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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9602 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9602

 To amend the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 to authorize 
 States to approve certain organizations to acquire, hold, and manage 
 conservation easements under the Forest Legacy Program, and for other 
                               purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 16, 2024

Mr. Garamendi (for himself, Ms. Kuster, Mr. Costa, Mr. Huffman, and Ms. 
  Bonamici) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                        Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To amend the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 to authorize 
 States to approve certain organizations to acquire, hold, and manage 
 conservation easements under the Forest Legacy Program, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Forest Legacy Management Flexibility 
Act''.

SEC. 2. AUTHORITY OF STATES TO ALLOW QUALIFIED ORGANIZATIONS TO 
              ACQUIRE, HOLD, AND MANAGE CONSERVATION EASEMENTS UNDER 
              THE FOREST LEGACY PROGRAM.

    (a) State Authorization.--Section 7 of the Cooperative Forestry 
Assistance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2103c) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (l)--
                    (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ``subsection 
                (m)'' and inserting ``subsection (o)''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (3)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``the 
                        State of Vermont'' and inserting ``any State''; 
                        and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B)(ii), in the matter 
                        preceding subclause (I), by striking ``of 
                        Vermont'' and inserting ``involved'';
            (2) by redesignating subsection (m) as subsection (o); and
            (3) by inserting after subsection (l) the following:
    ``(m) Third-Party Conservation Easements.--
            ``(1) In general.--At the request of a State, the Secretary 
        shall authorize the State to approve eligible qualified 
        organizations to acquire, hold, and manage conservation 
        easements to carry out activities under the Forest Legacy 
        Program.
            ``(2) Eligibility.--To be eligible to acquire, hold, and 
        manage a conservation easement under this subsection, a 
        qualified organization shall demonstrate to the Secretary the 
        abilities necessary to acquire, monitor, and enforce interests 
        in forestland--
                    ``(A) consistent with the Forest Legacy Program; 
                and
                    ``(B) in accordance with the applicable assessment 
                of need submitted to the Secretary by the State in 
                which the conservation easement is located.
            ``(3) Reversion.--If the Secretary or a State determines a 
        condition described in paragraph (4) is met with respect to a 
        conservation easement--
                    ``(A) all right, title, and interest of the 
                qualified organization in and to the conservation 
                easement shall terminate; and
                    ``(B) all right, title, and interest in and to the 
                conservation easement shall revert to the State or, if 
                approved by the State, another qualified organization 
                determined eligible by the Secretary under paragraph 
                (2).
            ``(4) Conditions for reversion.--A condition described in 
        this paragraph is, with respect to a conservation easement 
        acquired, held, and managed by a qualified organization, any of 
        the following:
                    ``(A) The qualified organization is unable to carry 
                out the responsibilities of the qualified organization 
                under the Forest Legacy Program with respect to the 
                conservation easement.
                    ``(B) The conservation easement has been modified 
                in a way that is inconsistent with the purposes of the 
                Forest Legacy Program or the applicable assessment of 
                need described in paragraph (2)(B).
                    ``(C) The conservation easement has been conveyed 
                to another person (other than a qualified organization 
                determined eligible by the Secretary under paragraph 
                (2) and approved by the State).
    ``(n) Qualified Organization Defined.--In this section, the term 
`qualified organization' means an organization that--
            ``(1) is a qualified organization, as defined in section 
        170(h)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
            ``(2) is organized for, and at all times since the 
        formation of the organization, has been operated principally 
        for one or more of the conservation purposes described in 
        section 170(h)(4)(A) of such Code;
            ``(3) has not been the subject of any criminal or civil 
        enforcement action taken by the Attorney General of the United 
        States or the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service 
        pertaining to the charitable donation of conservation easements 
        under such Code; and
            ``(4) has been awarded, and at all times thereafter 
        maintained, accredited status by the Land Trust Accreditation 
        Commission, or if such Commission ceases to exist, a successor 
        organization that offers substantially similar accreditation 
        and is approved by the Secretary for purposes of this 
        section.''.
    (b) Technical Corrections.--Section 7 of the Cooperative Forestry 
Assistance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2103c) is further amended--
            (1) in subsection (i), by striking ``subsection (b)'' and 
        inserting ``subsection (c)'';
            (2) in subsection (l)(3)(B)(i)(II), by inserting ``and'' 
        after the semi-colon at the end; and
            (3) in the header of subsection (o), as redesignated by 
        this section, by striking ``Appropriation'' and inserting 
        ``Authorization of Appropriations''.
                                 <all>
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