I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1713

To provide for uniform management of livestock grazing on Federal land,

and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 25, 1995

Mr. COOLEY (for himself, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. HANSEN, Mr. ROBERTS,

Mr. HERGER, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. STUMP, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. EMERSON, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, Mr. NETHERCUTT,

Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. LEWIS of California, Mr. RIGGS, Mr. BUNN of Oregon, Mr. SKEEN, Mr. STOCKMAN, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. BREWSTER, Mrs.

CUBIN, Mr. RADANOVICH, Mr. CREMEANS, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr.

ALLARD, and Mrs. VUCANOVICH) introduced the following bill; which was

referred to the Committee on 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 provide for uniform management of livestock grazing

on Federal land, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

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

5 ‘‘Livestock Grazing Act’’.
2

•HR 1713 IH

1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of

2 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Effective date.

TITLE I—MANAGEMENT OF GRAZING ON FEDERAL LAND

Subtitle A—General Provisions

Sec. 101. Findings.

Sec. 102. Application of title.

Sec. 103. Objective.

Sec. 104. Definitions.

Sec. 105. Fundamentals of rangeland health.

Sec. 106. Land use plans.

Sec. 107. Rule of construction.

Subtitle B—Qualifications and Grazing Preferences

Sec. 111. Mandatory qualifications.

Sec. 112. Acquired land.

Sec. 113. Grazing preferences.

Sec. 114. Changes in grazing preference status.

Sec. 115. Changes in Federal land acreage.

Subtitle C—Grazing Management

Sec. 121. Allotment management plans.

Sec. 122. Range improvements.

Sec. 123. Water rights.

Sec. 124. Management of grazing on land under the jurisdiction of other departments and agencies.

Subtitle D—Authorization of Grazing Use

Sec. 131. Applications.

Sec. 132. Grazing permits or grazing leases.

Sec. 133. Free-use grazing permits.

Sec. 134. Other grazing authorizations.

Sec. 135. Ownership and identification of livestock.

Sec. 136. Terms and conditions.

Sec. 137. Fees and charges.

Sec. 138. Pledge of grazing permits or grazing leases as security for loans.

Subtitle E—Civil Violations and Failures of Compliance

Sec. 141. Civil violations and failures of compliance.

Subtitle F—Unauthorized Grazing Use

Sec. 151. Liability for damages.

Sec. 152. Notice and order to remove.

Sec. 153. Settlement.

Sec. 154. Impoundment and sale.

Subtitle G—Procedure
3

•HR 1713 IH

Sec. 161. Proposed decisions.

Sec. 162. Protests.

Sec. 163. Final decisions.

Sec. 164. Appeals.

Subtitle H—Advisory Committees

Sec. 171. Purpose.

Sec. 172. Objective.

Sec. 173. Relation to other law.

Sec. 174. Policy.

Sec. 175. General provisions.

Sec. 176. Resource advisory councils.

Sec. 177. Grazing advisory councils.

Sec. 178. Meetings.

Sec. 179. Conforming amendment and repeal.

Subtitle I—Reports

Sec. 181. Reports.

TITLE II—GRASSLAND

Sec. 201. Removal of grasslands from National Forest system.

1 SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—This Act and the amendments

3 and repeals made by this Act shall become effective on

4 March 1, 1996.

5 (b) INTERIM PROVISION.—Until the effective date

6 specified in subsection (a), management of livestock graz7 ing on Federal land shall be conducted in accordance with

8 the law (including regulations) in effect on May 18, 1995.

9 TITLE I—MANAGEMENT OF

10 GRAZING ON FEDERAL LAND

11 Subtitle A—General Provisions

12 SEC. 101. FINDINGS.

13 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

14 (1) through the cooperative and concerted ef15 forts of the Federal rangeland livestock industry,
4

•HR 1713 IH

1 Federal and State land management agencies, and

2 the general public, the Federal rangelands are in the

3 best condition they have been in during this century,

4 and their condition continues to improve;

5 (2) as a further consequence of those efforts,

6 populations of big game and wildlife are increasing

7 and stabilizing across vast areas of the West;

8 (3) further efforts to assist in developing and

9 nurturing that cooperation at all levels of govern10 ment are important, and those efforts will provide

11 long-term benefits to the Nation’s rangelands and

12 their related resources;

13 (4) to promote the economic, cultural, and so14 cial well being of western States, rural communities

15 in the western States, and the western livestock in16 dustry, it is in the public interest to charge a fee for

17 livestock grazing permits and grazing leases on Fed18 eral land that is based on a formula that—

19 (A) reflects a fair return to the Federal

20 Government and the true costs to the permittee

21 or lessee; and

22 (B) promotes continuing cooperative stew23 ardship efforts;

24 (5) opportunities exist for improving efficiency

25 in the administration of the range programs on Fed-
5

•HR 1713 IH

1 eral land, and those opportunities should be pursued

2 with goals of—

3 (A) reducing planning and analysis costs

4 and their associated paperwork, procedural, and

5 clerical burdens; and

6 (B) refocusing efforts to the direct man7 agement of the resources themselves;

8 (6) in order to provide meaningful review and

9 oversight of the management of the public range10 lands and the grazing allotment on those rangelands,

11 refinement of the reporting of costs of various com12 ponents of the land management program is needed;

13 (7) incentives for greater local input into the

14 management of the public rangelands as well as in15 centives to encourage private investment in improve16 ment of the public rangelands will assist in those ef17 forts and are in the best interests of the United

18 States;

19 (8) the western livestock industry that relies on

20 Federal land plays an important and integral role in

21 maintaining and preserving the social, economic, and

22 cultural base of rural communities in the western

23 States and further plays an important and integral

24 role in the economies of the 16 western States in
6

•HR 1713 IH

1 which rangelands managed by the Secretary are

2 situated;

3 (9) maintaining the economic viability of the

4 western livestock industry is essential to maintaining

5 open space and habitat for big game, wildlife, and

6 fish, but currently there are pressures to sell the

7 base property of the Federal land ranches for sub8 division or other development, which would reduce or

9 remove the available open space and fish and wildlife

10 habitat; and

11 (10) since the enactment of the Federal Land

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

13 1701 et seq.), the Secretary has been charged with

14 developing land use plans that are consistent with

15 land use plans adopted by State, local, and tribal

16 governments, but to date the planning efforts have

17 not produced land use plans for Federal land that

18 is in fact consistent with State, local, or tribal plan19 ning.

20 (b) REPEAL OF EARLIER FINDINGS.—Section 2(a) of

21 the Public Rangelands Improvement Act of 1978 (43

22 U.S.C. 1901(a)) is amended—

23 (1) by striking paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and

24 (4);
7

•HR 1713 IH

1 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) as

2 paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively;

3 (3) in paragraph (1) (as so redesignated), by

4 adding ‘‘and’’ at the end; and

5 (4) in paragraph (2) (as so redesignated)—

6 (A) by striking ‘‘harrassment’’ and insert7 ing ‘‘harassment’’; and

8 (B) by striking the semicolon at the end

9 and inserting a period.

10 SEC. 102. APPLICATION OF ACT.

11 Except as provided in section 137(d), this Act applies

12 to—

13 (1) the management of grazing on Federal land

14 by the Secretary of the Interior under—

15 (A) the Act of June 28, 1934 (commonly

16 known as the ‘‘Taylor Grazing Act’’) (48 Stat.

17 1269, chapter 865; 43 U.S.C. 315 et seq.);

18 (B) the Act of August 28, 1937 (commonly

19 known as the ‘‘Oregon and California Railroad

20 and Coos Bay Wagon Road Grant Lands Act of

21 1937’’) (50 Stat. 874, chapter 876; 43 U.S.C.

22 1181a et seq.);

23 (C) the Federal Land Policy and Manage24 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.);
8

•HR 1713 IH

1 (D) title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm

2 Tenant Act (7 U.S.C. 1010 et seq.); and

3 (E) any other law; and

4 (2) the Secretary on behalf of the head of an5 other department or agency under a memorandum

6 of understanding under section 124.

7 SEC. 103. OBJECTIVE.

8 The objective of this Act is to achieve—

9 (1) orderly use, improvement, and development

10 of Federal land;

11 (2) enhancement of productivity of Federal land

12 by conservation of forage resources and reduction of

13 soil erosion and by proper management of other re14 sources such as by control of woody species invasion;

15 (3) stabilization of the livestock industry de16 pendent on the public rangeland;

17 (4) performance of an inventory and categoriza18 tion of public rangelands on the basis of range con19 ditions and trends; and

20 (5) consideration of wildlife populations and

21 habitat,

22 consistent with land-use plans, multiple-use, sustained

23 yield, environmental values, and economic and other objec24 tives stated in the Acts cited in section 102.
9

•HR 1713 IH

1 SEC. 104. DEFINITIONS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—In this Act:

3 (1) ACTIVE USE.—The term ‘‘active use’’

4 means the amount of authorized livestock grazing

5 use that is being made at any time.

6 (2) ACTUAL USE.—The term ‘‘actual use’’

7 means the places at which, the number and kinds or

8 classes of, and the length of time that livestock

9 graze on an allotment.

10 (3) ACTUAL USE REPORT.—The term ‘‘actual

11 use report’’ means a report of the actual livestock

12 grazing use submitted by a permittee or lessee.

13 (4) AFFECTED INTEREST.—The term ‘‘affected

14 interest’’ means an individual or organization that—

15 (A) has expressed in writing to an author16 ized officer concern for the management of live17 stock grazing on a specific grazing allotment

18 and has provided substantiated evidence that

19 the management of the public lands will affect

20 the individual or organization; and

21 (B) has been determined by an authorized

22 officer to be an affected interest.

23 (5) ALLOTMENT.—The term ‘‘allotment’’ means

24 an area of designated Federal land that includes

25 management for grazing of livestock.
10

•HR 1713 IH

1 (6) ALLOTMENT MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The

2 term ‘‘allotment management plan’’—

3 (A) means a documented program that ap4 plies to livestock grazing on an allotment; and

5 (B) includes such a documented plan that

6 is included in an activity plan that governs

7 grazing as well as other activities on Federal

8 land.

9 (7) ANIMAL UNIT MONTH.—

10 (A) STATE DEFINITION.—With respect to

11 grazing on Federal land in a State that charges

12 a fee for grazing on State land based on a for13 mula in which 1 of the factors is an animal unit

14 month, the term ‘‘animal unit month’’ has the

15 meaning established under State law.

16 (B) NO STATE DEFINITION.—

17 (i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause

18 (ii), with respect to grazing on Federal

19 land in a State other than a State de20 scribed in subparagraph (A), the term

21 ‘‘animal unit month’’ means 1 month’s use

22 and occupancy of range by—

23 (I) 1 cow, bull, steer, heifer,

24 horse, burro, or mule, 7 sheep, or 7

25 goats, each of which is 6 months of
11

•HR 1713 IH

1 age or older on the date on which the

2 animal begins grazing on Federal

3 land;

4 (II) any such animal regardless

5 of age if the animal is weaned on the

6 date on which the animal begins graz7 ing on Federal land; and

8 (III) any such animal that will

9 become 12 months of age during the

10 period of use authorized under a graz11 ing permit or grazing lease.

12 (ii) LIVESTOCK NOT COUNTED.—

13 There shall not be counted as an animal

14 unit month the use of Federal land for

15 grazing by—

16 (I) an animal that is less than 6

17 months of age on the date on which

18 the animal begins grazing on Federal

19 land and is the natural progeny of an

20 animal on which a grazing fee is paid

21 if the animal is removed from the

22 Federal land before becoming 12

23 months of age; or

24 (II) an animal that is progeny,

25 born during the period of use author-
12

•HR 1713 IH

1 ized under a grazing permit or graz2 ing lease, of an animal on which a

3 grazing fee is paid.

4 (8) AUTHORIZED OFFICER.—The term ‘‘author5 ized officer’’ means a person authorized by the Sec6 retary to administer this title, the Acts cited in sec7 tion 102, and regulations issued under this title and

8 those Acts.

9 (9) BASE PROPERTY.—The term ‘‘base prop10 erty’’ means—

11 (A) land that has the capability of produc12 ing crops or forage that can be used to support

13 authorized livestock for a specified period of the

14 year; and

15 (B) water that is suitable for consumption

16 by livestock and is available to and accessible by

17 authorized livestock when the land is used for

18 livestock grazing.

19 (10) CANCEL; CANCELLATION.—The terms

20 ‘‘cancel’’ and ‘‘cancellation’’ refer to a permanent

21 termination, in whole or in part, of—

22 (A) a grazing permit or grazing lease and

23 grazing preference; or

24 (B) a free-use grazing permit or other

25 grazing authorization.
13

•HR 1713 IH

1 (11) CLASS.—The term ‘‘class’’, in reference to

2 livestock, refers to the age and sex of a group of

3 livestock.

4 (12) CONSULTATION, COOPERATION, AND CO5 ORDINATION.—The term ‘‘consultation, cooperation,

6 and coordination’’ has the meaning stated in section

7 402(d) of the Federal Land Policy and Management

8 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1752(d)), as amended.

9 (13) CONTROL.—The term ‘‘control’’, in ref10 erence to base property or livestock, means respon11 sibility for providing care and management of base

12 property or livestock.

13 (14) FEDERAL LAND.—The term ‘‘Federal

14 land’’—

15 (A) means land or an interest in land out16 side the State of Alaska that is owned by the

17 United States and administered by the Sec18 retary of the Interior, acting through the Direc19 tor of the Bureau of Land Management; but

20 (B) does not include land held for the ben21 efit of Indians.

22 (15) GRAZING DISTRICT.—The term ‘‘grazing

23 district’’ means the specific area within which Fed24 eral land is administered under section 3 of the Act

25 of June 28, 1934 (commonly known as the ‘‘Taylor
14

•HR 1713 IH

1 Grazing Act’’) (48 Stat. 1270, chapter 865; 43

2 U.S.C. 315b).

3 (16) GRAZING FEE YEAR.—The term ‘‘grazing

4 fee year’’, for billing purposes, means a 12-month

5 period that begins on March 1 of a year and ends

6 on the last day of February of the following year.

7 (17) GRAZING LEASE.—The term ‘‘grazing

8 lease’’ means a document authorizing use of Federal

9 land outside grazing districts under section 15 of the

10 Act of June 28, 1934 (commonly known as the

11 ‘‘Taylor Grazing Act’’) (48 Stat. 1275, chapter 865;

12 43 U.S.C. 315m), for the purpose of grazing live13 stock.

14 (18) GRAZING PERMIT.—The term ‘‘grazing

15 permit’’ means a document authorizing use of the

16 Federal land within a grazing district under section

17 3 of the Act of June 28, 1934 (commonly known as

18 the ‘‘Taylor Grazing Act’’) (48 Stat. 1270, chapter

19 865; 43 U.S.C. 315b), for the purpose of grazing

20 livestock.

21 (19) GRAZING PREFERENCE.—The term ‘‘graz22 ing preference’’ means the number of animal unit

23 months of livestock grazing on Federal land as adju24 dicated or apportioned and attached to base prop25 erty owned or controlled by a permittee or lessee.
15

•HR 1713 IH

1 (20) LAND BASE PROPERTY.—The term ‘‘land

2 base property’’ means base property described in

3 paragraph (9)(A).

4 (21) LAND USE PLAN.—The term ‘‘land use

5 plan’’ means—

6 (A) a resource management plan; or

7 (B) a management framework plan that is

8 in effect pending completion of a resource man9 agement plan,

10 developed in accordance with the Federal Land Pol11 icy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701

12 et seq.).

13 (22) LIVESTOCK.—The term ‘‘livestock’’

14 means—

15 (A) a species of domestic livestock, includ16 ing cattle, sheep, horses, burros, and goats; and

17 (B) a member of such a species.

18 (23) LIVESTOCK CARRYING CAPACITY.—The

19 term ‘‘livestock carrying capacity’’ means the maxi20 mum sustainable stocking rate that is possible with21 out inducing permanent damage to vegetation or re22 lated resources.

23 (24) MONITORING.—The term ‘‘monitoring’’

24 means the periodic observation and orderly collection

25 of data to evaluate—
16

•HR 1713 IH

1 (A) effects of management actions; and

2 (B) effectiveness of actions in meeting

3 management objectives.

4 (25) RANGE IMPROVEMENT.—The term ‘‘range

5 improvement’’—

6 (A) means an authorized activity or pro7 gram on or relating to rangeland that is de8 signed to—

9 (i) improve production of forage;

10 (ii) change vegetative composition;

11 (iii) control patterns of use;

12 (iv) provide water;

13 (v) stabilize soil and water conditions;

14 or

15 (vi) provide habitat for livestock, wild

16 horses and burros, and wildlife; and

17 (B) includes structures, treatment projects,

18 and use of mechanical means to accomplish the

19 goals described in subparagraph (A).

20 (26) RANGELAND STUDY.—The term ‘‘range21 land study’’ means a method of study for collecting

22 data on actual use, utilization, climatic conditions,

23 other special events, production trend, and range24 land condition and trend to determine whether man25 agement objectives are being met, that—
17

•HR 1713 IH

1 (A) uses physical examination of measure2 ments of range attributes and does not rely on

3 a cursory visual scanning of land unless the

4 condition to be assessed is patently obvious and

5 requires no physical examination; and

6 (B) is accepted by an authorized officer.

7 (27) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’

8 means the Secretary of the Interior.

9 (28) SERVICE AREA.—The term ‘‘service area’’

10 means the area that can be properly grazed by live11 stock watering at a certain water.

12 (29) STOCKING RATE.—The term ‘‘stocking

13 rate’’ means the number of animal unit months au14 thorized under a grazing permit or grazing lease

15 from year to year.

16 (30) SUBLEASE.—The term ‘‘sublease’’ means

17 an agreement by a permittee or lessee that—

18 (A) allows a person other than the permit19 tee or lessee to graze livestock on Federal land

20 without controlling the base property support21 ing the grazing permit or grazing lease; or

22 (B) allows grazing on Federal land by live23 stock not owned or controlled by the permittee

24 or lessee.
18

•HR 1713 IH

1 (31) SUPPLEMENTAL FEED.—The term ‘‘sup2 plemental feed’’ means a feed that supplements the

3 forage available from Federal land and is provided

4 to improve livestock nutrition or rangeland manage5 ment.

6 (32) SUSPEND; SUSPENSION.—The terms ‘‘sus7 pend’’ and ‘‘suspension’’ refer to a temporary with8 holding, in whole or in part, of a grazing preference

9 from active use, ordered by the Secretary or done

10 voluntarily by a permittee or lessee.

11 (33) TREND.—The term ‘‘trend’’ means the di12 rection of change, over time, toward or away from

13 a desired management objective.

14 (34) UTILIZATION.—The term ‘‘utilization’’

15 means the percentage of a year’s herbage production

16 consumed or destroyed by herbivores.

17 (35) WATER BASE PROPERTY.—The term

18 ‘‘water base property’’ means base property de19 scribed in paragraph (9)(B).

20 (b) CONSULTATION, COOPERATION, AND COORDINA21 TION.—Section 402(d) of the Federal Land Policy

22 and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1752(d)) is

23 amended—

24 (1) by inserting a comma after ‘‘cooperation’’

25 each place it appears; and
19

•HR 1713 IH

1 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘As

2 used in this subsection, the term ‘consultation, co3 operation, and coordination’ means engagement in a

4 good faith effort to reach consensus on issues, plans,

5 or management actions from—

6 ‘‘(1) other agencies, permittees or lessees, and

7 affected interests involved in an activity with respect

8 to which consultation, cooperation, and coordination

9 are required under this title;

10 ‘‘(2) resource advisory councils established

11 under section 177 of the Livestock Grazing Act;

12 ‘‘(3) any State having land within the area to

13 be covered by an allotment management plan; and

14 ‘‘(4) additional affected interests (as defined in

15 section 104(a)(4) of the Livestock Grazing Act).’’.

16 SEC. 105. FUNDAMENTALS OF RANGELAND HEALTH.

17 (a) STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES.—The Secretary

18 shall establish standards and guidelines on a State or re19 gional level in conjunction with the State department of

20 agriculture or other appropriate agency and the land-grant

21 university or other appropriate institution of higher edu22 cation of each interested State.

23 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act

24 or any other law implies that a minimum national stand25 ard or guideline is necessary.
20

•HR 1713 IH

1 SEC. 106. LAND USE PLANS.

2 (a) PRINCIPLE OF MULTIPLE USE AND SUSTAINED

3 YIELD.—An authorized officer shall manage livestock

4 grazing on Federal land under the principle of multiple

5 use and sustained yield and in accordance with applicable

6 land use plans.

7 (b) CONTENTS OF LAND USE PLAN.—A land use

8 plan shall—

9 (1) establish allowable resource uses (singly or

10 in combination), related levels of production or use

11 to be maintained, areas of use, and resource condi12 tion goals and objectives to be obtained; and

13 (2) set forth programs and general manage14 ment practices needed to achieve management objec15 tives.

16 (c) APPLICATION OF NEPA.—A land use plan shall

17 be developed in conformance with the requirements of the

18 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.

19 4321 et seq.).

20 (d) CONFORMANCE WITH LAND USE PLAN.—Live21 stock grazing activities and management actions approved

22 by the authorized officer—

23 (1) may include any such activities as are not

24 clearly prohibited by a land use plan; and

25 (2) shall not require any consideration under

26 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42
21

•HR 1713 IH

1 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) in addition to the studies sup2 porting the land use plan.

3 SEC. 107. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

4 Nothing in this title shall be construed to reduce or

5 otherwise limit the levels of livestock grazing that were

6 authorized to be permitted as of August 1, 1993.

7 Subtitle B—Qualifications and

8 Grazing Preferences

9 SEC. 111. MANDATORY QUALIFICATIONS.

10 Except as provided under sections 112, 114, and

11 134(c), to qualify for grazing use on Federal land an ap12 plicant shall—

13 (1) be engaged in the livestock business;

14 (2) own or control base property; and

15 (3) be—

16 (A) a citizen of the United States or a per17 son who has properly filed a valid declaration of

18 intention to become a citizen or a valid petition

19 for naturalization;

20 (B) a group or association authorized to

21 conduct business in the State in which the graz22 ing use is sought, all members of which are per23 sons described in subparagraph (A); or
22

•HR 1713 IH

1 (C) a corporation authorized to conduct

2 business in the State in which the grazing use

3 is sought.

4 SEC. 112. ACQUIRED LAND.

5 With respect to land acquired by the Secretary

6 through purchase, exchange, Act of Congress, or Execu7 tive order under the terms of which the Secretary is re8 quired to honor an existing grazing permit or grazing

9 lease, the permittee or lessee shall be considered qualified

10 for grazing use on that land.

11 SEC. 113. GRAZING PREFERENCES.

12 (a) BASE PROPERTY.—

13 (1) CRITERIA.—An authorized officer shall find

14 land or water owned or controlled by an applicant

15 for a grazing permit or grazing lease to be base

16 property if the land or water—

17 (A) serves as a base for a livestock oper18 ation that utilizes Federal land within a grazing

19 district; or

20 (B) is contiguous land, or noncontiguous

21 land if no applicant for the grazing permit or

22 grazing lease owns or controls contiguous land,

23 used in conjunction with a livestock operation

24 that utilizes Federal land outside a grazing

25 district.
23

•HR 1713 IH

1 (2) SPECIFICATION OF LENGTH OF TIME.—

2 After appropriate consultation, cooperation, and co3 ordination with the applicant only, an authorized of4 ficer shall specify the length of time for which land

5 base property shall be considered to be capable of

6 supporting authorized livestock during the year, rel7 ative to the multiple use management objective of

8 Federal land.

9 (3) SUBMISSION BY APPLICANT.—An applicant

10 shall—

11 (A) provide a legal description, or plat, of

12 the base property; and

13 (B) certify to the authorized officer that

14 the base property meets the requirements under

15 paragraphs (1) and (2).

16 (4) LOSS OF OWNERSHIP OR CONTROL.—

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

18 subparagraph (B), if a permittee or lessee loses

19 ownership or control of all or part of the base

20 property, the grazing permit or grazing lease, to

21 the extent it was based on the lost property,

22 shall terminate immediately, without notice

23 from the authorized officer.

24 (B) EXTENSION OF TERMINATION DATE.—

25 If, prior to losing ownership or control of the
24

•HR 1713 IH

1 base property, the permittee or lessee requests

2 in writing that the grazing permit or grazing

3 lease be extended to the end of the grazing sea4 son or grazing year, the authorized officer, after

5 consultation with the new owner or person in

6 control, may grant the request.

7 (C) AVAILABILITY FOR TRANSFER.—When

8 a grazing permit or grazing lease terminates be9 cause of a loss of ownership or control of a base

10 property, the grazing preference shall remain

11 with the base property and be available for

12 transfer under subsection (c) to the new owner

13 or person in control of the base property.

14 (5) ISOLATED OR DISCONNECTED FEDERAL

15 LAND.—An applicant that owns or controls base

16 property contiguous to or cornering on a tract of

17 Federal land outside a grazing district that consists

18 of an isolated or disconnected tract embracing 760

19 acres or less shall, for a period of 90 days after the

20 tract has been offered for grazing lease, have a pref21 erence right to graze the tract.

22 (b) SPECIFYING GRAZING PREFERENCE.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—A grazing permit or grazing

24 lease shall specify a grazing preference that in25 cludes—
25

•HR 1713 IH

1 (A) a historical grazing preference right;

2 (B) active use, based on the amount of for3 age available for livestock grazing established in

4 the land use plan;

5 (C) suspended use; and

6 (D) voluntary and temporary nonuse.

7 (2) ATTACHMENT OF GRAZING PREFERENCE.—

8 A grazing preference identified in a grazing permit

9 or grazing lease shall attach to the base property

10 supporting the grazing permit or grazing lease.

11 (3) ATTACHMENT OF ANIMAL UNIT MONTHS.—

12 The animal unit months of a grazing preference

13 shall attach to—

14 (A) the acreage of land base property on a

15 pro rata basis; or

16 (B) water base property on the basis of

17 livestock forage production within the service

18 area of the water.

19 (c) TRANSFER OF GRAZING PREFERENCE.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—A transfer of a grazing pref21 erence, in whole or in part, may be made in accord22 ance with this subsection.

23 (2) QUALIFICATION OF TRANSFEREE.—A trans24 feree shall meet all necessary qualifications for a

25 grazing preference under this title.
26

•HR 1713 IH

1 (3) APPLICATION.—An application to transfer a

2 grazing preference shall evidence assignment of in3 terest and obligation in range improvements author4 ized on Federal land under section 122 and main5 tained in conjunction with the transferred pref6 erence.

7 (4) ACCEPTANCE OR REJECTION OF TERMS AND

8 CONDITIONS.—A transferee of a grazing preference

9 may elect to accept or reject the terms and condi10 tions of the terminating grazing permit or grazing

11 lease and of any related cooperative agreement or

12 range improvement permit or to accept those terms

13 and conditions with such modifications as the trans14 feree may request and the authorized officer approve

15 or with such modifications as the authorized officer

16 may require.

17 (5) APPLICATION FOR GRAZING PERMIT OR

18 GRAZING LEASE.—A proposed transferee shall file

19 an application for a grazing permit or grazing lease

20 to the extent of the transferred grazing preference

21 simultaneously with the filing of a transfer applica22 tion.

23 (6) TRANSFERS.—

24 (A) TRANSFERS ON SALE OR GRAZING

25 LEASE OF BASE PROPERTY.—If base property is
27

•HR 1713 IH

1 sold or leased, the transferee, not later than 90

2 days after the date of sale or grazing lease,

3 shall file with the authorized officer a properly

4 executed transfer application that—

5 (i) identifies the base property; and

6 (ii) states the amount of grazing pref7 erence being transferred in animal unit

8 months.

9 (B) TRANSFER FROM BASE PROPERTY TO

10 BASE PROPERTY.—

11 (i) IN GENERAL.—If a grazing pref12 erence is being transferred from 1 base

13 property to another base property, the

14 transferor shall own or control the base

15 property from which the grazing preference

16 is being transferred and file with the au17 thorized officer a properly completed trans18 fer application for approval.

19 (ii) CONSENT OF OWNER OF LEASED

20 BASE PROPERTY.—If the transferor leases

21 the base property, no transfer shall be al22 lowed without the written consent of the

23 owner and of any person or entity holding

24 an encumbrance of the base property from

25 which the transfer is to be made unless the
28

•HR 1713 IH

1 transferor is a lessee without whose live2 stock operations the grazing preference

3 would not have been established.

4 (7) TERMINATION.—On the date of approval of

5 a transfer, the existing grazing permit or grazing

6 lease shall terminate automatically and without no7 tice to the extent of the transfer.

8 (8) ACQUISITION OF BASE PROPERTY BY PER9 SON NOT QUALIFIED.—

10 (A) NO EFFECT FOR 2 YEARS.—For a pe11 riod of 2 years after an unqualified transferee

12 acquires rights in base property through oper13 ation of law or testamentary disposition, the

14 transfer shall not—

15 (i) affect the grazing preference or

16 any outstanding grazing permit or grazing

17 lease; or

18 (ii) preclude the issuance or renewal

19 of a grazing permit or grazing lease based

20 on the base property.

21 (B) CANCELLATION.—If an unqualified

22 transferee fails to qualify for a transfer under

23 this section within the 2-year period described

24 in subparagraph (A), the grazing preference

25 shall be subject to cancellation, but the author-
29

•HR 1713 IH

1 ized officer may grant extensions of the 2-year

2 period if there have been delays solely attrib3 utable to probate proceedings.

4 (9) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—Failure of a trans5 feree or transferor to comply with this subsection

6 may result in rejection of the transfer application or

7 cancellation of the grazing preference.

8 (d) ALLOTMENTS.—After consultation, cooperation,

9 and coordination with permittees or lessees, an authorized

10 officer may designate and adjust allotment boundaries.

11 SEC. 114. CHANGES IN GRAZING PREFERENCE STATUS.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—An authorized officer shall peri13 odically review the stocking rate specified in a grazing per14 mit or grazing lease and may make changes in the status

15 of the stocking rate.

16 (b) SUPPORT.—A change in a stocking rate shall be

17 supported by monitoring, as evidenced by rangeland stud18 ies conducted over time, and as is specified in an applica19 ble land use plan or as is necessary to manage, maintain,

20 or improve rangeland productivity.

21 (c) INCREASE IN ACTIVE USE.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any additional forage that

23 becomes available may be apportioned to a qualified

24 applicant for livestock grazing use, consistent with

25 multiple-use management objectives.
30

•HR 1713 IH

1 (2) TEMPORARY AVAILABILITY.—Any additional

2 forage that becomes temporarily available for live3 stock grazing use (including forage that is tempo4 rarily available within an allotment because of a

5 change in grazing use under section 131(b)) may be

6 apportioned on a nonrenewable basis.

7 (3) AVAILABILITY ON SUSTAINED USE BASIS.—

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Any additional forage

9 that becomes available on a sustained yield

10 basis for livestock grazing use shall be appor11 tioned in satisfaction of grazing preferences to

12 the permittees and lessees authorized to graze

13 in the allotment in which the forage is available

14 before being apportioned to other persons under

15 subparagraph (B).

16 (B) APPORTIONMENT TO OTHERS.—After

17 consultation, cooperation, and coordination, ad18 ditional forage on a sustained yield basis avail19 able for livestock grazing use exceeding the

20 amount of grazing preferences of the permittees

21 and lessees in an allotment may be apportioned

22 in the following priority to—

23 (i) permittees and lessees in propor24 tion to their contribution or efforts that re25 sulted in increased forage production;
31

•HR 1713 IH

1 (ii) permittees or lessees in proportion

2 to the amount of their grazing preferences;

3 and

4 (iii) other qualified applicants under

5 section 131.

6 (d) DECREASE IN AUTHORIZED GRAZING USE.—

7 (1) TEMPORARY SUSPENSION.—

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Active use may be sus9 pended in whole or in part on a temporary basis

10 to facilitate—

11 (i) recovery from drought, fire, or an12 other natural event; or

13 (ii) installation, maintenance, or modi14 fication of range improvements.

15 (B) IMPLEMENTATION.—If an authorized

16 officer determines that the soil, vegetation, or

17 other resources on Federal land require tem18 porary protection because of conditions such as

19 drought, fire, flood, or insect infestation, after

20 consultation, cooperation, and coordination with

21 affected permittees or lessees and other affected

22 interests, action shall be taken to close allot23 ments or portions of allotments to grazing by

24 any kind of livestock or to modify authorized

25 grazing use.
32

•HR 1713 IH

1 (2) PERMANENT SUSPENSION.—When monitor2 ing shows that active use is causing an unacceptable

3 level or pattern of utilization or exceeds the livestock

4 carrying capacity, as determined through monitor5 ing, an authorized officer, after evaluating and im6 plementing all reasonable and viable management

7 practices or alternatives, shall reduce active use if

8 necessary to maintain or improve rangeland produc9 tivity only if the authorized officer determines that

10 a change in management practices would not achieve

11 the management objectives.

12 (3) PERIOD OF SUSPENSION.—When active use

13 is reduced, the active use shall be held in suspension

14 or in nonuse for conservation and protection pur15 poses until the authorized officer determines that ac16 tive use may resume.

17 (e) IMPLEMENTATION OF CHANGES IN AVAILABLE

18 FORAGE.—

19 (1) PHASING-IN.—A change in active use in ex20 cess of 10 percent shall be implemented over a 5-

21 year period, unless, after consultation with the af22 fected permittees or lessees and other affected inter23 ests, an agreement is reached to implement the in24 crease or decrease over less than a 5-year period.

25 (2) SUSPENSION OF GRAZING PREFERENCE.—
33

•HR 1713 IH

1 (A) IN GENERAL.—After consultation, co2 operation, and coordination, a suspension of a

3 grazing preference shall be implemented

4 through a documented agreement or by decision

5 of an authorized officer.

6 (B) DATA AVAILABLE.—If acceptable

7 range analysis data are properly gathered, ana8 lyzed, and reviewed by the authorized officer,

9 an initial decrease shall be taken on the effec10 tive date of the agreement or decision and the

11 balance taken in the third and fifth years fol12 lowing that effective date, except as provided in

13 paragraph (1).

14 (C) DATA NOT AVAILABLE.—If data ac15 ceptable to the authorized officer to support an

16 initial decrease are not available—

17 (i) additional data shall be collected

18 through monitoring and in coordination

19 with the land-grant university (or other ap20 propriate institution of higher education)

21 and department of agriculture of the State;

22 and

23 (ii) adjustments based on the addi24 tional data shall be implemented by agree-
34

•HR 1713 IH

1 ment or decision that will initiate the 5-

2 year implementation period.

3 SEC. 115. CHANGES IN FEDERAL LAND ACREAGE.

4 (a) INCREASES IN LAND ACREAGE.—If land outside

5 a designated allotment becomes available for livestock

6 grazing—

7 (1) the forage available for livestock shall be

8 made available to a qualified applicant at the discre9 tion of the authorized officer; and

10 (2) grazing use shall be apportioned under sec11 tion 131.

12 (b) DECREASE IN LAND ACREAGE.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—If there is a decrease in

14 Federal land acreage available for livestock grazing

15 within an allotment—

16 (A) grazing permits or grazing leases may

17 be canceled, suspended, or modified as appro18 priate to reflect the changed area of use; and

19 (B) grazing preferences may be canceled or

20 suspended in whole or in part.

21 (2) EQUITABLE APPORTIONMENT.—A cancella22 tion or suspension determined by the authorized offi23 cer to be necessary to protect Federal land—
35

•HR 1713 IH

1 (A) shall be apportioned as agreed among

2 the authorized users and the authorized officer;

3 or

4 (B) if no agreement is reached, shall be eq5 uitably apportioned by the authorized officer

6 based on the level of available forage and mag7 nitude of the change in Federal land acreage

8 available.

9 (3) DISPOSITION OR USE FOR PUBLIC PUR10 POSE.—

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—If Federal land is dis12 posed of or devoted to a public purpose so as

13 to preclude livestock grazing, the Secretary

14 shall, except in a case of emergency such as

15 need to satisfy a national defense requirement

16 in time of war or a natural disaster, provide

17 permittees and lessees 2 years’ notice prior to

18 cancellation of grazing permits, grazing leases,

19 and grazing preferences.

20 (B) WAIVER.—A permittee or lessee may

21 unconditionally waive the 2-year prior notifica22 tion required by subparagraph (A).

23 (C) RIGHT TO COMPENSATION.—A waiver

24 under subparagraph (B) shall not prejudice a

25 permittee’s or lessee’s right to reasonable com-
36

•HR 1713 IH

1 pensation at (but not in excess of) the fair mar2 ket value of the permittee’s or lessee’s interest

3 in authorized permanent range improvements

4 located on Federal land.

5 Subtitle C—Grazing Management

6 SEC. 121. ALLOTMENT MANAGEMENT PLANS.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—An allotment management plan

8 shall be prepared in careful and considered consultation,

9 cooperation, and coordination with permittees and lessees,

10 landowners, the grazing advisory council for the grazing

11 district, and any State having land within the area to be

12 covered by the allotment management plan.

13 (b) CONTENTS.—An allotment management plan

14 shall—

15 (1) include the terms and conditions described

16 in section 136;

17 (2) prescribe the livestock grazing practices

18 necessary to meet specific multiple-use management

19 objectives;

20 (3) specify the limits of flexibility within which

21 the permittee or lessee may adjust operations with22 out prior approval of the authorized officer; and

23 (4) provide for monitoring to evaluate the effec24 tiveness of management actions in achieving the spe25 cific multiple-use management objectives of the plan.
37

•HR 1713 IH

1 (c) PRIVATE AND STATE LAND.—Private and State

2 land shall be included in an allotment management plan

3 with the consent or at the request of the person that owns

4 or controls the land.

5 (d) INCORPORATION IN GRAZING PERMITS AND

6 GRAZING LEASES.—An allotment management plan shall

7 be incorporated into the affected grazing permits and

8 grazing leases.

9 (e) SATISFACTION OF REQUIREMENTS OF OTHER

10 LAWS.—The issuance of a grazing permit or grazing lease

11 that is consistent with a land use plan shall not be consid12 ered to be a Federal action requiring the conduct of any

13 study or assessment under the National Environmental

14 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) or any other

15 law.

16 SEC. 122. RANGE IMPROVEMENTS.

17 (a) RANGE IMPROVEMENT COOPERATIVE AGREE18 MENTS.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may enter

20 into a cooperative agreement with a permittee or les21 see for the construction, installation, modification,

22 maintenance, or use of a permanent range improve23 ment or development of a rangeland to achieve a

24 management or resource condition objective.
38

•HR 1713 IH

1 (2) COST-SHARING.—A range improvement co2 operative agreement shall specify how the costs or

3 labor, or both, shall be shared between the United

4 States and the other parties to the agreement.

5 (3) TITLE.—

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to valid exist7 ing rights, title to an authorized permanent

8 range improvement under a range improvement

9 cooperative agreement shall be in the name of

10 the permittee or lessee and of the United

11 States, respectively, in proportion to the value

12 of the contributions (funding, material, and

13 labor) toward the initial cost of construction by

14 the United States and the permittee or lessee,

15 respectively.

16 (B) VALUE OF FEDERAL LAND.—For the

17 purpose of subparagraph (A), only a contribu18 tion to the construction, installation, modifica19 tion, or maintenance of a permanent rangeland

20 improvement itself, and not the value of Fed21 eral land on which the improvement is placed,

22 shall be taken into account.

23 (C) MAINTENANCE.—Maintenance of

24 range improvements in the form of time as

25 labor or monetary expenditures shall be applied
39

•HR 1713 IH

1 to the value and percentage of ownership pro2 portionate to the value of the contribution by a

3 party to the cooperative agreement.

4 (4) NONSTRUCTURAL RANGE IMPROVE5 MENTS.—A range improvement cooperative agree6 ment shall ensure that the respective parties enjoy

7 the benefits of any nonstructural range improve8 ment, such as seeding, spraying, and chaining, in

9 proportion to each party’s contribution to the im10 provement.

11 (5) INCENTIVE.—A range improvement cooper12 ative agreement shall contain terms and conditions

13 that are designed to provide a permittee or lessee an

14 incentive for investing in range improvements.

15 (b) RANGE IMPROVEMENT PERMITS.—

16 (1) APPLICATION.—A permittee or lessee may

17 apply for a range improvement permit to construct,

18 install, modify, maintain, or use a range improve19 ment that is needed to achieve management objec20 tives within the permittee’s or lessee’s allotment.

21 (2) FUNDING.—A permittee or lessee shall

22 agree to provide full funding for construction, instal23 lation, modification, or maintenance of a range im24 provement covered by a range improvement permit.
40

•HR 1713 IH

1 (3) AUTHORIZED OFFICER TO ISSUE.—A range

2 improvement permit shall be issued at the discretion

3 of the authorized officer.

4 (4) TITLE.—Title to an authorized permanent

5 range improvement under a range improvement per6 mit shall be in the name of the permittee or lessee.

7 (5) CONTROL.—The use by livestock of stock

8 ponds or wells authorized by a range improvement

9 permit shall be controlled by the permittee or lessee

10 holding a range improvement permit.

11 (c) STANDARDS, DESIGN, AND STIPULATIONS.—A

12 range improvement cooperative agreement under sub13 section (a) and a range improvement permit under sub14 section (b) shall specify the standards and design, con15 struction, and maintenance criteria for the range improve16 ments.

17 (d) ASSIGNMENT OF RANGE IMPROVEMENTS.—An

18 authorized officer shall not approve the transfer of a graz19 ing preference under section 113(c) or approve use by the

20 transferee of existing range improvements unless the

21 transferee has agreed to compensate the transferor for the

22 transferor’s interest in the authorized improvements with23 in the allotment as of the date of the transfer.

24 (e) REMOVAL AND COMPENSATION FOR LOSS OF

25 RANGE IMPROVEMENTS.—
41

•HR 1713 IH

1 (1) PROHIBITION OF REMOVAL.—A person shall

2 not remove a range improvement from Federal land

3 without authorization by the authorized officer.

4 (2) REQUIREMENT TO REMOVE.—The author5 ized officer may require a permittee or lessee to re6 move a range improvement on Federal land that the

7 permittee or lessee owns if the improvement is no

8 longer helping to achieve land use plan or allotment

9 goals and objectives or if the improvement fails to

10 meet the standards and criteria of subsection (c).

11 (3) CANCELLATION OF GRAZING PERMIT OR

12 GRAZING LEASE.—

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—If a grazing permit or

14 grazing lease is canceled in order to devote Fed15 eral land covered by the grazing permit or graz16 ing lease to another public purpose, including

17 disposal, the permittee or lessee shall be enti18 tled to receive from the United States reason19 able compensation for the value of the permit20 tee’s or lessee’s interest in authorized perma21 nent range improvements purchased by the per22 mittee or lessee or placed or constructed by the

23 permittee or lessee on Federal land covered by

24 the canceled grazing permit or grazing lease.
42

•HR 1713 IH

1 (B) FAIR MARKET VALUE.—The value of a

2 permitee’s or lessee’s interest under subpara3 graph (A) shall be equal to the fair market

4 value of the terminated portion of the permit5 tee’s or lessee’s interest in the permanent range

6 improvements.

7 (C) SALVAGE AND REHABILITATION.—In a

8 case in which a range improvement is author9 ized by a range improvement permit or range

10 improvement cooperative agreement, the per11 mittee or lessee may elect to salvage materials

12 and perform rehabilitation measures rather

13 than accept compensation for the fair market

14 value.

15 (4) CANCELLATION OF RANGE IMPROVEMENT

16 PERMIT OR COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.—If a range

17 improvement permit or range improvement coopera18 tive agreement is canceled, the permittee or lessee

19 shall be allowed 180 days after the date of cancella20 tion in which to salvage material owned by the lessee

21 or permittee and perform rehabilitation measures

22 necessitated by the salvage.

23 (i) CONTRIBUTIONS.—An authorized officer may ac24 cept contributions of labor, material, equipment, or money
43

•HR 1713 IH

1 for administration, protection, and improvement of Fed2 eral land necessary to achieve the objectives of this title.

3 (j) TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP OF IMPROVEMENTS.—

4 (1) MEDIATION.—An authorized officer may—

5 (A) mediate a dispute regarding reasonable

6 compensation in connection with a transfer of

7 ownership of a range improvement; and

8 (B) following consultation with the inter9 ested parties, make a determination concerning

10 the fair and reasonable share of operation and

11 maintenance expenses and compensation for use

12 of authorized range improvements.

13 (2) NO AGREEMENT.—If an agreement on the

14 amount of compensation cannot be reached, the au15 thorized officer shall issue a temporary grazing au16 thorization, including appropriate terms and condi17 tions and the requirement to compensate the permit18 tee or lessee for the fair share of operation and

19 maintenance, as determined by the authorized

20 officer.

21 SEC. 123. WATER RIGHTS.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—No water rights shall be acquired,

23 perfected, owned, controlled, maintained, administered, or

24 transferred in connection with livestock grazing manage25 ment unless authorized in accordance with State law con-
44

•HR 1713 IH

1 cerning the use and appropriation of water within the

2 State.

3 (b) STATE LAW.—In managing livestock grazing on

4 Federal land, the Secretary shall follow State law with re5 gard to water ownership.

6 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this title

7 shall be construed to create an expressed or implied res8 ervation of water rights in the United States.

9 SEC. 124. MANAGEMENT OF GRAZING ON LAND UNDER THE

10 JURISDICTION OF OTHER DEPARTMENTS

11 AND AGENCIES.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of land under the ad13 ministrative jurisdiction of the head of another entity in

14 the department or of another department or agency on

15 which grazing is managed by the Secretary on behalf of

16 the head of that entity, department, or agency, the Sec17 retary shall enter into a memorandum of understanding

18 setting out the terms and conditions under which grazing

19 will be managed on that land.

20 (b) APPLICATION OF TITLE.—This title shall apply

21 to management of grazing under subsection (a) except to

22 the extent that the Secretary, in consultation with the

23 head of the department or agency with jurisdiction over

24 the land, in view of the needs of the other department
45

•HR 1713 IH

1 or agency or the applicability of other law, requires appli2 cation of different rules.

3 Subtitle D—Authorization of

4 Grazing Use

5 SEC. 131. APPLICATIONS.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—An application for a grazing per7 mit or grazing lease authorizing active use and nonuse,

8 a free-use grazing permit, or other grazing authorization

9 shall be filed with the authorized officer at the local Bu10 reau of Land Management office having jurisdiction over

11 the Federal land that is the subject of the application.

12 (b) CHANGES IN GRAZING USE.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any grazing

14 fee year, an application for a change in grazing use

15 should be filed with the authorized officer before the

16 billing notice for the affected grazing use has been

17 issued for the grazing fee year.

18 (2) LATE FILING.—An application for a change

19 in grazing use filed after a billing notice for the af20 fected grazing use has been issued that requires the

21 issuance of a replacement or supplemental billing no22 tice shall be subject to a service charge under section

23 137(d).
46

•HR 1713 IH

1 (3) AUTHORITY TO GRANT.—An authorized of2 ficer may grant an application for a change in graz3 ing use.

4 (c) CONFLICTING APPLICATIONS.—

5 (1) FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED.—If more

6 than 1 qualified applicant applies for livestock graz7 ing use of the same Federal land or if additional for8 age for livestock or additional acreage becomes avail9 able, an authorized officer may authorize grazing

10 use of the Federal land or use of forage—

11 (A) as provided in section 114(c); or

12 (B) on the basis of any of the following

13 factors:

14 (i) Historical use of Federal land.

15 (ii) Proper range management and

16 use of water for livestock.

17 (iii) General needs of the applicants’

18 livestock operations.

19 (iv) Topography.

20 (v) Other land use requirements

21 unique to the situation.

22 (2) FACTOR NOT TO BE CONSIDERED.—In au23 thorizing grazing use or use of forage under para24 graph (1), an authorized officer shall not take into

25 consideration the past practice or present willingness
47

•HR 1713 IH

1 of an applicant to allow public access to Federal

2 land over private land.

3 SEC. 132. GRAZING PERMITS OR GRAZING LEASES.

4 (a) SPECIFICATION OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—

5 A grazing permit or grazing lease shall specify terms and

6 conditions as required by section 136.

7 (b) TERM.—A grazing permit or grazing lease shall

8 be issued for a term of 15 years unless—

9 (1) the land is pending disposal;

10 (2) the land will be devoted to a public purpose

11 that precludes grazing prior to the end of 15 years;

12 or

13 (3) the Secretary determines that it would be in

14 the best interest of sound land management to speci15 fy a shorter term, if the decision to specify a shorter

16 term is supported by appropriate and accepted re17 source analysis and evaluation.

18 (c) RENEWAL.—A permittee or lessee holding a graz19 ing permit or grazing lease shall be given first priority

20 at the end of the term for renewal of the grazing permit

21 or grazing lease if—

22 (1) the land for which the grazing permit or

23 grazing lease is issued remains available for domes24 tic livestock grazing;
48

•HR 1713 IH

1 (2) the permittee or lessee is in compliance with

2 this title and the terms and conditions of the grazing

3 permit or grazing lease; and

4 (3) the permittee or lessee accepts the terms

5 and conditions included by the authorized officer in

6 the new grazing permit or grazing lease.

7 SEC. 133. FREE-USE GRAZING PERMITS.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—A free-use grazing permit may be

9 issued, consistent with the Act, cited in section 102, to

10 an applicant—

11 (1) whose residence is adjacent to Federal land

12 within a grazing district;

13 (2) who needs Federal land to support domestic

14 livestock owned by the applicant; and

15 (3) whose products or work related to livestock

16 grazing are used directly and exclusively by the ap17 plicant and the applicant’s family.

18 (b) CONFLICTING APPLICATIONS.—The issuance of a

19 free-use grazing permit is subject to section 131(c).

20 (c) TERM.—A free-use grazing permit shall be issued

21 for a term of 1 year.

22 (d) NO TRANSFER OR ASSIGNMENT.—A free-use

23 grazing permit may not be transferred or assigned.

24 SEC. 134. OTHER GRAZING AUTHORIZATIONS.

25 (a) EXCHANGE-OF-USE GRAZING AGREEMENTS.—
49

•HR 1713 IH

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—An exchange-of-use grazing

2 agreement may be issued to any applicant that owns

3 or controls land that is unfenced and intermingled

4 with Federal land when use under such an agree5 ment would be in harmony with the management ob6 jectives for the allotment.

7 (2) EXTENT OF USE.—An exchange-of-use

8 grazing agreement may authorize use of Federal

9 land to the extent of the livestock carrying capacity

10 of the land offered in exchange-of-use.

11 (3) NO FEE.—No fee shall be charged for graz12 ing use under an exchange-of-use agreement.

13 (b) NONRENEWABLE GRAZING PERMITS AND GRAZ14 ING LEASES.—A nonrenewable grazing permit or grazing

15 lease may be issued on an annual basis to a qualified ap16 plicant when forage is temporarily available if grazing use

17 under the grazing permit or grazing lease—

18 (1) is consistent with multiple-use objectives;

19 and

20 (2) does not interfere with other livestock oper21 ations on the Federal land concerned.

22 (c) CROSSING PERMITS.—An applicant showing the

23 necessity for crossing Federal land or other land under

24 control of the Secretary with livestock for proper and law25 ful purposes may be issued a crossing permit on such
50

•HR 1713 IH

1 terms and conditions as the authorized officer considers

2 necessary to achieve the objectives of this title.

3 (d) SPECIAL GRAZING PERMITS OR GRAZING

4 LEASES.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—A special grazing permit or

6 grazing lease authorizing grazing use by privately

7 owned or controlled indigenous animals may be is8 sued at the discretion of the authorized officer, con9 sistent with multiple-use objectives.

10 (2) TERM.—A special grazing permit or grazing

11 lease shall be issued for such a term as the author12 ized officer considers to be appropriate, not to ex13 ceed 10 years.

14 (e) NO PRIORITY; NO TRANSFER OR ASSIGNMENT.—

15 An exchange-of-use grazing agreement, nonrenewable

16 grazing permit or grazing lease, crossing permit, or special

17 grazing permit or grazing lease shall have no priority for

18 renewal and may not be transferred or assigned.

19 SEC. 135. OWNERSHIP AND IDENTIFICATION OF LIVE20 STOCK.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—A permittee or lessee shall own

22 or control and be responsible for the management of the

23 livestock that graze the Federal land under a grazing per24 mit or grazing lease.
51

•HR 1713 IH

1 (b) COMPLIANCE WITH STATE REQUIREMENTS.—An

2 authorized user shall comply with the requirements of the

3 State in which Federal land is located relating to brand4 ing, marking, or tagging of livestock, breed, grade, and

5 number of bulls, health, and sanitation.

6 (c) MARKING OR TAGGING.—An authorized officer

7 shall not impose any marking or tagging requirement in

8 addition to the requirement under State law.

9 (d) FILING OF CONTROL AGREEMENT AND

10 BRAND.—A permittee or lessee that controls but does not

11 own the livestock that graze Federal land shall file with

12 the authorized officer—

13 (1) the agreement that gives the permittee or

14 lessee control of the livestock; and

15 (2) the brand and other identifying marks on

16 the livestock.

17 SEC. 136. TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—

19 (1) SPECIFICATIONS.—An authorized officer

20 shall specify in a grazing permit or grazing lease the

21 kind and number of livestock, the periods of use, the

22 allotments to be used, and the amount of use (stated

23 in animal unit months) for each grazing permit or

24 grazing lease.
52

•HR 1713 IH

1 (2) AMOUNT OF USE.—The amount of livestock

2 grazing use that is authorized in a grazing permit

3 or grazing lease shall not exceed the livestock carry4 ing capacity of the Federal land concerned, as deter5 mined through monitoring and adjusted as necessary

6 under section 114.

7 (3) CANCELLATION, SUSPENSION, OR MODI8 FICATION.—A grazing permit or grazing lease shall

9 be subject to cancellation, suspension, or modifica10 tion for any violation of this title or of any term or

11 condition of the grazing permit or grazing lease.

12 (b) NO SPECIAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—An au13 thorized officer shall not impose any term or condition in

14 a grazing permit or grazing lease other than a term or

15 condition described in subsection (a).

16 (c) MODIFICATION.—Following careful and consid17 ered consultation, cooperation, and coordination with per18 mittees, lessees, and other affected interests, an author19 ized officer may modify the terms and conditions of a

20 grazing permit or grazing lease if monitoring data show

21 that the grazing use is not meeting the land use plan or

22 management objectives.

23 SEC. 137. FEES AND CHARGES.

24 (a) GRAZING FEES.—
53

•HR 1713 IH

1 (1) BASIC FEE.—The basic fee for each animal

2 unit month in a grazing fee year shall be equal to

3 the 3-year average of the total gross value of pro4 duction for livestock, as determined by the National

5 Agricultural Statistics Service of the Department of

6 Agriculture in accordance with paragraph (2) on the

7 basis of economic data published by the Service in

8 the June Agricultural Survey for the 3 years preced9 ing the grazing fee year, multiplied by .06 and di10 vided by 12.

11 (2) CRITERIA.—

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The National Agricul13 tural Statistics Service of the Department of

14 Agriculture shall make a determination under

15 paragraph (1) based on the following informa16 tion gathered from livestock grazing operators,

17 with respect to the largest single grazing lease

18 of each operator (in terms of dollars):

19 (i) Whether the operator charged—

20 (I) per acre;

21 (II) per head per month;

22 (III) per pound of gain;

23 (IV) per hundredweight of gain;

24 or

25 (V) by another measure,
54

•HR 1713 IH

1 and the rate charged.

2 (ii)(I) The estimated average pounds

3 gained per season for the grazing lease.

4 (II) The total dollar amount estimated

5 to be realized from the grazing lease.

6 (III) Grazing lease acreage.

7 (IV) The State and county where the

8 grazing lease is located.

9 (iii) The classes of livestock grazed.

10 (iv) The term of the grazing lease.

11 (v)(I) Whether grazing lease payments

12 are paid if no grazing occurred.

13 (II) Whether the grazing lease con14 tains a take or pay provision.

15 (vi) Whether responsibility for the

16 grazing lease is ensured by daily livestock

17 care, water supply, or other factors.

18 (B) PRIVATE NATIVE RANGELAND.—For

19 the purpose of determining rates for grazing

20 leases of private native rangeland, rates for irri21 gated pasture, crop aftermath, and dryland win22 ter wheat shall be excluded.

23 (3) SURCHARGE.—

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—A surcharge shall be

25 added to the grazing fee billings for authorized
55

•HR 1713 IH

1 grazing of livestock owned by a person other

2 than a permittee or lessee unless—

3 (i) the grazing use is made by live4 stock owned by a spouse, son, daughter,

5 grandson, or granddaughter of the permit6 tee and lessee; or

7 (ii) the operator is unable to make full

8 grazing use, as authorized by a grazing

9 permit or grazing lease, due to the age or

10 death of the primary operator.

11 (B) PAYMENT IN ADVANCE.—A surcharge

12 shall be paid prior to grazing use.

13 (C) LIVESTOCK OWNED BY OTHERS.—A

14 surcharge for authorized pasturing of livestock

15 owned by a person other than a permittee or

16 lessee shall be equal to 25 percent of the dif17 ference between the current year’s Federal

18 grazing fee and the prior year’s private grazing

19 land lease rate per year for the appropriate

20 State, as determined by the National Agricul21 tural Statistics Service in accordance with para22 graph (2).

23 (4) PAYMENT.—
56

•HR 1713 IH

1 (A) DUE DATE.—A grazing fee shall be

2 due on the due date specified in the billing no3 tice.

4 (B) PAYMENT PRIOR TO USE.—A grazing

5 fee shall be paid prior to grazing use.

6 (C) BILLING AFTER GRAZING SEASON.—If

7 an allotment management plan provides for bill8 ing after the grazing season, a grazing fee shall

9 be based on actual grazing use and shall be due

10 upon issuance.

11 (5) REFUNDS.—

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—A grazing fee may be

13 refunded if an application for change in grazing

14 use and related refund is filed prior to the pe15 riod of use for which the refund is requested.

16 (B) FAILURE TO MAKE GRAZING USE.—

17 (i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided

18 in subparagraph (B), no refund shall be

19 made for failure to make grazing use.

20 (ii) RANGE DEPLETION OR DIS21 EASE.—During a period of range depletion

22 due to drought, fire, or other natural

23 cause, or in case of a general spread of dis24 ease among the livestock that occurs dur25 ing the term of a grazing permit or graz-
57

•HR 1713 IH

1 ing lease, an authorized officer may credit

2 or refund a grazing fee in whole or in part

3 or postpone fee payment for as long as the

4 emergency exists.

5 (b) OTHER FEES AND CHARGES.—

6 (1) CROSSING PERMITS, TRANSFERS, AND BILL7 ING NOTICES.—A service charge shall be assessed

8 for each crossing permit, transfer of grazing pref9 erence, and replacement or supplemental billing no10 tice except in a case in which the action is initiated

11 by the authorized officer.

12 (2) AMOUNT OF FLPMA FEES AND CHARGES.—

13 The fees and charges under section 304(a) of the

14 Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976

15 (43 U.S.C. 1734(a)) shall reflect processing costs

16 and shall be adjusted periodically as costs change.

17 (3) NOTICE OF CHANGE.—Notice of a change

18 in a service charge shall be published in the Federal

19 Register.

20 (c) REPEAL AND SUPERSEDURE.—

21 (1) REPEAL.—Section 6(a) of the Public

22 Rangelands Improvement Act of 1978 (43 U.S.C.

23 1905) is repealed.
58

•HR 1713 IH

1 (2) SUPERSEDURE.—This section supersedes

2 Executive Order 12548 (43 U.S.C. 1905 note) effec3 tive March 1, 1996.

4 (d) APPLICATION OF SECTION.—This section applies

5 to the management of livestock grazing on Federal land

6 by the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief

7 of the Forest Service, as well as to the Secretary.

8 SEC. 138. PLEDGE OF GRAZING PERMITS OR GRAZING

9 LEASES AS SECURITY FOR LOANS.

10 (a) RENEWAL.—A grazing permit or grazing lease

11 that has been pledged as security for a loan from a lending

12 agency shall be renewed by the authorized officer for a

13 period of not to exceed 15 years if—

14 (1) the loan is for the purpose of furthering the

15 permittee’s or lessee’s livestock operation;

16 (2) the permittee or lessee has complied with

17 this title; and

18 (3) renewal would be in accordance with other

19 applicable laws.

20 (b) EFFECT OF PLEDGE.—The pledging of a grazing

21 permit or grazing lease as security for a loan from a lend22 ing agency shall not exempt the grazing permit or grazing

23 lease from this title.
59

•HR 1713 IH

1 Subtitle E—Civil Violations and

2 Failures of Compliance

3 SEC. 141. CIVIL VIOLATIONS AND FAILURES OF COMPLI4 ANCE.

5 (a) SCOPE OF SECTION.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—This section states all of the

7 violations and failures of compliance that pertain

8 specifically to livestock grazing on Federal land that

9 may result in imposition of a sanction described in

10 subsection (c) against a person in the person’s ca11 pacity as a permittee, lessee, or applicant for a graz12 ing permit or grazing lease.

13 (2) OTHER VIOLATIONS.—A permittee, lessee,

14 or applicant for a grazing permit or grazing lease

15 that commits a violation relating to Federal land

16 under a law that applies to all persons generally

17 shall be subject to penalty under that law.

18 (b) IN GENERAL.—A person that does 1 of the fol19 lowing shall be subject to a civil sanction under subsection

20 (c):

21 (1) Fails to make substantial grazing use as au22 thorized by a grazing permit or grazing lease for 2

23 consecutive fee years.
60

•HR 1713 IH

1 (2) Places supplemental feed on land covered by

2 a grazing permit or grazing lease without authoriza3 tion.

4 (3) Fails to comply with a term, condition, or

5 stipulation of a range improvement cooperative

6 agreement or range improvement permit.

7 (4) Enters into an unauthorized sublease.

8 (5) Allows livestock or another privately owned

9 or controlled animal to graze on or be driven across

10 Federal land—

11 (A) without a grazing permit, grazing

12 lease, or other grazing use authorization;

13 (B) in violation of a term or condition of

14 a grazing permit, grazing lease, or other graz15 ing use authorization, including a provision

16 stating the number of livestock covered by the

17 authorization;

18 (C) in an area or at a time different from

19 that authorized; or

20 (D) if the livestock is not identified in

21 compliance with section 135.

22 (6) Installs, uses, modifies, or removes a range

23 improvement on Federal land without authorization.

24 (7) Damages or removes Federal Government

25 property from Federal land without authorization.
61

•HR 1713 IH

1 (8) Molests livestock authorized to graze on

2 Federal land.

3 (9) Interferes with a lawful grazing use or law4 ful user.

5 (10) Knowingly or willfully makes a false state6 ment or representation in a base property certifi7 cation, grazing application, range improvement per8 mit application, cooperative agreement, or actual use

9 report, or an amendment thereto.

10 (11) Grazes livestock on Federal land not sub11 stantially in compliance with State livestock require12 ments relating to—

13 (A) branding, marking, or tagging of live14 stock;

15 (B) breed, grade, or number of bulls; or

16 (C) health or sanitation.

17 (c) PENALTIES.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—In a case of a violation or

19 failure of compliance described in subsection (b), an

20 authorized officer may—

21 (A) withhold issuance of a grazing permit

22 or grazing lease for a period of time;

23 (B) suspend the grazing use authorized

24 under a grazing permit or grazing lease for a

25 period of time, in whole or in part; or
62

•HR 1713 IH

1 (C) cancel a grazing permit or grazing

2 lease and grazing preference, or a free-use graz3 ing permit or other grazing authorization, in

4 whole or in part.

5 (2) SECOND OR SUBSEQUENT WILLFUL VIOLA6 TION.—In a case of a second or subsequent willful

7 civil violation described in subsection (a), an author8 ized officer shall—

9 (A) suspend the grazing use authorized

10 under a grazing permit for a period of time, in

11 whole or in part; or

12 (B) cancel a grazing permit or grazing

13 lease and grazing preference, in whole or in

14 part.

15 (3) CONSIDERATION OF SEVERITY.—A deter16 mination of the length of time that a grazing permit

17 or grazing lease will be withheld or suspended or

18 that a grazing permit or grazing lease will be can19 celed shall reflect the severity of the violation or fail20 ure of compliance.

21 (4) REFERRAL FOR ACTION UNDER SUBTITLE

22 F.—If a person other than a permittee or lessee vio23 lates subsection (a)(5), and the person has not made

24 satisfactory settlement under section 153, the au25 thorized officer shall refer the matter to proper au-
63

•HR 1713 IH

1 thorities for appropriate legal action by the United

2 States against the violator under subtitle F.

3 (5) SUBLEASES.—

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—A person who violates

5 subsection (b)(4) shall be required to pay to the

6 United States the dollar equivalent value, as de7 termined by the authorized officer, of all com8 pensation received for the sublease that is in ex9 cess of the sum of the established grazing fee

10 and the cost incurred by the person for the in11 stallation and maintenance of authorized range

12 improvements.

13 (B) FAILURE TO PAY.—If the dollar equiv14 alent value is not received by the authorized of15 ficer within 30 days of receipt of a final deci16 sion, the grazing permit or grazing lease shall

17 be canceled.

18 (C) ADDITIONAL PENALTY.—Payment

19 under this paragraph shall be in addition to any

20 other penalties the authorized officer may im21 pose under this subsection.

22 (6) FAILURE TO USE.—After consultation, co23 operation, and coordination, the authorized officer

24 may cancel a grazing preference to the extent of fail25 ure to use when a permittee or lessee has failed to
64

•HR 1713 IH

1 make substantial grazing use as authorized for 2

2 consecutive years.

3 Subtitle F—Unauthorized Grazing

4 Use

5 SEC. 151. LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—A person who commits a violation

7 described in section 141(a)(5) shall be liable in damages

8 to the United States for—

9 (1) the value of forage consumed by the live10 stock of the person;

11 (2) injury to Federal property caused by unau12 thorized grazing use; and

13 (3) expenses incurred in impoundment and sale

14 of the person’s livestock.

15 (b) NO LIABILITY.—In no circumstances shall a per16 son be liable in damages to the United States for expenses

17 incurred in impoundment or sale of the person’s livestock

18 if the person did not commit a violation of section

19 141(a)(5) or if the impoundment or sale was not con20 ducted in accordance with State law.

21 SEC. 152. NOTICE AND ORDER TO REMOVE.

22 (a) KNOWN OWNER.—

23 (1) SERVICE.—When it appears that a violation

24 described in section 151 has occurred or is occurring

25 and the owner of the unauthorized livestock is
65

•HR 1713 IH

1 known, an authorized officer shall serve written no2 tice of unauthorized use and an order to remove live3 stock by a specified date on the owner (or the own4 er’s agent of record) by certified mail or personal

5 delivery.

6 (2) OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND.—Written no7 tice under paragraph (1) shall allow a specified time

8 from receipt of notice for the livestock owner to—

9 (A) show that there has been no violation;

10 or

11 (B) make settlement under section 153.

12 (b) UNKNOWN OWNER.—When it appears that a vio13 lation described in section 151 has occurred or is occur14 ring and neither the owner of the unauthorized livestock

15 nor an agent of the owner is known, an authorized officer

16 may immediately proceed to impound the livestock under

17 section 154.

18 SEC. 153. SETTLEMENT.

19 (a) DETERMINATION OF WILLFULNESS.—An author20 ized officer shall determine whether a violation described

21 in section 151 is a nonwillful, willful, or second or subse22 quent willful violation.

23 (b) SECOND OR SUBSEQUENT WILLFUL VIOLA24 TIONS.—In the case of a second or subsequent willful vio25 lation, the authorized officer shall—
66

•HR 1713 IH

1 (1) suspend the grazing use authorized under a

2 grazing permit or grazing lease, in whole or in part;

3 or

4 (2) cancel a grazing permit or grazing lease and

5 grazing preference, or a free-use grazing permit or

6 other grazing authorization, in whole or in part.

7 (c) SETTLEMENT AMOUNT.—Except as provided in

8 subsection (e), the settlement amount in the case of a vio9 lation described in section 151 shall include—

10 (1) the value of forage consumed as determined

11 under subsection (d);

12 (2) the full value for all damage to Federal land

13 and other property of the United States resulting

14 from the violation; and

15 (3) all reasonable expenses incurred by the

16 United States in detecting, investigating, and resolv17 ing the violation, and livestock impoundment costs.

18 (d) VALUE OF FORAGE.—

19 (1) NONWILLFUL VIOLATION.—In the case of a

20 nonwillful violation, the value of forage consumed

21 shall be the product of—

22 (A) average monthly rate per animal unit

23 month for pasturing livestock on privately

24 owned land (excluding irrigated land) for the 16
67

•HR 1713 IH

1 western States as published annually by the De2 partment of Agriculture; and

3 (B) the period of the violation.

4 (2) WILLFUL VIOLATIONS.—In the case of a

5 willful violation, the value of forage consumed shall

6 be twice the value determined under paragraph (1).

7 (3) SECOND OR SUBSEQUENT WILLFUL VIOLA8 TIONS.—In the case of a second or subsequent will9 ful violation, the value of forage consumed shall be

10 3 times the value determined under paragraph (1).

11 (e) NONMONETARY SETTLEMENT.—An authorized

12 officer may approve a nonmonetary settlement of a case

13 of a violation described in section 151 if the authorized

14 officer determines that each of the following conditions is

15 satisfied:

16 (1) NO FAULT.—Evidence shows that the unau17 thorized use occurred through no fault of the live18 stock operator.

19 (2) INSIGNIFICANCE.—The forage use is insig20 nificant.

21 (3) NO DAMAGE.—Federal land has not been

22 damaged.

23 (4) BEST INTERESTS.—Nonmonetary settle24 ment is in the best interests of the United States.
68

•HR 1713 IH

1 (f) EFFECT OF SETTLEMENT.—Payment of a settle2 ment amount under this section shall not relieve the viola3 tor of any criminal liability under Federal or State law.

4 (g) NO GRAZING USE.—A person who is found to

5 have committed a violation described in section 151 shall

6 not be authorized to make grazing use until any settle7 ment amount found to be due under this section has been

8 paid.

9 (h) OTHER SANCTIONS.—An authorized officer may

10 cancel or suspend a grazing authorization or deny ap11 proval of an application for grazing use until a settlement

12 amount found to be due under this section has been paid.

13 SEC. 154. IMPOUNDMENT AND SALE.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to section 152(b), unau15 thorized livestock remaining on Federal land after the date

16 specified in a notice and order under section 152(a) may

17 be impounded and sold by the authorized officer, acting

18 in conjunction with the State Livestock Board.

19 (b) NOTICE OF INTENT TO IMPOUND.—

20 (1) KNOWN OWNER.—

21 (A) SERVICE.—A written notice of intent

22 to impound shall be sent by certified mail or

23 personally delivered to the livestock owner (or

24 the owner’s agent).
69

•HR 1713 IH

1 (B) CONTENTS.—The written notice shall

2 state that unauthorized livestock on specified

3 Federal land may be impounded any time after

4 10 days following delivery of the notice.

5 (2) UNKNOWN OWNER.—

6 (A) PUBLICATION AND POSTING.—If the

7 livestock owner and owner’s agent are unknown,

8 or if both a known owner and the owner’s agent

9 refuse to accept delivery of notice, a notice of

10 intent to impound shall be published in a local

11 newspaper and posted at the county courthouse

12 and a post office near the Federal land con13 cerned.

14 (B) CONTENTS.—The notice shall state

15 that unauthorized livestock on specified Federal

16 land may be impounded any time after 10 days

17 following publication and posting of the notice.

18 (c) IMPOUNDMENT.—After 10 days following delivery

19 or publication and posting of a notice under subsection

20 (b), the notice shall become effective, and unauthorized

21 livestock may be impounded without further notice any

22 time within the 12-month period following the effective

23 date of the notice.

24 (d) NOTICE OF PUBLIC SALE.—
70

•HR 1713 IH

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Following the impoundment

2 of livestock under this section, the livestock may be

3 sold by the authorized officer or, if a suitable agree4 ment is in effect, turned over to the State for sale,

5 in accordance with subsection (f).

6 (2) NOTIFICATION.—Any known livestock

7 owner (or owner’s agent) shall be notified in writing

8 by certified mail or by personal delivery of the sale

9 and the procedure by which the impounded livestock

10 may be redeemed prior to the sale.

11 (e) REDEMPTION.—An owner (or owner’s agent) or

12 lienholder of record of impounded livestock may redeem

13 the livestock in accordance with State law, prior to the

14 time of sale upon settlement with the United States under

15 section 153 or adequate showing that there has been no

16 violation.

17 (f) SALE.—If livestock are not redeemed on or before

18 the date and time fixed for sale, the livestock shall be of19 fered at public sale to the highest bidder by the authorized

20 officer under State law, or by the State.

21 Subtitle G—Procedure

22 SEC. 161. PROPOSED DECISIONS.

23 (a) PROPOSED DECISIONS ON GRAZING PERMITS OR

24 GRAZING LEASES.—
71

•HR 1713 IH

1 (1) SERVICE ON APPLICANTS, PERMITTEES,

2 LESSEES, AND LIENHOLDERS.—In the absence of a

3 written agreement between an authorized officer and

4 any applicant, grazing permittee, lessee, or

5 lienholder, the authorized officer shall serve, by cer6 tified mail or personal delivery, a proposed decision

7 on any applicant, permittee, lessee, or lienholder (or

8 agent of record of the applicant, permittee, lessee, or

9 lienholder) that is affected by—

10 (A) a proposed action on an application for

11 a grazing permit, grazing lease, or range im12 provement permit; or

13 (B) a proposed action relating to a term or

14 condition of a grazing permit, grazing lease, or

15 range improvement permit.

16 (2) CONTENTS.—A proposed decision described

17 in paragraph (1) shall—

18 (A) state reasons for the action, including

19 reference to pertinent provision of this title or

20 other applicable law (including regulations); and

21 (B) state that any protest to the proposed

22 decision must be filed not later than 15 days

23 after service.

24 (b) PROPOSED DECISIONS ON ALLEGED VIOLA25 TIONS.—
72

•HR 1713 IH

1 (1) SERVICE.—If the authorized officer deter2 mines that a permittee or lessee appears to have vio3 lated any provision of this title, the authorized offi4 cer shall serve a proposed decision on the permittee

5 or lessee (or permittee’s or lessee’s agent) by cer6 tified mail or personal delivery.

7 (2) CONTENTS.—A proposed decision shall—

8 (A) state—

9 (i) the alleged violation and refer to

10 the specific provision of this title that is al11 leged to have been violated;

12 (ii) the reasons for the proposed deci13 sion;

14 (iii) the fee due under section 137(a)

15 or settlement amount due under section

16 153; and

17 (iv) any civil penalty to be imposed

18 under section 141; and

19 (B) state that any protest to the proposed

20 decision must be filed not later than 15 days

21 after service.

22 SEC. 162. PROTESTS.

23 An applicant, permittee, lessee, or other affected in24 terest may protest a proposed decision under section 161
73

•HR 1713 IH

1 in person or in writing to the authorized officer within

2 15 days after service of the proposed decision.

3 SEC. 163. FINAL DECISIONS.

4 (a) NO PROTEST.—In the absence of a timely filed

5 protest, a proposed decision shall become the final decision

6 of the authorized officer without further notice.

7 (b) RECONSIDERATION.—If a protest is timely filed,

8 the authorized officer shall reconsider the proposed deci9 sion in light of the protestant’s statement of reasons for

10 protest and in light of other information pertinent to the

11 case.

12 (c) SERVICE.—After reviewing the protest, the au13 thorized officer shall serve a final decision on the parties

14 to the proceeding.

15 SEC. 164. APPEALS.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a final decision of

17 an authorized officer with respect to which a protest under

18 section 162 was timely filed, a permittee, lessee, or af19 fected interest may appeal the final decision for the pur20 pose of a hearing before an administrative law judge by

21 filing a notice of appeal in the office of the authorized

22 officer within 30 days after the service of the final deci23 sion.

24 (b) SUSPENSION PENDING APPEAL.—
74

•HR 1713 IH

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—An appeal of a final decision

2 shall suspend the effect of the decision pending final

3 action on the appeal unless the decision is made ef4 fective pending appeal under paragraph (2).

5 (2) EFFECTIVENESS PENDING APPEAL.—

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—A District Manager of

7 the Bureau of Land Management may order

8 that a decision on a grazing permit application

9 shall remain in effect during an appeal of the

10 decision if it is determined that imminent and

11 irreversible damage to land resources would be

12 likely to result from delay of effectiveness of the

13 decision.

14 (B) BASIS OF ORDER.—An order under

15 subparagraph (A) shall be made in accordance

16 with—

17 (i) state-of-the-art science;

18 (ii) information and opinions offered

19 by State land grant universities; and

20 (iii) the preponderance of evidence

21 gathered in the proceeding.

22 (c) EXPEDITIOUS DISMISSAL OF NONMERITORIOUS

23 APPEALS.—The District Manager shall—

24 (1) examine each appeal as soon as practicable

25 after it is filed; and
75

•HR 1713 IH

1 (2) expeditiously dismiss an appeal that does

2 not raise a substantially meritorious issue.

3 (d) AUTHORITY.—A final decision of an appeal shall

4 be issued by a District Manager.

5 Subtitle H—Advisory Committees

6 SEC. 171. PURPOSE.

7 This subtitle contains standards and procedures for

8 the establishment, operation, and termination of advisory

9 committees to advise the Secretary on matters relating to

10 grazing on Federal land and resources under the adminis11 trative jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management.

12 SEC. 172. OBJECTIVE.

13 The objective of an advisory committee established

14 under this subtitle is to provide to the Secretary expert

15 recommendations of concerned, knowledgeable citizens

16 and public officials regarding—

17 (1) the formulation of operating guidelines; and

18 (2) the preparation and execution of plans and

19 programs for the use and management of Federal

20 land, the natural and cultural resources on Federal

21 land, and the environment.

22 SEC. 173. RELATION TO OTHER LAW.

23 Except to the extent that the following laws may be

24 inconsistent with this subtitle, the following laws shall
76

•HR 1713 IH

1 apply to an advisory committee established under this sub2 title:

3 (1) The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5

4 U.S.C. App.).

5 (2) The Federal Land Policy and Management

6 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.).

7 (3) Section 2 of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of

8 1950 (5 U.S.C. App.).

9 SEC. 174. POLICY.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—After consultation, cooperation,

11 and coordination with State and local government officials,

12 the Secretary shall establish advisory committees rep13 resentative of major citizens’ interests to advise the Sec14 retary regarding policy formulation, program planning,

15 decisionmaking, attainment of program objectives, and

16 achievement of improved program coordination and econo17 mies in the management of Federal land and resources.

18 (b) OPTIMAL EMPLOYMENT.—The Secretary shall

19 ensure that—

20 (1) advisory committees are optimally utilized;

21 and

22 (2) the number of advisory committees is lim23 ited to the number that is essential to the conduct

24 of the public’s business.
77

•HR 1713 IH

1 SEC. 175. GENERAL PROVISIONS.

2 (a) CHARTERS.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—For each advisory committee

4 established by the Secretary, the Secretary shall—

5 (A) prepare a charter describing the advi6 sory committee’s structure and functions; and

7 (B) file the charter with the Committee on

8 Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate

9 and the Committee on Resources of the House

10 of Representatives.

11 (2) AMENDMENT.—Except for the correction of

12 errors and other minor changes, a charter filed

13 under paragraph (1) shall not be amended without

14 authorization by an Act of Congress.

15 (b) CALLS FOR NOMINATIONS.—Candidates for ap16 pointment to an advisory committee shall be sought

17 through public calls for nominations made through publi18 cation in the Federal Register and through media releases

19 and systematic contacts with State and local government

20 officials and individuals and organizations interested in

21 the use and management of Federal land and resources.

22 (c) COMPOSITION.—

23 (1) STRUCTURE.—An advisory committee shall

24 be structured—

25 (A) to provide fair membership balance

26 (geographic and interest-specific) in terms of
78

•HR 1713 IH

1 the functions to be performed and points of

2 view to be represented, as prescribed by the ad3 visory committee’s charter; and

4 (B) to provide representative advice about

5 Federal land and resource planning, retention,

6 management, and disposal.

7 (2) NO DISCRIMINATION.—No person shall be

8 denied an opportunity to serve on an advisory com9 mittee because of race, age, sex, religion, or national

10 origin.

11 (3) QUALIFICATIONS.—A person shall be quali12 fied to serve on an advisory committee if—

13 (A) the person’s education, training, or ex14 perience enables the person to give informed

15 and objective advice regarding an industry, dis16 cipline, or interest specified in the committee’s

17 charter;

18 (B) the person has demonstrated experi19 ence or knowledge of the geographical area

20 under the purview of the advisory committee;

21 and

22 (C) the person has demonstrated a com23 mitment to seeking consensus solutions to re24 source management issues.

25 (d) AVOIDANCE OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—
79

•HR 1713 IH

1 (1) PARTICIPATION IN DELIBERATIONS.—An

2 advisory committee member shall not participate in

3 deliberations or vote on any matter if the decision of

4 the matter would, on its face or as applied, affect

5 only an interest held by that member and not the in6 terests of permittees, lessees, or other affected inter7 ests generally.

8 (2) DISCLOSURE OF INTERESTS.—

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each member of an ad10 visory committee shall be required to disclose

11 the member’s direct or indirect interest in graz12 ing leases, licenses, permits, contracts, or

13 claims and related litigation that involve lands

14 or resources administered by the Secretary.

15 (B) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the

16 term ‘‘indirect interest’’ includes holdings of a

17 spouse or dependent children of a member.

18 (e) TERMINATION OF SERVICE.—The Secretary may,

19 after written notice, terminate the service of a member

20 of an advisory committee if—

21 (1) the member—

22 (A) no longer meets the requirements

23 under which elected or appointed;

24 (B) fails or is unable to participate regu25 larly in committee work; or
80

•HR 1713 IH

1 (C) has violated Federal law (including a

2 regulation); or

3 (2) in the judgment of the Secretary, termi4 nation is in the public interest.

5 (f) COMPENSATION AND REIMBURSEMENT OF EX6 PENSES.—A member of an advisory committee shall not

7 receive any compensation or reimbursement of expenses

8 in connection with the performance of the member’s duties

9 as a member of the advisory committee.

10 SEC. 176. RESOURCE ADVISORY COUNCILS.

11 (a) RESOURCE ADVISORY COUNCIL FOR EACH GRAZ12 ING DISTRICT.—The Secretary, after consultation, co13 operation, and coordination with the State and affected

14 counties, shall appoint not fewer than 9 nor more than

15 15 persons to serve on a resource advisory council for each

16 grazing district.

17 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—

18 (1) REPRESENTATION OF INTERESTS.—The

19 members of a resource advisory council shall be se20 lected from among persons that represent historical

21 use, multiple uses, affected landowners, county social

22 and economic interests, elected State and county of23 ficers, and the public at large.
81

•HR 1713 IH

1 (2) PERMITTEES AND LESSEES.—Permittees

2 and lessees may be appointed to serve on a resource

3 advisory council.

4 (3) RESIDENCY.—Members of a resource advi5 sory council shall be residents of the State in which

6 the grazing district is situated.

7 (4) TERMS.—

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—A member of a re9 source advisory council shall serve a 3-year

10 term, except that as nearly as possible one-third

11 of the initial members shall be appointed for a

12 1-year term and one-third of the initial mem13 bers shall be appointed for a 2-year term.

14 (B) MEMBERS EX OFFICIO.—On the de15 parture from elective office of a member of a

16 resource advisory council who was appointed on

17 the basis of the member’s status as an elected

18 official of general purpose government serving

19 the people of the grazing district for which the

20 resource advisory council is established prior to

21 the end of the member’s term, the newly elected

22 official shall serve the remainder of the mem23 ber’s term.

24 (C) VACANCIES.—A vacancy occurring by

25 reason of removal, resignation, or death of a
82

•HR 1713 IH

1 member of a resource advisory council shall be

2 filled for the balance of the member’s term

3 using the same method by which the member

4 was appointed.

5 (D) REAPPOINTMENT.—

6 (i) SECOND CONSECUTIVE TERM.—A

7 member of a resource advisory council who

8 has served a 3-year term on a resource ad9 visory council may be reappointed to a sec10 ond consecutive 3-year term.

11 (ii) SUBSEQUENT TERM.—A member

12 of a resource advisory council who has

13 served 2 consecutive 3-year terms may be

14 subsequently reappointed no earlier than 3

15 years after the member’s last date of mem16 bership on that resource advisory council,

17 except that the Secretary may reappoint

18 the member to a 1-year term if the Sec19 retary determines that the member’s con20 tinued or renewed service on the resource

21 advisory council is in the public interest

22 and is critical to the effective functioning

23 of the resource advisory council.

24 (E) DATE OF APPOINTMENT.—For the

25 purpose of eligibility for reappointment under
83

•HR 1713 IH

1 subparagraph (C) or (D), an appointment shall

2 be considered to be made on January 1 of the

3 first year of the term to which a member is ap4 pointed regardless of the date on which the ap5 pointment is actually made.

6 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—A resource advisory council

8 shall have the responsibility of advising the Sec9 retary and appropriate State officials on major man10 agement decisions while working within the broad

11 management goals established for the grazing dis12 trict.

13 (2) LAND USE PLANS.—A resource advisory

14 council shall advise the Secretary regarding the

15 preparation, amendment, and implementation of

16 land use plans for Federal land and resources within

17 the grazing district.

18 (3) ALLOCATION AND EXPENDITURE OF

19 FUNDS.—Except for the purposes of long-range

20 planning and the establishment of resource manage21 ment priorities, a resource advisory council shall not

22 provide the Secretary advice regarding—

23 (A) the allocation or expenditure of funds;

24 or

25 (B) personnel actions.
84

•HR 1713 IH

1 (d) DISREGARD OF ADVICE.—

2 (1) REQUEST FOR RESPONSE.—If a resource

3 advisory council becomes concerned that its advice is

4 being arbitrarily disregarded, the resource advisory

5 council may, by unanimous vote of its members, re6 quest that the Secretary respond directly to the re7 source advisory council’s concerns within 60 days

8 after the Secretary receives the request.

9 (2) EFFECT OF RESPONSE.—The response of

10 the Secretary to a request under paragraph (1) shall

11 not—

12 (A) constitute a decision on the merits of

13 any issue that is or might become the subject

14 of an administrative appeal; or

15 (B) be subject to appeal.

16 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—Administrative sup17 port for a resource advisory council shall be provided by

18 the office of the authorized officer.

19 SEC. 177. GRAZING ADVISORY COUNCILS.

20 (a) GRAZING ADVISORY COUNCIL FOR EACH GRAZ21 ING DISTRICT.—The Secretary, in consultation with the

22 State and affected counties, shall appoint not fewer than

23 5 nor more than 9 persons to serve on a grazing advisory

24 council for each grazing district.

25 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—
85

•HR 1713 IH

1 (1) REPRESENTATION OF INTERESTS.—The

2 members of a grazing advisory council shall be se3 lected from among persons that represent permit4 tees, lessees, affected landowners, county social and

5 economic interests, and elected State and county of6 ficers.

7 (2) PERMITTEES AND LESSEES.—Permittees

8 and lessees shall constitute the majority of the mem9 bership of a grazing advisory council.

10 (3) RESIDENCY.—Members of a grazing advi11 sory council shall be residents of a community within

12 or adjacent to the grazing district.

13 (4) TERMS.—An appointment to a grazing ad14 visory council shall be for a 2-year term.

15 (5) REAPPOINTMENT.—A member of a grazing

16 advisory council may be appointed to additional

17 terms.

18 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—A grazing advisory council

19 shall set range improvement objectives, advise on the ex20 penditure of range improvement funds under the Public

21 Rangelands Improvement Act of 1978 (43 U.S.C. 1901

22 et seq.), advise on grazing management programs and im23 plementation, and address range management decisions

24 and actions at the allotment management plan level or

25 permit management plan level.
86

•HR 1713 IH

1 (d) DISREGARD OF ADVICE.—

2 (1) REQUEST FOR RESPONSE.—If a grazing ad3 visory council becomes concerned that its advice is

4 being arbitrarily disregarded, the grazing advisory

5 council may, by unanimous vote of its members, re6 quest that the Secretary respond directly to the

7 grazing advisory council’s concerns within 60 days

8 after the Secretary receives the request.

9 (2) EFFECT OF RESPONSE.—The response of

10 the Secretary to a request under paragraph (1) shall

11 not—

12 (A) constitute a decision on the merits of

13 any issue that is or might become the subject

14 of an administrative appeal; or

15 (B) be subject to appeal.

16 SEC. 178. MEETINGS.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—All meetings of an advisory com18 mittee and associated field examinations shall be open to

19 the public and news media.

20 (b) NOTICE OF MEETINGS.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—A notice of a meeting of an

22 advisory committee shall be published in the Federal

23 Register and distributed to the news media at least

24 30 days in advance of the meeting.
87

•HR 1713 IH

1 (2) URGENT MATTERS.—If an urgent matter

2 arises, a notice of a meeting of an advisory commit3 tee shall be published in the Federal Register and

4 distributed to the news media at least 15 days in ad5 vance of the meeting.

6 (3) CONTENTS.—A notice of a meeting of an

7 advisory committee shall state the date, time, and

8 place of the meeting and describe the topics or is9 sues to be discussed at the meeting.

10 (c) APPEARANCES.—Any person may appear before

11 or file a statement with an advisory committee regarding

12 matters on the meeting agenda.

13 (d) SCHEDULING.—The scheduling of meetings of an

14 advisory committee and the preparation of agenda shall

15 be done in a manner that encourages and facilitates public

16 attendance and participation.

17 (e) EXTENSION OF TIME.—The amount of time

18 scheduled for a meeting of an advisory committee may be

19 extended if an authorized officer considers it necessary to

20 accommodate all who seek to be heard regarding matters

21 on the agenda.

22 (f) AUTHORITY TO SCHEDULE.—An advisory com23 mittee shall meet only at the call of the Secretary or of

24 an authorized officer.
88

•HR 1713 IH

1 (g) ATTENDANCE BY AUTHORIZED OFFICER.—No

2 meeting of an advisory committee shall be held in the ab3 sence of an authorized officer or designee of an authorized

4 officer.

5 (h) AGENDA.—A meeting of an advisory committee

6 shall be conducted with close adherence to the agenda ap7 proved in advance by an authorized officer.

8 (i) ADJOURNMENT.—An authorized officer may ad9 journ a meeting of an advisory committee at any time if—

10 (1) continuance would be inconsistent with the

11 purpose for which the meeting was called or with the

12 rules established for the conduct of the advisory

13 committee; or

14 (2) adjournment is determined to be in the pub15 lic interest.

16 (j) RECORDS.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Detailed records shall be

18 kept of each meeting of an advisory committee.

19 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The records of a meeting

20 of an advisory committee shall include, at a mini21 mum—

22 (A) the time and place of the meeting;

23 (B) copies of the Federal Register and

24 other public notices announcing the meeting;
89

•HR 1713 IH

1 (C) a list of members of the advisory com2 mittee and of Federal employees (in the capac3 ity of Federal employee) present;

4 (D) a list of members of the public

5 present, and a description of the interest rep6 resented by each member;

7 (E) the meeting agenda;

8 (F) a complete summary description of

9 matters discussed and conclusions reached;

10 (G) a list of recommendations made by the

11 advisory committee;

12 (H) copies of all reports received, issued,

13 or approved by the advisory committee; and

14 (I) a description of the nature of public

15 participation.

16 (3) CERTIFICATION BY CHAIRPERSON.—The

17 Chairperson of an advisory committee shall certify

18 the accuracy of the records of the advisory commit19 tee.

20 (4) AVAILABILITY FOR INSPECTION AND COPY21 ING.—All records, reports, transcripts, minutes, rec22 ommendations, studies, working papers, and other

23 documents prepared by or submitted to an advisory

24 committee shall be available for public inspection
90

•HR 1713 IH

1 and copying in the Federal office responsible for

2 support of the advisory committee.

3 (k) SUBCOMMITTEES.—Each of the requirements of

4 this section that applies to an advisory committee applies

5 to any subcommittee of an advisory committee.

6 SEC. 179. CONFORMING AMENDMENT AND REPEAL.

7 (a) AMENDMENT.—The third sentence of section

8 402(d) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act

9 of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1752(d)) is amended by striking ‘‘dis10 trict grazing advisory boards established pursuant to sec11 tion 403 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act

12 (43 U.S.C. 1753)’’ and inserting ‘‘grazing advisory coun13 cils established under section 177 of the Livestock Grazing

14 Act’’.

15 (b) REPEAL.—Section 403 of the Federal Land Pol16 icy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1753) is re17 pealed.

18 Subtitle I—Reports

19 SEC. 181. REPORTS.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than March 1, 1997,

21 and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to

22 Congress a report that contains—

23 (1) an itemization of revenues received and

24 costs incurred directly in connection with the man25 agement of grazing on Federal land; and
91

•HR 1713 IH

1 (2) recommendations for reducing administra2 tive costs and improving the overall efficiency of

3 Federal rangeland management.

4 (b) ITEMIZATION.—If the itemization of costs under

5 subsection (a)(1) includes any costs incurred in connection

6 with the implementation of any law other than a statute

7 cited in section 102, the Secretary shall indicate with spec8 ificity the costs associated with implementation of each

9 such statute.

10 (c) SUSPENSION OF IMPLEMENTATION OF OTHER

11 LAW IN ABSENCE OF REPORT.—During any period in

12 which a report due to be submitted under subsection (a)

13 has not been submitted in accordance with the require14 ments of this section, the Secretary shall conduct livestock

15 grazing management on Federal land without regard to

16 any law other than a statute cited in section 102.

17 TITLE II—GRASSLAND

18 SEC. 201. REMOVAL OF GRASSLANDS FROM NATIONAL FOR19 EST SYSTEM.

20 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that the inclusion of

21 the National Grasslands (and land utilization projects ad22 ministered under title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm

23 Tenant Act) within the National Forest System constrains

24 the Secretary of Agriculture in managing the National
92

•HR 1713 IH

1 Grasslands as intended under title III of the Bankhead2 Jones Farm Tenant Act (7 U.S.C. 1010 et seq.).

3 (b) AMENDMENT OF THE FOREST AND RANGELAND

4 RENEWABLE RESOURCES PLANNING ACT OF 1974.—Sec5 tion 11(a) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Re6 sources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a)) is

7 amended in the second sentence by striking ‘‘the national

8 grasslands and land utilization projects administered

9 under title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act

10 (50 Stat. 525, 7 U.S.C. 1010–1012),’’.

11 (c) AMENDMENT OF THE BANKHEAD-JONES FARM

12 TENANT ACT.—Section 31 of the Bankhead-Jones Farm

13 Tenant Act (7 U.S.C. 1010) is amended by adding the

14 following:

15 ‘‘SEC. 31. LAND CONSERVATION AND LAND UTILIZATION.

16 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To accomplish the purposes

18 of the Livestock Grazing Act, the Secretary shall de19 velop a program of land conservation and utilization

20 as a basis for grassland agriculture, to promote se21 cure occupancy and economic stability of farms, and

22 thus assist in controlling soil erosion, preserving nat23 ural resources, protecting fish and wildlife, develop24 ing and protecting recreational facilities, mitigating

25 flood damage, preventing impairment of dams and
93

•HR 1713 IH

1 reservoirs, developing energy resources, protecting

2 the watersheds of navigable streams, conserving sur3 face and subsurface moisture, and protecting public

4 land, health, safety and welfare.

5 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—In carrying out paragraph

6 (1), the Secretary shall not build an industrial park

7 or establish a private industrial or commercial enter8 prise.

9 ‘‘(b) LIVESTOCK GRAZING LEASES.—The Secretary,

10 in cooperation and coordination with grazing associations,

11 shall issue renewable livestock grazing leases to achieve

12 the land conservation and utilization goals of this sec13 tion.’’.

14 (d) CONSERVATION PROGRAMS.—In managing live15 stock grazing on National Grasslands under title I, the

16 Secretary of the Interior may continue to establish and

17 implement conservation programs authorized by title III

18 the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act (7 U.S.C. 1010 et

19 seq.).

Æ

HR 1713 IH——2

HR 1713 IH——3

HR 1713 IH——4

HR 1713 IH——5

HR 1713 IH——6
94

•HR 1713 IH

HR 1713 IH——7