II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1417 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to develop a categorical exclusion 

for covered vegetative management activities carried out to establish 

or improve habitat for greater sage-grouse and mule deer, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 22, 2017 

Mr. HATCH (for himself and Mr. HEINRICH) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to develop a categorical exclusion for covered vegetative management activities carried out to establish or improve habitat for greater sage-grouse and mule deer, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sage-Grouse and Mule 

5 Deer Habitat Conservation and Restoration Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) COVERED VEGETATION MANAGEMENT AC2 TIVITY.— 

3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered 

4 vegetation management activity’’ means any ac5 tivity described in subparagraph (B) that— 

6 (i) meets the objectives of the order of 

7 the Secretary numbered 3336 and dated 

8 January 5, 2015; 

9 (ii) conforms to an applicable land use 

10 plan; 

11 (iii) protects, restores, or improves 

12 greater sage-grouse or mule deer habitat; 

13 (iv) will not permanently impair— 

14 (I) the natural state of the treat15 ed area; 

16 (II) outstanding opportunities for 

17 solitude; 

18 (III) outstanding opportunities 

19 for primitive, unconfined recreation; 

20 or 

21 (IV) the identified values of a 

22 unit of the National Landscape Con23 servation System; and 

24 (v)(I) restores native vegetation fol25 lowing a natural disturbance; 


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1 (II) prevents the expansion into great2 er sage-grouse or mule deer habitat of— 

3 (aa) juniper, pin ̃on pine, or any 

4 other conifer; or 

5 (bb) nonnative or invasive vegeta6 tion; 

7 (III) reduces the risk of loss of great8 er sage-grouse or mule deer habitat from 

9 wildfire or any other natural disturbance; 

10 or 

11 (IV) provides emergency stabilization 

12 of soil resources after a natural disturb13 ance. 

14 (B) DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES.—An ac15 tivity referred to in subparagraph (A) is— 

16 (i) manual cutting and removal of ju17 niper trees, pin ̃on pine trees, other coni18 fers, or other nonnative or invasive vegeta19 tion; 

20 (ii) mechanical mastication, cutting, 

21 or mowing, mechanical piling and burning, 

22 chaining, broadcast burning, or yarding; 

23 (iii) removal of cheat grass, medusa 

24 head rye, other nonnative vegetation, or an 

25 invasive species; 


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1 (iv) collection and seeding or planting 

2 of native vegetation using a manual, me3 chanical, or aerial method; 

4 (v) seeding of nonnative vegetation 

5 only for the purpose of emergency sta6 bilization; 

7 (vi) use of an herbicide, pesticide, or 

8 biological control agent, subject to the con9 dition that the use shall be in accordance 

10 with applicable legal requirements, Federal 

11 agency procedures, and land use plans; 

12 (vii) targeted or late-season livestock 

13 grazing to mitigate hazardous fuels and 

14 control noxious and invasive weeds; 

15 (viii) temporary removal of wild 

16 horses or burros in the area in which the 

17 activity is being carried out to ensure 

18 treatment objectives are met; 

19 (ix) temporary suspension of per20 mitted grazing use until restoration treat21 ment objectives are met; 

22 (x) installation of new, or modification 

23 of existing, fencing or water sources in24 tended to control use or improve wildlife 

25 habitat; or 


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1 (xi) construction of temporary roads. 

2 (C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘covered 

3 vegetation management activity’’ does not in4 clude— 

5 (i) any activity conducted in a wilder6 ness area or wilderness study area; or 

7 (ii) any activity for the construction of 

8 a permanent road or permanent trail. 

9 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

10 the Secretary of the Interior. 

11 (3) TEMPORARY ROAD.—The term ‘‘temporary 

12 road’’ means a road that is— 

13 (A) authorized— 

14 (i) by a contract, permit, lease, other 

15 written authorization; or 

16 (ii) pursuant to an emergency oper17 ation; 

18 (B) not intended to be part of the perma19 nent transportation system of a Federal depart20 ment or agency; 

21 (C) not necessary for long-term resource 

22 management; and 

23 (D) designed in accordance with standards 

24 appropriate for the intended use of the road, 

25 taking into consideration— 


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1 (i) safety; 

2 (ii) the cost of transportation; and 

3 (iii) impacts to land and resources. 

4 SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENT OF HABITAT FOR GREATER SAGE5 GROUSE AND MULE DEER. 

6 (a) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

8 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

9 shall develop one or more categorical exclusions (as 

10 defined in section 1508.4 of title 40, Code of Fed11 eral Regulations (or a successor regulation)) for cov12 ered vegetative management activities carried out to 

13 establish or improve habitat for greater sage-grouse 

14 and mule deer. 

15 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—In developing and ad16 ministering a categorical exclusion under paragraph 

17 (1), the Secretary shall— 

18 (A) be consistent with the National Envi19 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 

20 et seq.); 

21 (B) apply the extraordinary circumstances 

22 procedures under section 220.6 of title 36, Code 

23 of Federal Regulations (or successor regula24 tions), in determining whether to use the cat25 egorical exclusion; and 


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1 (C) consider— 

2 (i) the relative efficacy of landscape3 scale habitat projects; 

4 (ii) the likelihood of continued de5 clines in the populations of greater sage6 grouse and mule deer in the absence of 

7 landscape-scale vegetation management; 

8 and 

9 (iii) the need for habitat restoration 

10 activities after wildfire or other natural 

11 disturbances. 

12 (b) LONG-TERM MONITORING AND MAINTENANCE.— 

13 Before commencing any covered vegetative management 

14 activity that is covered by a categorical exclusion under 

15 subsection (a), the Secretary shall develop a long-term 

16 monitoring and maintenance plan, covering at least the 

17 20 year-period beginning on the date of commencement, 

18 to ensure that management of the treated area does not 

19 degrade the habitat gains secured by the covered vegeta20 tive management activity. 

21 (c) DISPOSAL OF VEGETATIVE MATERIAL.—Subject 

22 to applicable local restrictions, any vegetative material re23 sulting from a covered vegetation management activity 

24 that is covered by a categorical exclusion under subsection 

25 (a) may be— 


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1 (1) used for— 

2 (A) fuel wood; or 

3 (B) other products; or 

4 (2) piled or burned, or both. 

5 (d) TREATMENT FOR TEMPORARY ROADS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—A temporary road con7 structed in connection with a covered vegetation 

8 management activity that is a categorical exclusion 

9 under subsection (a) shall be treated to ensure the 

10 reestablishment of native vegetative cover by artifi11 cial or natural means, as necessary to minimize ero12 sion from any area disturbed by the construction or 

13 use of the temporary road. 

14 (2) REQUIREMENT.—A treatment under para15 graph (1) shall be designed to reestablish vegetative 

16 cover— 

17 (A) as soon as practicable; but 

18 (B) not later than 10 years after the date 

19 of completion of the applicable covered vegeta20 tion management activity. 

Æ 


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