II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1508 

To amend the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act 

of 2000 to modify the authorized uses of certain county funds and 

to extend the deadline for participating counties to initiate projects 

and obligate funds. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 29, 2017 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. CRAPO, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. 

RISCH, Mr. HATCH, and Mrs. MURRAY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Secure Rural Schools and Community SelfDetermination Act of 2000 to modify the authorized 

uses of certain county funds and to extend the deadline 

for participating counties to initiate projects and obligate 

funds. 

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

3 SECTION 1. AUTHORIZED USES OF COUNTY FUNDS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 302(a) of the Secure 

5 Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 


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•S 1508 IS

1 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7142(a)) is amended by striking para2 graphs (2) and (3) and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(2) to reimburse the participating county 

4 for— 

5 ‘‘(A) search and rescue and other emer6 gency services, including firefighting, law en7 forcement patrols, and evacuations, that are— 

8 ‘‘(i) performed on Federal land after 

9 the date on which the use was approved 

10 under subsection (b); and 

11 ‘‘(ii) paid for by the participating 

12 county; 

13 ‘‘(B) search and rescue preparedness train14 ing; and 

15 ‘‘(C) capital equipment, equipment mainte16 nance, and other purchases relating to carrying 

17 out search and rescue and other emergency 

18 services; and 

19 ‘‘(3) to develop and implement community wild20 fire protection plans in coordination with the appro21 priate Secretary concerned.’’. 

22 (b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.— 

23 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

24 (A) APPROVED COUNTY FUNDS.—The 

25 term ‘‘approved county funds’’ means county 


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1 funds (as defined in section 301 of the Secure 

2 Rural Schools and Community Self-Determina3 tion Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7141)) the use of 

4 which, as of the date of enactment of this Act, 

5 has been approved under section 302(b) of that 

6 Act (16 U.S.C. 7142(b)) for an authorized use 

7 described in section 302(a) of that Act (as in 

8 effect on the day before the date of enactment 

9 of this Act). 

10 (B) NEW AUTHORIZED USE.—The term 

11 ‘‘new authorized use’’ means— 

12 (i) a law enforcement patrol or evacu13 ation authorized under subparagraph (A) 

14 of section 302(a)(2) of the Secure Rural 

15 Schools and Community Self-Determina16 tion Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7142(a)(2)) 

17 (as amended by subsection (a)); and 

18 (ii) any other authorized use described 

19 in subparagraph (B) or (C) of section 

20 302(a)(2) of that Act (16 U.S.C. 

21 7142(a)(2)) (as so amended). 

22 (C) PARTICIPATING COUNTY.—The term 

23 ‘‘participating county’’ has the meaning given 

24 the term in section 301 of the Secure Rural 


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1 Schools and Community Self-Determination Act 

2 of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7141). 

3 (2) NEW AUTHORIZED USES.—Notwithstanding 

4 section 302(b) of the Secure Rural Schools and 

5 Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 

6 U.S.C. 7142(b)), effective beginning on the date of 

7 enactment of this Act, a participating county may 

8 use any approved county funds for a new authorized 

9 use. 

10 SEC. 2. REALLOCATION OF COUNTY FUNDS. 

11 Section 302 of the Secure Rural Schools and Commu12 nity Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7142) is 

13 amended by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(c) REALLOCATION OF COUNTY FUNDS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A participating county may 

16 reallocate county funds that have been allocated for 

17 a use described in subsection (a) for a different use 

18 described in subsection (a). 

19 ‘‘(2) PROPOSALS.—A participating county may 

20 reallocate county funds under paragraph (1) only 

21 after a 45-day public comment period, at the begin22 ning of which the participating county shall publish 

23 in any publications of local record a proposal that 

24 describes the proposed use of the county funds to be 

25 reallocated.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY. 

2 Section 304 of the Secure Rural Schools and Commu3 nity Self-Determination Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7144) is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘2017’’ and 

6 inserting ‘‘2019’’; and 

7 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(b) AVAILABILITY.—County funds shall remain 

10 available until expended.’’. 

Æ 


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