II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1590

To repeal the emergency salvage timber sale program, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 5, 1996

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. BUMPERS, and Mrs.

FEINSTEIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To repeal the emergency salvage timber sale program, 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 Participation

5 in Timber Salvage Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) when events such as forest fire, wind

9 storms, or epidemic insect infestations occur, the

10 Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management
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1 should have available the tools necessary to harvest

2 timber expeditiously in order to get a high commod3 ity value from dead or dying trees;

4 (2) improving the health of our forests is a na5 tional priority that should be addressed through

6 comprehensive analysis and public involvement, and

7 should focus not only on the health of trees, but on

8 the health of the entire forest, including watersheds,

9 soils, fisheries, and wildlife; and

10 (3) timber sales, including salvage timber sales,

11 should be conducted in accordance with all applica12 ble laws in order to ensure the sustainability of the

13 components and functions of the forests.

14 TITLE I—REPEAL OF EMER15 GENCY SALVAGE TIMBER

16 SALE PROGRAM

17 SEC. 101. REPEAL OF EMERGENCY SALVAGE TIMBER SALE

18 PROGRAM.

19 Section 2001 of Public Law 104–19 (109 Stat. 240;

20 16 U.S.C. 1611 note) is repealed.

21 SEC. 102. EXISTING TIMBER SALE CONTRACTS.

22 (a) SUSPENSION.—Notwithstanding any outstanding

23 judicial order or administrative proceeding interpreting

24 subsection (k) of section 2001 of Public Law 104–19 (109

25 Stat. 240; 16 U.S.C. 1611 note) (as in existence prior to
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1 the date of enactment of this Act), the Secretary of Agri2 culture and the Secretary of the Interior shall suspend

3 each timber sale or activity that was being undertaken in

4 whole or in part under the authority provided in the sub5 section.

6 (b) REPLACEMENT OR TERMINATION OF TIMBER

7 SALE CONTRACTS.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other

9 provision of law, the Secretary concerned shall nego10 tiate with a purchaser of timber offered, awarded, or

11 released pursuant to section 318 of Public Law 101–

12 121 (103 Stat. 745) or section 2001(k) of Public

13 Law 104–19 (109 Stat. 246; 16 U.S.C. 1611 note)

14 (as in existence prior to the date of enactment of

15 this Act) to provide, within 1 year of the date of en16 actment of this Act, a volume, value, and kind of al17 ternative timber as a replacement for the remaining

18 timber under contract.

19 (2) ENVIRONMENTAL AND NATURAL RESOURCE

20 LAWS.—Replacement timber provided under para21 graph (1) shall comply with—

22 (A) any applicable environmental or natu23 ral resource law;

24 (B) any forest plan in existence on the

25 date of enactment of this Act, including the
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1 Northwest Forest Plan and any plan developed

2 under the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem

3 Management Project; and

4 (C) any relevant standard or guideline, in5 cluding PACFISH, INFISH, and Eastside

6 screens.

7 (3) TERMINATION.—If the Government and the

8 purchaser do not reach agreement under paragraph

9 (1), the Secretary concerned may—

10 (A) exercise any provision of the original

11 contract that authorizes termination and pay12 ment of specified damages; or

13 (B) terminate the contract to avoid adverse

14 effects on the environment or natural resources.

15 (c) PAYMENT FOR TIMBER SALE CONTRACTS RELIN16 QUISHED.—Any claim, whether as a result of a judgment

17 or an agreement, against the Federal Government arising

18 from a timber sale contract offered under section 318 of

19 Public Law 101–121 (103 Stat. 745), from section

20 2001(k) of Public Law 104–19 (109 Stat. 246; 16 U.S.C.

21 1611 note) (as in existence prior to the date of enactment

22 of this Act), from this Act, or from the exercise of the

23 Secretary’s right under a timber sale contract to terminate

24 the contract may be—
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1 (1) paid from funds made available under sec2 tion 1304 of title 31, United States Code, and shall

3 not require reimbursement under section 13(c) of

4 the Contract Disputes Act of 1978 (41 U.S.C.

5 612(c));

6 (2) paid through a certificate of bidding rights

7 credits to be used by the purchaser (or a successor

8 or assign of the purchaser) for future timber sales;

9 (3) offset by forgiveness of a Federal Govern10 ment loan or loan guarantee; or

11 (4) paid through funds appropriated for the

12 purpose.

13 (d) NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN THE SECRETARY CON14 CERNED AND THE PURCHASER.—The Secretary con15 cerned and the timber sale purchaser may use any com16 bination of methods provided in subsections (b), (c), and

17 (d) or other authorized means to dispose of a timber sale

18 contract under this section.

19 (e) DISPUTES.—Any claim by a purchaser against

20 the Federal Government relating to a contract replaced,

21 modified, suspended, or terminated under this section

22 shall be subject to the Contract Disputes Act of 1978 (41

23 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).
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1 SEC. 103. SALES INITIATED UNDER EXISTING LAW.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—A sale initiated but not awarded

3 to a purchaser by the Forest Service or the Bureau of

4 Land Management under subsection (b) or (d) of section

5 2001 of Public Law 104–19 (109 Stat. 240; 16 U.S.C.

6 1611 note) (as in existence prior to the date of enactment

7 of this Act) as of March 5, 1996, shall be subject to title

8 III of this Act and all environmental and natural resource

9 laws.

10 (b) SALES AWARDED TO PURCHASERS.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—A timber sale contract that

12 has been awarded to a purchaser under subsection

13 (b) or (d) of section 2001 of Public Law 104–19

14 (109 Stat. 240; 16 U.S.C. 1611 note) (as in exist15 ence prior to the date of enactment of this Act)

16 shall, notwithstanding the commencement of con17 tract performance, be subject to—

18 (A) in the case of Forest Service sales, ad19 ministrative appeal in accordance with section

20 322 of the Department of the Interior and Re21 lated Agencies Appropriations Act, 1993 (106

22 Stat. 1419; 16 U.S.C. 1612 note);

23 (B) in the case of Bureau of Land Man24 agement sales, protests filed in accordance with

25 43 C.F.R. section 5003.3; and

26 (C) judicial review.
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1 (2) HARVEST ACTIVITIES.—On the filing of an

2 appeal or a protest under paragraph (1), all harvest

3 activities shall be suspended.

4 (3) REQUIREMENTS.—Section 2001 of Public

5 Law 104–19 (109 Stat. 240; 16 U.S.C. 1611 note)

6 (as in existence prior to the date of enactment of

7 this Act) shall apply to any claim under paragraph

8 (1) related to compliance with any expedited proce9 dural requirement. Any other claim shall be subject

10 to applicable law.

11 TITLE II—NORTHWEST FOREST

12 PLAN

13 SEC. 201. NORTHWEST FOREST PLAN.

14 (a) DIRECTION TO COMPLETE TIMBER SALES.—The

15 Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of

16 the Bureau of Land Management, and the Secretary of

17 Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Serv18 ice, shall expeditiously prepare, offer, and award timber

19 sale contracts consistent with the Northwest Forest Plan.

20 (b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture

22 and the Secretary of the Interior shall, to the maxi23 mum extent practicable, make funds available for

24 qualified personnel, such as biologists, hydrologists,

25 and geologists, to complete any watershed assess-
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1 ment or other analyses required for the preparation,

2 advertisement, and award of timber sale contracts in

3 order to meet the probable sale quantities and other

4 goals of the Northwest Forest Plan.

5 (2) SOURCE.—If there are no other unobligated

6 funds appropriated to the Secretary of Agriculture

7 or the Secretary of the Interior that may be made

8 available as required by paragraph (1), the Secretary

9 concerned shall make funds available from amounts

10 that are available for the purpose of constructing

11 forest roads or from use of any permanent funds

12 in the regions to which the Northwest Forest Plan

13 applies.

14 (c) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this title af15 fects the legal duties of Federal agencies with respect to

16 the planning and offering of timber sales, including sal17 vage timber sales under this Act.

18 TITLE III—LAWFUL EXPEDITING

19 OF SALVAGE TIMBER SALES

20 SEC. 301. DEFINITIONS.

21 In this title:

22 (1) DISLOCATED RESOURCE WORKER.—The

23 term ‘‘dislocated resource worker’’ means a resource

24 worker who—
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1 (A) has been terminated or received notice

2 of termination from employment and is unlikely

3 to return to employment in the forest products

4 industry, including employment in the harvest

5 or management of logs, transportation of logs

6 or wood products, processing of wood products

7 (including pulp), or the manufacturing and dis8 tribution of wood processing or logging equip9 ment because of diminishing demand for the

10 worker’s skills;

11 (B) has been terminated or received notice

12 of termination from employment as a result of

13 salmon harvest reductions, including a worker

14 employed in the commercial and recreational

15 harvesting of salmon or the buying and process16 ing of salmon; or

17 (C) is self-employed and has been displaced

18 from the worker’s business in the forest prod19 ucts or fishing industry because of diminishing

20 demand for the business’s services or goods.

21 (2) LEVEL 1 INTERAGENCY FIELD TEAM.—The

22 term ‘‘level 1 interagency field team’’ means a perti23 nent combination of biologists from the Forest Serv24 ice, the Bureau of Land Management, the United

25 States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National
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1 Marine Fisheries Service with experience and exper2 tise to make biological determinations and bring con3 sultation under the Endangered Species Act of 1973

4 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) to conclusion at a field

5 level.

6 (3) LEVEL 2 INTERAGENCY FIELD TEAM.—The

7 term ‘‘level 2 interagency field team’’ means a perti8 nent combination of forest supervisors from the For9 est Service, district managers from the Bureau of

10 Land Management, and personnel from the United

11 States Fish and Wildlife Service and the National

12 Marine Fisheries Service with decisionmaking au13 thority under the Endangered Species Act of 1973

14 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

15 (4) SALVAGE TIMBER SALE.—The term ‘‘sal16 vage timber sale’’ means a timber sale—

17 (A) in which each unit is designed to re18 move trees that are dead from any cause (ex19 cept arson found to have been committed to

20 produce timber sales), or that have been deter21 mined by reliable scientific methods to have a

22 high probability of dying within 1 year as a re23 sult of insect-related, blowdown, or fire damage;

24 and
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1 (B) that includes a small percentage of

2 other trees to the extent necessary to secure

3 human safety or provide for commercially rea4 sonable and environmentally sound access to

5 and removal of dead or dying trees described in

6 subparagraph (A).

7 SEC. 302. SALVAGE TIMBER SALES SCOPE AND FACILITA8 TION.

9 The Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the

10 Chief of the Forest Service, and the Secretary of the Inte11 rior, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Land

12 Management, shall—

13 (1) offer salvage timber sales under this Act

14 only on Forest Service and Bureau of Land Manage15 ment land utilizing existing and generally operable

16 roads (except that spur roads of less than .25 mile

17 may be constructed or reconstructed to permit ac18 cess to individual timber sale units) located out19 side—

20 (A) any unit of the National Wilderness

21 Preservation System or any study area officially

22 recommended for consideration as wilderness;

23 or
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1 (B) any roadless area in which forest and

2 land management resource plans preclude tim3 ber sale or roads;

4 (C) any area in which a salvage timber

5 sale would be inconsistent with agency stand6 ards and guidelines applicable to areas adminis7 tratively identified as late successional or ripar8 ian or withdrawn from timber harvest for other

9 conservation purposes; and

10 (D) any area withdrawn by Federal law for

11 any conservation purpose;

12 (2) expeditiously prepare, offer, and award tim13 ber salvage sales described in paragraph (1);

14 (3) enter basic forest inventory, including data

15 on vegetation, soils, riparian systems, fisheries, wild16 life habitat, and other relevant information into the

17 Geographical Information System or other resource

18 mapping system and make the inventory data easily

19 available to incorporate into individual projects;

20 (4) notwithstanding section 6(d)(4) of the Of21 fice of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C.

22 405(d)(4)), permit forest and district offices to pro23 cure computer software using available funds to fa24 cilitate resource inventory;
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1 (5) if helpful in expediting salvage sales, alter

2 the agency tree marking and designating require3 ments by writing into timber sale contracts—

4 (A) readily determinable characteristics to

5 guide the contractor in selecting trees to har6 vest; and

7 (B) fines and penalties, including debar8 ment, to enforce subparagraph (A),

9 except that this paragraph shall not alter agency

10 marking or designating requirements for trees to re11 main uncut for wildlife, riparian, or other conserva12 tion measures;

13 (6) perform timely revegetation and slash re14 moval operations consistent with applicable laws,

15 regulations, and silvacultural practice; and

16 (7) undertake watershed and other restoration

17 activities, including road decommissioning, in or

18 near the salvage timber sale by first offering the

19 work to dislocated resource workers or individuals

20 certified by an appropriate resource management ap21 prenticeship program and ensure work is performed

22 according to requirements of the Service Contract

23 Act of 1965 (41 U.S.C. 351 et seq.).
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1 SEC. 303. SALVAGE TIMBER SALE DOCUMENTATION AND

2 APPEAL PROCEDURES.

3 (a) PREPARATION OF DOCUMENTS.—In conducting a

4 salvage timber sale under this title—

5 (1) to speed compliance with the Endangered

6 Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), agen7 cies shall, to the maximum extent practicable—

8 (A) complete informal consultation not

9 later than 30 days and formal consultation not

10 later than 60 days after submission of a biologi11 cal assessment using a level 1 interagency field

12 team and a level 2 interagency field team;

13 (B) establish a key contact person in each

14 regional office of the Forest Service, the Bu15 reau of Land Management, the Fish and Wild16 life Service, and the National Marine Fisheries

17 Service to facilitate issue resolution; and

18 (C) establish regional and national inter19 agency dispute resolution teams; and

20 (2) in the case of the Forest Service and the

21 Bureau of Land Management, prior to publishing a

22 notice of a proposed action under section 215.5 of

23 title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, on a proposed

24 timber salvage sale, facilitate public participation in

25 the sale planning and preparation by providing prop26 er notice and allowing any member of the public to
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1 attend not less than 1 interdisciplinary team meet2 ing, not less than 1 of which will be held during

3 evening hours.

4 (b) ADVISORY COMMITTEES.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Forest Service and Bu6 reau of Land Management may form 1 or more

7 committees to advise agencies on proposed salvage

8 timber sales if each committee will facilitate public

9 involvement in decisionmaking.

10 (2) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—The

11 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.)

12 shall not apply to a committee formed under para13 graph (1).

14 (3) NOTICE.—The Secretary concerned shall

15 provide notification to the public of any meeting of

16 a committee formed under paragraph (1) at least 10

17 days prior to the meeting and the meeting shall be

18 open to the public, unless the Secretary concerned

19 determines that all or a portion of the meeting will

20 be closed in accordance with section 552b(c) of title

21 5, United States Code.

22 (c) EXPEDITING ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),

24 administrative review of a decision of the Forest
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1 Service or the Bureau of Land Management under

2 this title shall be conducted—

3 (A) in the case of the Forest Service, in

4 accordance with section 322 of the Department

5 of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropria6 tions Act, 1993 (106 Stat. 1419; 16 U.S.C.

7 1612 note); and

8 (B) in the case of the Bureau of Land

9 Management, after the Secretary approves the

10 sales.

11 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—

12 (A) APPEAL.—An appeal of a decision

13 must be filed not later than the later of—

14 (i) 30 days after the publication of a

15 decision document for a salvage timber

16 sale; or

17 (ii) mailing of notice to interested par18 ties, in keeping with relevant agency regu19 lations.

20 (B) FINAL DECISION.—The agency con21 cerned shall issue a final decision not later than

22 30 days after the deadline for an administrative

23 appeal has tolled and may not extend the clos24 ing date for a final decision.

25 (d) EXPEDITING JUDICIAL REVIEW.—
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1 (1) TIME FOR CHALLENGE.—Absent good

2 cause, any challenge to a salvage timber sale under

3 this title shall be brought as a civil action in a Unit4 ed States district court not later than 30 days after

5 the date on which an agency provides notice of a

6 final decision regarding a salvage timber sale.

7 (2) TIME FOR APPEAL.—Any appeal of a dis8 trict court decision on a salvage timber sale under

9 this Act shall be brought not later than 30 days

10 after the first date on which the appeal may first be

11 filed.

12 (3) EXPEDITIOUS CONSIDERATION.—

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The district and appel14 late courts shall, to the extent practicable, expe15 dite proceedings in a civil action under this sub16 section.

17 (B) PROCEDURES.—To expedite proceed18 ings under this subsection, a court may shorten

19 the time allowed for the filing of papers or for

20 other procedures that would otherwise apply.

21 SEC. 304. FUNDING TO IMPLEMENT THIS TITLE.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—To facilitate implementation of

23 section 302, a Forest Service regional office or a Bureau

24 of Land Management district may transfer funds among

25 the following accounts in the agency budget of the office
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1 or district without making reprogramming requests to

2 Congress:

3 (1) Timber salvage fund.

4 (2) Road construction and maintenance ac5 counts.

6 (3) Timber sale preparation accounts.

7 (b) NOTICE.—An office or district that transfers

8 funds under subsection (a) shall provide notice to Con9 gress not later than 60 days after the transfer.

10 SEC. 305. EXPEDITED PROCEDURAL REGULATIONS.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the

12 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary concerned,

13 in consultation with the Council on Environmental Qual14 ity, shall develop regulations to expedite full compliance

15 with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42

16 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and any other appropriate environ17 mental laws for a decision regarding a proposed salvage

18 timber sale authorized under this Act.

19 (b) TIME LIMIT.—The Secretary and the Council on

20 Environmental Quality shall, to the extent practicable—

21 (1) limit the time necessary for public participa22 tion and agency analysis for a proposed action re23 garding a salvage timber sale authorized under this

24 Act to 120 days; and
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1 (2) establish safeguards to provide flexibility on

2 the limitation referred to in paragraph (1) to provide

3 for full compliance with the National Environmental

4 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and any

5 other appropriate environmental law.

6 SEC. 306. PILOT PROGRAM TO SELL HARVEST CONTRACTS

7 FOR FOREST SERVICES.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior, act9 ing through the Bureau of Land Management, and the

10 Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Forest Serv11 ice, shall implement a program to demonstrate the fea12 sibility of harvest contracts for salvage timber sales and

13 associated forest activities.

14 (b) AREAS.—

15 (1) INTERIOR.—The Secretary of the Interior

16 shall establish up to 5 pilot projects per Bureau of

17 Land Management district to carry out this section.

18 (2) AGRICULTURE.—The Secretary of Agri19 culture shall establish up to 5 pilot projects per For20 est Service region to carry out this section.

21 (c) PROCESS.—To carry out this section, the Sec22 retary concerned shall establish a process to—

23 (1) offer 1 or more contracts to a bidder to

24 carry out forest rehabilitation and stewardship ac-
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1 tivities, including salvage timber sales and to collect

2 and sort any wood harvested; and

3 (2) have the agency concerned sell, or contract

4 with a private enterprise different than the contrac5 tor in paragraph (1) to sell, the harvested wood.

6 TITLE IV—TIMBER STAND

7 HEALTH PRIORITIZATION

8 SEC. 401. REVIEW OF TIMBER STAND HEALTH.

9 The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of

10 Agriculture, respectively, shall review the health of timber

11 stands on Bureau of Land Management and Forest Serv12 ice lands and shall each—

13 (1) identify, not later than March 1 of each

14 year, the timber stands on Bureau of Land Manage15 ment or Forest Service lands, as applicable, that are

16 not in a healthy condition; and

17 (2) prepare a document to prioritize areas that

18 would benefit from rehabilitation activities to restore

19 timber stands to a healthy condition.

20 SEC. 402. REHABILITATION PRIORITIZATION.

21 To determine which areas of land should receive the

22 first attention, each resource area or ranger district shall

23 consider where intervention or treatment—

24 (1) has the best opportunity to restore health to

25 affected timber stands;
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1 (2) has the greatest potential to reduce the risk

2 of wildfires, especially where human safety and pri3 vate property are threatened; and

4 (3) is the least controversial, such as on lands

5 located outside of wilderness, unroaded areas, ripar6 ian areas, late successional reserves, or other sen7 sitive areas.

8 SEC. 403. FOREST TIMBER STAND HEALTH REPORT.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior and

10 the Secretary of Agriculture shall prepare an annual re11 port (which shall be known as the Forest Timber Stand

12 Health Report) to evaluate the overall health of the forest

13 timber stands on Bureau of Land Management and Forest

14 Service lands, respectively.

15 (b) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—The Forest Timber

16 Stand Health Report shall contain—

17 (1) quantitative and qualitative data on the

18 health of timber stands concerned; and

19 (2) a review of the actions taken to attempt to

20 improve the health of the timber stands.

21 SEC. 404. AUTHORIZATION FOR FUNDING.

22 There are authorized to be appropriated such funds

23 as are necessary to carry out this title.

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