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[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 636 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

  1st Session
                                 S. 636

 To require the Secretary of Agriculture to issue new term permits for 
 grazing on National Forest System lands to replace previously issued 
term grazing permits that have expired, soon will expire, or are waived 
               to the Secretary, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

               March 28 (legislative day, March 27), 1995

  Mr. Daschle (for himself and Mr. Pressler) introduced the following 
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To require the Secretary of Agriculture to issue new term permits for 
 grazing on National Forest System lands to replace previously issued 
term grazing permits that have expired, soon will expire, or are waived 
               to the Secretary, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) the Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in this Act 
        as the ``Secretary'') administers the 191,000,000-acre National 
        Forest System for multiple uses in accordance with Federal law;
            (2) where suitable, 1 of the recognized multiple uses for 
        National Forest System land is grazing by livestock;
            (3) the Secretary authorizes grazing through the issuance 
        of term grazing permits that have terms of not to exceed 10 
        years and that include terms and conditions necessary for the 
        proper administration of National Forest System land and 
        resources;
            (4) as of the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
        has issued approximately 9,000 term grazing permits authorizing 
        grazing on approximately 90,000,000 acres of National Forest 
        System land;
            (5) of the approximately 9,000 term grazing permits issued 
        by the Secretary, approximately one-half have expired or will 
        expire by the end of 1996;
            (6) if the holder of an expiring term grazing permit has 
        complied with the terms and conditions of the permit and 
        remains eligible and qualified, that individual is considered 
        to be a preferred applicant for a new term grazing permit in 
        the event that the Secretary determines that grazing remains an 
        appropriate use of the affected National Forest System land;
            (7) in addition to the approximately 9,000 term grazing 
        permits issued by the Secretary, it is estimated that as many 
        as 1,600 term grazing permits may be waived by permit holders 
        to the Secretary in favor of a purchaser of the permit holder's 
        permitted livestock or base property by the end of 1996;
            (8) to issue new term grazing permits, the Secretary must 
        comply with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
        U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and other laws;
            (9) for a large percentage of the grazing permits that will 
        expire or be waived to the Secretary by the end of 1996, the 
        Secretary has devised a strategy that will result in compliance 
        with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and other 
        applicable laws (including regulations) in a timely and 
        efficient manner and enable the Secretary to issue new term 
        grazing permits, where appropriate;
            (10) for a small percentage of the grazing permits that 
        will expire or be waived to the Secretary by the end of 1996, 
        the strategy will not provide for the timely issuance of new 
        term grazing permits; and
            (11) in cases in which ranching operations involve the use 
        of a term grazing permit issued by the Secretary, it is 
        essential for new term grazing permits to be issued in a timely 
        manner for financial and other reasons.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to ensure that grazing 
continues without interruption on National Forest System land in a 
manner that provides long-term protection of the environment and 
improvement of National Forest System rangeland resources while also 
providing short-term certainty to holders of expiring term grazing 
permits and purchasers of a permit holder's permitted livestock or base 
property.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Expiring term grazing permit.--The term ``expiring term 
        grazing permit'' means a term grazing permit--
                    (A) that expires in 1995 or 1996; or
                    (B) that expired in 1994 and was not replaced with 
                a new term grazing permit solely because the analysis 
                required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 
                1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and other applicable laws 
                has not been completed.
            (2) Final agency action.--The term ``final agency action'' 
        means agency action with respect to which all available 
administrative remedies have been exhausted.
            (3) Term grazing permit.--The term ``term grazing permit 
        means a term grazing permit or grazing agreement issued by the 
        Secretary under section 402 of the Federal Land Policy and 
        Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1752), section 19 of the Act 
        entitled ``An Act to facilitate and simplify the work of the 
        Forest Service, and for other purposes'', approved April 24, 
        1950 (commonly known as the ``Granger-Thye Act'') (16 U.S.C. 
        580l), or other law.

SEC. 3. ISSUANCE OF NEW TERM GRAZING PERMITS.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other law, the Secretary shall 
issue a new term grazing permit without regard to whether the analysis 
required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 
4321 et seq.) and other applicable laws has been completed, or final 
agency action respecting the analysis has been taken--
            (1) to the holder of an expiring term grazing permit ; or
            (2) to the purchaser of a term grazing permit holder's 
        permitted livestock or base property if--
                    (A) between January 1, 1995, and December 1, 1996, 
                the holder has waived the term grazing permit to the 
                Secretary pursuant to section 222.3(c)(1)(iv) of title 
                36, Code of Federal Regulations; and
                    (B) the purchaser of the term grazing permit 
                holder's permitted livestock or base property is 
                eligible and qualified to hold a term grazing permit.
    (b) Terms and Conditions.--Except as provided in subsection (c)--
            (1) a new term grazing permit under subsection (a)(1) shall 
        contain the same terms and conditions as the expired term 
        grazing permit; and
            (2) a new term grazing permit under subsection (a)(2) shall 
        contain the same terms and conditions as the waived permit.
    (c) Duration.--
            (1) In general.--A new term grazing permit under subsection 
        (a) shall expire on the earlier of--
                    (A) the date that is 3 years after the date on 
                which it is issued; or
                    (B) the date on which final agency action is taken 
                with respect to the analysis required by the National 
                Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 
                seq.) and other applicable laws.
            (2) Final action in less than 3 years.--If final agency 
        action is taken with respect to the analysis required by the 
        National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 
        seq.) and other applicable laws before the date that is 3 years 
        after the date on which a new term grazing permit is issued 
        under subsection (a), the Secretary shall--
                    (A) cancel the new term grazing permit; and
                    (B) if appropriate, issue a term grazing permit for 
                a term not to exceed 10 years under terms and 
                conditions as are necessary for the proper 
                administration of National Forest System rangeland 
                resources.
    (d) Date of Issuance.--
            (1) Expiration on or before date of enactment.--In the case 
        of an expiring term grazing permit that has expired on or 
        before the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
        issue a new term grazing permit under subsection (a)(1) not 
        later than 15 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
            (2) Expiration after date of enactment.--In the case of an 
        expiring term grazing permit that expires after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue a new term 
        grazing permit under subsection (a)(1) on expiration of the 
        expiring term grazing permit.
            (3) Waived permits.--In the case of a term grazing permit 
        waived to the Secretary pursuant to section 222.3(c)(1)(iv) of 
        title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, between January 1, 1995, 
        and December 31, 1996, the Secretary shall issue a new term 
        grazing permit under subsection (a)(2) not later than 60 days 
        after the date on which the holder waives a term grazing permit 
        to the Secretary.

SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATIVE APPEAL AND JUDICIAL REVIEW.

    The issuance of a new term grazing permit under section 3(a) shall 
not be subject to administrative appeal or judicial review.

SEC. 5. REPEAL.

    This Act is repealed effective as of January 1, 2001.
                                 <all>
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