39–010 

Calendar No. 406 

113TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 2d Session 113–179 

STEWARDSHIP CONTRACTING REAUTHORIZATION AND 

IMPROVEMENT 

JUNE 2, 2014.—Ordered to be printed 

Ms. LANDRIEU, from the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 1300] 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the bill (S. 1300) to amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to provide for the conduct of stewardship end result contracting projects, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with amendments and recommends that the bill, 

as amended, do pass. 

The amendments are as follows: 

1. On page 2, line 13, strike ‘‘Until September 30, 2023, the’’ and 

insert ‘‘The’’. 

2. On page 7, line 2, insert ‘‘and section 2(a)(1) of the Act of July 

31, 1947 (commonly known as the ‘Materials Act of 1947’) (30 

U.S.C. 602(a)(1))’’ after ‘‘472a)’’. 

3. On page 7, line 2, insert ‘‘and the Director’’ after ‘‘Chief’’. 

4. On page 11, strike lines 11 through 14 and insert the following: 

(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 347 of the Department of 

the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 

1999 (16 U.S.C. 2104 note; Public Law 105–277) is repealed. 

(2) EFFECT OF REPEAL.—Notwithstanding the 

amendment made by paragraph (1), nothing in this 

Act or an amendment made by this Act invalidates or 

otherwise affects any stewardship contract entered 

into by the Chief of the Forest Service or the Director 

of the Bureau of Land Management that is in effect on 

the date of enactment of this Act. 


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PURPOSE

The purpose of S. 1300 is to amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to provide for the conduct of stewardship end result contracting projects. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

Stewardship end result contracting is a flexible set of contracting 

tools designed to help federal land management agencies and their 

partners restore public lands and provide local community benefits. 

Congress created a pilot stewardship contracting program for the 

Forest Service in the late 1990s. In the Consolidated Resolution, 

2003 (section 323 of Public Law 108–7), Congress significantly expanded stewardship contracting. Congress extended the authority 

to both the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 

and lifted the limit on the number of contracts the agencies could 

enter into over a 10-year period until September 30, 2013. 

Stewardship contracting allows the BLM and the Forest Service 

to address the total ecological needs of an area using any combination of timber sale contracts, agreements, integrated resource contracts and service contracts. The agencies can enter into multi-year 

contracts for up to ten years and work with communities to design 

and implement the project with an added benefit of bringing jobs 

into the local community. Furthermore, the agencies can use the 

value of any products removed by the restoration or maintenance 

work to offset the costs of the work. Stewardship contracting has 

become an increasingly important means for the Forest Service and 

BLM to undertake complex, long-term projects that seek to restore 

ecosystems, reduce fire hazards, strengthen or develop the infrastructure to utilize restoration byproducts, and create local economic benefits. S. 1300 would permanently reauthorize the program for the entire United States, with a few modifications to the 

existing program as discussed below. 

S. 1300 would permanently reauthorize stewardship contracting 

authority for the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. 

S. 1300 would make two principal modifications to the existing 

stewardship contracting program. First, the legislation would allow 

excess receipts from the stewardship contract to be used to pay any 

agency balances on cancellation ceilings, which would also be authorized to be paid in stages that are economically or programmatically viable rather than upfront as is currently required. This 

change would be consistent with how the Department of Defense 

handles cancellation ceilings for multiyear acquisition contracts. 

Second, the bill would modify the fire liability requirements for 

stewardship service contracts to match those currently in place for 

timber contracts. Timber contracts currently are able to cap the fire 

liability assumed by the contractor for fires caused by operations, 

assuming no gross negligence, but no such authority exists for service contracts, which many bidders say may make contracts uneconomical. S. 1300 also includes a provision that requires the Chief 

of the Forest Service and Director of the Bureau of Land Management to offset any direct spending using any amounts that may be 

available for the applicable fiscal year. 


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LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

S. 1300 was introduced by Senator Flake, McCain, Crapo, Risch, 

and Heller on July 16, 2013. Senators Baucus, Barrasso, Heinrich, 

Enzi, Tester, and Udall of New Mexico were subsequently added as 

cosponsors. A hearing was held by the Subcommittee on Public 

Lands, Forests, and Mining on July 30, 2013 (S. Hrg. 113–85). At 

its business meeting on December 19, 2013, the measure was reported favorably with amendments. 

Similar legislation was also introduced during the 113th Congress by Senator Reid (section 8204 of S. 10, the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2013), Senator Udall of Colorado (S. 

816, the Stewardship End Result Contracting Project Act), Senator 

Bennet (S. 849, the Permanent Stewardship Contracting Authority 

Act of 2013), and Senator Stabenow (section 8204 of S. 954, the Agriculture Reform, Food, and Jobs Act of 2013), all of which except 

S. 816 were referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 

and Forestry. The Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry reported S. 954 on September 4, 2013 (S. Rept. 113–88). 

Similar legislation was subsequently enacted as section 8205 of 

the Agricultural Act of 2014, Public Law 113–79 (H.R. 2642) on 

February 7, 2014. That legislation did not include the cancellation 

ceiling modifications to stewardship contracting. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 

open business session on December 19, 2013, by a voice vote of a 

quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 1300, if 

amended as described herein. 

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS

During its consideration of S. 1300, the Committee adopted four 

amendments. The first strikes the provision terminating the program on September 30, 2023. The second and third clarify that the 

Director of the Bureau of Land Management, as well as the Chief 

of the Forest Service, may enter into stewardship contracts. The 

fourth holds harmless any existing stewardship contracts that remain in effect and were issued pursuant to previous authority. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1 contains the short title, the ‘‘Stewardship Contracting 

Reauthorization and Improvement Act.’’ 

Section 2 amends Title VI of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act 

of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591) and inserts a new section, Section 602, 

‘‘Stewardship End Result Contracting Projects.’’ 

Section 602(a) establishes definitions for the section. 

Subsection (b) gives the Chief of the Forest Service and the Director of the Bureau of Land Management the authority to enter 

into stewardship contracts permanently. 

Subsection (c) authorizes certain land management goals of a 

stewardship contract. 

Section 602(d)(1) establishes certain legal perimeters for stewardship contracts, including the awarding of contracts on a best-value 

basis. Paragraph (2) is a change in existing law which gives the 


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Secretary of Agriculture discretion to consider stewardship contracts as a contract for the sale of property under such terms as 

the Secretary may prescribe without regard to any other provision 

of law. Paragraph (3) sets the terms of stewardship contracts to be 

no longer than 10 years. Paragraph (4) authorizes the use of goods 

for services in stewardship contracts and establishes methods of 

appraising the value of timber of other forest products. Paragraph 

(5) allows excess receipts from the stewardship contract to be used 

to pay any agency balances on cancellation ceilings, which would 

also be authorized to be paid in stages that are economically or programmatically viable rather than upfront as is currently required. 

Paragraph (6) exempts stewardship contracts from subsections (d) 

and (g) of section 14 of the National Forest Management Act of 

1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a). Paragraph (7) authorizes the Secretary of 

the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture to determine the appropriate contracting officer to enter into stewardship contracts, notwithstanding any other provision of law. Paragraph (8) requires the 

Chief of the Forest Service and the Director of the Bureau of Land 

Management, within 90 days of enactment, to issue requirements 

that would modify the fire liability requirements for stewardship 

contracts to match those currently in place for timber contracts. 

Subsection (e) authorizes the Chief of the Forest Service and the 

Director of the Bureau of Land Management to collect monies from 

stewardship contracts, but the collection is to be a secondary objective in negotiating a contract. 

Subsection (f) authorizes the Chief of the Forest Service to collect 

deposits from a contractor covering the costs of removal of timber 

or other forest products, notwithstanding the fact that the contractor did not harvest the timber. 

Subsection (g) authorizes the Chief of the Forest Service and the 

Director of the Bureau of Land Management to require performance and payment bonds. 

Subsection (h) requires the Chief of the Forest Service and the 

Director of the Bureau of Land Management to establish a 

multiparty monitoring and evaluation process. 

Subsection (i) requires the Chief of the Forest Service and the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, within one year of enactment, to submit an annual report to Congress on the status of 

the stewardship contracting program. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of costs of this measure has been provided 

by the Congressional Budget Office: 

S. 1300—Stewardship Contracting Reauthorization and Improvement Act 

S. 1300 would permanently reauthorize the Forest Service and 

the Department of the Interior to enter into special contracts 

known as stewardship contracts. Because similar provisions were 

enacted in Public Law 113–79, the Agriculture Act of 2014, those 

provisions of S. 1300 would have no impact on the budget. 

The bill also would allow the Forest Service and the Department 

of the Interior to determine the amount of appropriated funds they 

reserve to pay for the costs of canceling certain stewardship contracts. Under the Antideficiency Act, federal agencies cannot spend 


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funds in excess of amounts specifically made available to the agency. Because, under S. 1300, the agencies might reserve insufficient 

funds to cover all the costs of canceled contracts, the bill would effectively allow them to obligate sums greater than the appropriations they have available when they enter into the contracts—thus 

creating direct spending authority. However, based on information 

provided by the Forest Service regarding the total amount of potential cancellation costs for all stewardship contracts entered into 

over the 2004–2013 period, CBO estimates that enacting this provision would have at most a negligible impact on direct spending. 

S. 1300 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeff LaFave. The estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Assistant Director for 

Budget Analysis. 

REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION

In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following evaluation 

of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in carrying out 

S. 1300. 

The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of imposing 

Government-established standards or significant economic responsibilities on private individuals and businesses. 

No personal information would be collected in administering the 

program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal privacy. 

Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the enactment of S. 1300, as ordered reported. 

CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

S. 1300, as reported, does not contain any congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the Standing Rules of the Senate. 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

The testimony provided by Forest Service and Bureau of Land 

Management at the July 30, 2013, Subcommittee on Public Lands, 

Forests, and Mining hearing on S. 1300 follows: 

STATEMENT OF LESLIE WELDON, DEPUTY CHIEF, NATIONAL

FOREST SYSTEM, FOREST SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, thank 

you for the opportunity to present the views of the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture (USDA) regarding S. 1300, the 

‘‘Stewardship Contracting Reauthorization and Improvement Act.’’ The Forest Service supports reauthorization of 

stewardship contracting and could support the bill if 

amended. 

Stewardship contracting is a critical tool that allows the 

Forest Service to more efficiently complete restoration activities. Reauthorizing stewardship contracting authority 

and expanding the use of this tool are crucial to our ability 


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to restore landscapes collaboratively. The authority allows 

the government to carry out restoration work at a reduced 

cost by offsetting the value of the services received with 

the value of forest products removed. In fiscal year 2012, 

approximately 25 percent of all timber volume sold on National Forest System lands was under a stewardship contract. The stewardship contracting authority has proved to 

be a valuable tool in many locations to implement restoration activities and meet multiple land management objectives including hazardous fuels reduction, wildlife habitat 

improvement, forest health improvement, and non-native 

invasive plant species control. 

S. 1300 would repeal the existing stewardship contracting authority in section 347 of the Department of the 

Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 

and replace it with a provision that would be added to the 

Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003. That provision 

would reauthorize stewardship contracting for 10 years 

and provide authority that is substantively the same as 

the existing authority with a few exceptions. The bill contains new authority that would: • Clarify the contracting procedure for stewardship 

contracting by making clear that the various statutes 

that apply to normal Federal procurement actions do 

not apply to these activities; • Modify the requirement to obligate funds to cover 

any potential cancellation or termination costs to allow 

the obligation of funds in economically or programmatically viable stages, providing advance notification 

of Congress and OMB; • Require the Chief and Director to modify the fire 

liability provisions for all stewardship contracts and 

agreements to mirror the fire liability provisions currently contained in the Forest Service Integrated Resource Timber Contract and Forest Service Timber 

Sale contracts which limit the contractor’s liability for 

non-negligent fire; 

• Allow the Chief and the Director to use excess receipts to satisfy outstanding liabilities for cancelled 

stewardship agreements and contracts; and 

• Allow the Chief and Director to offset spending on 

stewardship contracting using any additional amounts 

that may be made available to the Chief or the Director for the applicable fiscal year. 

Consistent with the purposes of S. 1300, the Forest Service supports efforts to increase the amount of forest restoration work on NFS lands. However, the Forest Service 

would like to work with the Committee on several aspects 

of the language related to the offset for stewardship contracts and agreements in this bill as well as to rethink provisions that would waive current acquisition laws and 

practices and not require potential termination and cancellation costs to be fully funded. 

I want to thank the Committee for its interest, leadership, and commitment to stewardship contracting, our naVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:15 Jun 05, 2014 Jkt 039010 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6969 E:\HR\OC\SR179.XXX SR179

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tional forests and their surrounding communities. This 

concludes my prepared statement and I would be pleased 

to answer any questions you may have. 

STATEMENT OF NED FARQUHAR, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY, LAND AND MINERALS MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Thank you for the opportunity to testify on S. 1300, the 

Stewardship Contracting Reauthorization and Improvement Act. This legislation would provide for the reauthorization of stewardship contracting authority for the Bureau 

of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. The Department supports the reauthorization of stewardship contracting authority, would support this legislation if amended, and would appreciate the opportunity to work with the 

sponsor to address a few technical concerns. 

BACKGROUND

Stewardship contracting authority was established for 

the BLM in the FY 2003 Omnibus Appropriations Act and 

expires at the end of FY 2013. The authority allows the 

BLM to award contracts for forest health and restoration 

treatments, including hazardous fuels reductions, for a period of up to ten years and to use the value of timber or 

other forest products removed as an offset against the cost 

of services received. The BLM has enjoyed many successes 

in using stewardship contracting authority, thereby 

achieving goals for forest and woodland restoration and 

conducting both hazardous fuels reduction and habitat restoration treatments. In addition, stewardship contracts 

create jobs and revenue growth for local communities and 

help to protect local communities from wildland fire. From 

2003 through 2012, the BLM entered into over 400 stewardship contracts on approximately 108,000 acres of BLMmanaged lands. The BLM’s future strategy for stewardship 

projects includes increasing the size and duration of these 

projects. 

S. 1300

S. 1300 extends until 2023 the authorization of stewardship contracting to achieve land management goals. The 

BLM supports stewardship contracting authority, as it provides the BLM with needed flexibility to work with contractors to achieve the agency’s land and forest health 

goals, and saves taxpayer resources because the value of 

forest products removed are used to offset the cost of the 

management action. In addition, changing the requirement 

to obligate cancellation costs upfront is inconsistent with 

budgeting principles and would understate the Government’s liability under the contract. Finally, the Administration has concerns about broad waivers of long-standing 

acquisition laws. 


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CONCLUSION

The Department looks forward to working with the sponsor and the Subcommittee on technical amendments. 

Thank you again for the opportunity to testify, and I would 

be glad to answer any questions. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by the bill S. 

1300 as ordered reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is 

printed in italic, existing law in which no change is proposed is 

shown in roman): 

HEALTHY FORESTS RESTORATION ACT OF 2003 

PUBLIC LAW 108–148 

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. 

* * * * * * * 

TITLE VI—MISCELLANEOUS 

SEC. 601. FOREST STANDS INVENTORY AND MONITORING PROGRAM 

TO IMPROVE DETECTION OF AND RESPONSE TO ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS. 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 602. STEWARDSHIP END RESULT CONTRACTING PROJECTS. 

(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

(1) CHIEF.—The term ‘‘Chief’’ means the Chief of the Forest 

Service. 

(2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of the 

Bureau of Land Management. 

(b) PROJECTS.—The Chief and the Director, via agreement or contract as appropriate, may enter into stewardship contracting 

projects with private persons or other public or private entities to 

perform services to achieve land management goals for the national 

forests and the public lands that meet local and rural community 

needs. 

(c) LAND MANAGEMENT GOALS.—The land management goals of 

a project under subsection (b) may include— 

(1) road and trail maintenance or obliteration to restore or 

maintain water quality; 

(2) soil productivity, habitat for wildlife and fisheries, or 

other resource values; 

(3) setting of prescribed fires to improve the composition, 

structure, condition, and health of stands or to improve wildlife 

habitat; 


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(4) removing vegetation or other activities to promote healthy 

forest stands, reduce fire hazards, or achieve other land management objectives; 

(5) watershed restoration and maintenance; 

(6) restoration and maintenance of wildlife and fish; or 

(7) control of noxious and exotic weeds and reestablishing native plant species. 

(d) AGREEMENTS OR CONTRACTS.— (1) PROCUREMENT PROCEDURE.—A source for performance of 

an agreement or contract under subsection (b) shall be selected 

on a best-value basis, including consideration of source under 

other public and private agreements or contracts. 

(2) CONTRACT FOR SALE OF PROPERTY.—A contract entered 

into under this section may, at the discretion of the Secretary 

of Agriculture, be considered a contract for the sale of property 

under such terms as the Secretary may prescribe without regard 

to any other provision of law. 

(3) TERM.— (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subparagraph 

(B), the Chief and the Director may enter into a contract 

under subsection (b) in accordance with section 3903 of title 

41, United States Code. 

(B) MAXIMUM.—The period of the contract under subsection (b) may exceed 5 years but may not exceed 10 years. 

(4) OFFSETS.— (A) IN GENERAL.—The Chief and the Director may apply 

the value of timber or other forest products removed as an 

offset against the cost of services received under the agreement or contract described in subsection (b). 

(B) METHODS OF APPRAISAL.—The value of timber or 

other forest products used as an offset under subparagraph 

(A)— 

(i) shall be determined using appropriate methods of 

appraisal commensurate with the quantity of products 

to be removed; and 

(ii) may— 

(I) be determined using a unit of measure appropriate to the contracts; and 

(II) may include valuing products on a per-acre 

basis. 

(5) CANCELLATION CEILINGS.— 

(A) IN GENERAL.—The Chief and the Director may obligate funds to cover any potential cancellation or termination costs for an agreement or contract under subsection 

(b) in stages that are economically or programmatically 

viable. 

(B) NOTICE.— 

(i) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 30 

days before entering into a multiyear agreement or contract under subsection (b) that includes a cancellation 

ceiling in excess of $25,000,000, but does not include 

proposed funding for the costs of cancelling the agreement or contract up to the cancellation ceiling established in the agreement or contract, the Chief and the 

Director shall submit to the Committee on Energy and 


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Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on 

Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a 

written notice that includes— 

(I)(aa) the cancellation ceiling amounts proposed 

for each program year in the agreement or contract; and 

(bb) the reasons for the cancellation ceiling 

amounts proposed under item (aa); 

(II) the extent to which the costs of contract cancellation are not included in the budget for the 

agreement or contract; and 

(III) a financial risk assessment of not including 

budgeting for the costs of agreement or contract 

cancellation. 

(ii) TRANSMITTAL TO OMB.—At least 14 days before 

the date on which the Chief and Director enter into an 

agreement or contract under subsection (b), the Chief 

and Director shall transmit to the Director of the Office 

of Management and Budget a copy of the written notice 

submitted under clause (i). 

(6) RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.—Notwithstanding subsections 

(d) and (g) of section 14 of the National Forest Management Act 

of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 472a) and section 2(a)(1) of the Act of July 

31, 1947 (commonly known as the ‘‘Materials Act of 1947’’) (30 

U.S.C. 602(a)(1)), the Chief and the Director may enter into an 

agreement or contract under subsection (b). 

(7) CONTRACTING OFFICER.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary or the Secretary of the Interior may 

determine the appropriate contracting officer to enter into and 

administer an agreement or contract under subsection (b). 

(8) FIRE LIABILITY PROVISIONS.—Not later than 90 days after 

the date of enactment of this section, the Chief and the Director 

shall issue for use in all contracts and agreements under subsection (b) fire liability provisions that are in substantially the 

same form as the fire liability provisions contained in— 

(A) integrated resource timber contracts, as described in 

the Forest Service contract numbered 2400–13, part H, section H.4; and 

(B) timber sale contracts conducted pursuant to section 

14 of the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 

U.S.C. 472a). 

(e) RECEIPTS.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Chief and the Director may collect 

monies from an agreement or contract under subsection (b) if 

the collection is a secondary objective of negotiating the contract 

that will best achieve the purposes of this section. 

(2) USE.—Monies from an agreement or contract under subsection (b)— 

(A) may be retained by the Chief and the Director; and 

(B) shall be available for expenditure without further appropriation at the project site from which the monies are 

collected or at another project site. 

(3) RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.— 

(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 

law, the value of services received by the Chief or the DirecVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:24 Jun 05, 2014 Jkt 039010 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6603 E:\HR\OC\SR179.XXX SR179

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tor under a stewardship contract project conducted under 

this section, and any payments made or resources provided 

by the contractor, Chief, or Director shall not be considered 

monies received from the National Forest System or the 

public lands. 

(B) KNUTSON-VANDERBERG ACT.—The Act of June 9, 1930 

(commonly known as the ‘‘Knutson-Vanderberg Act’’) (16 

U.S.C. 576 et seq.) shall not apply to any agreement or contract under subsection (b). 

(f) COSTS OF REMOVAL.—Notwithstanding the fact that a contractor did not harvest the timber, the Chief may collect deposits 

from a contractor covering the costs of removal of timber or other 

forest products under— 

(1) the Act of August 11, 1916 (16 U.S.C. 490); and 

(2) the Act of June 30, 1914 (16 U.S.C. 498). 

(g) PERFORMANCE AND PAYMENT GUARANTEES.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Chief and the Director may require 

performance and payment bonds under sections 28.103–2 and 

28.103–3 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, in an amount 

that the contracting officer considers sufficient to protect the investment in receipts by the Federal Government generated by 

the contractor from the estimated value of the forest products to 

be removed under a contract under subsection (b). 

(2) EXCESS OFFSET VALUE.—If the offset value of the forest 

products exceeds the value of the resource improvement treatments, the Chief and the Director shall— 

(A) use the excess to satisfy any outstanding liabilities for 

cancelled agreements or contracts; or 

(B) if there are no outstanding liabilities under subparagraph (A), apply the excess to other authorized stewardship 

projects. 

(h) MONITORING AND EVALUATION.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Chief and the Director shall establish 

a multiparty monitoring and evaluation process that accesses 

the stewardship contracting projects conducted under this section. 

(2) PARTICIPANTS.—Other than the Chief and Director, participants in the process described in paragraph (1) may include— 

(A) any cooperating governmental agencies, including 

tribal governments; and 

(B) any other interested groups or individuals. 

(i) REPORTING.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

of this section, and annually thereafter, the Chief and the Director 

shall report to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of 

the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 

of Representatives on— 

(1) the status of development, execution, and administration 

of agreements or contracts under subsection (b); 

(2) the specific accomplishments that have resulted; and 

(3) the role of local communities in the development of agreements or contract plans. 


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND RELATED 

AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1999 

PUBLIC LAW 105–277 

AN ACT Making omnibus consolidated and emergency appropriations for fiscal year 

ending September 30, 1999, and for other purposes 

* * * * * * * 

DIVISION A—OMNIBUS CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS 

That the following sums are appropriated out of any money in 

the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the several departments, agencies, corporations and other organizational units of the 

Government for the fiscal year 1999, and for other purposes, namely: 

SEC. 101. 

* * * * * * * 

(e) For programs, projects or activities in the Department of the 

Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999, provided 

as follows, to be effective as if it had been enacted into law as the 

regular appropriations Act: 

* * * * * * * 

TITLE III—GENERAL PROVISIONS 

* * * * * * * 

øSEC. 347. STEWARDSHIP END RESULT CONTRACTING DEMONSTRATION PROJECT. 

ø(a) IN GENERAL.—Until September 30, 2014, the Forest Service 

and the Bureau of Land Management, via agreement or contract as 

appropriate, may enter into stewardship contracting projects with 

private persons or other public or private entities to perform services to achieve land management goals for the national forests and 

the public lands that meet local and rural community needs. 

ø(b) LAND MANAGEMENT GOALS.—The land management goals of 

a project under subsection (a) may include, among other things— 

ø(1) road and trail maintenance or obliteration to restore or 

maintain water quality; 

ø(2) soil productivity, habitat for wildlife and fisheries, or 

other resource values; 

ø(3) setting of prescribed fires to improve the composition, 

structure, condition, and health of stands or to improve wildlife 

habitat; 

ø(4) removing vegation or other activities to promote healthy 

forest stands, reduce fire hazards, or achieve other land management objectives; 

ø(5) watershed restoration and maintenance; 

ø(6) restoration and maintenance of wildlife and fish habitat; 

and 

ø(7) control of noxious and exotic weeds and reestablishing 

native plant species. 

ø(c) AGREEMENTS OR CONTRACTS.— 


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ø(1) PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES.—A source for performance 

of an agreement or contract under subsection (a) shall be selected on a best-value basis, including consideration of source 

under other public and private agreements or contracts. 

ø(2) TERM.—A multiyear contract may be entered into under 

subsection (a) in accordance with section 304B of the Federal 

Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 

254c), except that the period of the contract may exceed 5 

years but may not exceed 10 years. 

ø(3) OFFSETS.— 

ø(A) IN GENERAL.—In connection with agreements or 

contracts under subsection (a), the Forest Service and the 

Bureau of Land Management may apply the value of timber or other forest products removed as an offset against 

the cost of services received. 

ø(B) METHODS OF APPRAISAL.—The value of timber or 

other forest products used as offsets under subparagraph 

(A)— 

ø(i) shall be determined using appropriate methods 

of appraisal commensurate with the quality of products to be removed; 

ø(ii) may be determined using a unit of measure appropriate to the contracts; and 

ø(iii) may include valuing products on a per-acre 

basis. 

ø(4) RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.—The Forest Service may 

enter into contracts under subsection (a), notwithstanding subsections (d) and (g) of section 14 of the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 72a). 

ø(5) CONTRACTING OFFICER.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of 

the Interior may determine the appropriate contracting officer 

to enter into and administer an agreement or contract under 

subsection (a). 

ø(d) RECEIPTS.— 

ø(1) IN GENERAL.—The Forest Service and the Bureau of 

Land Management may collect monies from an agreement or 

contract under subsection (a) so long as such collection is a secondary objective of negotiating contracts that will best achieve 

the purposes of this section. 

ø(2) USE.—Monies from an agreement or contract under subsection (a) may be retained by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management and shall be available for expenditure without further appropriation at the project site from 

which the monies are collected or at another project site. 

ø(3) RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.—The value of services received by the Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management under a stewardship contract project conducted under 

this section, and any payments made or resources provided by 

the contractor or the Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management under such a project, shall not be considered to be 

monies received from the National Forest System or the public 

lands under any provison of law. The Act of June 9, 1930 (16 

U.S.C. 576 et seq.; commonly known as the Knutson-VandenVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:24 Jun 05, 2014 Jkt 039010 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR179.XXX SR179

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14 

berg Act), shall not apply to stewardship contracts entered into 

under this section. 

ø(e) COSTS OF REMOVAL.—The Forest Service may collect deposits from contractors covering the costs of removal of timber or other 

forest products pursuant to the Act of August 11, 1916 (39 Stat. 

462, chapter 313; 16 U.S.C. 490); and the next to the last paragraph under the heading ‘‘Forest Service.’’ under the heading ‘‘Department of Agriculture’’ in the Act of June 30, 1914 (38 Stat. 430, 

chapter 131; 16 U.S.C. 498); notwithstanding the fact that the timber purchasers did not harvest the timber. 

ø(f) PERFORMANCE AND PAYMENT GUARANTEES.— ø(1) IN GENERAL.—The Forest Service and the Bureau of 

Land Management may require performance and payment 

bonds, in accordance with sections 103–2 and 103–3 of part 28 

of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (48 C.F.R. 28.103.2, 

28.103–3), in an amount that the contracting officer considers 

sufficient to protect the Government’s investment in receipts 

generated by the contractor from the estimated value of the 

forest products to be removed under contract under subsection 

(a). 

ø(2) EXCESS OFFSET VALUE.—If the offset value of the forest 

products exceeds the value of the resource improvement treatments, the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management may— 

ø(A) collect any residual receipts pursuant to the Act of 

June 9, 1930 (46 Stat. 527, chapter 416; 16 U.S.C. 576b); 

and 

ø(B) apply the excess to other authorized stewardship 

demonstration projects. 

ø(g) MONITORING, EVALUATION AND REPORTING.—The Forest 

Service and the Bureau of Land Management shall establish a 

multiparty monitoring and evaluation process that accesses the 

stewardship contracting projects conducted under this section. Besides the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, participants in this process may include any cooperating governmental 

agencies, including tribal governments, and any interested groups 

or individuals. The Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management shall report annually to the Committee on Approprations of 

the House of Representatives and the Committee on Appropriations 

of the Senate on— 

ø(1) the status of development, execution, and administration 

of contracts under subsection (a); 

ø(2) the specific accomplishments that have resulted; and 

ø(3) the role of local communities in development of contract 

plans.¿ 

* * * * * * * 

Æ 


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