I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2875

To amend the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 to provide for the conduct 

of projects that protect forests, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 14, 2005

Mr. WALDEN of Oregon (for himself and Mr. UDALL of New Mexico) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture and Education 

and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To amend the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 to provide 

for the conduct of projects that protect forests, and 

for other purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Lands Corps 

5 Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE PUBLIC LANDS CORPS ACT 

2 OF 1993. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 203 of the Public Lands 

4 Corps Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1722) is amended—

5 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (8), (9), (10), 

6 and (11) as paragraphs (9), (10), (11), and (13), re7 spectively; 

8 (2) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(8) PRIORITY PROJECT.—The term ‘priority 

11 project’ means an appropriate conservation project 

12 conducted on eligible service lands to further 1 or 

13 more of the purposes of the Healthy Forests Res14 toration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.), as 

15 follows: 

16 ‘‘(A) To reduce wildfire risk to a commu17 nity, municipal water supply, or other at-risk 

18 Federal land. 

19 ‘‘(B) To protect a watershed or address a 

20 threat to forest and rangeland health, including 

21 catastrophic wildfire. 

22 ‘‘(C) To address the impact of insect or 

23 disease infestations or other damaging agents 

24 on forest and rangeland health. 

25 ‘‘(D) To protect, restore, or enhance forest 

26 ecosystem components to—
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1 ‘‘(i) promote the recovery of threat2 ened or endangered species; 

3 ‘‘(ii) improve biological diversity; or 

4 ‘‘(iii) enhance productivity and carbon 

5 sequestration.’’; and 

6 (3) by inserting after paragraph (11) (as redes7 ignated by paragraph (1)) the following: 

8 ‘‘(12) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ 

9 means—

10 ‘‘(A) with respect to National Forest Sys11 tem land, the Secretary of Agriculture; and 

12 ‘‘(B) with respect to Indian lands, Hawai13 ian home lands, or land administered by the 

14 Department of the Interior, the Secretary of the 

15 Interior.’’. 

16 (b) QUALIFIED YOUTH OR CONSERVATION CORPS.—

17 Section 204(c) of the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 

18 U.S.C. 1723(c)) is amended—

19 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary of the Interior 

20 and the Secretary of Agriculture are’’ and inserting 

21 the following: 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is’’; and 

23 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(2) PREFERENCE.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of enter2 ing into contracts and cooperative agreements 

3 under paragraph (1), the Secretary may give 

4 preference to qualified youth or conservation 

5 corps located in a specific area that have a sub6 stantial portion of members who are economi7 cally, physically, or educationally disadvantaged 

8 to carry out projects within the area. 

9 ‘‘(B) PRIORITY PROJECTS.—In carrying 

10 out priority projects in a specific area, the Sec11 retary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, 

12 give preference to qualified youth or conserva13 tion corps located in that specific area that 

14 have a substantial portion of members who are 

15 economically, physically, or educationally dis16 advantaged.’’. 

17 (c) CONSERVATION PROJECTS.—Section 204(d) of 

18 the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1723(d)) 

19 is amended—

20 (1) in the first sentence—

21 (A) by striking ‘‘The Secretary of the Inte22 rior and the Secretary of Agriculture may each’’ 

23 and inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may’’; and 
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1 (B) by striking ‘‘such Secretary’’ and in2 serting ‘‘the Secretary’’; 

3 (2) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘Appro4 priate conservation’’ and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(2) PROJECTS ON INDIAN LANDS.—Appro6 priate conservation’’; and 

7 (3) by striking the third sentence and inserting 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘(3) DISASTER PREVENTION OR RELIEF

10 PROJECTS.—The Secretary may authorize appro11 priate conservation projects and other appropriate 

12 projects to be carried out on Federal, State, local, or 

13 private land as part of a Federal disaster prevention 

14 or relief effort.’’. 

15 (d) CONSERVATION CENTERS AND PROGRAM SUP16 PORT.—Section 205 of the Public Lands Corps Act of 

17 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1724) is amended—

18 (1) by striking the heading and inserting the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 205. CONSERVATION CENTERS AND PROGRAM SUP21 PORT.’’; 

22 (2) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT AND USE.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may estab2 lish and use conservation centers owned and oper3 ated by the Secretary for—

4 ‘‘(A) use by the Public Lands Corps; and 

5 ‘‘(B) the conduct of appropriate conserva6 tion projects under this title. 

7 ‘‘(2) ASSISTANCE FOR CONSERVATION CEN8 TERS.—The Secretary may provide to a conservation 

9 center established under paragraph (1) any services, 

10 facilities, equipment, and supplies that the Secretary 

11 determines to be necessary for the conservation cen12 ter. 

13 ‘‘(3) STANDARDS FOR CONSERVATION CEN14 TERS.—The Secretary shall—

15 ‘‘(A) establish basic standards of health, 

16 nutrition, sanitation, and safety for all con17 servation centers established under paragraph 

18 (1); and 

19 ‘‘(B) ensure that the standards established 

20 under subparagraph (A) are enforced. 

21 ‘‘(4) MANAGEMENT.—As the Secretary deter22 mines to be appropriate, the Secretary may enter 

23 into a contract or other appropriate arrangement 

24 with a State or local government agency or private 
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1 organization to provide for the management of a 

2 conservation center.’’; and 

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

4 ‘‘(d) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may provide any 

5 services, facilities, equipment, supplies, technical assist6 ance, oversight, monitoring, or evaluations that are appro7 priate to carry out this title.’’. 

8 (e) LIVING ALLOWANCES AND TERMS OF SERVICE.—

9 Section 207 of the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 

10 U.S.C. 1726) is amended—

11 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(a) LIVING ALLOWANCES.—The Secretary shall pro14 vide each participant in the Public Lands Corps and each 

15 resource assistant with a living allowance in an amount 

16 established by the Secretary.’’; and 

17 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(c) HIRING.—The Secretary may—

19 ‘‘(1) grant to a member of the Public Lands 

20 Corps credit for time served with the Public Lands 

21 Corps, which may be used toward future Federal 

22 hiring; and 

23 ‘‘(2) provide to a former member of the Public 

24 Lands Corps noncompetitive hiring status for a pe25 riod of not more than 120 days after the date on 
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1 which the member’s service with the Public Lands 

2 Corps is complete.’’. 

3 (f) FUNDING.—The Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 

4 is amended—

5 (1) in section 210 (16 U.S.C. 1729), by adding 

6 at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(c) OTHER FUNDS.—Amounts appropriated pursu8 ant to the authorization of appropriations under section 

9 211 are in addition to amounts allocated to the Public 

10 Lands Corps through other Federal programs or 

11 projects.’’; and 

12 (2) by inserting after section 210 the following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 211. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro15 priated to carry out this title $15,000,000 for each fiscal 

16 year, of which $10,000,000 is authorized to carry out pri17 ority projects. 

18 ‘‘(b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Notwithstanding 

19 any other provision of law, amounts appropriated for any 

20 fiscal year to carry out this title shall remain available 

21 for obligation and expenditure until the end of the fiscal 

22 year following the fiscal year for which the amounts are 

23 appropriated.’’. 

24 (g) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Public Lands 

25 Corps Act of 1993 is amended—
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1 (1) in section 204 (16 U.S.C. 1723)—

2 (A) in subsection (b)—

3 (i) in the first sentence, by striking 

4 ‘‘Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary 

5 of Agriculture’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; 

6 (ii) in the third sentence, by striking 

7 ‘‘Secretaries’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; 

8 and 

9 (iii) in the fourth sentence, by striking 

10 ‘‘Secretaries’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; 

11 and 

12 (B) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘Sec13 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agri14 culture’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; 

15 (2) in section 205 (16 U.S.C. 1724)—

16 (A) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘Sec17 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agri18 culture’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; and 

19 (B) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘Sec20 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agri21 culture’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; 

22 (3) in section 206 (16 U.S.C. 1725)—

23 (A) in subsection (a)—

24 (i) in the first sentence—
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1 (I) by striking ‘‘Secretary of the 

2 Interior and the Secretary of Agri3 culture are each’’ and inserting ‘‘Sec4 retary is’’; and 

5 (II) by striking ‘‘such Secretary’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘the Secretary’’; 

7 (ii) in the third sentence, by striking 

8 ‘‘Secretaries’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; 

9 and 

10 (iii) in the fourth sentence, by striking 

11 ‘‘Secretaries’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; 

12 and 

13 (B) in the first sentence of subsection (b), 

14 by striking ‘‘Secretary of the Interior or the 

15 Secretary of Agriculture’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

16 Secretary’’; and 

17 (4) in section 210 (16 U.S.C. 1729)—

18 (A) in subsection (a)—

19 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Sec20 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of 

21 Agriculture are each’’ and inserting ‘‘Sec22 retary is’’; and 

23 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking 

24 ‘‘Secretary of the Interior and the Sec-
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1 retary of Agriculture are each’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘Secretary is’’; and 

3 (B) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘Sec4 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agri5 culture’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’.

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