 Presidential proclamation (including the applicable

14 implementation plan); or

15 (3) a Wilderness Study Area.

16 (e) OLD GROWTH STANDS.—

17 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection and sub18 section (f):

19 (A) COVERED PROJECT.—The term ‘‘covered

20 project’’ means an authorized hazardous fuel re21 duction project carried out under paragraph (1),

22 (2), (3), or (5) of subsection (a).

23 (B) OLD GROWTH STAND.—The term ‘‘old

24 growth stand’’ has the meaning given the term

25 under standards used pursuant to paragraphs
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1 (3) and (4), based on the structure and composi2 tion characteristic of the forest type, and in ac3 cordance with applicable law, including section

4 6(g)(3)(B) of the Forest and Rangeland Renew5 able Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C.

6 1604(g)(3)(B)).

7 (C) STANDARDS.—The term ‘‘standards’’

8 means definitions, designations, standards,

9 guidelines, goals, or objectives established for an

10 old growth stand under a resource management

11 plan developed in accordance with applicable

12 law, including section 6(g)(3)(B) of the Forest

13 and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning

14 Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604(g)(3)(B)).

15 (2) PROJECT REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out

16 a covered project, the Secretary shall fully maintain,

17 or contribute toward the restoration of, the structure

18 and composition of old growth stands according to the

19 pre-fire suppression old growth conditions char20 acteristic of the forest type, taking into account the

21 contribution of the stand to landscape fire adaptation

22 and watershed health, and retaining the large trees

23 contributing to old growth structure.

24 (3) NEWER STANDARDS.—
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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the standards for an

2 old growth stand were established during the 10-

3 year period ending on the date of enactment of

4 this Act, the Secretary shall meet the require5 ments of paragraph (2) in carrying out a cov6 ered project by implementing the standards.

7 (B) AMENDMENTS OR REVISIONS.—Any

8 amendment or revision to standards for which

9 final administrative approval is granted after

10 the date of enactment of this Act shall be con11 sistent with paragraph (2) for the purpose of

12 carrying out covered projects.

13 (4) OLDER STANDARDS.—

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the standards for an

15 old growth stand were established before the 10-

16 year period described in paragraph (3)(A), the

17 Secretary shall meet the requirements of para18 graph (2) in carrying out a covered project by

19 implementing the standards—

20 (i) during the 2-year period beginning

21 on the date of enactment of this Act; or

22 (ii) if the Secretary is in the process of

23 revising a resource management plan as of

24 the date of enactment of this Act, during the
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1 3-year period beginning on the date of en2 actment of this Act.

3 (B) REVIEW REQUIRED.—During the appli4 cable period described in subparagraph (A) for

5 the standards for an old growth stand under a

6 resource management plan, the Secretary shall—

7 (i) review the standards, taking into

8 account any relevant scientific information

9 made available since the adoption of the

10 standards; and

11 (ii) revise the standards to be con12 sistent with paragraph (2), if necessary to

13 reflect relevant scientific information the

14 Secretary did not consider in formulating

15 the resource management plan.

16 (C) REVIEW NOT COMPLETED.—

17 (i) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary does

18 not complete the review of the standards in

19 accordance with subparagraph (B), during

20 the applicable period described in subpara21 graph (A), the Secretary shall not carry out

22 any portion of a covered project in a stand

23 that is identified as an old growth stand

24 (based on substantial supporting evidence)

25 by any person during scoping.
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1 (ii) PERIOD.—Clause (i) applies dur2 ing the period—

3 (I) beginning on the termination

4 of the applicable period for the stand5 ards described in subparagraph (A);

6 and

7 (II) ending on the earlier of—

8 (aa) the date the Secretary

9 completes the action required by

10 subparagraph (B) for the stand11 ards; or

12 (bb) the date on which the

13 acreage limitation specified in

14 subsection (c) (as that limitation

15 may be adjusted by subsequent

16 Act of Congress) is reached.

17 (f) LARGE TREE RETENTION.—Except in old growth

18 stands where the standards are consistent with subsection

19 (e)(2), the Secretary shall carry out a covered project in

20 a manner that—

21 (1) focuses largely on small diameter trees,

22 thinning, strategic fuel breaks, and prescribed fire to

23 modify fire behavior, as measured by the projected re24 duction of uncharacteristically severe wildfire effects
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1 for the forest type (such as adverse soil impacts, tree

2 mortality or other impacts); and

3 (2) maximizes the retention of large trees, as ap4 propriate for the forest type, to the extent that the

5 trees promote fire-resilient stands and the purposes of

6 section 6(g)(3)(B) of the Forest and Rangeland Re7 newable Resources Planning Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C.

8 1604(g)(3)(B)).

9 (g) MONITORING AND ASSESSING FOREST AND RANGE10 LAND HEALTH.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—For each Forest Service ad12 ministrative region and each Bureau of Land Man13 agement State Office, the Secretary shall—

14 (A) monitor the results of the projects au15 thorized under this section; and

16 (B) not later than 5 years after the date of

17 enactment of this Act, and each 5 years there18 after, issue a report that includes—

19 (i) an evaluation of the progress to20 wards project goals; and

21 (ii) recommendations for modifications

22 to the projects and management treatments.

23 (2) CONSISTENCY OF PROJECTS WITH REC24 OMMENDATIONS.—An authorized hazardous fuel re25 duction project approved following the issuance of a
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1 monitoring report shall, to the maximum extent prac2 ticable, be consistent with any applicable rec3 ommendations in the report.

4 (3) SIMILAR VEGETATION TYPES.—The results of

5 a monitoring report shall be made available in, and

6 (if appropriate) used for, a project conducted in a

7 similar vegetation type on land under the jurisdiction

8 of the Secretary.

9 (4) MONITORING AND ASSESSMENTS.—From a

10 representative sample of authorized hazardous fuel re11 duction projects, for each management unit, moni12 toring and assessment shall include a description of

13 the effects on changes in condition class, using the

14 Fire Regime Condition Class Guidebook or successor

15 guidance, specifically comparing end results to—

16 (A) pretreatment conditions;

17 (B) historical fire regimes; and

18 (C) any applicable watershed or landscape

19 goals or objectives in the resource management

20 plan or other relevant direction.

21 (5) TRACKING.—For each management unit, the

22 Secretary shall track acres burned, by the degree of se23 verity, by large wildfires (as defined by the Sec24 retary).
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1 (6) MONITORING AND MAINTENANCE OF TREATED

2 AREAS.—The Secretary shall, to the maximum extent

3 practicable, develop a process for monitoring the need

4 for maintenance of treated areas, over time, in order

5 to preserve the forest health benefits achieved.

6 SEC. 103. PRIORITIZATION.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with the Implemen8 tation Plan, the Secretary shall develop an annual program

9 of work for Federal land that gives priority to authorized

10 hazardous fuel reduction projects that provide for the pro11 tection of at-risk communities or watersheds or that imple12 ment community wildfire protection plans.

13 (b) COLLABORATION.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall consider

15 recommendations under subsection (a) that are made

16 by at-risk communities that have developed commu17 nity wildfire protection plans.

18 (2) EXEMPTION.—The Federal Advisory Com19 mittee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the

20 planning process and recommendations concerning

21 community wildfire protection plans.

22 (c) ADMINISTRATION.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Federal agency involvement

24 in a community wildfire protection plan, or a rec25 ommendation made in a community wildfire protec-
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1 tion plan, shall not be considered a Federal agency

2 action under the National Environmental Policy Act

3 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).

4 (2) COMPLIANCE.—In implementing authorized

5 hazardous fuel reduction projects on Federal land, the

6 Secretary shall, in accordance with section 104, com7 ply with the National Environmental Policy Act of

8 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).

9 (d) FUNDING ALLOCATION.—

10 (1) FEDERAL LAND.—

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subparagraph

12 (B), the Secretary shall use not less than 50 per13 cent of the funds allocated for authorized haz14 ardous fuel reduction projects in the wildland15 urban interface.

16 (B) APPLICABILITY AND ALLOCATION.—The

17 funding allocation in subparagraph (A) shall

18 apply at the national level, and the Secretary

19 may allocate the proportion of funds differently

20 than is required under subparagraph (A) within

21 individual management units as appropriate, in

22 particular to conduct authorized hazardous fuel

23 reduction projects on land described in section

24 102(a)(4).
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1 (2) NON-FEDERAL LAND.—In providing finan2 cial assistance under any provision of law for haz3 ardous fuel reduction projects on non-Federal land,

4 the Secretary shall consider recommendations made

5 by at-risk communities that have developed commu6 nity wildfire protection plans.

7 SEC. 104. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS.

8 (a) AUTHORIZED HAZARDOUS FUEL REDUCTION

9 PROJECTS.—Except as otherwise provided in this title, the

10 Secretary shall conduct authorized hazardous fuel reduction

11 projects in accordance with—

12 (1) the National Environmental Policy Act of

13 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.); and

14 (2) other applicable laws.

15 (b) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OR IMPACT STATE16 MENTS.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall prepare

18 an environmental assessment or an environmental

19 impact statement (pursuant to section 102(2) of the

20 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42

21 U.S.C. 4332(2))) for any authorized hazardous fuel

22 reduction project.

23 (2) ALTERNATIVES.—In the environmental as24 sessment or environmental impact statement prepared
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1 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall study, de2 velop, and describe—

3 (A) the proposed agency action;

4 (B) the alternative of no action; and

5 (C) an additional action alternative, if the

6 additional alternative—

7 (i) is proposed during scoping or the

8 collaborative process; and

9 (ii) meets the purpose and need of the

10 project, in accordance with regulations pro11 mulgated by the Council on Environmental

12 Quality.

13 (3) MULTIPLE ADDITIONAL ALTERNATIVES.—If

14 more than 1 additional alternative is proposed under

15 paragraph (2)(C), the Secretary shall—

16 (A) select which additional alternative to

17 consider; and

18 (B) provide a written record describing the

19 reasons for the selection.

20 (c) PUBLIC NOTICE AND MEETING.—

21 (1) PUBLIC NOTICE.—The Secretary shall pro22 vide notice of each authorized hazardous fuel reduc23 tion project in accordance with applicable regulations

24 and administrative guidelines.
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1 (2) PUBLIC MEETING.—During the preparation

2 stage of each authorized hazardous fuel reduction

3 project, the Secretary shall—

4 (A) conduct a public meeting at an appro5 priate location proximate to the administrative

6 unit of the Federal land on which the authorized

7 hazardous fuel reduction project will be con8 ducted; and

9 (B) provide advance notice of the location,

10 date, and time of the meeting.

11 (d) PUBLIC COLLABORATION.—In order to encourage

12 meaningful public participation during preparation of au13 thorized hazardous fuel reduction projects, the Secretary

14 shall facilitate collaboration among State and local govern15 ments and Indian tribes, and participation of interested

16 persons, during the preparation of each authorized fuel re17 duction project in a manner consistent with the Implemen18 tation Plan.

19 (e) ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS AND PUBLIC COM20 MENT.—In accordance with section 102(2) of the National

21 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)) and

22 the applicable regulations and administrative guidelines,

23 the Secretary shall provide an opportunity for public com24 ment during the preparation of any environmental assess-
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1 ment or environmental impact statement for an authorized

2 hazardous fuel reduction project.

3 (f) DECISION DOCUMENT.—The Secretary shall sign a

4 decision document for authorized hazardous fuel reduction

5 projects and provide notice of the final agency actions.

6 SEC. 105. SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW PROCESS.

7 (a) INTERIM FINAL REGULATIONS.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after

9 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of

10 Agriculture shall promulgate interim final regula11 tions to establish a predecisional administrative re12 view process for the period described in paragraph (2)

13 that will serve as the sole means by which a person

14 can seek administrative review regarding an author15 ized hazardous fuel reduction project on Forest Serv16 ice land.

17 (2) PERIOD.—The predecisional administrative

18 review process required under paragraph (1) shall

19 occur during the period—

20 (A) beginning after the completion of the

21 environmental assessment or environmental im22 pact statement; and

23 (B) ending not later than the date of the

24 issuance of the final decision approving the

25 project.
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1 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The interim final regula2 tions promulgated under paragraph (1) shall take ef3 fect on the date of promulgation of the regulations.

4 (b) FINAL REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall pro5 mulgate final regulations to establish the process described

6 in subsection (a)(1) after the interim final regulations have

7 been published and reasonable time has been provided for

8 public comment.

9 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—A person may bring a civil

11 action challenging an authorized hazardous fuel re12 duction project in a Federal district court only if the

13 person has challenged the authorized hazardous fuel

14 reduction project by exhausting—

15 (A) the administrative review process estab16 lished by the Secretary of Agriculture under this

17 section; or

18 (B) the administrative hearings and ap19 peals procedures established by the Department

20 of the Interior.

21 (2) ISSUES.—An issue may be considered in the

22 judicial review of an action under section 106 only

23 if the issue was raised in an administrative review

24 process described in paragraph (1).
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1 (3) EXCEPTION.—An exception to the require2 ment of exhausting the administrative review process

3 before seeking judicial review shall be available if a

4 Federal court finds that the futility or inadequacy ex5 ception applies to a specific plaintiff or claim.

6 SEC. 106. JUDICIAL REVIEW IN UNITED STATES DISTRICT

7 COURTS.

8 (a) VENUE.—Notwithstanding section 1391 of title 28,

9 United States Code, or other applicable law, an authorized

10 hazardous fuels reduction project conducted under this title

11 shall be subject to judicial review only in the United States

12 district court for the district in which the Federal land to

13 be treated under the authorized hazardous fuels reduction

14 project is located.

15 (b) EXPEDITIOUS COMPLETION OF JUDICIAL RE16 VIEW.—In the judicial review of an action challenging an

17 authorized hazardous fuel reduction project under sub18 section (a), Congress encourages a court of competent juris19 diction to expedite, to the maximum extent practicable, the

20 proceedings in the action with the goal of rendering a final

21 determination on jurisdiction, and (if jurisdiction exists)

22 a final determination on the merits, as soon as practicable

23 after the date on which a complaint or appeal is filed to

24 initiate the action.

25 (c) INJUNCTIONS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), the

2 length of any preliminary injunctive relief and stays

3 pending appeal covering an authorized hazardous fuel

4 reduction project carried out under this title shall not

5 exceed 60 days.

6 (2) RENEWAL.—

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—A court of competent ju8 risdiction may issue 1 or more renewals of any

9 preliminary injunction, or stay pending appeal,

10 granted under paragraph (1).

11 (B) UPDATES.—In each renewal of an in12 junction in an action, the parties to the action

13 shall present the court with updated information

14 on the status of the authorized hazardous fuel re15 duction project.

16 (3) BALANCING OF SHORT- AND LONG-TERM EF17 FECTS.—As part of its weighing the equities while

18 considering any request for an injunction that applies

19 to an agency action under an authorized hazardous

20 fuel reduction project, the court reviewing the project

21 shall balance the impact to the ecosystem likely af22 fected by the project of—

23 (A) the short- and long-term effects of un24 dertaking the agency action; against
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1 (B) the short- and long-term effects of not

2 undertaking the agency action.

3 SEC. 107. EFFECT OF TITLE.

4 (a) OTHER AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this title affects,

5 or otherwise biases, the use by the Secretary of other statu6 tory or administrative authority (including categorical ex7 clusions adopted to implement the National Environmental

8 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)) to conduct a

9 hazardous fuel reduction project on Federal land (including

10 Federal land identified in section 102(d)) that is not con11 ducted using the process authorized by section 104.

12 (b) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.—For projects and ac13 tivities of the National Forest System other than authorized

14 hazardous fuel reduction projects, nothing in this title af15 fects, or otherwise biases, the notice, comment, and appeal

16 procedures for projects and activities of the National Forest

17 System contained in part 215 of title 36, Code of Federal

18 Regulations, or the consideration or disposition of any legal

19 action brought with respect to the procedures.

20 SEC. 108. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

21 There is authorized to be appropriated $760,000,000

22 for each fiscal year to carry out—

23 (1) activities authorized by this title; and
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1 (2) other hazardous fuel reduction activities of

2 the Secretary, including making grants to States for

3 activities authorized by law.

4 TITLE II—BIOMASS

5 SEC. 201. FINDINGS.

6 Congress finds that—

7 (1)(A) thousands of communities in the United

8 States, many located near Federal land, are at risk

9 of wildfire;

10 (B) more than 100,000,000 acres of land man11 aged by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Sec12 retary of the Interior are at risk of catastrophic fire

13 in the near future; and

14 (C) the accumulation of heavy forest and range15 land fuel loads continues to increase as a result of fire

16 exclusion, disease, insect infestations, and drought,

17 further raising the risk of fire each year;

18 (2)(A) more than 70,000,000 acres across all

19 land ownerships are at risk of higher than normal

20 mortality during the 15-year period beginning on the

21 date of enactment of this Act because of insect infesta22 tion and disease; and

23 (B) high levels of tree mortality from insects and

24 disease result in—

25 (i) increased fire risk;
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1 (ii) loss of older trees and old growth;

2 (iii) degraded watershed conditions;

3 (iv) changes in species diversity and pro4 ductivity;

5 (v) diminished fish and wildlife habitat;

6 (vi) decreased timber values; and

7 (vii) increased threats to homes, businesses,

8 and community watersheds;

9 (3)(A) preventive treatments (such as reducing

10 fuel loads, crown density, ladder fuels, and hazard

11 trees), planting proper species mix, restoring and pro12 tecting early successional habitat, and completing

13 other specific restoration treatments designed to re14 duce the susceptibility of forest and rangeland to in15 sect outbreaks, disease, and catastrophic fire present

16 the greatest opportunity for long-term forest and

17 rangeland health, maintenance, and enhancement by

18 creating a mosaic of species-mix and age distribution;

19 and

20 (B) those vegetation management treatments are

21 widely acknowledged to be more successful and cost22 effective than suppression treatments in the case of

23 insects, disease, and fire;

24 (4)(A) the byproducts of vegetative management

25 treatment (such as trees, brush, thinnings, chips,
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1 slash, and other hazardous fuels) removed from forest

2 and rangeland represent an abundant supply of—

3 (i) biomass for biomass-to-energy facilities;

4 and

5 (ii) raw material for business; and

6 (B) there are currently few markets for the ex7 traordinary volumes of by-products being generated

8 as a result of the necessary large-scale preventive

9 treatment activities; and

10 (5) the United States should—

11 (A) promote economic and entrepreneurial

12 opportunities in using by-products removed

13 through vegetation treatment activities relating

14 to hazardous fuels reduction, disease, and insect

15 infestation;

16 (B) develop and expand markets for tradi17 tionally underused wood and biomass as an out18 let for by-products of preventive treatment activi19 ties; and

20 (C) promote research and development to

21 provide, for the by-products, economically and

22 environmentally sound—

23 (i) management systems;

24 (ii) harvest and transport systems; and

25 (iii) utilization options.
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1 SEC. 202. DEFINITIONS.

2 In this title:

3 (1) BIOMASS.—The term ‘‘biomass’’ means trees

4 and woody plants (including limbs, tops, needles,

5 other woody parts, and wood waste) and byproducts

6 of preventive treatment (such as wood, brush,

7 thinnings, chips, and slash) that are removed—

8 (A) to reduce hazardous fuels;

9 (B) to reduce the risk of or to contain dis10 ease or insect infestation; or

11 (C) to improve forest health and wildlife

12 habitat conditions.

13 (2) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ includes—

14 (A) an individual;

15 (B) a community (as determined by the

16 Secretary);

17 (C) an Indian tribe;

18 (D) a small business, microbusiness, or a

19 corporation that is incorporated in the United

20 States; and

21 (E) a nonprofit organization.

22 (3) PREFERRED COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘pre23 ferred community’’ means—

24 (A) any town, township, municipality, In25 dian tribe, or other similar unit of local govern26 ment (as determined by the Secretary) that—
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1 (i) has a population of not more than

2 50,000 individuals; and

3 (ii) the Secretary, in the sole discretion

4 of the Secretary, determines contains or is

5 located near, or with a water supply system

6 that contains or is located near, land that—

7 (I) is at significant risk of cata8 strophic wildfire, disease, or insect in9 festation; or

10 (II) suffers from disease or insect

11 infestation; or

12 (B) any area or unincorporated area rep13 resented by a nonprofit organization approved

14 by the Secretary, that—

15 (i) is not wholly contained within a

16 metropolitan statistical area; and

17 (ii) the Secretary, in the sole discretion

18 of the Secretary, determines contains or is

19 located near, or with a water supply system

20 that contains or is located near, land—

21 (I) the condition of which is at

22 significant risk of catastrophic wild23 fire, disease, or insect infestation; or

24 (II) that suffers from disease or

25 insect infestation.
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1 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’

2 means—

3 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re4 spect to National Forest System land; and

5 (B) the Secretary of the Interior, with re6 spect to Federal land under the jurisdiction of

7 the Secretary of the Interior (including land held

8 in trust for the benefit of an Indian tribe).

9 SEC. 203. GRANTS TO IMPROVE COMMERCIAL VALUE OF

10 FOREST BIOMASS FOR ELECTRIC ENERGY,

11 USEFUL HEAT, TRANSPORTATION FUELS,

12 COMPOST, VALUE-ADDED PRODUCTS, AND PE13 TROLEUM-BASED PRODUCT SUBSTITUTES.

14 (a) BIOMASS COMMERCIAL UTILIZATION GRANT PRO15 GRAM.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make

17 grants to any person that owns or operates a facility

18 that uses biomass as a raw material to produce elec19 tric energy, sensible heat, transportation fuels, sub20 stitutes for petroleum-based products, wood-based

21 products, pulp, or other commercial products to offset

22 the costs incurred to purchase biomass for use by the

23 facility.
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1 (2) GRANT AMOUNTS.—A grant under this sub2 section may not exceed $20 per green ton of biomass

3 delivered.

4 (3) MONITORING OF GRANT RECIPIENT ACTIVI5 TIES.—

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of a

7 grant under this subsection, the grant recipient

8 shall keep such records as the Secretary may re9 quire to fully and correctly disclose the use of the

10 grant funds and all transactions involved in the

11 purchase of biomass.

12 (B) ACCESS.—On notice by a representative

13 of the Secretary, the grant recipient shall afford

14 the representative—

15 (i) reasonable access to the facility that

16 purchases or uses biomass; and

17 (ii) an opportunity to examine the in18 ventory and records of the facility.

19 (b) VALUE-ADDED GRANT PROGRAM.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary—

21 (A) may make grants to persons to offset the

22 cost of projects to add value to biomass; and

23 (B) in making a grant under subparagraph

24 (A), shall give preference to persons in preferred

25 communities.
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1 (2) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall select a

2 grant recipient under paragraph (1)(A) after giving

3 consideration to—

4 (A) the anticipated public benefits of the

5 project;

6 (B) opportunities for the creation or expan7 sion of small businesses and microbusinesses re8 sulting from the project; and

9 (C) the potential for new job creation as a

10 result of the project.

11 (3) GRANT AMOUNT.—A grant under this sub12 section shall not exceed $100,000.

13 (c) RELATION TO OTHER ENDANGERED SPECIES AND

14 RIPARIAN PROTECTIONS.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall comply

16 with applicable endangered species and riparian pro17 tections in making grants under this section.

18 (2) PROJECTS.—Projects funded using grant

19 proceeds shall be required to comply with the protec20 tions.

21 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

22 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

23 $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2008.
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1 SEC. 204. REPORTING REQUIREMENT.

2 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than October 1,

3 2008, the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the

4 Secretary of the Interior, shall submit to the Committee on

5 Resources and the Committee on Agriculture of the House

6 of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Nat7 ural Resources and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri8 tion, and Forestry of the Senate a report describing the re9 sults of the grant programs authorized by section 203.

10 (b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report shall

11 include—

12 (1) an identification of the source, size, type, and

13 the end-use of biomass by persons that receive grants

14 under section 203;

15 (2) the haul costs incurred and the distance be16 tween the land from which the biomass was removed

17 and the facilities that used the biomass;

18 (3) the economic impacts, particularly new job

19 creation, resulting from the grants to and operation

20 of the eligible operations; and

21 (4) the environmental effects of the activities de22 scribed in this section.

23 SEC. 205. IMPROVED BIOMASS USE RESEARCH PROGRAM.

24 (a) USES OF GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND ASSIST25 ANCE.—Section 307(d) of the Biomass Research and Devel-
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1 opment Act of 2000 (7 U.S.C. 7624 note; Public Law 106–

2 224) is amended—

3 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the

4 end;

5 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at

6 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

7 (3) by adding at the end the following:

8 ‘‘(5) research to integrate silviculture, harvesting,

9 product development, processing information, and

10 economic evaluation to provide the science, tech11 nology, and tools to forest managers and community

12 developers for use in evaluating forest treatment and

13 production alternatives, including—

14 ‘‘(A) to develop tools that would enable land

15 managers, locally or in a several-State region, to

16 estimate—

17 ‘‘(i) the cost to deliver varying quan18 tities of wood to a particular location; and

19 ‘‘(ii) the amount that could be paid for

20 stumpage if delivered wood was used for a

21 specific mix of products;

22 ‘‘(B) to conduct research focused on devel23 oping appropriate thinning systems and equip24 ment designs that are—
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1 ‘‘(i) capable of being used on land

2 without significant adverse effects on the

3 land;

4 ‘‘(ii) capable of handling large and

5 varied landscapes;

6 ‘‘(iii) adaptable to handling a wide va7 riety of tree sizes;

8 ‘‘(iv) inexpensive; and

9 ‘‘(v) adaptable to various terrains; and

10 ‘‘(C) to develop, test, and employ in the

11 training of forestry managers and community

12 developers curricula materials and training pro13 grams on matters described in subparagraphs

14 (A) and (B).’’.

15 (b) FUNDING.—Section 310(b) of the Biomass Research

16 and Development Act of 2000 (7 U.S.C. 7624 note; Public

17 Law 106–224) is amended by striking ‘‘$49,000,000’’ and

18 inserting ‘‘$54,000,000’’.

19 SEC. 206. RURAL REVITALIZATION THROUGH FORESTRY.

20 Section 2371 of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation,

21 and Trade Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 6601) is amended by add22 ing at the end the following:

23 ‘‘(d) RURAL REVITALIZATION TECHNOLOGIES.—

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture,

25 acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, in con-
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1 sultation with the State and Private Forestry Tech2 nology Marketing Unit at the Forest Products Lab3 oratory, and in collaboration with eligible institu4 tions, may carry out a program—

5 ‘‘(A) to accelerate adoption of technologies

6 using biomass and small-diameter materials;

7 ‘‘(B) to create community-based enterprises

8 through marketing activities and demonstration

9 projects; and

10 ‘‘(C) to establish small-scale business enter11 prises to make use of biomass and small-diame12 ter materials.

13 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

14 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out

15 this subsection $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years

16 2004 through 2008.’’.

17 TITLE III—WATERSHED

18 FORESTRY ASSISTANCE

19 SEC. 301. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

20 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

21 (1) there has been a dramatic shift in public at22 titudes and perceptions about forest management,

23 particularly in the understanding and practice of

24 sustainable forest management;
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1 (2) it is commonly recognized that the proper

2 stewardship of forest land is essential to sustaining

3 and restoring the health of watersheds;

4 (3) forests can provide essential ecological serv5 ices in filtering pollutants, buffering important rivers

6 and estuaries, and minimizing flooding, which makes

7 forest restoration worthy of special focus; and

8 (4) strengthened education, technical assistance,

9 and financial assistance for nonindustrial private

10 forest landowners and communities, relating to the

11 protection of watershed health, is needed to realize the

12 expectations of the general public.

13 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this title are—

14 (1) to improve landowner and public under15 standing of the connection between forest management

16 and watershed health;

17 (2) to encourage landowners to maintain tree

18 cover on property and to use tree plantings and vege19 tative treatments as creative solutions to watershed

20 problems associated with varying land uses;

21 (3) to enhance and complement forest manage22 ment and buffer use for watersheds, with an emphasis

23 on community watersheds;
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1 (4) to establish new partnerships and collabo2 rative watershed approaches to forest management,

3 stewardship, and conservation;

4 (5) to provide technical and financial assistance

5 to States to deliver a coordinated program that en6 hances State forestry best-management practices pro7 grams, and conserves and improves forested land and

8 potentially forested land, through technical, financial,

9 and educational assistance to qualifying individuals

10 and entities; and

11 (6) to maximize the proper management and

12 conservation of wetland forests and to assist in the

13 restoration of those forests.

14 SEC. 302. WATERSHED FORESTRY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

15 The Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 is

16 amended by inserting after section 5 (16 U.S.C. 2103a) the

17 following:

18 ‘‘SEC. 6. WATERSHED FORESTRY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

19 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF NONINDUSTRIAL PRIVATE FOR20 EST LAND.—In this section, the term ‘nonindustrial private

21 forest land’ means rural land, as determined by the Sec22 retary, that—

23 ‘‘(1) has existing tree cover or that is suitable for

24 growing trees; and
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1 ‘‘(2) is owned by any nonindustrial private indi2 vidual, group, association, corporation, or other pri3 vate legal entity, that has definitive decisionmaking

4 authority over the land.

5 ‘‘(b) GENERAL AUTHORITY AND PURPOSE.—The Sec6 retary, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, may

7 provide technical, financial, and related assistance to State

8 foresters, equivalent State officials, and officials of the Co9 operative State Research, Education, and Extension Service

10 for the purpose of expanding State forest stewardship ca11 pacities and activities through State forestry best-manage12 ment practices and other means at the State level to address

13 watershed issues on non-Federal forested land and poten14 tially forested land.

15 ‘‘(c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO PROTECT WATER

16 QUALITY.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coopera18 tion with State foresters, officials of the Cooperative

19 State Research, Education, and Extension Service, or

20 equivalent State officials, shall engage interested

21 members of the public, including nonprofit organiza22 tions and local watershed councils, to develop a pro23 gram of technical assistance to protect water quality

24 described in paragraph (2).
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HR 1904 EAS

1 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE OF PROGRAM.—The program

2 under this subsection shall be designed—

3 ‘‘(A) to build and strengthen watershed

4 partnerships that focus on forested landscapes at

5 the State, regional, and local levels;

6 ‘‘(B) to provide State forestry best-manage7 ment practices and water quality technical as8 sistance directly to owners of nonindustrial pri9 vate forest land;

10 ‘‘(C) to provide technical guidance to land

11 managers and policymakers for water quality

12 protection through forest management;

13 ‘‘(D) to complement State and local efforts

14 to protect water quality and provide enhanced

15 opportunities for consultation and cooperation

16 among Federal and State agencies charged with

17 responsibility for water and watershed manage18 ment; and

19 ‘‘(E) to provide enhanced forest resource

20 data and support for improved implementation

21 and monitoring of State forestry best-manage22 ment practices.

23 ‘‘(3) IMPLEMENTATION.—In the case of a partici24 pating State, the program of technical assistance shall
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1 be implemented by State foresters or equivalent State

2 officials.

3 ‘‘(d) WATERSHED FORESTRY COST-SHARE PRO4 GRAM.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish

6 a watershed forestry cost-share program—

7 ‘‘(A) which shall be—

8 ‘‘(i) administered by the Forest Serv9 ice; and

10 ‘‘(ii) implemented by State foresters or

11 equivalent State officials in participating

12 States; and

13 ‘‘(B) under which funds or other support

14 provided to participating States shall be made

15 available for State forestry best-management

16 practices programs and watershed forestry

17 projects.

18 ‘‘(2) WATERSHED FORESTRY PROJECTS.—The

19 State forester, State Research, Education and Exten20 sion official, or equivalent State official of a partici21 pating State, in coordination with the State Forest

22 Stewardship Coordinating Committee established

23 under section 19(b) (or an equivalent committee) for

24 that State, shall make awards to communities, non25 profit groups, and owners of nonindustrial private
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1 forest land under the program for watershed forestry

2 projects described in paragraph (3).

3 ‘‘(3) PROJECT ELEMENTS AND OBJECTIVES.—A

4 watershed forestry project shall accomplish critical

5 forest stewardship, watershed protection, and restora6 tion needs within a State by demonstrating the value

7 of trees and forests to watershed health and condition

8 through—

9 ‘‘(A) the use of trees as solutions to water

10 quality problems in urban and rural areas;

11 ‘‘(B) community-based planning, involve12 ment, and action through State, local and non13 profit partnerships;

14 ‘‘(C) application of and dissemination of

15 monitoring information on forestry best-manage16 ment practices relating to watershed forestry;

17 ‘‘(D) watershed-scale forest management ac18 tivities and conservation planning; and

19 ‘‘(E)(i) the restoration of wetland (as de20 fined by the States) and stream-side forests; and

21 ‘‘(ii) the establishment of riparian vegeta22 tive buffers.

23 ‘‘(4) COST-SHARING.—

24 ‘‘(A) FEDERAL SHARE.—
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1 ‘‘(i) FUNDS UNDER THIS SUB2 SECTION.—Funds provided under this sub3 section for a watershed forestry project may

4 not exceed 75 percent of the cost of the

5 project.

6 ‘‘(ii) OTHER FEDERAL FUNDS.—The

7 percentage of the cost of a project described

8 in clause (i) that is not covered by funds

9 made available under this subsection may

10 be paid using other Federal funding sources,

11 except that the total Federal share of the

12 costs of the project may not exceed 90 per13 cent.

14 ‘‘(B) FORM.—The non-Federal share of the

15 costs of a project may be provided in the form

16 of cash, services, or other in-kind contributions.

17 ‘‘(5) PRIORITIZATION.—The State Forest Stew18 ardship Coordinating Committee for a State, or

19 equivalent State committee, shall prioritize water20 sheds in that State to target watershed forestry

21 projects funded under this subsection.

22 ‘‘(6) WATERSHED FORESTER.—Financial and

23 technical assistance shall be made available to the

24 State Forester or equivalent State official to create a
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1 State watershed or best-management practice forester

2 position to—

3 ‘‘(A) lead statewide programs; and

4 ‘‘(B) coordinate watershed-level projects.

5 ‘‘(e) DISTRIBUTION.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Of the funds made available

7 for a fiscal year under subsection (g), the Secretary

8 shall use—

9 ‘‘(A) at least 75 percent of the funds to

10 carry out the cost-share program under sub11 section (d); and

12 ‘‘(B) the remainder of the funds to deliver

13 technical assistance, education, and planning, at

14 the local level, through the State Forester or

15 equivalent State official.

16 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS.—Distribution of

17 funds by the Secretary among States under para18 graph (1) shall be made only after giving appropriate

19 consideration to—

20 ‘‘(A) the acres of agricultural land, non21 industrial private forest land, and highly erod22 ible land in each State;

23 ‘‘(B) the miles of riparian buffer needed;

24 ‘‘(C) the miles of impaired stream segments

25 and other impaired water bodies where forestry
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1 practices can be used to restore or protect water

2 resources;

3 ‘‘(D) the number of owners of nonindustrial

4 private forest land in each State; and

5 ‘‘(E) water quality cost savings that can be

6 achieved through forest watershed management.

7 ‘‘(f) WILLING OWNERS.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Participation of an owner of

9 nonindustrial private forest land in the watershed

10 forestry assistance program under this section is vol11 untary.

12 ‘‘(2) WRITTEN CONSENT.—The watershed for13 estry assistance program shall not be carried out on

14 nonindustrial private forest land without the written

15 consent of the owner of, or entity having definitive de16 cisionmaking over, the nonindustrial private forest

17 land.

18 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

19 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

20 $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2008.’’.

21 SEC. 303. TRIBAL WATERSHED FORESTRY ASSISTANCE.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture (re23 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’), acting through

24 the Chief of the Forest Service, shall provide technical, fi25 nancial, and related assistance to Indian tribes for the pur-
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1 pose of expanding tribal stewardship capacities and activi2 ties through tribal forestry best-management practices and

3 other means at the tribal level to address watershed issues

4 on land under the jurisdiction of or administered by the

5 Indian tribes.

6 (b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO PROTECT WATER

7 QUALITY.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in cooperation

9 with Indian tribes, shall develop a program to pro10 vide technical assistance to protect water quality, as

11 described in paragraph (2).

12 (2) PURPOSE OF PROGRAM.—The program under

13 this subsection shall be designed—

14 (A) to build and strengthen watershed part15 nerships that focus on forested landscapes at the

16 State, regional, tribal, and local levels;

17 (B) to provide tribal forestry best-manage18 ment practices and water quality technical as19 sistance directly to Indian tribes;

20 (C) to provide technical guidance to tribal

21 land managers and policy makers for water

22 quality protection through forest management;

23 (D) to complement tribal efforts to protect

24 water quality and provide enhanced opportuni25 ties for consultation and cooperation among Fed-
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1 eral agencies and tribal entities charged with re2 sponsibility for water and watershed manage3 ment; and

4 (E) to provide enhanced forest resource data

5 and support for improved implementation and

6 monitoring of tribal forestry best-management

7 practices.

8 (c) WATERSHED FORESTRY PROGRAM.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish

10 a watershed forestry program to be administered by

11 Indian tribes.

12 (2) PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS.—Funds or other

13 support provided under the program shall be made

14 available for tribal forestry best-management prac15 tices programs and watershed forestry projects.

16 (3) ANNUAL AWARDS.—The Secretary shall an17 nually make awards to Indian tribes to carry out this

18 subsection.

19 (4) PROJECT ELEMENTS AND OBJECTIVES.—A

20 watershed forestry project shall accomplish critical

21 forest stewardship, watershed protection, and restora22 tion needs within land under the jurisdiction of or

23 administered by an Indian tribe by demonstrating

24 the value of trees and forests to watershed health and

25 condition through—
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1 (A) the use of trees as solutions to water

2 quality problems;

3 (B) application of and dissemination of

4 monitoring information on forestry best-manage5 ment practices relating to watershed forestry;

6 (C) watershed-scale forest management ac7 tivities and conservation planning;

8 (D) the restoration of wetland and stream9 side forests and the establishment of riparian

10 vegetative buffers; and

11 (E) tribal-based planning, involvement, and

12 action through State, tribal, local, and nonprofit

13 partnerships.

14 (5) PRIORITIZATION.—An Indian tribe that par15 ticipates in the program under this subsection shall

16 prioritize watersheds in land under the jurisdiction of

17 or administered by the Indian tribe to target water18 shed forestry projects funded under this subsection.

19 (6) WATERSHED FORESTER.—The Secretary

20 may provide to Indian tribes under this section fi21 nancial and technical assistance to establish a posi22 tion of tribal forester to lead tribal programs and co23 ordinate small watershed-level projects.

24 (d) DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary shall devote—
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1 (1) at least 75 percent of the funds made avail2 able for a fiscal year under subsection (e) to the pro3 gram under subsection (c); and

4 (2) the remainder of the funds to deliver tech5 nical assistance, education, and planning on the

6 ground to Indian tribes.

7 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

8 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

9 $2,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2008.

10 TITLE IV—INSECT INFESTA11 TIONS AND RELATED DIS12 EASES

13 SEC. 401. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

14 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

15 (1) high levels of tree mortality resulting from

16 insect infestation (including the interaction between

17 insects and diseases) may result in—

18 (A) increased fire risk;

19 (B) loss of old trees and old growth;

20 (C) loss of threatened and endangered spe21 cies;

22 (D) loss of species diversity;

23 (E) degraded watershed conditions;
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1 (F) increased potential for damage from

2 other agents of disturbance, including exotic,

3 invasive species; and

4 (G) decreased timber values;

5 (2)(A) forest-damaging insects destroy hundreds

6 of thousands of acres of trees each year;

7 (B) in the West, more than 21,000,000 acres are

8 at high risk of forest-damaging insect infestation, and

9 in the South, more than 57,000,000 acres are at risk

10 across all land ownerships; and

11 (C) severe drought conditions in many areas of

12 the South and West will increase the risk of forest13 damaging insect infestations;

14 (3) the hemlock woolly adelgid is—

15 (A) destroying streamside forests throughout

16 the mid-Atlantic and Appalachian regions;

17 (B) threatening water quality and sensitive

18 aquatic species; and

19 (C) posing a potential threat to valuable

20 commercial timber land in northern New Eng21 land;

22 (4)(A) the emerald ash borer is a nonnative,

23 invasive pest that has quickly become a major threat

24 to hardwood forests because an emerald ash borer in25 festation is almost always fatal to affected trees; and
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1 (B) the emerald ash borer pest threatens to de2 stroy more than 692,000,000 ash trees in forests in

3 Michigan and Ohio alone, and between 5 and 10 per4 cent of urban street trees in the Upper Midwest;

5 (5)(A) epidemic populations of Southern pine

6 beetles are ravaging forests in Alabama, Arkansas,

7 Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Caro8 lina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia; and

9 (B) in 2001, Florida and Kentucky experienced

10 146 percent and 111 percent increases, respectively,

11 in Southern pine beetle populations;

12 (6) those epidemic outbreaks of Southern pine

13 beetles have forced private landowners to harvest dead

14 and dying trees, in rural areas and increasingly ur15 banized settings;

16 (7) according to the Forest Service, recent out17 breaks of the red oak borer in Arkansas and Missouri

18 have been unprecedented, with more than 1,000,000

19 acres infested at population levels never seen before;

20 (8) much of the damage from the red oak borer

21 has taken place in national forests, and the Federal

22 response has been inadequate to protect forest eco23 systems and other ecological and economic resources;
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1 (9)(A) previous silvicultural assessments, while

2 useful and informative, have been limited in scale

3 and scope of application; and

4 (B) there have not been sufficient resources avail5 able to adequately test a full array of individual and

6 combined applied silvicultural assessments;

7 (10) only through the full funding, development,

8 and assessment of potential applied silvicultural as9 sessments over specific time frames across an array of

10 environmental and climatic conditions can the most

11 innovative and cost effective management applica12 tions be determined that will help reduce the suscepti13 bility of forest ecosystems to attack by forest pests;

14 (11)(A) often, there are significant interactions

15 between insects and diseases;

16 (B) many diseases (such as white pine blister

17 rust, beech bark disease, and many other diseases) can

18 weaken trees and forest stands and predispose trees

19 and forest stands to insect attack; and

20 (C) certain diseases are spread using insects as

21 vectors (including Dutch elm disease and pine pitch

22 canker); and

23 (12) funding and implementation of an initia24 tive to combat forest pest infestations and associated
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1 diseases should not come at the expense of supporting

2 other programs and initiatives of the Secretary.

3 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this title are—

4 (1) to require the Secretary to develop an accel5 erated basic and applied assessment program to com6 bat infestations by forest-damaging insects and asso7 ciated diseases;

8 (2) to enlist the assistance of colleges and univer9 sities (including forestry schools, land grant colleges

10 and universities, and 1890 Institutions), State agen11 cies, and private landowners to carry out the pro12 gram; and

13 (3) to carry out applied silvicultural assess14 ments.

15 SEC. 402. DEFINITIONS.

16 In this title:

17 (1) APPLIED SILVICULTURAL ASSESSMENT.—

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘applied sil19 vicultural assessment’’ means any vegetative or

20 other treatment carried out for a purpose de21 scribed in section 403.

22 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘applied sil23 vicultural assessment’’ includes (but is not lim24 ited to) timber harvesting, thinning, prescribed
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1 burning, pruning, and any combination of those

2 activities.

3 (2) 1890 INSTITUTION.—

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘1890 Institu5 tion’’ means a college or university that is eligi6 ble to receive funds under the Act of August 30,

7 1890 (7 U.S.C. 321 et seq.).

8 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘1890 Institu9 tion’’ includes Tuskegee University.

10 (3) FOREST-DAMAGING INSECT.—The term ‘‘for11 est-damaging insect’’ means—

12 (A) a Southern pine beetle;

13 (B) a mountain pine beetle;

14 (C) a spruce bark beetle;

15 (D) a gypsy moth;

16 (E) a hemlock woolly adelgid;

17 (F) an emerald ash borer;

18 (G) a red oak borer;

19 (H) a white oak borer; and

20 (I) such other insects as may be identified

21 by the Secretary.

22 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’

23 means—
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1 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting

2 through the Forest Service, with respect to Na3 tional Forest System land; and

4 (B) the Secretary of the Interior, acting

5 through appropriate offices of the United States

6 Geological Survey, with respect to federally

7 owned land administered by the Secretary of the

8 Interior.

9 SEC. 403. ACCELERATED INFORMATION GATHERING RE10 GARDING FOREST-DAMAGING INSECTS.

11 (a) INFORMATION GATHERING.—The Secretary, acting

12 through the Forest Service and United States Geological

13 Survey, as appropriate, shall establish an accelerated

14 program—

15 (1) to plan, conduct, and promote comprehensive

16 and systematic information gathering on forest-dam17 aging insects and associated diseases, including an

18 evaluation of—

19 (A) infestation, prevention, and suppression

20 methods;

21 (B) effects of infestations and associated

22 disease interactions on forest ecosystems;

23 (C) restoration of forest ecosystem efforts;

24 (D) utilization options regarding infested

25 trees; and
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1 (E) models to predict the occurrence, dis2 tribution, and impact of outbreaks of forest-dam3 aging insects and associated diseases;

4 (2) to assist land managers in the development

5 of treatments and strategies to improve forest health

6 and reduce the susceptibility of forest ecosystems to se7 vere infestations of forest-damaging insects and asso8 ciated diseases on Federal land and State and private

9 land; and

10 (3) to disseminate the results of the information

11 gathering, treatments, and strategies.

12 (b) COOPERATION AND ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary

13 shall—

14 (1) establish and carry out the program in co15 operation with—

16 (A) scientists from colleges and universities

17 (including forestry schools, land grant colleges

18 and universities, and 1890 Institutions);

19 (B) Federal, State, and local agencies; and

20 (C) private and industrial landowners; and

21 (2) designate such colleges and universities to as22 sist in carrying out the program.

23 SEC. 404. APPLIED SILVICULTURAL ASSESSMENTS.

24 (a) ASSESSMENT EFFORTS.—For information gath25 ering and research purposes, the Secretary may conduct ap-
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1 plied silvicultural assessments on Federal land that the Sec2 retary determines is at risk of infestation by, or is infested

3 with, forest-damaging insects.

4 (b) LIMITATIONS.—

5 (1) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN AREAS.—Subsection

6 (a) does not apply to—

7 (A) a component of the National Wilderness

8 Preservation System;

9 (B) any Federal land on which, by Act of

10 Congress or Presidential proclamation, the re11 moval of vegetation is restricted or prohibited;

12 (C) a congressionally-designated wilderness

13 study area; or

14 (D) an area in which activities under sub15 section (a) would be inconsistent with the appli16 cable land and resource management plan.

17 (2) CERTAIN TREATMENT PROHIBITED.—Nothing

18 in subsection (a) authorizes the application of insecti19 cides in municipal watersheds or associated riparian

20 areas.

21 (3) PEER REVIEW.—

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—Before being carried out,

23 each applied silvicultural assessment under this

24 title shall be peer reviewed by scientific experts
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1 selected by the Secretary, which shall include

2 non-Federal experts.

3 (B) EXISTING PEER REVIEW PROCESSES.—

4 The Secretary may use existing peer review proc5 esses to the extent the processes comply with sub6 paragraph (A).

7 (c) PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENT.—

8 (1) PUBLIC NOTICE.—The Secretary shall pro9 vide notice of each applied silvicultural assessment

10 proposed to be carried out under this section.

11 (2) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Secretary shall pro12 vide an opportunity for public comment before car13 rying out an applied silviculture assessment under

14 this section.

15 (d) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Applied silvicultural assess17 ment and research treatments carried out under this

18 section on not more than 1,000 acres for an assess19 ment or treatment may be categorically excluded from

20 documentation in an environmental impact statement

21 and environmental assessment under the National

22 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et

23 seq.).
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1 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—Applied silvicultural as2 sessments and research treatments categorically ex3 cluded under paragraph (1)—

4 (A) shall not be carried out in an area that

5 is adjacent to another area that is categorically

6 excluded under paragraph (1) that is being

7 treated with similar methods; and

8 (B) shall be subject to the extraordinary cir9 cumstances procedures established by the Sec10 retary pursuant to section 1508.4 of title 40,

11 Code of Federal Regulations.

12 (3) MAXIMUM CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION.—The

13 total number of acres categorically excluded under

14 paragraph (1) shall not exceed 250,000 acres.

15 (4) NO ADDITIONAL FINDINGS REQUIRED.—In

16 accordance with paragraph (1), the Secretary shall

17 not be required to make any findings as to whether

18 an applied silvicultural assessment project, either in19 dividually or cumulatively, has a significant effect on

20 the environment.

21 SEC. 405. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.

22 The authority provided to each Secretary under this

23 title is supplemental to, and not in lieu of, any authority

24 provided to the Secretaries under any other law.
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1 SEC. 406. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as

3 are necessary to carry out this title for each of fiscal years

4 2004 through 2008.

5 TITLE V—HEALTHY FORESTS

6 RESERVE PROGRAM

7 SEC. 501. ESTABLISHMENT OF HEALTHY FORESTS RESERVE

8 PROGRAM.

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Agriculture

10 shall establish the healthy forests reserve program for the

11 purpose of restoring and enhancing forest ecosystems—

12 (1) to promote the recovery of threatened and en13 dangered species;

14 (2) to improve biodiversity; and

15 (3) to enhance carbon sequestration.

16 (b) COORDINATION.—The Secretary of Agriculture

17 shall carry out the healthy forests reserve program in co18 ordination with the Secretary of the Interior and the Sec19 retary of Commerce.

20 SEC. 502. ELIGIBILITY AND ENROLLMENT OF LANDS IN

21 PROGRAM.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture, in co23 ordination with the Secretary of the Interior and the Sec24 retary of Commerce, shall describe and define forest eco25 systems that are eligible for enrollment in the healthy forests

26 reserve program.
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1 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for enrollment in the

2 healthy forests reserve program, land shall be—

3 (1) private land the enrollment of which will re4 store, enhance, or otherwise measurably increase the

5 likelihood of recovery of a species listed as endangered

6 or threatened under section 4 of the Endangered Spe7 cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533); and

8 (2) private land the enrollment of which will re9 store, enhance, or otherwise measurably improve the

10 well-being of species that—

11 (A) are not listed as endangered or threat12 ened under section 4 of the Endangered Species

13 Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533); but

14 (B) are candidates for such listing, State15 listed species, or special concern species.

16 (c) OTHER CONSIDERATIONS.—In enrolling land that

17 satisfies the criteria under subsection (b), the Secretary of

18 Agriculture shall give additional consideration to land the

19 enrollment of which will—

20 (1) improve biological diversity; and

21 (2) increase carbon sequestration.

22 (d) ENROLLMENT BY WILLING OWNERS.—The Sec23 retary of Agriculture shall enroll land in the healthy forests

24 reserve program only with the consent of the owner of the

25 land.
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1 (e) MAXIMUM ENROLLMENT.—The total number of

2 acres enrolled in the healthy forests reserve program shall

3 not exceed 2,000,000 acres.

4 (f) METHODS OF ENROLLMENT.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Land may be enrolled in the

6 healthy forests reserve program in accordance with—

7 (A) a 10-year cost-share agreement;

8 (B) a 30-year agreement; or

9 (C) an agreement of not more than 99

10 years.

11 (2) PROPORTION.—The extent to which each en12 rollment method is used shall be based on the approxi13 mate proportion of owner interest expressed in that

14 method in comparison to the other methods.

15 (g) ENROLLMENT PRIORITY.—

16 (1) SPECIES.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall

17 give priority to the enrollment of land that provides

18 the greatest conservation benefit to—

19 (A) primarily, species listed as endangered

20 or threatened under section 4 of the Endangered

21 Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533); and

22 (B) secondarily, species that—

23 (i) are not listed as endangered or

24 threatened under section 4 of the Endan-
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1 gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533);

2 but

3 (ii) are candidates for such listing,

4 State-listed species, or special concern spe5 cies.

6 (2) COST-EFFECTIVENESS.—The Secretary of Ag7 riculture shall also consider the cost-effectiveness of

8 each agreement, and associated restoration plans, so

9 as to maximize the environmental benefits per dollar

10 expended.

11 SEC. 503. RESTORATION PLANS.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Land enrolled in the healthy forests

13 reserve program shall be subject to a restoration plan, to

14 be developed jointly by the landowner and the Secretary of

15 Agriculture.

16 (b) PRACTICES.—The restoration plan shall require

17 such restoration practices as are necessary to restore and

18 enhance habitat for—

19 (1) species listed as endangered or threatened

20 under section 4 of the Endangered Species Act of

21 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533); and

22 (2) animal or plant species before the species

23 reach threatened or endangered status, such as can24 didate, State-listed species, and special concern spe25 cies.
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1 SEC. 504. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.

2 (a) AGREEMENTS OF NOT MORE THAN 99 YEARS.—

3 In the case of land enrolled in the healthy forests reserve

4 program using an agreement of not more than 99 years

5 described in section 502(f)(1)(C), the Secretary of Agri6 culture shall pay the owner of the land an amount equal

7 to not less than 75 percent, nor more than 100 percent, of

8 (as determined by the Secretary)—

9 (1) the fair market value of the enrolled land

10 during the period the land is subject to the agreement,

11 less the fair market value of the land encumbered by

12 the agreement; and

13 (2) the actual costs of the approved conservation

14 practices or the average cost of approved practices

15 carried out on the land during the period in which

16 the land is subject to the agreement.

17 (b) 30-YEAR AGREEMENT.— In the case of land en18 rolled in the healthy forests reserve program using a 30-

19 year agreement, the Secretary of Agriculture shall pay the

20 owner of the land an amount equal to not more than (as

21 determined by the Secretary)—

22 (1) 75 percent of the fair market value of the

23 land, less the fair market value of the land encum24 bered by the agreement; and
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1 (2) 75 percent of the actual costs of the approved

2 conservation practices or 75 percent of the average

3 cost of approved practices.

4 (c) 10-YEAR AGREEMENT.—In the case of land en5 rolled in the healthy forests reserve program using a 10-

6 year cost-share agreement, the Secretary of Agriculture shall

7 pay the owner of the land an amount equal to not more

8 than (as determined by the Secretary)—

9 (1) 50 percent of the actual costs of the approved

10 conservation practices; or

11 (2) 50 percent of the average cost of approved

12 practices.

13 (d) ACCEPTANCE OF CONTRIBUTIONS.—The Secretary

14 of Agriculture may accept and use contributions of non15 Federal funds to make payments under this section.

16 SEC. 505. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall

18 provide landowners with technical assistance to assist the

19 owners in complying with the terms of plans (as included

20 in agreements) under the healthy forests reserve program.

21 (b) TECHNICAL SERVICE PROVIDERS.—The Secretary

22 of Agriculture may request the services of, and enter into

23 cooperative agreements with, individuals or entities cer24 tified as technical service providers under section 1242 of

25 the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3842), to assist
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1 the Secretary in providing technical assistance necessary to

2 develop and implement the healthy forests reserve program.

3 SEC. 506. PROTECTIONS AND MEASURES

4 (a) PROTECTIONS.—In the case of a landowner that

5 enrolls land in the program and whose conservation activi6 ties result in a net conservation benefit for listed, candidate,

7 or other species, the Secretary of Agriculture shall make

8 available to the landowner safe harbor or similar assur9 ances and protection under—

10 (1) section 7(b)(4) of the Endangered Species Act

11 of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536(b)(4)); or

12 (2) section 10(a)(1) of that Act (16 U.S.C.

13 1539(a)(1)).

14 (b) MEASURES.—If protection under subsection (a) re15 quires the taking of measures that are in addition to the

16 measures covered by the applicable restoration plan agreed

17 to under section 503, the cost of the additional measures,

18 as well as the cost of any permit, shall be considered part

19 of the restoration plan for purposes of financial assistance

20 under section 504.

21 SEC. 507. INVOLVEMENT BY OTHER AGENCIES AND ORGANI22 ZATIONS.

23 In carrying out this title, the Secretary of Agriculture

24 may consult with—

25 (1) nonindustrial private forest landowners;
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1 (2) other Federal agencies;

2 (3) State fish and wildlife agencies;

3 (4) State forestry agencies;

4 (5) State environmental quality agencies;

5 (6) other State conservation agencies; and

6 (7) nonprofit conservation organizations.

7 SEC. 508. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

8 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

9 this title—

10 (1) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; and

11 (2) such sums as are necessary for each of fiscal

12 years 2005 through 2008.

13 TITLE VI—PUBLIC LAND CORPS

14 SEC. 601. PURPOSES.

15 The purposes of this title are—

16 (1) to carry out, in a cost-effective and efficient

17 manner, rehabilitation, enhancement, and beautifi18 cation projects;

19 (2) to offer young people, ages 16 through 25,

20 particularly those who are at-risk or economically

21 disadvantaged, the opportunity to gain productive

22 employment and exposure to the world of work;

23 (3) to give those young people the opportunity to

24 serve their communities and their country; and
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1 (4) to expand educational opportunities by re2 warding individuals who participate in the Public

3 Land Corps with an increased ability to pursue high4 er education or job training.

5 SEC. 602. DEFINITIONS.

6 In this title:

7 (1) ALASKA NATIVE CORPORATION.—The term

8 ‘‘Alaska Native Corporation’’ means a Regional Cor9 poration or Village Corporation, as defined in section

10 101(11) of the National and Community Service Act

11 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12511(11)).

12 (2) CORPS.—The term ‘‘Corps’’ means the Public

13 Land Corps established under section 603(a).

14 (3) HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS.—The term ‘‘Ha15 waiian home lands’’ means that term, within the

16 meaning of the National and Community Service Act

17 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12501 et seq.).

18 (4) INDIAN LANDS.—The term ‘‘Indian lands’’

19 has the meaning given the term in section 101 of the

20 National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42

21 U.S.C. 12511).

22 (5) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’

23 means—

24 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture; and

25 (B) the Secretary of the Interior.
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1 (6) SERVICE AND CONSERVATION CORPS.—The

2 term ‘‘service and conservation corps’’ means any or3 ganization established by a State or local government,

4 nonprofit organization, or Indian tribe that—

5 (A) has a demonstrable capability to pro6 vide productive work to individuals;

7 (B) gives participants a combination of

8 work experience, basic and life skills, education,

9 training, and support services; and

10 (C) provides participants with the oppor11 tunity to develop citizenship values through serv12 ice to their communities and the United States.

13 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means—

14 (A) a State;

15 (B) the District of Columbia;

16 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico;

17 (D) Guam;

18 (E) American Samoa;

19 (F) the Commonwealth of the Northern

20 Mariana Islands;

21 (G) the Federated States of Micronesia;

22 (H) the Republic of the Marshall Islands;

23 (I) the Republic of Palau; and

24 (J) the United States Virgin Islands.
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1 SEC. 603. PUBLIC LAND CORPS.

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Public

3 Land Corps.

4 (b) PARTICIPANTS.—The Corps shall consist of indi5 viduals who are enrolled as members of a service or con6 servation corps.

7 (c) CONTRACTS OR AGREEMENTS.—The Secretaries

8 may enter into contracts or cooperative agreements—

9 (1) directly with any service and conservation

10 corps to perform appropriate rehabilitation, enhance11 ment, or beautification projects; or

12 (2) with a department of natural resources, agri13 culture, or forestry (or an equivalent department) of

14 any State that has entered into a contract or coopera15 tive agreement with a service and conservation corps

16 to perform appropriate rehabilitation, enhancement,

17 or beautification projects.

18 (d) PROJECTS.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries may use the

20 members of a service and conservation corps to per21 form rehabilitation, enhancement, or beautification

22 projects authorized by law.

23 (2) INCLUDED LAND.—In addition to Federal

24 and State lands, the projects may be carried out on—

25 (A) Indian lands, with the approval of the

26 applicable Indian tribe;
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1 (B) Hawaiian home lands, with the ap2 proval of the relevant State agency in the State

3 of Hawaii; and

4 (C) Alaska native lands, with the approval

5 of the applicable Alaska Native Corporation.

6 (e) PREFERENCE.—In carrying out this title, the Sec7 retaries shall give preference to projects that will—

8 (1) provide long-term benefits by reducing haz9 ardous fuels on Federal land;

10 (2) instill in members of the service and con11 servation corps—

12 (A) a work ethic;

13 (B) a sense of personal responsibility; and

14 (C) a sense of public service;

15 (3) be labor intensive; and

16 (4) be planned and initiated promptly.

17 (f) SUPPORTIVE SERVICES.—The Secretaries may pro18 vide such services as the Secretaries consider necessary to

19 carry out this title.

20 (g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—To carry out this title,

21 the Secretaries shall provide technical assistance, oversight,

22 monitoring, and evaluation to—

23 (1) State Departments of Natural Resources and

24 Agriculture (or equivalent agencies); and

25 (2) members of service and conservation corps.
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1 SEC. 604. NONDISPLACEMENT.

2 The nondisplacement requirements of section 177(b) of

3 the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42

4 U.S.C. 12637(b)) shall apply to activities carried out by

5 the Corps under this title.

6 SEC. 605. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

7 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

8 this title $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 through

9 2008.

10 TITLE VII—RURAL COMMUNITY

11 FORESTRY ENTERPRISE PRO12 GRAM

13 SEC. 701. PURPOSE

14 The purpose of this title is to assist in the economic

15 revitalization of rural forest resource-dependent commu16 nities through incentives and collaboration to promote in17 vestment in private enterprise and community development

18 by—

19 (1) the Department of Agriculture;

20 (2) the Department of the Interior;

21 (3) the Department of Commerce;

22 (4) the Small Business Administration;

23 (5) land grant colleges and universities; and

24 (6) 1890 Institutions.

25 SEC. 702. DEFINITIONS.

26 In this title:
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1 (1) 1890 INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘1890 Institu2 tion’’ has the meaning given the term in section 2 of

3 the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education

4 Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7601).

5 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti6 ty’’ means—

7 (A) a unit of State or local government;

8 (B) an Indian tribe;

9 (C) a nonprofit organization;

10 (D) a small forest products business;

11 (E) a rural forest resource-dependent com12 munity;

13 (F) a land grant college or university; or

14 (G) an 1890 institution.

15 (3) ELIGIBLE PROJECT.—The term ‘‘eligible

16 project’’ means a project described in section 703 that

17 will promote the economic development in rural forest

18 resource-dependent communities based on—

19 (A) responsible forest stewardship;

20 (B) the production of sustainable forest

21 products; or

22 (C) the development of forest related tourism

23 and recreation activities.

24 (4) FOREST PRODUCTS.—The term ‘‘forest prod25 ucts’’ means—
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1 (A) logs;

2 (B) lumber;

3 (C) chips;

4 (D) small-diameter finished wood products;

5 (E) energy biomass;

6 (F) mulch; and

7 (G) any other material derived from forest

8 vegetation or individual trees or shrubs.

9 (5) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘non10 profit organization’’ means an organization that is—

11 (A) described in section 501(c) of the Inter12 nal Revenue Code of 1986; and

13 (B) exempt from taxation under 501(a) of

14 that Code.

15 (6) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means the

16 rural community forestry enterprise program estab17 lished under section 703.

18 (7) SMALL FOREST PRODUCTS BUSINESS.—The

19 term ‘‘small forest products business’’ means a small

20 business concern (as defined under section 3 of the

21 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)) that is classified

22 under subsector 113 or code number 115310 of the

23 North American Industrial Classification System.

24 (8) RURAL FOREST RESOURCE-DEPENDENT COM25 MUNITY.—
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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘rural forest

2 resource-dependent community’’ means a com3 munity located in a rural area of the United

4 States that is traditionally dependent on forestry

5 products as a primary source of community in6 frastructure.

7 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘rural forest

8 resource-dependent community’’ includes a com9 munity described in subparagraph (A) located

10 in—

11 (i) the northern forest land of Maine;

12 (ii) New Hampshire;

13 (iii) New York;

14 (iv) Vermont;

15 (v) the Upper Peninsula of Michigan;

16 (vi) northern California; and

17 (vii) eastern Oregon.

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

19 the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief

20 of the Forest Service.

21 SEC. 703. RURAL COMMUNITY FORESTRY ENTERPRISE PRO22 GRAM.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—

24 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab25 lish within the Forest Service a program to be known
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1 as the ‘‘Rural Community Forestry Enterprise Pro2 gram’’.

3 (2) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the pro4 gram, the Secretary shall consult with—

5 (A) the Small Business Administration;

6 (B) the Economic Development Administra7 tion;

8 (C) land grant colleges and universities;

9 (D) 1890 institutions;

10 (E) research stations and laboratories of the

11 Forest Service;

12 (F) other agencies of the Department of Ag13 riculture that administer rural development pro14 grams; and

15 (G) private nonprofit organizations.

16 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the program are—

17 (1) to enhance technical and business manage18 ment skills training;

19 (2) to organize cooperatives and marketing pro20 grams;

21 (3) to establish and maintain timber worker skill

22 pools;

23 (4) to establish and maintain forest product dis24 tribution networks and collection centers;
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1 (5) to facilitate technology transfer for processing

2 small diameter trees and brush into useful products;

3 (6) to develop, where support exists, a program

4 to promote science-based technology implementation

5 and technology transfer that expands the capacity for

6 small forest product businesses to work within market

7 areas;

8 (7) to promote forest-related tourism and rec9 reational activities;

10 (8) to enhance the rural forest business infra11 structure needed to reduce hazardous fuels on public

12 and private land; and

13 (9) to carry out related programs and activities,

14 as determined by the Secretary.

15 (c) FOREST ENTERPRISE CENTERS.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish

17 Forest Enterprise Centers to provide services to rural

18 forest-dependent communities.

19 (2) LOCATION.—A Center shall be located within

20 close proximity of rural forest-dependent communities

21 served by the Center, with at least 1 center located in

22 each of the States of California, Idaho, Oregon, Mon23 tana, New Mexico, Vermont, and Washington.

24 (3) DUTIES.—A Center shall—

25 (A) carry out eligible projects; and
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1 (B) coordinate assistance provided to small

2 forest products businesses with—

3 (i) the Small Business Administration,

4 including the timber set-aside program car5 ried out by the Small Business Administra6 tion;

7 (ii) the Rural Utilities Service, the

8 Rural Housing Service, and the Rural

9 Business-Cooperative Service of the Depart10 ment of Agriculture;

11 (iii) the Economic Development Ad12 ministration, including the local technical

13 assistance program of the Economic Devel14 opment Administration; and

15 (iv) research stations and laboratories

16 of the Forest Service.

17 (d) FOREST ENTERPRISE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

18 AND GRANT PROGRAM.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through

20 the Forest Enterprise Centers established under sub21 section (c), shall establish a program to provide tech22 nical assistance and grants to eligible entities to

23 carry out eligible projects.

24 (2) CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall work with

25 each Forest Enterprise Center to develop appropriate
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1 program review and prioritization criteria for each

2 Research Station.

3 (3) MATCHING FUNDS.—Grants under this sec4 tion shall—

5 (A) not exceed 50 percent of the cost of an

6 eligible project; and

7 (B) be made on the condition that non-Fed8 eral sources pay for the remainder of the cost of

9 an eligible project (including payment through

10 in-kind contributions of services or materials).

11 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

12 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out

13 this subsection $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years

14 2004 through 2008.

15 TITLE VIII—FIREFIGHTERS

16 MEDICAL MONITORING ACT

17 SEC. 801. SHORT TITLE.

18 This title shall be referred to as the ‘‘Firefighters Med19 ical Monitoring Act of 2003’’.

20 SEC. 802. MONITORING OF FIREFIGHTERS IN DISASTER

21 AREAS.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The National Institute for Occupa23 tional Safety and Health shall monitor the long-term med24 ical health of those firefighters who fought fires in any area

25 declared a disaster area by the Federal Government.
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1 (b) HEALTH MONITORING.—The long-term health

2 monitoring referred to in subsection (a) shall include, but

3 not be limited to, pulmonary illness, neurological damage,

4 and cardiovascular damage, and shall utilize the medical

5 expertise in the local areas affected.

6 (c) AUTHORIZATION.—To carry out this title, there are

7 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec8 essary in each of fiscal years 2004 through 2008.

9 TITLE IX—DISASTER AIR

10 QUALITY MONITORING ACT

11 SEC. 901. SHORT TITLE.

12 This title shall be referred to as the ‘‘Disaster Air

13 Quality Monitoring Act of 2003’’.

14 SEC. 902. MONITORING OF AIR QUALITY IN DISASTER

15 AREAS.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—No later than six (6) months after

17 the enactment of this legislation, the Environmental Protec18 tion Agency shall provide each of its regional offices a mo19 bile air pollution monitoring network to monitor the emis20 sions of hazardous air pollutants in areas declared a dis21 aster as referred to in subsection (b), and publish such in22 formation on a daily basis on its web site and in other

23 forums, until such time as the Environmental Protection

24 Agency has determined that the danger has subsided.
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1 (b) DISASTER AREAS.—The areas referred to in sub2 section (a) are those areas declared a disaster area by the

3 Federal Government.

4 (c) CONTINUOUS MONITORING.—The monitoring re5 ferred to in subsection (a) shall include the continuous and

6 spontaneous monitoring of hazardous air pollutants, as de7 fined in Public Law 95–95, section 112(b).

8 (d) AUTHORIZATION.—To carry out this title, there are

9 authorized to be appropriated $8,000,000.

10 TITLE X—HIGHLANDS REGION

11 CONSERVATION

12 SEC. 1001. SHORT TITLE.

13 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Highlands Conservation

14 Act’’.

15 SEC. 1002. FINDINGS.

16 Congress finds the following:

17 (1) The Highlands region is a physiographic

18 province that encompasses more than 2,000,000 acres

19 extending from eastern Pennsylvania through the

20 States of New Jersey and New York to northwestern

21 Connecticut.

22 (2) The Highlands region is an environmentally

23 unique area that—

24 (A) provides clean drinking water to over

25 15,000,000 people in metropolitan areas in the
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1 States of Connecticut, New Jersey, New York,

2 and Pennsylvania;

3 (B) provides critical wildlife habitat, in4 cluding habitat for 247 threatened and endan5 gered species;

6 (C) maintains an important historic con7 nection to early Native American culture, colo8 nial settlement, the American Revolution, and

9 the Civil War;

10 (D) contains recreational resources for 14

11 million visitors annually;

12 (E) provides other significant ecological,

13 natural, tourism, recreational, educational, and

14 economic benefits; and

15 (F) provides homeownership opportunities

16 and access to affordable housing that is safe,

17 clean, and healthy;

18 (3) An estimated 1 in 12 citizens of the United

19 States live within a 2-hour drive of the Highlands re20 gion.

21 (4) More than 1,400,000 residents live in the

22 Highlands region.

23 (5) The Highlands region forms a greenbelt adja24 cent to the Philadelphia-New York City-Hartford

25 urban corridor that offers the opportunity to preserve
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1 water, forest and agricultural resources, wildlife habi2 tat, recreational areas, and historic sites, while en3 couraging sustainable economic growth and develop4 ment in a fiscally and environmentally sound man5 ner.

6 (6) Continued population growth and land use

7 patterns in the Highlands region—

8 (A) reduce the availability and quality of

9 water;

10 (B) reduce air quality;

11 (C) fragment the forests;

12 (D) destroy critical migration corridors and

13 forest habitat; and

14 (E) result in the loss of recreational oppor15 tunities and scenic, historic, and cultural re16 sources;

17 (7) The water, forest, wildlife, recreational, agri18 cultural, and cultural resources of the Highlands re19 gion, in combination with the proximity of the High20 lands region to the largest metropolitan areas in the

21 United States, make the Highlands region nationally

22 significant.

23 (8) The national significance of the Highlands

24 region has been documented in—
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1 (A) the New York-New Jersey Highlands

2 Regional Study conducted by the Forest Service

3 in 1990;

4 (B) the New York-New Jersey Highlands

5 Regional Study: 2002 Update conducted by the

6 Forest Service;

7 (C) the bi-State Skylands Greenway Task

8 Force Report;

9 (D) the New Jersey State Development and

10 Redevelopment Plan;

11 (E) the New York State Open Space Con12 servation Plan;

13 (F) the Connecticut Green Plan: Open

14 Space Acquisition FY 2001–2006;

15 (G) the open space plans of the State of

16 Pennsylvania; and

17 (H) other open space conservation plans for

18 States in the Highlands region;

19 (9) The Highlands region includes or is adjacent

20 to numerous parcels of land owned by the Federal

21 Government or federally designated areas that protect,

22 conserve, or restore resources of the Highlands region,

23 including—

24 (A) the Wallkill River National Wildlife

25 Refuge;
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1 (B) the Shawanagunk Grasslands Wildlife

2 Refuge;

3 (C) the Morristown National Historical

4 Park;

5 (D) the Delaware and Lehigh Canal Cor6 ridors;

7 (E) the Hudson River Valley National Her8 itage Area;

9 (F) the Delaware River Basin;

10 (G) the Delaware Water Gap National

11 Recreation Area;

12 (H) the Upper Delaware Scenic and Rec13 reational River;

14 (I) the Appalachian National Scenic Trail;

15 (J) the United States Military Academy at

16 West Point, New York;

17 (K) the Highlands National Millenium

18 Trail;

19 (L) the Great Swamp National Wildlife

20 Refuge;

21 (M) the proposed Crossroads of the Revolu22 tion National Heritage Area;

23 (N) the proposed Musconetcong National

24 Scenic and Recreational River in New Jersey;

25 and
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1 (O) the Farmington River Wild and Scenic

2 Area in Connecticut;

3 (10) It is in the interest of the United States to

4 protect, conserve, and restore the resources of the

5 Highlands region for the residents of, and visitors to,

6 the Highlands region.

7 (11) The States of Connecticut, New Jersey, New

8 York, and Pennsylvania, and units of local govern9 ment in the Highlands region have the primary re10 sponsibility for protecting, conserving, preserving, re11 storing and promoting the resources of the Highlands

12 region.

13 (12) Because of the longstanding Federal prac14 tice of assisting States in creating, protecting, con15 serving, and restoring areas of significant natural

16 and cultural importance, and the national signifi17 cance of the Highlands region, the Federal Govern18 ment should, in partnership with the Highlands

19 States and units of local government in the High20 lands region, protect, restore, and preserve the water,

21 forest, agricultural, wildlife, recreational and cultural

22 resources of the Highlands region.

23 SEC. 1003. PURPOSES.

24 The purposes of this title are as follows:
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1 (1) To recognize the importance of the water, for2 est, agricultural, wildlife, recreational and cultural

3 resources of the Highlands, and the national signifi4 cance of the Highlands region to the United States.

5 (2) To authorize the Secretary of Interior to

6 work in partnership with the Secretary of Agriculture

7 to provide financial assistance to the Highlands

8 States to preserve and protect high priority conserva9 tion lands in the Highlands region.

10 (3) To continue the ongoing Forest Service pro11 grams in the Highlands region to assist the High12 lands States, local units of government and private

13 forest and farm landowners in the conservation of

14 lands and natural resources in the Highlands region.

15 SEC. 1004. DEFINITIONS.

16 In this title:

17 (1) HIGHLANDS REGION.—The term ‘‘Highlands

18 region’’ means the physiographic province, defined by

19 the Reading Prong and ecologically similar adjacent

20 upland areas, that encompasses more than 2,000,000

21 acres extending from eastern Pennsylvania through

22 the States of New Jersey and New York to north23 western Connecticut.

24 (2) HIGHLANDS STATE.—The term ‘‘Highlands

25 State’’ means—
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1 (A) the State of Connecticut;

2 (B) the State of New Jersey;

3 (C) the State of New York;

4 (D) the State of Pennsylvania; and

5 (E) any agency or department of any High6 lands State.

7 (3) LAND CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP

8 PROJECT.—The term ‘‘land conservation partnership

9 project’’ means a land conservation project located

10 within the Highlands region identified as having high

11 conservation value by the Forest Service in which a

12 non-Federal entity acquires land or an interest in

13 land from a willing seller for the purpose of perma14 nently protecting, conserving, or preserving the land

15 through a partnership with the Federal Government.

16 (4) NON-FEDERAL ENTITY.—The term ‘‘non-Fed17 eral entity’’ means any Highlands State, or any

18 agency or department of any Highlands State with

19 authority to own and manage land for conservation

20 purpose, including the Palisades Interstate Park

21 Commission.

22 (5) STUDY.—The term ‘‘study’’ means the New

23 York-New Jersey Highlands Regional Study con24 ducted by the Forest Service in 1990.
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1 (6) UPDATE.—The term ‘‘update’’ means the

2 New York-New Jersey Highlands Regional Study:

3 2002 Update conducted by the Forest Service.

4 SEC. 1005. LAND CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP PROJECTS

5 IN THE HIGHLANDS REGION.

6 (a) SUBMISSION OF PROPOSED PROJECTS.—Annually,

7 the Governors of the Highlands States, with input from per8 tinent units of local government and the public, may jointly

9 identify land conservation partnership projects in the High10 lands region that shall be proposed for Federal financial

11 assistance and submit a list of those projects to the Sec12 retary of the Interior.

13 (b) CONSIDERATION OF PROJECTS.—The Secretary of

14 the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of Agri15 culture, shall annually submit to Congress a list of those

16 land conservation partnership projects submitted under

17 subsection (a) that are eligible to receive financial assist18 ance under this section.

19 (c) ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS.—To be eligible for fi20 nancial assistance under this section for a land conserva21 tion partnership project, a non-Federal entity shall enter

22 into an agreement with the Secretary of the Interior that—

23 (1) identifies the non-Federal entity that shall

24 own or hold and manage the land or interest in land;
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1 (2) identifies the source of funds to provide the

2 non-Federal share required under subsection (d);

3 (3) describes the management objectives for the

4 land that will assure permanent protection and use of

5 the land for the purpose for which the assistance will

6 be provided;

7 (4) provides that, if the non-Federal entity con8 verts, uses, or disposes of the land conservation part9 nership project for a purpose inconsistent with the

10 purpose for which the assistance was provided, as de11 termined by the Secretary of the Interior, the United

12 States may seek specific performance of the conditions

13 of financial assistance in accordance with paragraph

14 (3) in Federal court and shall be entitled to reim15 bursement from the non-Federal entity in an amount

16 that is, as determined at the time of conversion, use,

17 or disposal, the greater of—

18 (A) the total amount of the financial assist19 ance provided for the project by the Federal Gov20 ernment under this section; or

21 (B) the amount by which the financial as22 sistance increased the value of the land or inter23 est in land; and
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1 (5) provides that land conservation partnership

2 projects will be consistent with areas identified as

3 having high conservation value in the following:

4 (A) Important Areas portion of the Forest

5 Service study.

6 (B) Conservation Focal Areas portion of the

7 Forest Service update.

8 (C) Conservation Priorities portion of the

9 update.

10 (D) Lands identified as having higher or

11 highest resource value in the Conservation Values

12 Assessment portion of the update.

13 (d) NON-FEDERAL SHARE REQUIREMENT.—The Fed14 eral share of the cost of carrying out a land conservation

15 partnership project under this section shall not exceed 50

16 percent of the total cost of the land conservation partnership

17 project.

18 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

19 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Inte20 rior from the general funds of the Treasury or the Land

21 and Water Conservation Fund to carry out this section

22 $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2005 through 2014.

23 Amounts appropriated pursuant to this authorization of

24 appropriations shall remain available until expended.
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1 SEC. 1006. FOREST SERVICE AND USDA PROGRAMS IN THE

2 HIGHLANDS REGION.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to meet the land resource

4 goals of, and the scientific and conservation challenges iden5 tified in, the study, update, and any future study that the

6 Forest Service may undertake in the Highlands region, the

7 Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the

8 Forest Service and in consultation with the Chief of the

9 Natural Resource Conservation Service, shall continue to

10 assist the Highlands States, local units of government, and

11 private forest and farm landowners in the conservation of

12 lands and natural resources in the Highlands region.

13 (b) DUTIES.—The Forest Service shall—

14 (1) in consultation with the Highlands States,

15 undertake other studies and research as appropriate

16 in the Highlands region consistent with the purposes

17 of this title;

18 (2) communicate the findings of the study and

19 update and maintain a public dialogue regarding im20 plementation of the study and update; and

21 (3) assist the Highland States, local units of gov22 ernment, individual landowners, and private organi23 zations in identifying and using Forest Service and

24 other technical and financial assistance programs of

25 the Department of Agriculture.
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1 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

2 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Agri3 culture to carry out this section $1,000,000 for each of the

4 fiscal years 2005 through 2014.

5 SEC. 1007. PRIVATE PROPERTY PROTECTION AND LACK OF

6 REGULATORY EFFECT.

7 (a) ACCESS TO PRIVATE PROPERTY.—Nothing in this

8 title shall be construed to—

9 (1) require any private property owner to per10 mit public access (including Federal, State, or local

11 government access) to such private property; and

12 (2) modify any provision of Federal, State, or

13 local law with regard to public access to or use of pri14 vate lands.

15 (b) LIABILITY.—Nothing in this title shall be construed

16 to create any liability, or to have any effect on any liability

17 under any other law, of any private property owner with

18 respect to any persons injured on such private property.

19 (c) RECOGNITION OF AUTHORITY TO CONTROL LAND

20 USE.—Nothing in this title shall be construed to modify

21 any authority of Federal, State, or local governments to reg22 ulate land use.

23 (d) PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY OWN24 ERS.—Nothing in this title shall be construed to require the

25 owner of any private property located in the Highlands re-
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1 gion to participate in the land conservation, financial, or

2 technical assistance or any other programs established

3 under this title.

4 (e) PURCHASE OF LANDS OR INTERESTS IN LANDS

5 FROM WILLING SELLERS ONLY.—Funds appropriated to

6 carry out this title shall be used to purchase lands or inter7 ests in lands only from willing sellers.

8 TITLE XI—MISCELLANEOUS

9 PROVISIONS

10 SEC. 1101. FOREST INVENTORY AND MANAGEMENT.

11 Section 17 of the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act

12 of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2101 note; Public Law 95313) is amend13 ed to read as follows:

14 ‘‘SEC. 17. FOREST INVENTORY AND MANAGEMENT.

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a

16 program using geospatial and information management

17 technologies (including remote sensing imaging and deci18 sion support systems) to inventory, monitor, characterize,

19 assess, and identify forest stands and potential forest stands

20 on—

21 ‘‘(1) units of the National Forest System; and

22 ‘‘(2) private forest land, with the consent of the

23 owner of the land.

24 ‘‘(b) MEANS.—The Secretary shall carry out the pro25 gram through the use of—
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1 ‘‘(1) remote sensing technology of the National

2 Aeronautics and Space Administration and the

3 United States Geological Survey;

4 ‘‘(2) emerging geospatial capabilities in research

5 activities;

6 ‘‘(3) validating techniques, including coordina7 tion and reconciliation with existing data through

8 field verification, using application demonstrations;

9 and

10 ‘‘(4) integration of results into pilot operational

11 systems.

12 ‘‘(c) ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED.—In carrying out the

13 program, the Secretary shall address issues including—

14 ‘‘(1) early detection, identification, and assess15 ment of environmental threats (including insect, dis16 ease, invasive species, fire, acid deposition, and

17 weather-related risks and other episodic events);

18 ‘‘(2) loss or degradation of forests;

19 ‘‘(3) degradation of the quality forest stands

20 caused by inadequate forest regeneration practices;

21 ‘‘(4) quantification of carbon uptake rates;

22 ‘‘(5) management practices that focus on pre23 venting further forest degradation; and

24 ‘‘(6) characterization of vegetation types, density,

25 fire regimes, post-fire effects, and condition class.
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1 ‘‘(d) EARLY WARNING SYSTEM.—In carrying out the

2 program, the Secretary shall develop a comprehensive early

3 warning system for potential catastrophic environmental

4 threats to forests to increase the likelihood that forest man5 agers will be able to—

6 ‘‘(1) isolate and treat a threat before the threat

7 gets out of control; and

8 ‘‘(2) prevent epidemics, such as the American

9 chestnut blight in the first half of the twentieth cen10 tury, that could be environmentally and economically

11 devastating to forests.

12 ‘‘(e) ADMINISTRATION.—To carry out this section, the

13 Secretary shall—

14 ‘‘(1) designate a facility within Forest Service

15 Region 8 that—

16 ‘‘(A) is best-suited to take advantage of ex17 isting resources to coordinate and carry out the

18 program through the means described in sub19 section (b); and

20 ‘‘(B) will address the issues described in

21 subsection (c), with a particular emphasis on

22 hardwood forest stands in the Eastern United

23 States; and

24 ‘‘(2) designate a facility in the Ochoco National

25 Forest headquarters within Forest Service Region 6
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1 that will address the issues described in subsection (c),

2 with a particular emphasis on coniferous forest

3 stands in the Western United States.

4 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are

5 authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary

6 to carry out this section.’’.

7 SEC. 1102. PROGRAM FOR EMERGENCY TREATMENT AND

8 REDUCTION OF NONNATIVE INVASIVE

9 PLANTS.

10 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

11 (1) INTERFACE COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘inter12 face community’’ has the meaning given the term in

13 the notice published at 66 Fed. Reg. 751 (January 4,

14 2001) (including any subsequent revision to the no15 tice).

16 (2) INTERMIX COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘intermix

17 community’’ has the meaning given the term in the

18 notice published at 66 Fed. Reg. 751 (January 4,

19 2001) (including any subsequent revision to the no20 tice).

21 (3) PLANT.—The term ‘‘plant’’ includes—

22 (A) a tree;

23 (B) a shrub; and

24 (C) a vine.
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1 (4) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means the

2 program for emergency treatment and reduction of

3 nonnative invasive plants established under sub4 section (b)(1).

5 (5) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’

6 means the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary

7 of the Interior, acting jointly.

8 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall establish

10 a program for emergency treatment and reduction of

11 nonnative invasive plants to provide to State and

12 local governments and agencies, conservation districts,

13 tribal governments, and willing private landowners

14 grants for use in carrying out hazardous fuel reduc15 tion projects to address threats of catastrophic fires

16 that have been determined by the Secretaries to pose

17 a serious threat to—

18 (A) property;

19 (B) human life; or

20 (C) the ecological stability of an area.

21 (2) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the pro22 gram, the Secretaries shall coordinate with such Fed23 eral agencies, State and local governments and agen24 cies, and conservation districts as are affected by

25 projects under the program.
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1 (c) ELIGIBLE LAND.—A project under the program

2 shall—

3 (1) be carried out only on land that is located—

4 (A) in an interface community or intermix

5 community; or

6 (B) in such proximity to an interface com7 munity or intermix community as would pose a

8 significant risk in the event of the spread of a

9 fire disturbance event from the land (including

10 a risk that would threaten human life or prop11 erty in proximity to or within the interface com12 munity or intermix community), as determined

13 by the Secretaries;

14 (2) remove fuel loads determined by the Secre15 taries, a State or local government, a tribal govern16 ment, or a private landowner to pose a serious threat

17 to—

18 (A) property;

19 (B) human life; or

20 (C) the ecological stability of an area; and

21 (3) involve the removal of nonnative invasive

22 plants.

23 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds made available for a

24 project under the program shall be used only for—
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1 (1) the removal of plants or other potential fuels

2 that are—

3 (A) adjacent to or within the wildland

4 urban interface; or

5 (B) adjacent to a municipal watershed,

6 river, or water course;

7 (2) the removal of erosion structures that impede

8 the removal of nonnative plants; or

9 (3) the replanting of native vegetation to reduce

10 the reestablishment of nonnative invasive plants in a

11 treatment area.

12 (e) REVOLVING FUND.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a grant pro14 vided to a willing owner to carry out a project on

15 non-Federal land under this section, the owner shall

16 deposit into a revolving fund established by the Secre17 taries any proceeds derived from the sale of timber or

18 biomass removed from the non-Federal land under the

19 project.

20 (2) USE.—The Secretaries shall use amounts in

21 the revolving fund to make additional grants under

22 this section.

23 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are

24 authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary
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1 to carry out this section, to remain available until ex2 pended.

3 SEC. 1103. USDA NATIONAL AGROFORESTRY CENTER.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1243 of the Food, Agri5 culture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C.

6 1642 note; Public Law 101–624) is amended—

7 (1) by striking the section heading and inserting

8 the following:

9 ‘‘SEC. 1243. USDA NATIONAL AGROFORESTRY CENTER.’’;

10 and

11 (2) in subsection (a)—

12 (A) by striking ‘‘SEMIARID’’ and inserting

13 ‘‘USDA NATIONAL’’; and

14 (B) by striking ‘‘Semiarid’’ and inserting

15 ‘‘USDA National’’.

16 (b) PROGRAM.—Section 1243(b) of the Food, Agri17 culture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C.

18 1642 note; Public Law 101–624) is amended—

19 (1) by inserting ‘‘local governments, community

20 organizations, the Institute of Tropical Forestry and

21 the Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry of the Forest

22 Service,’’ after ‘‘entities,’’;

23 (2) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘on semiarid

24 lands’’;
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1 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘from semiarid

2 land’’;

3 (4) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the

4 following:

5 ‘‘(4) collect information on the design, installa6 tion, and function of forested riparian and upland

7 buffers to—

8 ‘‘(A) protect water quality; and

9 ‘‘(B) manage water flow;’’;

10 (5) in paragraphs (6) and (7), by striking ‘‘on

11 semiarid lands’’ each place it appears;

12 (6) by striking paragraph (8) and inserting the

13 following:

14 ‘‘(8) provide international leadership in the

15 worldwide development and exchange of agroforestry

16 practices;’’;

17 (7) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘on semiarid

18 lands’’;

19 (8) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the

20 end;

21 (9) in paragraph (11), by striking the period at

22 the end and inserting a semicolon; and

23 (10) by adding at the end the following:

24 ‘‘(12) quantify the carbon storage potential of

25 agroforestry practices such as—
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1 ‘‘(A) windbreaks;

2 ‘‘(B) forested riparian buffers;

3 ‘‘(C) silvopasture timber and grazing sys4 tems; and

5 ‘‘(D) alley cropping; and

6 ‘‘(13) modify and adapt riparian forest buffer

7 technology used on agricultural land for use by com8 munities to manage stormwater runoff.’’.

9 SEC. 1104. UPLAND HARDWOODS RESEARCH CENTER.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the

11 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture

12 shall establish an Upland Hardwood Research Center.

13 (b) LOCATION.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall lo14 cate the Research Center in an area that, as determined

15 by the Secretary of Agriculture, would best use and study

16 the upland hardwood resources of the Ozark Mountains and

17 the South.

18 (c) DUTIES.—The Upland Hardwood Research Center

19 shall, in conjunction with the Southern Forest Research

20 Station of the Department of Agriculture—

21 (1) provide the scientific basis for sustainable

22 management of southern upland hardwood forests,

23 particularly in the Ozark Mountains and associated

24 mountain and upland forests; and
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1 (2) conduct research in all areas to emphasize

2 practical application toward the use and preservation

3 of upland hardwood forests, particularly—

4 (A) the effects of pests and pathogens on up5 land hardwoods;

6 (B) hardwood stand regeneration and re7 productive biology;

8 (C) upland hardwood stand management

9 and forest health;

10 (D) threatened, endangered, and sensitive

11 aquatic and terrestrial fauna;

12 (E) ecological processes and hardwood eco13 system restoration; and

14 (F) education and outreach to nonindus15 trial private forest landowners and associations.

16 (d) RESEARCH.—In carrying out the duties under sub17 section (c), the Upland Hardwood Research Center shall—

18 (1) cooperate with the Center for Bottomland

19 Hardwood Research of the Southern Forest Research

20 Station of the Department of Agriculture, located in

21 Stoneville, Mississippi; and

22 (2) provide comprehensive research in the Mid23 South region of the United States, the Upland Forests

24 Ecosystems Unit of the Southern Forest Research Sta-
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1 tion of the Department of Agriculture, located in

2 Monticello, Arkansas.

3 (e) PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE LANDOWNERS.—The

4 Secretary of Agriculture shall encourage and facilitate the

5 participation of private landowners in the program under

6 this section.

7 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

8 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

9 $2,500,000 for each fiscal year.

10 SEC. 1105. EMERGENCY FUEL REDUCTION GRANTS.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall

12 establish an emergency fuel reduction grant program under

13 which the Secretary shall provide grants to State and local

14 agencies to carry out hazardous fuel reduction projects ad15 dressing threats of catastrophic fire that pose a serious

16 threat to human life, as determined by the Forest Service.

17 (b) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—To be eligible to be carried

18 out with a grant under the program, a hazardous fuel re19 duction project shall—

20 (1) be surrounded by or immediately adjacent to

21 the boundary of a national forest;

22 (2) be determined to be of paramount urgency,

23 as indicated by declarations to that effect by both

24 local officials and the Governor of the State in which

25 in the project is to be carried out; and
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1 (3) remove fuel loading that poses a serious

2 threat to human life, as determined by the Forest

3 Service.

4 (c) USES OF GRANTS.—A grant under the program

5 may be used only—

6 (1) to remove trees, shrubs, or other potential fuel

7 adjacent to a primary evacuation route;

8 (2) to remove trees, shrubs, or other potential fuel

9 that are adjacent to an emergency response center,

10 emergency communication facility, or site designated

11 as a shelter-in-place facility; or

12 (3) to conduct an evacuation drill or prepara13 tion.

14 (d) REVOLVING FUND.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a grant under

16 the program that is used to carry out a project on

17 private or county land, the grant recipient shall de18 posit in a revolving fund maintained by the Secretary

19 any proceeds from the sale of timber or biomass as a

20 result of the project.

21 (2) USE.—The Secretary shall use amounts in

22 the revolving fund to make other grants under this

23 section, without further appropriation.

24 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are

25 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Agri-
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1 culture to carry out this section $50,000,000 for each fiscal

2 year.

3 SEC. 1106. EASTERN NEVADA LANDSCAPE COALITION.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) The Secretary of Agriculture

5 and the Secretary of the Interior are authorized to make

6 grants to the Eastern Nevada Landscape Coalition for the

7 study and restoration of rangeland and other lands in Ne8 vada’s Great Basin in order to help assure the reduction

9 of hazardous fuels and for related purposes.

10 (2) Notwithstanding sections 6301 through 6308 of

11 title 31, United States Code, the Director of the Bureau of

12 Land Management shall enter into a cooperative agreement

13 with the Eastern Nevada Landscape Coalition for the Great

14 Basin Restoration Project, including hazardous fuels and

15 mechanical treatments and related work.

16 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are

17 authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary

18 to carry out this section.

19 SEC. 1107. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING ENHANCED

20 COMMUNITY FIRE PROTECTION.

21 It is the sense of Congress to reaffirm the importance

22 of enhanced community fire protection program, as de23 scribed in section 10A of the Cooperative Forestry Assist24 ance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2106c) (as added by section
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1 8003(b) of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act

2 of 2002 (Public Law 107–171; 116 Stat. 473)).

3 SEC. 1108. COLLABORATIVE MONITORING.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall establish a

5 collaborative monitoring, evaluation, and accountability

6 process in order to assess the positive or negative ecological

7 and social effects of a representative sampling of projects

8 implemented pursuant to title I and section 404 of this Act.

9 The Secretaries shall include diverse stakeholders, including

10 interested citizens and Indian tribes, in the monitoring and

11 evaluation process.

12 (b) MEANS.—The Secretaries may collect monitoring

13 data using cooperative agreements, grants or contracts with

14 small or micro-businesses, cooperatives, nonprofit organiza15 tions, Youth Conservation Corps work crews or related part16 nerships with State, local, and other non-Federal conserva17 tion corps.

18 (c) FUNDS.—Funds to implement this section shall be

19 derived from hazardous fuels operations funds.

20 SEC. 1109. BEST-VALUE CONTRACTING.

21 To conduct a project under this Act, the Secretaries

22 may use best value contracting criteria in awarding con23 tracts and agreements. Best-value contracting criteria

24 includes—
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1 (1) the ability of the contractor to meet the eco2 logical goals of the projects;

3 (2) the use of equipment that will minimize or

4 eliminate impacts on soils; and

5 (3) benefits to local communities such as ensur6 ing that the byproducts are processed locally.

7 SEC. 1110. SUBURBAN AND COMMUNITY FORESTRY AND

8 OPEN SPACE PROGRAM; FOREST LEGACY

9 PROGRAM.

10 (a) SUBURBAN AND COMMUNITY FORESTRY AND OPEN

11 SPACE PROGRAM.—The Cooperative Forestry Assistance

12 Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2101 et seq.) is amended by adding

13 at the end the following:

14 ‘‘SEC. 21. SUBURBAN AND COMMUNITY FORESTRY AND

15 OPEN SPACE PROGRAM.

16 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

17 ‘‘(1) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘Committee’ means

18 a State Forest Stewardship Coordinating Committee

19 established under section 19(b).

20 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible enti21 ty’ means a unit of local government or a nonprofit

22 organization that—

23 ‘‘(A) the Secretary determines, in accord24 ance with the criteria established under sub-
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1 section (c)(1)(A)(ii)(II) is eligible to receive a

2 grant under subsection (c)(2); and

3 ‘‘(B) the State forester, in consultation with

4 the Committee, determines—

5 ‘‘(i) has the abilities necessary to ac6 quire and manage interests in real prop7 erty; and

8 ‘‘(ii) has the resources necessary to

9 monitor and enforce any terms applicable

10 to the eligible project.

11 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE PROJECT.—The term ‘eligible

12 project’ means a fee purchase, easement, or donation

13 of land to conserve private forest land identified for

14 conservation under subsection (c)(1)(A)(ii)(I).

15 ‘‘(4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’ has

16 the meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian

17 Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25

18 U.S.C. 450b).

19 ‘‘(5) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term

20 ‘nonprofit organization’ means any organization that

21 is—

22 ‘‘(A) described in section 501(c) of the In23 ternal Revenue Code of 1986; and

24 ‘‘(B) exempt from taxation under 501(a) of

25 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
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1 ‘‘(6) PRIVATE FOREST LAND.—The term ‘private

2 forest land’ means land that is—

3 ‘‘(A) capable of producing commercial forest

4 products; and

5 ‘‘(B) owned by—

6 ‘‘(i) a private entity; or

7 ‘‘(ii) an Indian tribe.

8 ‘‘(7) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means the

9 Suburban and Community Forestry and Open Space

10 Program established by subsection (b).

11 ‘‘(8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means

12 the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief

13 of the Forest Service.

14 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established within

16 the Forest Service a program to be known as the

17 ‘Suburban and Community Forestry and Open Space

18 Program’.

19 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program is

20 to provide assistance to eligible entities to carry out

21 eligible projects in States in which less than 25 per22 cent of the land is owned by the United States to—

23 ‘‘(A) conserve private forest land and main24 tain working forests in areas threatened by sig-
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1 nificant suburban sprawl or by conversion to

2 nonforest uses; and

3 ‘‘(B) provide communities a means by

4 which to address significant suburban sprawl.

5 ‘‘(c) GRANT PROGRAM.—

6 ‘‘(1) IDENTIFICATION OF ELIGIBLE PRIVATE FOR7 EST LAND.—

8 ‘‘(A) CRITERIA.—

9 ‘‘(i) NATIONAL CRITERIA.—The Sec10 retary shall establish national eligibility

11 criteria for the identification of private for12 est land that may be conserved under this

13 section.

14 ‘‘(ii) STATE CRITERIA.—The State for15 ester, in consultation with the Committee,

16 shall, based on the criteria established under

17 clause (i), and subject to the approval of the

18 Secretary, establish criteria for—

19 ‘‘(I) the identification, subject to

20 subparagraph (B), of private forest

21 land in each State that may be con22 served under this section; and

23 ‘‘(II) the identification of eligible

24 entities.
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1 ‘‘(B) CONDITIONS FOR ELIGIBLE PRIVATE

2 FOREST LAND.—Private forest land identified for

3 conservation under subparagraph (A)(ii)(I) shall

4 be land that—

5 ‘‘(i) is located in a State in which less

6 than 25 percent of the land is owned by the

7 United States; and

8 ‘‘(ii) as determined by the State for9 ester, in consultation with the Committee

10 and subject to the approval of the

11 Secretary—

12 ‘‘(I) is located in an area that is

13 affected, or threatened to be affected, by

14 significant suburban sprawl, taking

15 into account housing needs in the area;

16 and

17 ‘‘(II) is threatened by present or

18 future conversion to nonforest use.

19 ‘‘(2) GRANTS.—

20 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out

22 this section, the Secretary shall award com23 petitive grants to eligible entities to carry

24 out eligible projects.
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1 ‘‘(ii) PUBLIC ACCESS.—Eligible enti2 ties are encouraged to provide public access

3 to land on which an eligible project is car4 ried out.

5 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION; STEWARDSHIP PLAN.—

6 An eligible entity that seeks to receive a grant

7 under this section shall submit to the State

8 forester—

9 ‘‘(i) at such time and in such form as

10 the Secretary shall prescribe, an application

11 for the grant (including a description of

12 any private forest land to be conserved

13 using funds from the grant and a descrip14 tion of the extent of the threat of conversion

15 to nonforest use); and

16 ‘‘(ii) a stewardship plan that describes

17 the manner in which—

18 ‘‘(I) any private forest land to be

19 conserved using funds from the grant

20 will be managed in accordance with

21 this section;

22 ‘‘(II) the stewardship plan will be

23 implemented; and
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1 ‘‘(III) the public benefits to be

2 achieved from implementation of the

3 stewardship plan.

4 ‘‘(C) ASSESSMENT OF NEED.—With respect

5 to an application submitted under subparagraph

6 (B), the State forester shall—

7 ‘‘(i) assess the need for preserving sub8 urban forest land and open space and con9 taining suburban sprawl in the State, tak10 ing into account the housing needs of the

11 area in which the eligible project is to be

12 carried out; and

13 ‘‘(ii) submit to the Secretary—

14 ‘‘(I) the application submitted

15 under subparagraph (B); and

16 ‘‘(II) the assessment of need.

17 ‘‘(D) APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL.—

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause

19 (ii), as soon as practicable after the date on

20 which the Secretary receives an application

21 under subparagraph (C)(ii) or a resubmis22 sion under subclause (II)(bb)(BB), the Sec23 retary shall—

24 ‘‘(I) review the application; and
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1 ‘‘(II)(aa) award a grant to the

2 applicant; or

3 ‘‘(bb)(AA) disapprove the applica4 tion; and

5 ‘‘(BB) provide the applicant a

6 statement that describes the reasons

7 why the application was disapproved

8 (including a deadline by which the ap9 plicant may resubmit the application).

10 ‘‘(ii) CONSIDERATIONS; PRIORITY.—In

11 awarding grants under this section, the Sec12 retary shall—

13 ‘‘(I) consider the need for the eli14 gible project based on the assessment of

15 need submitted under subparagraph

16 (C) and subject to any criteria under

17 paragraph (1); and

18 ‘‘(II) give priority to applicants

19 that propose to fund eligible projects

20 that promote—

21 ‘‘(aa) the preservation of sub22 urban forest land and open space;

23 ‘‘(bb) the containment of sub24 urban sprawl;
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1 ‘‘(cc) the sustainable manage2 ment of private forest land;

3 ‘‘(dd) community involve4 ment in determining the objectives

5 for eligible projects that are fund6 ed under this section; and

7 ‘‘(ee) community and school

8 education programs and curricula

9 relating to sustainable forestry.

10 ‘‘(3) COST SHARING.—

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The amount of a grant

12 awarded under this section to carry out an eligi13 ble project shall not exceed 50 percent of the total

14 cost of the eligible project.

15 ‘‘(B) ASSURANCES.—As a condition of re16 ceipt of a grant under this section, an eligible

17 entity shall provide to the Secretary such assur18 ances as the Secretary determines are sufficient

19 to demonstrate that the share of the cost of each

20 eligible project that is not funded by the grant

21 awarded under this section has been secured.

22 ‘‘(C) FORM.—The share of the cost of car23 rying out any eligible project described in sub24 paragraph (A) that is not funded by a grant
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1 awarded under this section may be provided in

2 cash or in kind (including a donation of land).

3 ‘‘(d) USE OF GRANT FUNDS FOR PURCHASES OF LAND

4 OR EASEMENTS.—

5 ‘‘(1) PURCHASES.—

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

7 subparagraph (B), funds made available, and

8 grants awarded, under this section may be used

9 to purchase private forest land or interests in

10 private forest land (including conservation ease11 ments) only from willing sellers at fair market

12 value.

13 ‘‘(B) SALES AT LESS THAN FAIR MARKET

14 VALUE.—A sale of private forest land or an in15 terest in private forest land at less than fair

16 market value shall be permitted only on certifi17 cation by the landowner that the sale is being

18 entered into willingly and without coercion.

19 ‘‘(2) TITLE.—Title to private forest land or an

20 interest in private forest land purchased under para21 graph (1) may be held, as determined appropriate by

22 the Secretary, by—

23 ‘‘(A) a State;

24 ‘‘(B) a unit of local government; or

25 ‘‘(C) a nonprofit organization.
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1 ‘‘(3) TERMINATION OF EASEMENT.—

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

3 subparagraph (B), all right, title, and interest of

4 a unit of local government or nonprofit organi5 zation in and to a conservation easement shall

6 terminate and vest in the State if the State de7 termines that—

8 ‘‘(i) the unit of local government or

9 nonprofit organization is unable or unwill10 ing to enforce the terms of the conservation

11 easement; or

12 ‘‘(ii) the conservation easement has

13 been modified in a way that is inconsistent

14 with the purposes of the program.

15 ‘‘(B) CONVEYANCE TO ANOTHER UNIT OF

16 LOCAL GOVERNMENT OR NONPROFIT ORGANIZA17 TION.—If the State makes a determination under

18 subparagraph (A), the State may convey or au19 thorize the unit of local government or nonprofit

20 organization to convey the conservation easement

21 to another unit of local government or nonprofit

22 organization.

23 ‘‘(e) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The State, on approval

24 of the Secretary and subject to any regulations promulgated

25 by the Secretary, may use amounts made available under
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1 subsection (g) to pay the administrative costs of the State

2 relating to the program.

3 ‘‘(f) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit to Congress

4 a report on the eligible projects carried out under this sec5 tion in accordance with section 8(c) of the Forest and

6 Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16

7 U.S.C. 1606(c)).

8 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

9 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this

10 section—

11 ‘‘(1) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; and

12 ‘‘(2) such sums as are necessary for each fiscal

13 year thereafter.’’.

14 (b) FOREST LEGACY PROGRAM.—Section 7 of the Co15 operative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2103c)

16 is amended—

17 (1) in subsection (c), by striking the last sen18 tence;

19 (2) in subsection (i), by striking ‘‘subsection (b)’’

20 and inserting ‘‘this section’’;

21 (3) in subsection (j)(1), by inserting ‘‘(other than

22 by donation)’’ after ‘‘acquired’’;

23 (4) in subsection (k)(2), by striking ‘‘the United

24 States or its’’ and inserting ‘‘the United States, a

25 State, or other entity, or their’’; and
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1 (5) in subsection (l), by adding at the end the

2 following:

3 ‘‘(3) STATE AUTHORIZATION.—

4 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION OF STATE FORESTER.—

5 The term ‘State forester’ has the meaning given

6 the term in section 4(k).

7 ‘‘(B) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sub8 section (c) and paragraph (2)(B), the Secretary

9 shall, on request by a State, authorize the State

10 to allow a qualified organization (as defined in

11 section 170(h)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of

12 1986) and that is organized for at least 1 of the

13 purposes described in section 170(h)(4)(A) of

14 that Code, using amounts granted to a State

15 under this paragraph, to acquire 1 or more con16 servation easements to carry out the Forest Leg17 acy Program in the State.

18 ‘‘(C) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to acquire

19 and manage conservation easements under this

20 paragraph, a qualified organization described in

21 subparagraph (B) shall, as determined by the

22 Secretary, acting through the State forester, dem23 onstrate the abilities necessary to acquire, mon24 itor, and enforce interests in forest land con-
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1 sistent with the Forest Legacy Program and the

2 assessment of need for the State.

3 ‘‘(D) MONITORING AND ENFORCEMENT.—

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A qualified organi5 zation that acquires a conservation ease6 ment under this paragraph shall be respon7 sible for monitoring and enforcing the terms

8 of the conservation easement and any of the

9 costs of the qualified organization associated

10 with such monitoring and enforcement.

11 ‘‘(ii) CONTINGENT RIGHTS.—If a

12 qualified organization that acquires a con13 servation easement under this paragraph

14 fails to enforce the terms of the conservation

15 easement, as determined by the State, the

16 State or the Secretary shall have the right

17 to enforce the terms of the conservation ease18 ment under Federal or State law.

19 ‘‘(iii) AMENDMENTS.—Any amend20 ments to a conservation easement that ma21 terially affect the terms of the conservation

22 easement shall be subject to approval by the

23 Secretary or the State, as appropriate.

24 ‘‘(E) TERMINATION OF EASEMENT.—
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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided

2 in clause (ii), all right, title, and interest of

3 a qualified organization described in sub4 paragraph (B) in and to a conservation

5 easement shall terminate and vest in the

6 State or a qualified designee if the State de7 termines that—

8 ‘‘(I) the qualified organization

9 fails to enforce the terms of the con10 servation easement;

11 ‘‘(II) the conservation easement

12 has been modified in a way that is in13 consistent with the purposes of the For14 est Legacy Program or the assessment

15 of need for the State; or

16 ‘‘(III) the conservation easement

17 has been conveyed to another person

18 (other than to a qualified organiza19 tion).

20 ‘‘(ii) CONVEYANCE TO ANOTHER QUALI21 FIED ORGANIZATION.—If the State makes a

22 determination under clause (i), the State

23 may convey or authorize the qualified orga24 nization to convey the conservation ease25 ment to another qualified organization.
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1 ‘‘(F) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary,

2 acting through the State forester, shall imple3 ment this paragraph in accordance with the as4 sessment of need for the State as approved by the

5 Secretary.’’.

6 SEC. 1111. WILDLAND FIREFIGHTER SAFETY.

7 (a) DEFINITION OF SECRETARY.—In this section, the

8 term ‘‘Secretary’’ means—

9 (1) the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to

10 land of the National Forest System described in sec11 tion 3(1)(A); and

12 (2) the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to

13 public lands described in section 3(1)(B).

14 (b) FIREFIGHTER SAFETY AND TRAINING BUDGET.—

15 The Secretary shall—

16 (1) track funds expended for firefighter safety

17 and training programs and activities; and

18 (2) include a line item for such expenditures in

19 each budget request submitted after the date of enact20 ment of this Act.

21 (c) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretaries

22 shall, on an annual basis, jointly submit to Congress a re23 port on the implementation and efficacy of wildland fire24 fighter safety and training programs and activities.
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1 (d) SAFETY QUALIFICATION OF PRIVATE CONTRAC2 TORS.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall ensure

4 that any Federal contract or agreement entered into

5 with a private entity for wildland firefighting services

6 requires the entity to provide firefighter training that

7 is consistent with qualification standards established

8 by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group.

9 (2) COMPLIANCE.—The Secretaries shall develop

10 a program to monitor and enforce compliance with

11 the requirements of paragraph (1).

12 SEC. 1112. GREEN MOUNTAIN NATIONAL FOREST BOUND13 ARY ADJUSTMENT.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The boundaries of the Green Moun15 tain National Forest are modified to include all parcels of

16 land depicted on the forest maps entitled ‘‘Green Mountain

17 Expansion Area Map I’’ and ‘‘Green Mountain Expansion

18 Area Map II’’, each dated February 20, 2002, which shall

19 be on file and available for public inspection in the Office

20 of the Chief of the Forest Service, Washington, District of

21 Columbia.

22 (b) MANAGEMENT.—Federally owned land delineated

23 on the maps acquired for National Forest purposes shall

24 continue to be managed in accordance with the laws (in-
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1 cluding regulations) applicable to the National Forest Sys2 tem.

3 (c) LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND.—For the

4 purposes of section 7 of the Land and Water Conservation

5 Fund Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 460–9), the boundaries of the

6 Green Mountain National Forest, as adjusted by this Act,

7 shall be considered to be the boundaries of the national for8 est as of January 1, 1965.

9 SEC. 1113. PUERTO RICO KARST CONSERVATION.

10 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the

11 ‘‘Puerto Rico Karst Conservation Act of 2003’’.

12 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

13 (1) in the Karst Region of the Commonwealth of

14 Puerto Rico there are—

15 (A) some of the largest areas of tropical for16 ests in Puerto Rico, with a higher density of tree

17 species than any other area in the Common18 wealth; and

19 (B) unique geological formations that are

20 critical to the maintenance of aquifers and wa21 tersheds that constitute a principal water supply

22 for much of the Commonwealth;

23 (2) the Karst Region is threatened by develop24 ment that, if unchecked, could permanently damage

25 the aquifers and cause irreparable damage to natural
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1 and environmental assets that are unique to the

2 United States;

3 (3) the Commonwealth has 1 of the highest popu4 lation densities in the United States, which makes the

5 protection of the Karst Region imperative for the

6 maintenance of the public health and welfare of the

7 citizens of the Commonwealth;

8 (4) the Karst Region—

9 (A) possesses extraordinary ecological diver10 sity, including the habitats of several endangered

11 and threatened species and tropical migrants;

12 and

13 (B) is an area of critical value to research

14 in tropical forest management; and

15 (5) coordinated efforts at land protection by the

16 Federal Government and the Commonwealth are nec17 essary to conserve the environmentally critical Karst

18 Region.

19 (c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are—

20 (1) to authorize and support conservation efforts

21 to acquire, manage, and protect the tropical forest

22 areas of the Karst Region, with particular emphasis

23 on water quality and the protection of the aquifers

24 that are vital to the health and wellbeing of the citi25 zens of the Commonwealth; and
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1 (2) to promote cooperation among the Common2 wealth, Federal agencies, corporations, organizations,

3 and individuals in those conservation efforts.

4 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

5 (1) COMMONWEALTH.—The term ‘‘Common6 wealth’’ means the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

7 (2) FOREST LEGACY PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘For8 est Legacy Program’’ means the program established

9 under section 7 of the Cooperative Forestry Assistance

10 Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2103c).

11 (3) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Puerto

12 Rico Karst Conservation Fund established by sub13 section (f).

14 (4) KARST REGION.—The term ‘‘Karst Region’’

15 means the areas in the Commonwealth generally de16 picted on the map entitled ‘‘Karst Region Conserva17 tion Area’’ and dated March 2001, which shall be on

18 file and available for public inspection in—

19 (A) the Office of the Secretary, Puerto Rico

20 Department of Natural and Environmental Re21 sources; and

22 (B) the Office of the Chief of the Forest

23 Service.

24 (5) LAND.—The term ‘‘land’’ includes land,

25 water, and an interest in land or water.
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1 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

2 the Secretary of Agriculture.

3 (e) CONSERVATION OF THE KARST REGION.—

4 (1) FEDERAL COOPERATION AND ASSISTANCE.—

5 In furtherance of the acquisition, protection, and

6 management of land in and adjacent to the Karst Re7 gion and in implementing related natural resource

8 conservation strategies, the Secretary may—

9 (A) make grants to and enter into contracts

10 and cooperative agreements with the Common11 wealth, other Federal agencies, organizations,

12 corporations, and individuals; and

13 (B) use all authorities available to the Sec14 retary, including—

15 (i) the Forest and Rangeland Renew16 able Resources Research Act of 1978 (16

17 U.S.C. 1641 et seq.);

18 (ii) section 1472 of the National Agri19 cultural Research, Extension, and Teaching

20 Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3318); and

21 (iii) section 12 of the Stevenson-Wydler

22 Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15

23 U.S.C. 3710a).

24 (2) FUNDING SOURCES.—The activities author25 ized by this subsection may be carried out using—
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1 (A) amounts in the Fund;

2 (B) amounts in the fund established by sec3 tion 4(b) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable

4 Resources Research Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C.

5 1643(b));

6 (C) funds appropriated from the Land and

7 Water Conservation Fund;

8 (D) funds appropriated for the Forest Leg9 acy Program; and

10 (E) any other funds made available for

11 those activities.

12 (3) MANAGEMENT.—

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Land acquired under

14 this subsection shall be managed, in accordance

15 with the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Re16 sources Research Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 1641 et

17 seq.), in a manner to protect and conserve the

18 water quality and aquifers and the geological, ec19 ological, fish and wildlife, and other natural val20 ues of the Karst Region.

21 (B) FAILURE TO MANAGE AS REQUIRED.—

22 In any deed, grant, contract, or cooperative

23 agreement implementing this subsection and the

24 Forest Legacy Program in the Commonwealth,

25 the Secretary may require that, if land acquired
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1 by the Commonwealth or other cooperating enti2 ty under this section is sold or conveyed in whole

3 or part, or is not managed in conformity with

4 subparagraph (A), title to the land shall, at the

5 discretion of the Secretary, vest in the United

6 States.

7 (4) WILLING SELLERS.—Any land acquired by

8 the Secretary in the Karst Region shall be acquired

9 only from a willing seller.

10 (5) RELATION TO OTHER AUTHORITIES.—Noth11 ing in this subsection—

12 (A) diminishes any other authority that the

13 Secretary may have to acquire, protect, and

14 manage land and natural resources in the Com15 monwealth; or

16 (B) exempts the Federal Government from

17 Commonwealth water laws.

18 (f) PUERTO RICO KARST CONSERVATION FUND.—

19 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in

20 the Treasury an interest-bearing account to be known

21 as the ‘‘Puerto Rico Karst Conservation Fund’’.

22 (2) CREDITS TO FUND.—There shall be credited

23 to the Fund—

24 (A) amounts appropriated to the Fund;

25 (B) all amounts donated to the Fund;
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1 (C) all amounts generated from the Carib2 bean National Forest that would, but for this

3 paragraph, be deposited as miscellaneous receipts

4 in the Treasury of the United States, but not in5 cluding amounts authorized by law for payments

6 to the Commonwealth or authorized by law for

7 retention by the Secretary for any purpose;

8 (D) all amounts received by the Adminis9 trator of General Services from the disposal of

10 surplus real property in the Commonwealth

11 under subtitle I of title 40, United States Code;

12 and

13 (E) interest derived from amounts in the

14 Fund.

15 (3) USE OF FUND.—Amounts in the Fund shall

16 be available to the Secretary until expended, without

17 further appropriation, to carry out subsection (e).

18 (g) MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.—

19 (1) DONATIONS.—

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may ac21 cept donations, including land and money, made

22 by public and private agencies, corporations, or23 ganizations, and individuals in furtherance of

24 the purposes of this subsection.
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1 (B) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—The Sec2 retary may accept donations even if the donor

3 conducts business with or is regulated by the De4 partment of Agriculture or any other Federal

5 agency.

6 (C) APPLICABLE LAW.—Public Law 95–442

7 (7 U.S.C. 2269) shall apply to donations accept8 ed by the Secretary under this paragraph.

9 (2) RELATION TO FOREST LEGACY PROGRAM.—

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—All land in the Karst

11 Region shall be eligible for inclusion in the For12 est Legacy Program.

13 (B) COST SHARING.—The Secretary may

14 credit donations made under paragraph (1) to

15 satisfy any cost-sharing requirements of the For16 est Legacy Program.

17 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

18 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as

19 are necessary to carry out this section.

20 SEC. 1114. FARM SECURITY AND RURAL INVESTMENT ACT.

21 Section 10806(b)(1) of the Farm Security and Rural

22 Investment Act of 2002 (21 U.S.C. 321d; 116 Stat. 526),

23 is deemed to have first become effective 15 days after the

24 date of the enactment of this Act.
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1 SEC. 1115. ENFORCEMENT OF ANIMAL FIGHTING PROHIBI2 TIONS UNDER THE ANIMAL WELFARE ACT.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 26 of the Animal Welfare

4 Act (7 U.S.C. 2156) is amended—

5 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) through (h)

6 as subsections (d) through (i), respectively;

7 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol8 lowing:

9 ‘‘(c) SHARP INSTRUMENTS.—It shall be unlawful for

10 any person to knowingly sell, buy, transport, or deliver in

11 interstate or foreign commerce a knife, a gaff, or any other

12 sharp instrument attached, or designed or intended to be

13 attached, to the leg of a bird for use in an animal fighting

14 venture.’’;

15 (3) in subsection (e) (as redesignated by para16 graph (1)), by striking ‘‘(c)’’ and inserting ‘‘(d)’’;

17 (4) in subsection (f) (as redesignated by para18 graph (1))—

19 (A) by striking ‘‘(a), (b), or (c)’’ and insert20 ing ‘‘(a), (b), (c), or (d)’’; and

21 (B) by striking ‘‘1 year’’ and inserting ‘‘2

22 years’’;

23 (5) by striking subsection (g) (as redesignated by

24 paragraph (1)) and inserting the following:

25 ‘‘(g) INVESTIGATIONS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary or any person

2 authorized by the Secretary shall make such inves3 tigations as the Secretary considers necessary to de4 termine whether any person has violated or is vio5 lating any provision of this section.

6 ‘‘(2) ASSISTANCE.—Through cooperative agree7 ments, the Secretary may obtain the assistance of the

8 Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of

9 the Treasury, and other law enforcement agencies of

10 the United States and of State, tribal, and local gov11 ernmental agencies in the conduct of an investigation

12 under paragraph (1).

13 ‘‘(3) WARRANTS.—

14 ‘‘(A) ISSUANCE.—A judge of the United

15 States, United States magistrate judge, or judge

16 of a State or tribal court of competent jurisdic17 tion in the district in which is located an ani18 mal, paraphernalia, instrument, or other prop19 erty or thing that there is probable cause to be20 lieve was involved, is about to be involved, or is

21 intended to be involved in a violation of this sec22 tion shall issue a warrant to search for and seize

23 the animal or other property or thing.

24 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION; EXECUTION.—A United

25 States marshal or any person authorized under
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1 this section to conduct an investigation may

2 apply for and execute a warrant issued under

3 subparagraph (A), and any animal, para4 phernalia, instrument, or other property or thing

5 seized under such a warrant shall be held by the

6 authorized person pending disposition of the ani7 mal, paraphernalia, instrument, or other prop8 erty or thing by a court in accordance with this

9 subsection.

10 ‘‘(4) STORAGE OF ANIMALS.—

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An animal seized by a

12 United States marshal or other authorized per13 son under paragraph (3) shall be taken promptly

14 to an animal housing facility in which the ani15 mal shall be stored humanely.

16 ‘‘(B) NO FACILITY AVAILABLE.—If there is

17 not available a suitable animal storage facility

18 sufficient in size to hold all of the animals in19 volved in a violation, a United States marshal

20 or other authorized person shall—

21 ‘‘(i) seize a representative sample of the

22 animals for evidentiary purposes to be

23 transported to an animal storage facility in

24 which the animals shall be stored humanely;

25 and
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1 ‘‘(ii)(I) keep the remaining animals at

2 the location where the animals were seized;

3 ‘‘(II) provide for the humane care of

4 the animals; and

5 ‘‘(III) cause the animals to be banded,

6 tagged, or marked by microchip and photo7 graphed or videotaped for evidentiary pur8 poses.

9 ‘‘(5) CARE.—While a seized animal is held in

10 custody, a United States marshal or other authorized

11 person shall ensure that the animal is provided nec12 essary care (including housing, feeding, and veteri13 nary treatment).

14 ‘‘(6) FORFEITURE.—

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any animal, para16 phernalia, instrument, vehicle, money, or other

17 property or thing involved in a violation of this

18 section shall be liable to be proceeded against

19 and forfeited to the United States at any time on

20 complaint filed in any United States district

21 court or other court of the United States for any

22 jurisdiction in which the animal, paraphernalia,

23 instrument, vehicle, money, or other property or

24 thing is found.
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1 ‘‘(B) DISPOSITION.—On entry of a judg2 ment of forfeiture, a forfeited animal shall be

3 disposed of by humane means, as the court may

4 direct.

5 ‘‘(C) COSTS.—Costs incurred by the United

6 States for care of an animal seized and forfeited

7 under this section shall be recoverable from the

8 owner of the animal—

9 ‘‘(i) in the forfeiture proceeding, if the

10 owner appears in the forfeiture proceeding;

11 or

12 ‘‘(ii) in a separate civil action brought

13 in the jurisdiction in which the owner is

14 found, resides, or transacts business.

15 ‘‘(D) CLAIM TO PROPERTY.—

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The owner, custo17 dian, or other person claiming an interest

18 in a seized animal may prevent disposition

19 of the animal by posting, or may be ordered

20 by any United States district court or other

21 court of the United States, or by any tribal

22 court, for any jurisdiction in which the ani23 mal is found to post, not later than 10 days

24 after the animal is seized, a bond with the

25 court in an amount sufficient to provide for
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1 the care of the animal (including housing,

2 feeding, and veterinary treatment) for not

3 less than 30 days.

4 ‘‘(ii) RENEWAL.—The owner, custo5 dian, or other person claiming an interest

6 in a seized animal may renew a bond, or

7 be ordered to renew a bond, by posting a

8 new bond, in an amount sufficient to pro9 vide for the care of the animal for at least

10 an additional 30 days, not later than 10

11 days after the expiration of the period for

12 which a previous bond was posted.

13 ‘‘(iii) DISPOSITION.—If a bond expires

14 and is not renewed, the animal may be dis15 posed of as provided in subparagraph (A).

16 ‘‘(7) EUTHANIZATION.—Notwithstanding para17 graphs (1) through (6), an animal may be humanely

18 euthanized if a veterinarian determines that the ani19 mal is suffering extreme pain.’’; and

20 (6) in subsection (h) (as redesignated by para21 graph (1))—

22 (A) in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of para23 graph (2), by inserting before the semicolon the

24 following: ‘‘(including a movement to, from, or
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1 within land under the jurisdiction of an Indian

2 tribe)’’; and

3 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘tele4 phone, radio, or television’’ and inserting ‘‘tele5 phone, the Internet, radio, television, or any

6 technology’’.

7 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 23

8 of the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2153) is amended—

9 (1) by striking ‘‘SEC. 23. The Secretary’’ and in10 serting the following:

11 ‘‘SEC. 23. FEES; AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

12 ‘‘(a) FEES.—The Secretary’’; and

13 (2) by striking the third sentence and inserting

14 the following:

15 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

16 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec17 essary to carry out this Act.’’.

18 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this

19 section take effect on the later of—

20 (1) the date of enactment of this Act; or

21 (2) May 13, 2003.
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1 SEC. 1116. INCREASE IN MAXIMUM FINES FOR VIOLATION

2 OF PUBLIC LAND REGULATIONS AND ESTAB3 LISHMENT OF MINIMUM FINE FOR VIOLATION

4 OF PUBLIC LAND FIRE REGULATIONS DURING

5 FIRE BAN.

6 (a) LANDS UNDER JURISDICTION OF BUREAU OF

7 LAND MANAGEMENT.—Section 303(a) of the Federal Land

8 Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1733(a))

9 is amended—

10 (1) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘no more

11 than $1,000’’ and inserting ‘‘as provided in title 18,

12 United States Code,’’; and

13 (2) by inserting after the second sentence the fol14 lowing: ‘‘In the case of a regulation issued under this

15 section regarding the use of fire by individuals on the

16 public lands, if the violation of the regulation was the

17 result of reckless conduct and occurred in an area

18 subject to a complete ban on open fires, the fine may

19 not be less than $500.’’.

20 (b) NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM LANDS.—

21 (1) FINES.—Section 3 of the Act of August 25,

22 1916 (popularly known as the National Park Service

23 Organic Act; 16 U.S.C. 3) is amended—

24 (A) by striking ‘‘That the Secretary’’ at the

25 beginning of the section and inserting ‘‘(a) REG26 ULATIONS FOR USE AND MANAGEMENT OF NA-
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1 TIONAL PARK SYSTEM; ENFORCEMENT.—The

2 Secretary’’;

3 (B) by striking ‘‘$500’’ and inserting

4 ‘‘$10,000’’; and

5 (C) by inserting after the first sentence the

6 following: ‘‘In the case of a rule or regulation

7 issued under this subsection regarding the use of

8 fire by individuals on such lands, if the violation

9 of the rule or regulation was the result of reckless

10 conduct and occurred in an area subject to a

11 complete ban on open fires, the fine may not be

12 less than $500.’’.

13 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Such section is

14 further amended—

15 (A) by striking ‘‘He may also’’ the first

16 place it appears and inserting the following:

17 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AUTHORITIES.—The Sec18 retary of the Interior may’’;

19 (B) by striking ‘‘He may also’’ the second

20 place it appears and inserting ‘‘The Secretary

21 may’’; and

22 (C) by striking ‘‘No natural,’’ and inserting

23 the following:

24 ‘‘(c) LEASE AND PERMIT AUTHORITIES.—No nat25 ural’’.
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1 (c) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS.—The eleventh

2 undesignated paragraph under the heading ‘‘SURVEYING

3 THE PUBLIC LANDS’’ of the Act of June 4, 1897 (16 U.S.C.

4 551), is amended—

5 (1) by striking ‘‘$500’’ and inserting ‘‘$10,000’’;

6 and

7 (2) by inserting after the first sentence the fol8 lowing: ‘‘In the case of such a rule or regulation re9 garding the use of fire by individuals on such lands,

10 if the violation of the rule or regulation was the result

11 of reckless conduct and occurred in an area subject to

12 a complete ban on open fires, the fine may not be less

13 than $500.’’.

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘An Act to improve

the capacity of the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to conduct hazardous fuels reduction projects on National Forest System lands and Bureau of Land Management lands aimed at protecting

communities, watersheds, and certain other at-risk lands

from catastrophic wildfire, to enhance efforts to protect

watersheds and address threats to forest and rangeland

health, including catastrophic wildfire, across the landscape, and for other purposes.’’.

Attest:

Secretary.
108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1904

AMENDMENTS