I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2588 

To reauthorize and expand authorities used by the Forest Service and the 

Bureau of Land Management for hazardous fuels reduction, forest health, 

forest restoration, and watershed restoration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 28, 2013 

Mr. DUFFY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, 

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 reauthorize and expand authorities used by the Forest 

Service and the Bureau of Land Management for hazardous fuels reduction, forest health, forest restoration, 

and watershed restoration, 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 ‘‘Fulfilling Our Respon5 sibility for Efficient and Sustainable Timber Supply Act 

6 of 2013’’ or the ‘‘FORESTS Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STEWARDSHIP END RESULT CONTRACTING AU2 THORITY. 

3 (a) EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY.—Subsection (a) of 

4 section 347 of the Department of the Interior and Related 

5 Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (as contained in sec6 tion 101(e) of division A of Public Law 105–277; 16 

7 U.S.C. 2104 note), as most recently amended by section 

8 323 of Public Law 108–7 (117 Stat. 275), is amended 

9 by striking ‘‘Until September 30, 2013’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘Until September 30, 2023’’. 

11 (b) CONTRACT DURATION AND TERMS.—Subsection 

12 (c) of such section is amended— 

13 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘10 years’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘20 years’’; and 

15 (2) in paragraph (4), by adding at the end the 

16 following new sentence: ‘‘However, when the timber 

17 sale component of a Forest Service agreement or 

18 contracts under subsection (a) exceeds the resource 

19 component of agreement or contract, the timber sale 

20 contract authority applies to the timber sale.’’. 

21 (c) CANCELLATION OR TERMINATION COSTS.—Sub22 section (c) of such section is amended by adding at the 

23 end the following new paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(6) CANCELLATION OR TERMINATION

25 COSTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sec2 tion 3903 of title 41, United States Code, the 

3 Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of 

4 the Interior are not required to obligate funds 

5 to cover the cost of cancelling or terminating a 

6 multiyear stewardship contract or agreement 

7 until such contract or agreement is cancelled or 

8 terminated. 

9 ‘‘(B) FUNDING SOURCES.—The costs of 

10 cancelling or terminating of a multiyear stew11 ardship contract or agreement may be paid 

12 from— 

13 ‘‘(i) appropriations originally made 

14 available for the performance of the con15 tract or agreement; 

16 ‘‘(ii) appropriations currently available 

17 for procurement of the type of service con18 cerned, and not otherwise obligated; or 

19 ‘‘(iii) funds appropriated for payments 

20 for that performance or procurement. 

21 ‘‘(C) ANTI-DEFICIENCY ACT VIOLATIONS.— 

22 In a case in which payment or obligation of 

23 funds under this paragraph would constitute a 

24 violation of section 1341 of title 31, United 


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1 States Code (commonly known as the Anti-Defi2 ciency Act), the Secretary may— 

3 ‘‘(i) seek a supplemental appropria4 tion; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) request funds from the perma6 nent judgment appropriation established 

7 pursuant to section 1304 of such title.’’. 

8 (d) PAYMENTS TO COUNTIES.—Subsection (d) of 

9 such section is amended by adding at the end the following 

10 new paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(4) PAYMENTS TO COUNTIES.—25 percent of 

12 timber sale receipts from a contract or agreement 

13 entered into under the authority of this section and 

14 after the date of the enactment of this paragraph 

15 shall be paid to the county within whose boundaries 

16 the receipts are derived. Payments to a county made 

17 under this paragraph shall be in addition to the 

18 amounts received under chapter 69 of title 31, 

19 United States Code (Payment in Lieu of Taxes; 31 

20 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.).’’. 

21 SEC. 3. FOREST SERVICE AND BUREAU OF LAND MANAGE22 MENT GOOD-NEIGHBOR COOPERATION. 

23 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) ELIGIBLE STATE.—The term ‘‘eligible 

2 State’’ means a State that contains National Forest 

3 System land or Bureau of Land Management land. 

4 (2) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal land’’ 

5 means— 

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

7 defined in section 11(a) of the Forest and 

8 Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act 

9 of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a))); or 

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

11 of the Federal Land Policy and Management 

12 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702)). 

13 (3) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec14 retary concerned’’ means— 

15 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, in the 

16 case of National Forest System land; and 

17 (B) the Secretary of the Interior, in the 

18 case of public lands administered by the Sec19 retary of the Interior through the Bureau of 

20 Land Management. 

21 (4) STATE FORESTER.—The term ‘‘State For22 ester’’ means the head of a State agency with juris23 diction over State forestry programs in an eligible 

24 State. 

25 (b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS AND CONTRACTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary concerned 

2 may enter into a cooperative agreement or contract 

3 (including a sole source contract) with a State For4 ester to authorize the State Forester to provide the 

5 forest, rangeland, and watershed restoration, man6 agement, and protection services described in para7 graph (2) on Federal lands administered by the Sec8 retary concerned in the eligible State. 

9 (2) AUTHORIZED SERVICES.—The forest, 

10 rangeland, and watershed restoration, management, 

11 and protection services referred to in paragraph (1) 

12 include the conduct of— 

13 (A) activities to treat insect infected for14 ests; 

15 (B) activities to reduce hazardous fuels; 

16 (C) activities involving commercial har17 vesting or other mechanical vegetative treat18 ments; or 

19 (D) any other activities determined by the 

20 Secretary concerned to be appropriate to re21 store or improve forest, rangeland, and water22 shed health, including fish and wildlife habitat. 

23 (3) STATE AS AGENT.—Except as provided in 

24 paragraph (6), a cooperative agreement or contract 

25 entered into under paragraph (1) may authorize the 


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1 State Forester to serve as the agent for the Sec2 retary concerned in providing the restoration, man3 agement, and protection services authorized under 

4 that paragraph. Even though the State Forester 

5 serves as the agent for the Secretary concerned, the 

6 employment laws otherwise applicable to the State, 

7 rather than the employment laws applicable to the 

8 Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management, 

9 shall control with regard to the cooperative agree10 ment or contract and any subcontract. 

11 (4) SUBCONTRACTS.—In accordance with appli12 cable contract procedures for the eligible State, a 

13 State Forester may enter into subcontracts to pro14 vide the restoration, management, and protection 

15 services authorized under a cooperative agreement or 

16 contract entered into under paragraph (1). 

17 (5) TIMBER SALES.—Subsections (d) and (g) of 

18 section 14 of the National Forest Management Act 

19 of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a) shall not apply to services 

20 performed under a cooperative agreement or con21 tract entered into under paragraph (1). 

22 (6) RETENTION OF NEPA RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

23 Any decision required to be made under the Na24 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

25 4321 et seq.) with respect to any restoration, manVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:22 Jul 03, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2588.IH H2588

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1 agement, and protection services to be provided 

2 under this section by a State Forester on Federal 

3 land, shall not be delegated to a State Forester or 

4 any other officer or employee of the eligible State. 

5 (c) APPLICABLE LAW.—The restoration, manage6 ment, and protection services to be provided under this 

7 section shall be carried out on a project-to-project basis 

8 under existing applicable authorities of the Forest Service 

9 and the Bureau of Land Management. 

10 (d) TERMINATION OF EFFECTIVENESS.—The au11 thority of the Secretary concerned to enter into coopera12 tive agreements and contracts under this Act terminates 

13 on September 30, 2023. 

14 (e) DURATION OF CONTRACTS.—A cooperative agree15 ment or contract entered into under this Act shall not ex16 tend beyond 20 years. 

Æ 


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