II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1238 

To amend the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 to provide for the conduct 

of projects that protect forests, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 14, 2005 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. BINGAMAN, and Mr. DOMENICI) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 to provide 

for the conduct of projects that protect forests, 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 ‘‘Public Lands Corps 

5 Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE PUBLIC LANDS CORPS ACT 

7 OF 1993. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 203 of the Public Lands 

9 Corps Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1722) is amended— 
2 

•S 1238 IS

1 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (8), (9), (10), 

2 and (11) as paragraphs (9), (10), (11), and (13), re3 spectively; 

4 (2) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(8) PRIORITY PROJECT.—The term ‘priority 

7 project’ means an appropriate conservation project 

8 conducted on eligible service lands to further 1 or 

9 more of the purposes of the Healthy Forests Res10 toration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.), as 

11 follows: 

12 ‘‘(A) To reduce wildfire risk to a commu13 nity, municipal water supply, or other at-risk 

14 Federal land. 

15 ‘‘(B) To protect a watershed or address a 

16 threat to forest and rangeland health, including 

17 catastrophic wildfire. 

18 ‘‘(C) To address the impact of insect or 

19 disease infestations or other damaging agents 

20 on forest and rangeland health. 

21 ‘‘(D) To protect, restore, or enhance forest 

22 ecosystem components to— 

23 ‘‘(i) promote the recovery of threat24 ened or endangered species; 

25 ‘‘(ii) improve biological diversity; or 
3 

•S 1238 IS

1 ‘‘(iii) enhance productivity and carbon 

2 sequestration.’’; and 

3 (3) by inserting after paragraph (11) (as redes4 ignated by paragraph (1)) the following: 

5 ‘‘(12) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ 

6 means— 

7 ‘‘(A) with respect to National Forest Sys8 tem land, the Secretary of Agriculture; and 

9 ‘‘(B) with respect to Indian lands, Hawai10 ian home lands, or land administered by the 

11 Department of the Interior, the Secretary of the 

12 Interior.’’. 

13 (b) QUALIFIED YOUTH OR CONSERVATION CORPS.— 

14 Section 204(c) of the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 

15 U.S.C. 1723(c)) is amended— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary of the Interior 

17 and the Secretary of Agriculture are’’ and inserting 

18 the following: 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is’’; and 

20 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(2) PREFERENCE.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of enter23 ing into contracts and cooperative agreements 

24 under paragraph (1), the Secretary may give 

25 preference to qualified youth or conservation 
4 

•S 1238 IS

1 corps located in a specific area that have a sub2 stantial portion of members who are economi3 cally, physically, or educationally disadvantaged 

4 to carry out projects within the area. 

5 ‘‘(B) PRIORITY PROJECTS.—In carrying 

6 out priority projects in a specific area, the Sec7 retary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, 

8 give preference to qualified youth or conserva9 tion corps located in that specific area that 

10 have a substantial portion of members who are 

11 economically, physically, or educationally dis12 advantaged.’’. 

13 (c) CONSERVATION PROJECTS.—Section 204(d) of 

14 the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1723(d)) 

15 is amended— 

16 (1) in the first sentence— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘The Secretary of the Inte18 rior and the Secretary of Agriculture may each’’ 

19 and inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may’’; and 

21 (B) by striking ‘‘such Secretary’’ and in22 serting ‘‘the Secretary’’; 

23 (2) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘Appro24 priate conservation’’ and inserting the following: 
5 

•S 1238 IS

1 ‘‘(2) PROJECTS ON INDIAN LANDS.—Appro2 priate conservation’’; and 

3 (3) by striking the third sentence and inserting 

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘(3) DISASTER PREVENTION OR RELIEF

6 PROJECTS.—The Secretary may authorize appro7 priate conservation projects and other appropriate 

8 projects to be carried out on Federal, State, local, or 

9 private land as part of a Federal disaster prevention 

10 or relief effort.’’. 

11 (d) CONSERVATION CENTERS AND PROGRAM SUP12 PORT.—Section 205 of the Public Lands Corps Act of 

13 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1724) is amended— 

14 (1) by striking the heading and inserting the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 205. CONSERVATION CENTERS AND PROGRAM SUP17 PORT.’’; 

18 (2) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT AND USE.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may estab22 lish and use conservation centers owned and oper23 ated by the Secretary for— 

24 ‘‘(A) use by the Public Lands Corps; and 
6 

•S 1238 IS

1 ‘‘(B) the conduct of appropriate conserva2 tion projects under this title. 

3 ‘‘(2) ASSISTANCE FOR CONSERVATION CEN4 TERS.—The Secretary may provide to a conservation 

5 center established under paragraph (1) any services, 

6 facilities, equipment, and supplies that the Secretary 

7 determines to be necessary for the conservation cen8 ter. 

9 ‘‘(3) STANDARDS FOR CONSERVATION CEN10 TERS.—The Secretary shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) establish basic standards of health, 

12 nutrition, sanitation, and safety for all con13 servation centers established under paragraph 

14 (1); and 

15 ‘‘(B) ensure that the standards established 

16 under subparagraph (A) are enforced. 

17 ‘‘(4) MANAGEMENT.—As the Secretary deter18 mines to be appropriate, the Secretary may enter 

19 into a contract or other appropriate arrangement 

20 with a State or local government agency or private 

21 organization to provide for the management of a 

22 conservation center.’’; and 

23 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(d) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may provide any 

25 services, facilities, equipment, supplies, technical assist-
7 

•S 1238 IS

1 ance, oversight, monitoring, or evaluations that are appro2 priate to carry out this title.’’. 

3 (e) LIVING ALLOWANCES AND TERMS OF SERVICE.— 

4 Section 207 of the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 

5 U.S.C. 1726) is amended— 

6 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(a) LIVING ALLOWANCES.—The Secretary shall pro9 vide each participant in the Public Lands Corps and each 

10 resource assistant with a living allowance in an amount 

11 established by the Secretary.’’; and 

12 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(c) HIRING.—The Secretary may— 

14 ‘‘(1) grant to a member of the Public Lands 

15 Corps credit for time served with the Public Lands 

16 Corps, which may be used toward future Federal 

17 hiring; and 

18 ‘‘(2) provide to a former member of the Public 

19 Lands Corps noncompetitive hiring status for a pe20 riod of not more than 120 days after the date on 

21 which the member’s service with the Public Lands 

22 Corps is complete.’’. 

23 (f) FUNDING.—The Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 

24 is amended— 
8 

•S 1238 IS

1 (1) in section 210 (16 U.S.C. 1729), by adding 

2 at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(c) OTHER FUNDS.—Amounts appropriated pursu4 ant to the authorization of appropriations under section 

5 211 are in addition to amounts allocated to the Public 

6 Lands Corps through other Federal programs or 

7 projects.’’; and 

8 (2) by inserting after section 210 the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 211. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro11 priated to carry out this title $15,000,000 for each fiscal 

12 year, of which $10,000,000 is authorized to carry out pri13 ority projects. 

14 ‘‘(b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Notwithstanding 

15 any other provision of law, amounts appropriated for any 

16 fiscal year to carry out this title shall remain available 

17 for obligation and expenditure until the end of the fiscal 

18 year following the fiscal year for which the amounts are 

19 appropriated.’’. 

20 (g) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Public Lands 

21 Corps Act of 1993 is amended— 

22 (1) in section 204 (16 U.S.C. 1723)— 

23 (A) in subsection (b)— 
9 

•S 1238 IS

1 (i) in the first sentence, by striking 

2 ‘‘Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary 

3 of Agriculture’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; 

4 (ii) in the third sentence, by striking 

5 ‘‘Secretaries’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; 

6 and 

7 (iii) in the fourth sentence, by striking 

8 ‘‘Secretaries’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; 

9 and 

10 (B) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘Sec11 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agri12 culture’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; 

13 (2) in section 205 (16 U.S.C. 1724)— 

14 (A) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘Sec15 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agri16 culture’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; and 

17 (B) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘Sec18 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agri19 culture’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; 

20 (3) in section 206 (16 U.S.C. 1725)— 

21 (A) in subsection (a)— 

22 (i) in the first sentence— 

23 (I) by striking ‘‘Secretary of the 

24 Interior and the Secretary of Agri-
10 

•S 1238 IS

1 culture are each’’ and inserting ‘‘Sec2 retary is’’; and 

3 (II) by striking ‘‘such Secretary’’ 

4 and inserting ‘‘the Secretary’’; 

5 (ii) in the third sentence, by striking 

6 ‘‘Secretaries’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; 

7 and 

8 (iii) in the fourth sentence, by striking 

9 ‘‘Secretaries’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; 

10 and 

11 (B) in the first sentence of subsection (b), 

12 by striking ‘‘Secretary of the Interior or the 

13 Secretary of Agriculture’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

14 Secretary’’; and 

15 (4) in section 210 (16 U.S.C. 1729)— 

16 (A) in subsection (a)— 

17 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Sec18 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of 

19 Agriculture are each’’ and inserting ‘‘Sec20 retary is’’; and 

21 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking 

22 ‘‘Secretary of the Interior and the Sec23 retary of Agriculture are each’’ and insert24 ing ‘‘Secretary is’’; and 
11 

•S 1238 IS

1 (B) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘Sec2 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agri3 culture’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’. 

Æ